Ezra 4:6-7 – Expect opposition to our faith

The drift of Ezra 4 sets out to relate the opposition that the Jews who returned from their Babylonian exile had to face. What we read in this account seems to happen not in the times of Zerubbabel. What is presented here in Ezra is not a chronological account. The information was taken from other sources and put together here under the supervision of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Author.

The names of the different kings mentioned can be confounding if one tries to see the account chronologically. Looking at Ezra 4:6-7, two obvious questions would be: who is King Ahasuerus? Who is King Artaxerxes? King Ahasuerus also known as Xerxes I was the king who was also mentioned in the book of Esther. In that book, he was seen to have favored the Jews and used by God to preserve the Jews from the plot of the wicked Haman. King Ahasuerus took Esther as his queen.  God then used Esther as an instrument to save the Jews from being annihilated. It was to this king that an accusation was made against the Jews who returned to Jerusalem.   

 

Artaxerxes is also known as Artaxerxes I. He was the Persian king reigning during the rebuilding of the temple and eventually also the wall of Jerusalem by the returnees under the leadership of Nehemiah. The letter written by the opposers of the Jews to him, mentioned in Ezra 4:7 was a complaint about rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. This will be clearer in the book of Nehemiah. By the time the letter was written and sent, the temple was already completed. However, the opposers of the Jews still did manage to discourage the Jews, disrupting the rebuilding of the temple. For a time the rebuilding of the temple was slowed down until the prophets Haggai and Zechariah motivated them to finish what they had started.

 

Like those people of God who returned to restore the work of God, we who have been enlisted by the Lord into God’s Kingdom program should also expect some obstacles. The work of God had never and will never be without opposition. They will come in the form of criticism, sarcasm, insults, threats, and such. We must anticipate opposition, but we need not succumb to them or feel intimidated. The whole list of the heroes in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11 serves as a call to us to remain resilient in times of trials and opposition.

 

First Peter 4:12-13 urged us saying,  “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange things were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” And James 1:2-4 said that we must “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  Trials will mature and complete us when we endure them. So we must face trials with a joyful attitude, trusting that through them God is maturing us.