3:8-13
Laying the Foundation
This passage tells us the exiles began work on building the temple in the next year, the second since they returned, so about six months have passed since the altar was built. The work began in the second month, called “Ziv”. Ziv is in the spring, falling in April and May of our calendar. So, the exiles waited through the winter and gathered to work in the spring. They also had to wait for the cedar wood to be delivered from Tyre and Sidon, as well as the skilled workers. This is also the month in which Solomon began work on the first temple. (2 Chronicles 3:2)
The project was initiated by Zerubbabel, who is acting as governor, but is of the line of David, and Jeshua, the high priest, just as they led the journey to Jerusalem from Persia. They brought together all the priests and Levites that returned from exile. They appointed all of the Levites over the age of 20 to supervise the work.
This again reflects the building of the first temple. When David made preparations for his son, Solomon, to build the temple, he organized the Levites to supervise. (1 Chronicles 23) The organization of the Levites into families and duties was very useful here, because the chain of command was already established.
There were many people working and they appear unified in purpose: to rededicate themselves to worship the Lord and to obey the covenantal law.
When the foundations were laid, they celebrated with a worship service. It was only the beginning of the project, but symbolized to the people the promise keeping nature of God. And they rejoiced in that.
The priests came, dressed in vestments, and blew the trumpets. The Levites played their cymbals. The Levites led a responsive singing of praise songs, praising the Lord for his goodness and his steadfast, or covenanalt, love for Israel. They were singing from Psalm 100:5 - “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever; and his faithfulness to all generations”.
However, in the midst of this joy, there was some sorrow. Evidently this temple was going to be more modest that Solomon’s temple. Those who were old enough to have seen the first temple wept loudly when they saw that the foundations of the second temple were smaller. (12)
Sadly, their sense of nostalgia kept them from rejoicing in the great work the Lord had done and was doing. The Lord had delivered them from exile, he was re-establishing the capital city, and, most importantly, re-establishing his covenant relationship with them. They would worship him and he would bless them as he had before.
It is easy, especially as get older, to look back and think the days of the past were better than today. We can lose our joy and deprive the Lord of the praise to which he is due. Ecclesiates 7:10 says:
“Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
I wonder if the young Haggai was present for this event. He would not begin to prophesy for another 15 years, when construction of the temple had halted. If he were present, he would later certainly contrast the enthusiasm of this day with the apathy of his prophetic days.
4:1-6
Opposition Arises
Anytime you are building, or rebuilding, something for the Lord’s work, you can expect opposition. Satan constantly seeks to thwart God’s plan and rob him of his glory.So, when the enemies of the Jews heard that they were rebuilding the temple, they acted. First, the offered to join them. They claimed to worship God as the Jews did.
They were evidently not Jews, but Gentiles of various nations that the Assyrians had resettled there. Esarhaddon was king of Assyria. (2) His policy was to resettle conquered people into other lands in his kingdom to break down their national identity.
They may have intermarried with Jews left behind after the fall of Jerusalem. In the New Testament, they were called Samaritans, as the capital of the norther kingdom was the city of Samaria. They practiced a form of Judaism that was corrupted by the religious practices of the countries in which they originally lived.
But the Jewish leaders refused to let the others participate and remained determined to do it themselves. (3) They were discerning, knowing these people did not worship God as he decreed. So, the would not risk pollution of their religion in order to receive assistance.
“Syncretism” is the incorporation of concepts or ideas from other religions into your religion. It something we must constantly watch for and resist. We are constantly bombarded with ideas and practices from other religions.
The opposition grew when the locals realized they could not incorporate the Jews, who were determined to stand apart. The adversaries bribed officials to make life difficult for the Jews. They were far from Persia and things could be done without the king knowing.
So, all during the reign of Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II) to his death in 530 B.C. and into the reign of Darius, who took the throne in 522, the locals opposed the Jews.
The time line here is difficult to follow. Although the laying of the foundations occurred during the reign of Cyrus the Great, the writer of Ezra jumps ahead to tell us the persecution continued for a long time.
When, Cyrus the Great dies, his son Cambyses II became king, but died within one year. Then Bardiya, a man who claimed to be a son of Cyrus, became king. He was assassinated within a year. These two kings are not mentioned because they were not around very long.
After Bardiya died, Darius I became king. (5)So, Cyrus became king in 559 B.C. and allowed the Jews to return home and rebuild the temple. Persecution begins within two years of their return and continues into the reign of Darius I, which began in 522 B.C. That is about 35 years of persecution.
Verse 6 then jumps further ahead to the reign of Ahasuerus, known in the Greek world as Xerxes I, son of Darius the Great, who came to the throne in 485 B.C. Ahasuerus is the king during the events of the book of Esther. The opposition is still happening when Ahasuerus\Xerxes becomes king. So, this period of resistance to the building of the temple went on for many decades.
This passage lends weight to the picture painted by the writer of Esther that the Jews did face opposition within the Persian empire.
During Ahasuerus’ reign, the opposition gathered all of the influencial people together and wrote a letter to the king. We do not know the contents of that letter, but verse 6 tells us it was an accusation against the Jews.
4:7-16
The Letter
Verse 7 jumps forward again. It begins with another letter, this time to Artaxerxes I, son of Xerxes\Asasuerus, who became king of Persia in 465.
The letter informed the king that the Jews were rebuilding the city. They called it the rebellious and wicked city. They also said, if the city was rebuilt, the Jews would not pay tribute to the king and he would lose control over the province.
They cast themselves as being good citizens Since they “ate the salt”of the king, meaning they were recipients of his largesse, they were obligated to make him aware. Notably, they said the royal revenue would be impaired. (13) Artaxerxes was very concerned with income since he had a lavish court and fought several wars. Finally they urged the king to look in the record books and see for himself that the city was rebellious.
4:17-24
The King’s Decree
So the king read the letter and read the record books and agreed that the city engaged in rebellion and sedition. He was probably looking all the way back to the last Jewish kings who rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and Babylonia.
In addition, he knew that, at some points, Israel had been powerful with great kings. He, therefore, ordered that work on the temple stop until he said it could resume.
The enemies then took the decree and used force and intimidation to stop construction. So, the work ceased until the second year of King Darius. This was Darius II, son of Artaxerxes, who succeed him after his brother was assassinated.
Opposition and trial are the lot of the Christian. Jesus told us we would have tribulation in the world. But he has overcome the world. Our faith in him is our victory. We move forward in faith despite opposition and believe the Lord will act to accomplish his purpose. As the old hymn says "faith is the victory the overcomes the world".
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