At first glance the text we are studying is a little bit confusing with all its hard to pronounce names and even more confusing is the date range that is embedded within all the names of the kings that are mentioned. Look at the text real quick…

EZRA 4:6 – 24

6And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. 7In 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. 8Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: 9Rehum 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, 10and 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 12be 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. 13Now 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. 14Now 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, 15in 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. 16We 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.” 17The 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 18the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. 19And 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. 20And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21Therefore make a decree that men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king? 23Then, 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. 24Then 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.

A quick glance at the chapter reveals the names of four kings: King Cyrus (v. 5), King Darius (vv. 5; 24), King Ahasuerus (v. 6), and King Artaxerxes (vv. 7 – 23). The reign of these four kings covers a period of time that is almost a century in length (which is significantly longer than it took to rebuild the temple).2 So what is going on with this story?

I think it is helpful to look at the story from the beginning: God speaks to and through a pagan king; God sets the captives free (CH. 2); Israel rebuilds the altar (3:1 – 6); Israel begins rebuilding the temple (3:7 – 13); Israel stops rebuilding the temple because of opposition (4:1 – 5); and in our current passage, we catch a glimpse of just how bad the opposition really was and how long the opposition lasted (4:6 – 24). It is almost as though Ezra presses pause on the blow-by-blow action of the narrative at 4:5, takes a century long detour in 4:6 – 23, and then comes right back to the action in 4:24.3

So, why does Ezra go through the trouble of inserting a century of history into this chapter? As much as I want to jump to answer that question right now, I think it is important to drill down into the text first so that we can answer that question in light of the text. In other words, let’s answer the “what” of the text before we answer the “why” of the text.

#1: WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE TEXT?

Last week I talked about our old adversary, our enemy, the devil. He is a roaring lion who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the work of God in believers (Jn. 10:10; James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8). He is the accuser of the saved and he works overtime, day, and night, to undermine the power of God in our lives (Rev. 12:10).

Oftentimes he works through other evil human agents to subtly befriend us so he can knock us off our game and if that does not work, he levels an all-out double barrel assault on us to discourage the work that God wants to do, in and through us (Ezra 4:1 – 5).

The text in front of us is simply a pause in the action of the history that Ezra is recounting; he pauses the blow-by-blow and shifts into a look forward over the next century to describe the extent of the opposition that lies ahead for Israel.

We must never underestimate the extent the enemy will go to just to destroy the work of God in and through us but at the same time, as we rightly estimate the extent the enemy will go to, we must also never underestimate the power of God when we are facing the enemy’s opposition.

So, what’s happening in the text? What extent does the enemy go to just to stop the work of God in and through Israel?

First, we must notice that there are three letters of accusation mentioned in our text.5 The first letter is written during the reign of Ahasuerus who is King Xerxes from the book of Esther (v. 6); another letter of accusation is written by three men, Bishlam and Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates during the reign of Artaxerxes (v. 7); and the third letter is written to the same King Artaxerxes by Rehum and Shimshai (vv. 8 – 16). All in all we can see how the enemy loves to use words to wound and weaken God’s people.

Ezra chooses the third letter to illustrate the extent of the enemy’s accusations and we should note the size of the enemy (vv. 9 – 10); the pervasiveness of the accusations (vv. 13 – 16); and the flattering and deceptive nature of the enemy (vv. 11 – 16). The enemy definitely knows how to use his words to wound and weaken and intimidate the people of God.

Notice how the enemy uses their words to cause Israel to believe that everyone, even other surrounding nations, are opposed to the; they are completely alone and unwanted. Notice how the enemy uses their words to flatter the king with friendly words as they spread lies about Israel’s intentions to somehow rebel against the king; the enemy is literally accusing Israel before the throne of the most powerful human in the world.

The words of the enemy in this letter (along with the other letters) did the trick and the king ruled in favor of the enemy and the building of the temple came to a screeching halt (vv. 17 – 24). The work of God comes to a standstill because the words of the enemy wounded, weakened and intimidated God’s people. Where do you feel this in your life right now? Where do you feel the words of the enemy? In what ways has the enemy used his words to wound, weaken and intimidate you?

#2: WHY DOES THIS STORY MATTER?

Why does Ezra insert a century of history into the narrative at this point? Again, I think Ezra is painting the picture of the next century of opposition so that he can unveil the fact that God’s enemy will stop at nothing to oppose God, and he will continue to oppose God long into the future as he attempts to stop the building of the Kingdom through flattery and outright deception.

While it may true that Israel underestimated the size and the scope of the enemy’s campaign against them, they definitely underestimated the power of God as they turned away from what God had called them to do; they underestimated the power of God in the face of the enemy’s words.6

When was the last time you underestimated the power and providence of God? If it is true that the Christian life is full of conflict and opposition, then it is also true that we live in a world of estimation and evaluation.

We must estimate and evaluate every step we take on the Christian journey; we cannot live life full steam ahead without counting the cost of our calling (the cost of carrying our crosses). But if we underestimate the power and providence of our God, we will experience seasons of stunted growth just like the Israelites in our text.

Underestimating our God is as common as getting dressed in the morning. We see the shortage in our bank accounts, so we cut back on our giving because we underestimate the power of God to provide, and the result is malnourished faith.

We feel the years of loneliness in singleness, so we look for love in all the wrong places (elicit relationships, pornography, etc.) because we underestimate the power of God’s presence, and the result is a constant desire to escape through addiction rather than finding comfort in the arms of Christ.

We experience the years of fighting against temptation and sin and sometimes we underestimate the power and providence of God in our salvation so we give into momentary pleasures, believing that there are no long term effects lying ahead.

This really is the problem that Israel faced in our text today; Israel had underestimated the power and providence of God in the face of the enemy’s opposition, the words of the enemy had wounded, weakened and intimidated the people of God, and the result is that God’s restoration plan came to a screeching halt for about seventeen years.7

CONCLUSION…

I often wonder, if hindsight is twenty-twenty, then would some kind of foresight be helpful to me? In other words, if I could see the damage and long-term effects of my choices, would I remain steady and unwavering in the face of opposition? If I knew that my decisions to underestimate the power and providence of God twenty some years ago would affect not just my life now but also my children’s lives now, would I have chosen differently?

Only God knows what I would have done twenty some years ago. But I do know this, it never hurts to learn from history and history often has a sanctifying (or transforming effect) on my life right now. I also know that despite the Israelites’ decision to underestimate the power of God, God’s plan of redemption moved forward uninhibited.

Jesus still comes. Jesus still lives the perfect life that I could not. Jesus still displays the awesome power of God not only in his life but in his death and his resurrection and his ascension and his promised return. Israel may have failed to build the temple with courage, and I may have failed and probably will fail some more at courageously remaining steady in the face of the enemy’s words.

But Jesus never failed. Jesus is still building his church (God’s earthly temple) with the broken but redeemed lives of saints like you and me. The bloody cross is our redemption, the empty tomb is our power and the promise of heaven is our hope.

Never underestimate the power of God in the crucified, risen and returning Christ, my friends. At the name of Jesus our enemy shivers in fear because the anthem is true that at the return of Christ every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords; the sting of death will be quenched forever and the accusing voice of our old adversary the devil will be silenced for all of eternity! – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Derek W. H. Thomas, Ezra and Nehemiah: Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2016), 58 – 59.

3 Derek Kidner, Ezra and Nehemiah: An Introduction And Commentary, (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979), 48.

4 Ibid., 50.

5 Ibid., 50 – 51.

6 Ibid., 50.

7 Derek W. H. Thomas, Ezra and Nehemiah: Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2016), 59.