Bird's-eye view
This short passage in Ezra 4 marks the first significant opposition to the rebuilding of the temple, and it sets a pattern for the kind of spiritual warfare God's people will always face when they set their hands to do His work. The moment the foundation is laid and the work begins in earnest, the adversaries appear. Their first tactic is not open warfare, but subtle infiltration and compromise. They approach with an offer of help, claiming to worship the same God. This is the serpent's tactic of co-option. When this pious-sounding offer is wisely and courageously rejected by the leaders of Israel, the enemy's true colors are shown. The subtle offer of friendship immediately turns into overt hostility, discouragement, and political obstruction. This section teaches us that the antithesis between the covenant people and the world is real, and that faithful leadership requires the discernment to say no to unholy alliances, no matter how helpful they may seem.
The conflict described here is not merely a local dispute over a construction project. It is a chapter in the long war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The rebuilding of the temple was a crucial step in redemptive history, preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah. The enemy, therefore, musters his forces to stop it. The initial offer to "help" is a classic strategy to corrupt the project from within, to introduce syncretism and pollute the worship of the one true God. Zerubbabel's firm rejection is a model of faithfulness. The subsequent opposition, lasting for years, is a reminder that obedience to God often results in long, grinding trials. The work of God is always opposed, first by guile, and then by force.
Outline
- 1. The Enemy's Two-Pronged Attack (Ezra 4:1-5)
- a. The Attack of Deceptive Friendship (Ezra 4:1-2)
- b. The Rejection of Unholy Alliance (Ezra 4:3)
- c. The Attack of Open Hostility (Ezra 4:4-5)
Context In Ezra
Ezra chapter 4 follows the glorious account of the exiles' return and the beginning of the temple's reconstruction in chapter 3. The altar has been rebuilt, sacrifices have been reinstituted, the Feast of Booths has been celebrated, and the foundation of the temple has been laid with great joy and weeping. Everything seems to be moving forward in a wave of revival and obedience. Chapter 4 immediately introduces the conflict that this faithfulness provokes. The chapter itself has a unique structure, as the author, after introducing the initial opposition (vv. 1-5), provides a series of later examples of Samaritan opposition from the reigns of Ahasuerus (Xerxes) and Artaxerxes (vv. 6-23) before returning to the original timeline in the reign of Darius (v. 24). This thematic arrangement serves to show the reader that the opposition begun here was persistent and multi-generational. The events of verses 1-5 are the first shots fired in a long and bitter conflict over the house of God.
Key Issues
- The Identity of the "Adversaries" (Samaritans)
- Syncretism and the Purity of Worship
- The Nature of Spiritual Warfare: Deception and Intimidation
- The Necessity of Principled Separation
- Political Opposition to God's Work
The Serpent's Trowel
Whenever God's people begin to build, the devil shows up with his own crew. But he rarely shows up with horns and a pitchfork, at least not at first. His initial approach is often much more subtle. He shows up with a trowel and a smile, offering to help. "Let us build with you," the adversaries say, "for we, like you, seek your God." This is the language of compromise, of ecumenical unity at the expense of biblical truth. It is the offer to build a bridge to the world, which always results in the church moving toward the world, and not the other way around.
These adversaries were the Samaritans, a mixed people resulting from the Assyrian policy of transplanting populations. They were pagans who had incorporated the worship of Yahweh into their pantheon of other gods. Theirs was a syncretistic religion, a spiritual mutt. To allow them to participate in building the temple would be to declare that the God of Israel was just one god among many, and that purity of doctrine and worship did not matter. It would have been to pollute the entire project from the foundation up. Zerubbabel and Jeshua understood that the serpent's trowel is just as dangerous as his sword, and perhaps more so.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 Then the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel,
The work of God does not go unnoticed. The moment something is actually being done for the kingdom, the opposition takes note. These are identified as the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. The Bible does not mince words. These are not well-intentioned neighbors with a different perspective; they are enemies. Their opposition is directed at the covenant people, specifically identified as Judah and Benjamin, the core of the southern kingdom from which the Messiah would come. And the project they oppose is the building of a temple to Yahweh, the God of Israel. This name is crucial. The returning exiles are not building a generic temple to a generic god; they are re-establishing the exclusive worship of the one true covenant Lord. This exclusivity is precisely what provokes the animosity.
2 so they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.”
Here is the first tactic: the appeal to common ground. They approach the leadership, Zerubbabel the governor and the heads of the clans. Their proposal sounds reasonable, even pious. "Let us build with you." Why? "For we, like you, seek your God." This was a lie wrapped in a half-truth. They did seek Yahweh, but not as the only God. They sought Him alongside their other deities (2 Kings 17:24-41). Their claim to have been sacrificing since the days of Esarhaddon was historically true, but it was an admission of their polluted origins, not a credential for participation. They were essentially saying, "We have been practicing our corrupt, syncretistic religion for a long time, so you should let us join you." It was an offer to contaminate the pure worship of God with their paganism. This is the temptation of a false unity.
3 But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to Yahweh, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”
The response of the Jewish leaders is a model of spiritual discernment and courage. It is blunt, clear, and uncompromising. "You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God." This is the principle of the antithesis. There is a fundamental divide between those who are in covenant with God and those who are not. There can be no partnership in the sacred work of worship between believers and idolaters. This was not rudeness; it was faithfulness. They then assert their exclusive right and responsibility: we ourselves will together build. The work belongs to the covenant community alone. And they wisely ground their rejection not just in theology, but in law. They are acting under the explicit command of King Cyrus. This was a shrewd political move, reminding the adversaries that the Jews had the backing of the empire. They were refusing an unholy alliance by appealing to a lawful authority.
4 So the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and dismayed them from building,
When the mask of friendship is removed, the face of hostility is revealed. The adversaries' true intentions become clear. Since they could not corrupt the work from within, they would seek to crush it from without. The "people of the land," a term often used for those outside the covenant community, immediately began a campaign of psychological warfare. They sought to discourage and dismay the builders. This is a potent weapon. Building projects, especially the Lord's work, run on faith and morale. The enemy knows that if he can sow fear, doubt, and weariness, the hands of the builders will grow weak and the work will stop. And for a time, it was tragically effective.
5 and hired counselors against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The opposition moved from psychological intimidation to political and legal obstruction. They hired counselors, likely lobbyists or lawyers, to work against the Jews at the Persian court. Their goal was to "frustrate their counsel," to tie them up in bureaucratic red tape and reverse the favorable decree of Cyrus. This demonstrates the calculated and persistent nature of the opposition. It was not a momentary flash of anger; it was a long-term, well-funded campaign of attrition. And it worked. The text tells us this continued for two entire reigns, from Cyrus to Darius, a period of about fifteen years. The work on the temple ground to a halt because of this satanic opposition, and it would take the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to get it started again.
Application
The church is a temple-building people. We are not working with literal stone and mortar, but with living stones, building a spiritual house for the Lord (1 Pet. 2:5). And the lesson of Ezra 4 is that whenever we set our hands to this task, we will face adversaries. The enemy's tactics have not changed in two and a half millennia.
First, he will come with an offer of partnership. The world will offer to "help" the church, provided the church is willing to soften its exclusive claims about Christ, dilute its moral standards, and adopt the world's vocabulary and priorities. The temptation is always to form unholy alliances for the sake of cultural relevance or worldly success. Like Zerubbabel, the church must have the discernment to say, "You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God." Our power does not come from worldly partnerships, but from the Spirit of God and the authority of our King.
Second, when we refuse to compromise, we must expect open hostility. The world's friendly mask will come off, and we will be accused of being narrow, intolerant, and unloving. We will face discouragement from without and dismay from within. The world will use its power, whether cultural or political, to "frustrate our counsel" and hinder our work. In such times, we must not lose heart. We must remember that this opposition is a sign that we are being faithful. The world does not oppose a church that it has successfully co-opted. We must persevere in the work, trusting that the God who commanded us to build is more powerful than any adversary who tries to stop us.