Thwarted

Ezra 4:7-24

⁷ In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. ⁸ Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: ⁹ Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰ and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. ¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹² be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³ Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴ Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵ in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶ We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.” ¹⁷ The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸ the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. ¹⁹ And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰ And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹ Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²² And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”²³ Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴ Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Zerubbabel and Ezra were approached by those living in the area of Jerusalem and told to stop rebuilding the city. That request was denied and so the story is reported to the king. These guys are not messing around and they go straight to the top. They claim that the Judeans will rebuild Jerusalem and stop paying taxes to the king. The charges are baseless – or at the very least based on the distant past – and the king responds in their favor. The work of rebuilding is stopped.

The men who wrote the king were using the current political situation at the time (rebellion in Egypt) to influence the king and cause his fear to move circumstances in their direction. Even as I read this story I thought about all the news stories we hear today and how they are manipulated to color our perceptions of the world. Truth has always been difficult to come by.

What we know on this side of history is that God is far less interested in earthly kingdoms and deeply committed to His Eternal Kingdom. Despite the maneuverings of those who would fight for power, God’s plans are still perfect and are still in place. Even though these men succeed in getting the rebuilding of Jerusalem stopped for the moment, it is not a permanent stoppage (spoiler alert). God’s plan still goes forth. And His timing is perfect. I’m sure that Zerubbabel was deeply saddened by the delays in rebuilding but God was not worried about the details. All of His plan was still firmly in place. When our lives seem to spin out of control, we do well to remember that.