00A.04 Ezra 4
Ezra 4:1-24 When positive work goes on, the opposition of the enemy will never be lacking. At first sight, one wonders why these people are called ’the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin’ (Ezra 4:1). They seem rather friendly and supportive: ’Let us build with you; for we seek your God, as ye do’ (Ezra 4:2). What more could one wish?
However, their next phrase betrays them: ’and we do sacrifice unto him, since the days of Esar-Haddon, king of Assur, which brought us up hither’. A comparison with 2 Kings 17:1-41 will show what had happened. The 10 tribes had been deported to Assyria, and the king of Assyria repopulated the land of Samaria with people from Assyria. But God sent lions who killed some of these people. Having taken advice, the king of Assyria sent them a priest to instruct them in Jewish ways, hoping to appease the God of Israel. The result was a strange mixture of the divinely established worship and idolatry. The kind offer therefore had to be rejected, and so it was. Now the adversaries drop their friendly mask and start ’weakening’ and ’troubling’ those who were building. They hired counsellors against them, and this went on during the reign of three Persian kings: Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Darius (Ezra 4:5-6). In other words, there was constant opposition.
Until today, the work of God must be done by the people of God. If the world offers co-operation we have to refuse. If we do, then those who made the offer will soon show their true colours. But if we don’t we will soon spoil the work. We end up being governed by the world’s principles in the work we wanted to do for God.
Incidentally: I recently heard of a group of Christians who were offered money from the local Council for their ’good work’. They gladly accepted the contribution. A little later the Council informed them that, to remain eligible for this ’grant’ they would have to consent to the Council’s policy regarding "same sex marriages". They quickly learned., and returned the grant. In a measure, the same principle applies to co-operation with believers who do not gather according to Scripture and with whom we cannot have fellowship in the Lord’s Supper. If I cannot have fellowship in the Lord’s Supper, can I really co-operate with them without running a serious risk of having to compromise the message I bring? The remainder of the chapter is tragic. We learn that one of these many attacks was fruitful. During the reign of Ahasuerus, a letter is written against the Jews and Jerusalem. As it happens, some negative evidence is found and adduced against them. Now the enemies had full authority, and they used it. They ’made them to cease by force and power’ (Ezra 4:23). The consequence was fatal: ’then ceased the work .’ (Ezra 4:24).