Bird's-eye view
In this brief but potent narrative, we see the intersection of three crucial realities for the people of God in any age: faithful work, hostile inquiry, and divine oversight. The Jews have recommenced the work on the Temple, spurred on by the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, and immediately the local authorities show up to ask the perennial question of the statist: "Who gave you permission?" This is the standard procedure for every petty bureaucrat who sees unauthorized obedience to God as a threat to his own little fiefdom. But the response of the Jews, and the ultimate reason the work is not halted, reveals the central point. They answer the question forthrightly, but the ultimate security for their project is not found in their paperwork, but in the fact that "the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews." This is a textbook case of God's special providence. While the gears of imperial bureaucracy grind slowly, the work of God's kingdom advances under His watchful and protective gaze. It is a story of courage in the face of questioning and confidence in the face of opposition, all grounded in the sovereignty of God.
This passage serves as a microcosm of the Christian life. We are called to build. The world, in its various official capacities, will inevitably come and demand to see our permits. Our response should be one of sober, respectful honesty, but our confidence must not be in the cleverness of our answers or the airtight nature of our legal standing. Our confidence is that the eye of our God is upon us. He is the one who governs the hearts of kings and governors, and He is the one who will see His project through to completion.
Outline
- 1. The Confrontation of the Builders (Ezra 5:3-5)
- a. The Official Inquiry (Ezra 5:3)
- b. The Forthright Response (Ezra 5:4)
- c. The Divine Restraint (Ezra 5:5)
Context In Ezra
This incident occurs after a significant hiatus in the rebuilding of the Temple. The work had begun with great enthusiasm after the initial decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1), but fierce opposition from the Samaritans had successfully discouraged the people and brought the project to a halt through political maneuvering during the reign of a subsequent king (Ezra 4). The land had lain fallow, and the people had turned to paneling their own houses while God's house remained in ruins. It took the sharp prophetic ministry of Haggai and Zechariah to rouse the governor Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua from their stupor and call the people back to their primary task (Ezra 5:1-2). So, the confrontation described here in verses 3-5 is the immediate consequence of this renewed obedience. The moment God's people get back to work, the enemy takes notice. This is not a sign that they are doing something wrong; it is a sign that they are finally doing something right.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Legitimate Authority
- Obedience to God vs. Man
- God's Active Providence in Politics
- Courage in the Face of Opposition
- The Relationship Between Prophetic Preaching and Practical Action
The Eye of Providence
The linchpin of this entire passage, and indeed a central theme of Ezra and Nehemiah, is the statement that "the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews." This is not sentimental poetry. This is hard-nosed, geopolitical theology. The God of Heaven and Earth is not a deistic clockmaker who wound up the world and then went on vacation. He is intimately and actively involved in the nitty-gritty of human affairs, especially the affairs of His covenant people. His "eye" signifies His watchful care, His active knowledge, His protective oversight, and His sovereign purpose.
We must distinguish between God's general providence, by which He upholds all things, and His special providence, where He makes His hand evident in a particular way for the good of His people. This was a moment of special providence. Tattenai the governor was not restrained by a newfound respect for religious liberty. He was restrained by the God who governs all men. God did not send a legion of angels with flaming swords to stand between the workers and the officials. He simply worked in the heart and mind of Tattenai to ensure that the proper, and much slower, bureaucratic channels were followed. God can use a pagan governor's respect for due process just as easily as He can part a sea. The result was that the work continued, which was God's intention all along. This is how our God works. He doesn't just govern the lightning bolts; He governs the paperwork.
Verse by Verse Commentary
3 At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them thus, “Who issued you a decree to rebuild this house and to complete this structure?”
As soon as the hammers start ringing again, the authorities show up. Tattenai is the Persian governor of the entire region west of the Euphrates, a man of significant power. He and his associates arrive on the scene, and their question is entirely predictable. "Who gave you permission?" This is the question that worldly authority always asks of spiritual authority. It assumes that all authority must flow from a human source, legitimized by a human government. They see a building project, and they want to see the building permit, signed and sealed by a recognized human king. The question itself is a challenge. It implicitly denies that there could be a higher decree, a mandate from the King of Heaven, that requires no countersignature from a petty official.
4 Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were rebuilding this building.
There is some textual discussion here about whether the "we" refers to the Jews telling the officials, or whether the text means "they," the officials, asked for the names. But the sense is straightforward either way. The Jews did not dissemble. They did not hide. When asked who was in charge, they gave a straight answer. They provided the names of the men responsible. This is a mark of integrity. They were not engaged in a subversive, black-ops mission. They were openly and publicly obeying their God. They stood behind their work and were willing to have their names attached to it. This is courage. It is one thing to work when no one is watching; it is another thing entirely to keep working when a powerful governor is standing there with a notepad, taking down your name for his official report. They did not know what Darius would do, but they knew what God had commanded, and so they put their names on the line.
5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until a report could come to Darius, and then a document be returned concerning this.
This is the divine commentary on the entire event. Here is the real reason the work did not stop. It was not because Tattenai was a particularly reasonable man, nor was it because the Jews had a clever legal strategy. The work continued because the eye of God was on them. This divine gaze had a direct, practical, political effect: the officials "did not stop them." A pagan governor was providentially constrained from issuing a cease and desist order. Why? Because God was watching. God's gaze is not passive. It is an active, governing, ruling reality. He determined that the proper course was for Tattenai to write a letter to King Darius to check the imperial archives. This course of action, which to a bureaucrat seemed like simple due diligence, was in fact God's ordained means of protecting His people and vindicating their work. The delay of bureaucracy became the instrument of God's deliverance. While the letter traveled to the capital and the scribes searched the records, the sound of hammers and saws continued to fill the air in Jerusalem. God's kingdom does not wait for the world's permission slips.
Application
This short account from Ezra is packed with application for Christians today. We too are called to a great building project, the construction of the Church, the household of God. And as we go about this work, we should expect the Tattenais of our world to show up and ask by what authority we are doing these things. They will want to know by what authority we teach our children at home, by what authority we preach a gospel that claims all other gods are false, by what authority we define marriage in a way that contradicts the state's definition.
Our first response should be like that of the elders of Judah: give a straight answer. We should not be ashamed of the names of those leading the work, nor of the name of the One who commissioned the work. We are not to be squirrely or deceptive. We are to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves, which means we speak the truth plainly and without apology.
But our ultimate confidence must not rest in our ability to win the argument in the public square or in the courts. Our ultimate confidence must be here, in this fifth verse. The eye of our God is upon us. He sees our work. He knows the plans of those who oppose us. And He is perfectly capable of restraining them, of tangling them up in their own red tape, and of ensuring that His work continues until He declares it finished. Whether He is parting a sea or prompting a bureaucrat to file a report instead of issuing a fine, the hand of our God is at work. Therefore, we should not be spooked by official inquiries. We should answer them respectfully, and then, with our trust firmly in the watchful eye of our Father, we should pick up our hammers and get back to work.