The God of the Archives

Picture yourself as a clerk in a cubical at the capital. You get the call from your boss to look for something. He needs a document. A 16-year-old document. A memo from a previous administration. Something to do with some state sponsored rebuilding project in a backwater corner of the empire. And to find it, you’ll need to dig through the massive stacks of file cabinets over at the national archives. There’s no digital search engine or even a card catalog. We’re talking needle in a haystack. The chances of putting your hand on this piece of paper is slim to none. But what do you know, there it is. Little do you know, but you had a little assistance. Divine assistance. You had the help of the God of the archives.

That’s pretty much what went down in Ezra 6:1-12. When 50,000 Israelites return from captivity to Jerusalem, they have not King Cyrus’ blessing but his financial backing to rebuild the temple (Ez 1:1-11). That’s because God tapped this pagan king on the shoulder to make it happen. After local opposition sabotages the project for 16 years, God lights a fire under His people through a pair of prophets to get back to work (Ez 5:1-2). That gets the attention of local government officials named Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai who swing by to see what in the world is going on over on that pile of rubble that used to be a city. These bureaucrats want to see some paperwork. Who authorized this project (Ez 5:3)? Do they have a royal building permit? They wanted a list of names of people working on the job site (Ez 5:4). These political appointees fire off a letter to the home office wanting to make sure that everything is on the up and up (Ez 5:6-17). They ask King Darius if he would check the files to see if these dudes are lying.

The folks back in the Persian capital Ecbatana immediately get busy looking for this obscure piece of paper (v1-2). You won’t find this city with a search of Google Maps. It was located in the modern day city of Hamadan in Iran. It sat in the foothills and made a great place for a head of state to chill out in the summertime. Just like President Obama enjoys getting away to Martha’s Vineyard, King Darius beats feet to Ecbatana to beat the heat. How extensive are the royal records? This wasn’t some file cabinet in the garage. They didn’t just go down to the basement or up into the attic. There were so many papers and documents that they needed their own building. Ezra tells us how the search began “in the house of the archives where the documents were stored” (v1). Think of that shot of the warehouse from “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

It might have seemed like an improbably task, but before you know it “a scroll was found” (v2). And it contained every bit of info that Jewish leaders told Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai. King Cyrus signed off on it (v3). A building permit as well as construction materials to be used (v3-4). The promise of government financing (v4). The restoration of as much of the booty that Nebuchadnezzar swiped when his troops pillaged the place (v5). By the way, notice what is obviously missing from the list. The Ark of the Covenant. Nobody is sure when it left the temple or where it is today. Has anybody thought to check that warehouse from the movie?

At this point, King Darius could have simply said, “Found it. They’re good.” But he didn’t. His royal highness tells his bureaucrats back in province called Beyond the River to “keep away” (v6). Whatever you do, don’t do anything to distract the Jews from taking care of business (v7). But Darius didn’t stop there either. He tells local officials that they are to pony up the money themselves to pay for the project. “The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River” (v8). In other words, the tax money that you normally send to the king, you can just hand it over to Zerubbabel and the boys at the work site. Not some of it. All of it. Not later. Right now. 

But that’s not all. The king tells Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai that they’re also on the hook for anything the Israelites need for their sacrifices. “And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail” (v9). Livestock. Groceries. Supplies. They need to start making immediate plans for daily deliveries to their new neighbors. It might be 16 years late, but Darius makes sure the local Welcome Wagon greets the folks in Jerusalem. 

While Yahweh may have provided the motivation for these pagan kings to get behind the rehabilitation of the temple and return of His people, their royal motives weren’t exactly pure. A big part of their reason supporting the project was so the Jews could “pray for the life of the king and his sons” (v10). Darius might not be sure about this so-called “God of heaven,” but he might as well cover all his bases. Strangely enough, God’s people will do it. Even back when they were being held hostage in Babylon, the LORD told the Israelites to be a blessing wherever they are. “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer 29:7). A few hundred years later, the Apostle Paul tells his buddy Timothy to pray specifically “for kings and all who are in high positions” (1Tim 2:1-2). Am I praying for my political leaders? By the way, I’m to pray for ALL of them. Not just the ones I voted for.

Just in case somebody might try to jack around with King Darius’ memo back to the boys in Beyond the River, he adds a not-so-gentle warning. “If anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill” (v11). Home demolished. Run through with a beam. Big steaming pile. Are we clear on this? Oh, you betcha! The king goes on to make it clear that it was “God who has caused His name to dwell there” (v12) in Jerusalem. He’s the God of the temple mount. And He’s the God of the archives.

A Letter to the Home Office

Sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places. Who would ever expect to see God inspire His Word to be written in a letter from a couple of local pagan political appointees to a Persian dictator? Well that’s exactly what went down in Ezra 5:6-17. In this section of Scripture, the author cuts and pastes a note from some dudes named Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai back to King Darius. They’re concerned about the huge construction project back on the pile rubble that used to known as Jerusalem. Nobody back at the home office notified them about this. They check in just to make sure the Jews have all the proper permits and paperwork. But a funny thing happened after these local officials licked the envelope and dropped this in the mail. God decides to supernaturally include this letter in the Bible. Yeah, sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places.

First of all, the folks who originally wrote this note are “Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bezenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River” (v6). Beyond the River is actually the official name of an area under Persian rule just west of the Euphrates River. The authors of this letter are people appointed by the king to keep an eye on things. They’re not so much power players but political appointees who got their jobs because they support the king. There are actually ancient documents listing Tattanai as the governor of the region under Darius. The city of Jerusalem and the land of Judah would have fallen under the jurisdiction of Beyond the River. It’s only natural that these local officials want to know what in the world is going on right under their noses.

This letter from Persian bureaucrats actually includes some very cool details about the reconstruction of the temple. It gives us an interesting view of the scope and history of the project from a non-Jewish third party. First of all, they describe it as “the house of the great God” (v8). The city is in rubble. The temple is destroyed. But the reputation of the LORD still resonates throughout the land. There is a level of respect and honor for Yahweh in the words of these administrators. 

Tattenai and the boys also tell us about the kinds of building materials used by the Jews as well as their construction methods. “It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls” (v8). The phrase “huge stones” describe stones so incredibly large that they can’t be carried. This is literally “stones of rolling.” Wait a minute! Were Mick Jagger  and the Rolling Stones providing musical entertainment in Jerusalem? Well, the Stones have been around a long time and Keith Richards may look like he’s a couple of thousand years old, but they did NOT play a temple gig back in 522 BC. At least I don’t think they did. The Israelites are building not just with these massive stone blocks but beams of timber running inside the walls. This is not only typical construction techniques of the day for large buildings, but the same method used by Solomon’s crew the first time around (1Ki 6:36; 7:12).

The letter also lets us in on the incredible work ethic of the Israelite craftsmen. “This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands” (v8). They’re making up for lost time. Remember, a gang of Samaritans sabotage the project for 16 years (Ez 4:4, 24). God uses the prophetic pair of Haggai and Zechariah to light a fire under His people to get things going again (Ez 5:1-2). Once they’re back on the job site, they make HUGE progress. They are committed. They are tenacious. And the officials of Beyond the River make note of the fact that what’s going on at the temple project “prospers at their hands” (v8). They aren’t just throwing this new temple together willy nilly. This is quality craftsmanship.

This note to the home office quotes Hebrew officials as to the nature of what they’re up to. “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth” (v11). They let these local Persian officials just who’s REALLY behind this effort. It’s the “God of heaven and earth” (v11). They’re not just serving some regional franchise deity. This isn’t your garden variety god. He’s in charge of of it all. Heaven. Earth. If you’re scoring at home, that’s pretty much everything. Take a look around. Whatever you’re looking at, He’s the God of it. That’s the God they served. That’s the God we serve.

Zerubbabel and his leadership team make it clear that this isn’t new construction. “We are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished” (v11). Just for review, that “great king of Israel” is the one and only Solomon. You can read all about the original project in 1 Kings 5-7. Solomon built the glorious first temple in 966-960 BC, 450 years before this reconstruction effort.

These local bureaucrats even find out why the Israelites have to rebuild the temple. It seems that their ancestors had a bit of an issue with Almighty God. “Because our fathers angered the God of heaven” (v12). If their predecessors listed their relationship status with God on Facebook, it would probably be “it’s complicated.” The dust of the original temple hadn’t even settled when our boy Solomon started jacking around with other idols. It seems Sol was more concerned about his harem than his God (1Ki 11). That started a long, slow slide of idolatry and evil among God’s people and their kings.

When it comes to the kings of Israel, Manasseh was the poster boy of evil (2Ki 21:1-17). “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel” (2Ki 21:2). He brought back old school idolatry that folks did back in the day. Manasseh put altars to false gods everywhere, including IN THE TEMPLE! He made witchcraft, the paranormal, psychics, fortunetellers, and mediums all part of the worship in Jerusalem. This crappy king even went so far as to offer his own son as a burnt offering! He wasn’t alone in his idolatry and led the people of God away from God. 

Yahweh might be slow to anger but He will get there eventually. “His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked Him” (2Ki 23:26). To say that “our fathers angered the God of heaven” is a bit of an understatement. Over and over and over, Yahweh tried to get His people back into obedience for their own good. He tried everything. But they kept turning to other gods to make their offerings (2Chr 34:25). And laughed at His handpicked prophets until He really had no other choice. “But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, until there was no remedy” (2Chr 36:16).

The Israelites tell Tattenai and his buddies how God eventually called on a pagan dictator to do His work. “He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia” (v12). Everybody knew all about Nebuchadnezzar. For 40 years, he was the baddest man on the planet. Yet he was just a puppet in the hand of Almighty God. Yahweh used Nebuchadnezzar like an errand boy to get the attention of His people when they turned their backs on Him. “Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of the sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand” (2Chr 36:17). The Babylonians burned the city to the ground, including the temple, and bulldozed the massive city walls. It was an absolute bloodbath. Nebuchadnezzar’s army hauled the best and brightest of the survivors. They left behind the poorest of the poor and hauled most of the survivors back to Babylon (2Ki 24:3-17; Jer 52:12-16).

Seventy years later, the Persians are the new bullies on the block after knocking off Nebuchadnezzar. God taps King Cyrus on the shoulder and supernaturally suggests that he let His chosen people make the Exodus 2.0 (Ez 1:1-4). The Jewish leadership give these local officials know that they have the royal stamp of approval for their project (v13-16). If they will just check with the home office, they’ll see that everything is on the up and up (v17). Instead of shutting down the project until they get an answer from King Darius, we read earlier how God kept things rolling until they got a response from the capital (Ez 5:5).

It’s tempting to overlook what seems like a boring document from a bureaucrat to pagan dictator as unimportant. But God made sure that Ezra stapled it in the book he wrote about the Jewish return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple. In this note, we read about the massive construction effort, the quality of the work, the diligence of the labor, but most of all, we read of the God who was behind it all. Yeah, sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places.

Driven by Prophets

Corporations and their stockholders keep their eyes on the bottom line. They care about one thing. Making money. They are driven by profits. God’s people should keep their eyes on the REAL bottom line. Obeying and glorifying God. We should be listening for God’s voice through His handpicked spokespersons. This has nothing to do with piling up cash. Instead, we should driven by prophets. That’s what’s going on here as Ezra describes the situation in Jerusalem. God’s people have returned from 70 years of slavery to rebuild the temple (Ez 2:1). The local yokels freak out when the Israelites throw a huge party to celebrate the reconstruction project (Ez 3:10-13). The Samaritans sabotage the restoration of the house of the LORD for 16 years. That’s when God speaks through both Haggai and Zechariah (Ez 5:1). Yahweh uses this prophetic pair to jumpstart construction “until the second year of Darius king of Persia” (Ez 4:24). After taking a 16-year break, the Israelites are back on the job site. That’s because God’s people were driven by prophets.

The LORD lights a fire under the Jews through Haggai and Zechariah. This has to be a huge relief to Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the leaders of the return and reconstruction. As the governor and chief priest (Ez 3:2, 8), they must have been completely frustrated by shallow commitment of God’s people. They’ve tossed their tools away after the Samaritans used every trick in the book to discourage the Israelites from completing their work (Ez 4:4-5). Zerubbabel and Jeshua had to feel like they were pushing rope to get folks back on the job. It isn’t until God speaks to His people through Haggai and Zechariah that construction starts humming again. Ezra lets us know how the Jews “began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them” (Ez 5:2). So what exactly did this dynamic duo have to say? You can read it for yourself in the OT books bearing their names (Hag 1:4-11; Zech 1:1-6). 

There was just one little problem. Some of the leaders of the neighboring nations have their doubts about whether this reconstruction project was legal. Men named Tattenai and Shetharbozenai check in with the project managers and want to see all the permits (Ez 5:3). They not only want to see all the proper paperwork but demand a list of every craftsman swinging a hammer on the temple mount (Ez 5:4). Most Bible scholars believe these dudes weren’t as malicious as the first set of Samaritans 16 years ago. Tattenai and Shetharbozenai simply want to make sure things are on the up and up with the home office in Persia. In the following verses, Ezra cuts and pastes the contents of the letter to King Darius checking to see if he gave his royal thumbs up to this joint (Ez 5:6-17). Think of one of your neighbors dropping an email the HOA board to see if they’ve approved your new sun room.

While the historical context is important, the bigger point here is the role of the prophet as God’s personal mouthpiece. All throughout the Old Testament, Yahweh selects a series of prophets to communicate His truth to both His people and their leaders. The list of prophets includes many of the Bible’s heavy hitters. Moses, Samuel, Nathan, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Habbakkuk, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Haggai. These cats are either major characters in the OT narrative or have entire books named for their prophetic work. Yeah, they’re kind of a big deal. 

After God pressed the divine mute button for 400 years, we hear from John the Dunker (Mt 3:1-4). The Apostle Paul confirms that prophecy is included in the spiritual gifts (Rom 12:6). Prophets play an important role in “to the people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1Cor 14:3-4). Some believe that this is one of the gifts that disappeared after God finished delivering His Word in the form of Scripture. I have to say that I’m not nearly biblically nimble enough to make that argument. One thing is for sure. IF God still gifts people as His prophets today, everything they say must be tested against the Bible. God will not contradict Himself. He. Will. Not. 

And every prophet just points us the THE Prophet, Jesus Christ. Moses personally predicted that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me” from His chosen people (Dt 18:15). In one of the first sermons ever preached in Jerusalem Community Church, the Apostle Peter said Jesus fulfilled the Mighty Mo’s prophecy (Acts 3:22-23). Even the radical Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth saw Himself as a prophet (Mt 13:57; Lk 13:33). Over and over, Christ announced that He was simply passing along what His Dad wanted Him to say (Jn 7:16; 12:49). If you’re not sure of there’s a lower-case “p” prophet in your church, you can always be sure the the capital “P” Prophet is always in attendance. After all, it is His church!

Five hundred years before Jesus, God used the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to get His people back on track and back to work. He used prophets all throughout history to speak truth. They encouraged. They challenged. Sometimes people listened. Sometimes they didn’t. He continued to use prophets like John the Dunker in the New Testament. You can include John the Apostle on that prophetic list. If the book of Revelation isn’t prophecy, I’m not sure what is. God’s Spirit continues to gifts people to be prophets. But each and every one of these shine their prophetic light on THE Prophet, Jesus Christ. For tax purposes, the church is a non-profit organization. For ministry purposes, God’s people should be driven by prophets. But only when those prophets are driven by God.

A View from the Press Box

A football coach in the press box has a much different perspective than one on the sidelines. From field level, the coach can get a real feel for the speed of the game, the intensity of the play, and the mood of his players. But the view from up top allows the coach to see the formations of both teams, their overall strategy and the bigger trends of the game. Neither one is better. Both are essential in understanding the larger story of the contest. Here in Ezra 4:6-24, the author takes the elevator up the press box to give us a broader view of the historical perspective. But there’s an even wider point of view. Think of that as a looking down on the stadium from the blimp. When we step back even further with the fuller picture God gives us in Scripture, we see an even wider and more glorious panorama of His grace. When it comes to God and His Gospel, it’s all about perspective.

This section of the book is actually like a giant parenthetic comment. Don’t make the mistake of thinking verses 6-24 happen right here and right now in the text. No, Ezra describes events that go down about 50 years later. He wants us to know that the Israelites faced consistent and relentless opposition from the Samaritans in trying to resettle the Promised Land and rebuild the temple. He’s just painted the picture of the “adversaries of Judah and Benjamin” getting all hot and bothered when they hear the big party on the temple mount (Ez 4:1). They pull out every trick in their playbook of Samaritan sabotage in order to shut things down (Ez 4:2). Eventually they threaten and intimidate the Jews as well as grease the palms of various construction supervisors to grind the project to a halt (Ez 4:4-5). What started with such great promise and enthusiasm dies quickly with a whimper. Ezra inserts this section of Scripture to let us know this happened to God’s people over and over and over. 

Let’s be honest, this kind of resistance and hostility is still going on today. Everything from brutal violence by Isis to frustrations with local planning and zoning boards, the world continues to try to stand in the way of the kingdom of God. But we know that the love of Jesus eventually wins. If you’re not sure, you might want to read the end of the book. (And by “end of the book,” I don’t mean Ezra. I’m talking about the Bible. Don’t be afraid to jump to the exciting conclusion. You’re not going to ruin a cliffhanger. Spoiler alert: GOD WINS!) This is where I’m tempted to insert the phrase made infamous by the Borg in Star Trek: “Resistance is futile.” While that may be the case, Jesus isn’t looking for cyborgs in the collective. He’s loving each one of us to willingly follow and obey Him. And the Samaritans are no different. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s not quite take a ride in the blimp quite yet.

Ezra tells us how the Samaritans made whining and complaining about the Israelites a hobby during the reigns of both King Ahasuerus (v6) and King Artaxerxes (v7). These Persian dictators are the son and grandson of King Darius. It seems world domination is the family business. Ahasuerus is actually the Hebrew name for Xerxes. He ruled from 486-464 BC. You might remember him from such stories as the book of Esther and the movie “300.” He was the king that fell head over heels with Mordecai’s niece and came within an eyelash of beating Hitler to the punch on the Holocaust by several thousand years. If you saw the motion picture “300,” Xerxes is the warrior king that squares off with the Leonidas and the Spartans at Thermopylae. His boy Artaxerxes hopped onto the Persian throne from 464-423 BC. Ezra knows all about Darius’ grandson. We’ll see soon how it was this king who gives Ezra the royal stamp of approval for his role in the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Ez 7:13-28). Artaxerxes is also the same dude that Nehemiah works for as a cupbearer and throws the resources of the Persian crown behind his return to Promised Land as well (Neh 1:11-2:8). While these three generations of Persian kings will never be confused with Abraham Lincoln, God uses these three kings to play a huge role in His story. That’s a lot of historical info crammed into a small space, but hopefully it allows you to take a look at the entire playing field from the biblical press box.

Without going into meticulous detail on Ezra 4:6-24, here’s the bottom line. Most of the passage describes how Samaritan leaders wrote letters to Artaxerxes about the problems with the new neighbors. Kind of like griping to the HOA board about that new family in the cul-de-sac who park their RV in front of your house. They cook up a bunch of crazy accusations against the Israelites. They won’t pay their taxes. They’ll be a hotbed of rebellion. If the king lets this go on, he’s gonna be really sorry. Artaxerxes pushes the pause button the rebuilding project and the Jewish adversaries couldn’t wait to folks in Jerusalem, “Nanny nanny boo boo!” (Let’s just say that’s a fairly loose translation of this passage.) Down in verse 24, Ezra flashes back to the days of King Darius to say that this opposition has been going on a very long time. He lets us know that the Samaritans delayed the project this first time “until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia” (v24). That’s a 16-year shutdown if you’re scoring at home (Ez 4:5; Hag 1:1-15).

If that’s the view from the press box, let’s now take a look from the biblical blimp. The Samaritans continue to be a royal pain the Hebrew tail for hundreds of years. They hate the Jews and the Jews return the favor. Prejudice and bigotry would be kind words to describe the relationship between these two people groups. So you would think God wouldn't waste a moment in wiping the enemies of His people off the planet. But something funny happened. Jesus shows up. He tells a story about what it means to love like God and has the gall to make a Samaritan the hero (Lk 10:25-37). Christ stuns His own posse by not only traveling through the heart of enemy territory but having a conversation with a (gasp!) Samaritan divorcee (Jn 4:1-42)! Just before He heads home to heaven, Jesus tells His followers that once His Spirit falls on them, “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea an Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And before you can say “Great Commission,” God is welcoming in these former enemies into His kingdom (Acts 8:9-25). Bet you didn’t see that one coming back in Ezra!

What you and I need to remember is that we were just like the Samaritans. We were rebels and terrorists against the King of heaven. Despite shaking our fists at God, He reached out to us through Jesus. “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Rom 5:10). Instead of slaughtering His enemies, Jesus serves them. Instead of taking their lives, He gives His. We bring absolutely zilch to the table except our sin and rebellion. “But God shows His love for us in that while were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). He died for His enemies like the Samaritans. He died for rebels like you and me. While it’s important to get the view on the field, it’s vital to check out the perspective from the press box. And it’s even more critical to see things from the eye in the sky. When it comes to God and His Gospel, it’s all about perspective.

When the Going Gets Tough

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Legendary football coach Knute Rockne used these words to focus his team when their backs were against the wall. We’re all pretty good when things are easy. We’re all winners when life is going our way. We’re all superstars when the Big Mo is wearing our team’s jersey. But what happens when opposition rears its ugly head? What happens when things get hard? When the going gets tough, does the tough get going…in the opposite direction? That’s because resistance reveals resolve. Do I cut and run when I hit hostility? Do I allow the enemy to get me off my game plan? 

That’s exactly what happened to the children of God just when they were getting started rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Ezra 4:1-5 takes us to the Promised Land to witness Israelite enthusiasm turn to apathy. One minute they’re throwing the loudest party the land has ever seen (Ez 3:11, 13). They worship God for His goodness as they lay the foundation for Temple 2.0. The very next minute they’re discouraged, afraid, and frustrated thanks to Samaritan sabotage. 

The big worship shindig was so loud that “the sound was heard far away” (Ez 3:11, 13). It apparently got the attention of “the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin” (v1). The author makes it clear from the get-go that these folks are bad news. They are the enemy. They are the opposition. So who are these guys? They’re Samaritans. Let’s crank up the WABAC machine for a little history lesson. In 722 BC, the Assyrian superpower steamrolled the ten tribes of Jewish northern kingdom and hauled them off into captivity. They did just take them as slaves back to places like Nineveh but also shipped folks from other parts of their kingdom. Flip over to 2 Kings for a list of the folks the Assyrians sent to dilute those still in the land. “And the king of Assyria brought people form Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of of Samaria instead of the people of Israel” (2Ki 17:24). Eventually this stew of cultures and religions cook up some goofy pagan hybrid of worship that incorporates a little bit of this, a little bit of that, including a smidge of Jewish burnt offerings.

Almost 3,000 years later, this garbage is still going on. No, most of us aren’t building Asherah poles in our backyards or worshiping Baal in the basement. Folks who say they follow Jesus also sprinkle in a little bit New Age stuff here and little bit of Oprah over there. And we also worship such 21st century idols as cash, careers, cars, and kids while squeezing in just a little bit of time for Christ if we don’t feel like sleeping in on Sunday morning. Let’s be careful not to become modern day Samaritans.

After hearing the big throw-down on the temple mount, the Samaritans knew they had to do something to shut down this Jewish comeback. As Barney Fife would say, “Nip it. Nip it in the bud!” That’s when “they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to Him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here’” (v2). While this might sound all well and good, remember how Ezra describes them as “adversaries” in the previous verse (v1). Had they worshiped the same God as the Israelites? Well, if sort of. If you squint hard enough you could kinda, sorta come to that conclusion. But they also worshiped every other god and goddess like they were in some sort of Golden Corral buffet of dieties. Let’s face it, they were simply pretending to be all nicey-nice in order to execute the Samaritan sabotage.

The Z man and the rest of the Jewish leaders see right through their smarmy, Eddie Haskel-like approach. They shut the Samaritans down before they can say another word. “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us” (v3). Do you think Zerubbabel was being more than just a little bit rude to turn down the Samaritan offer to help? On top of not trusting their motives, he knew full well that it was because of idolatry that God sent His people into captivity in the first place (2Ki 17:18; 23:26-27). If Zerubbabel had anything to do with it, he would do everything in his power to keep it from happening again. Good leaders learn from history. 

But the Samaritans didn’t just shrug their shoulders and walk away to bother somebody else. “Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose” (v4). If they weren’t able to infiltrate the construction project from the inside, they had a few other tricks up their sleeve. They demoralized and deflated the Jews. They put fear in their hearts to put down their tools and stop building. They even greased the palms of the foremen and engineers on the job site to keep the project from ever getting off the ground. When the going got tough, the people got going…home.

And the Samaritan sabotage was successful. It lasted “all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia” (v5). Remember, this whole send-the-Jews-back-to-Jerusalem-to-rebuild-the-temple-so-they-can-worship-God thing started with King Cyrus. God stirred his heart to get behind this project (Ez 1:1-4). But after local opposition bullied and bribed the reconstruction to a halt, nobody lifted a hammer or pushed a wheelbarrow for 16 years. It wasn’t until God used the prophet Haggai to remind His people that He was backing their effort that they got back to work (Hag 1:12-15).

So is this some sort of hang-in-there-you-can-do-it pep talk using the Jewish people as the bad example? Let’s face it, we’ve all heard messages from the Old Testament like that before. But we need to keep in mind that the entire Bible is about Jesus. He said so Himself (Jn 5:39, 46). We find encouragement here in the fact that our Savior didn’t waver in the face of satanic sabotage. Christ never wavered when His Father set the cross before Him (Lk 22:42). He saw His mission through to the end until it was absolutely and completely finished (Jn 19:30). We can be very thankful that when the going got tough, Jesus got going. 

When the going got tough, the Tough got going.