And the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building the temple to Jehovah the God of Israel;
The builders had just laid the temple foundation when men arrived offering to help. The verse names them before they speak: they are adversaries, and God's people must learn to spot an enemy who talks like a friend.
Dennett links this moment with what Paul met later.
No sooner had the foundation of the temple been laid than adversaries appeared on the scene. It was so also in New Testament times. Wherever the apostle went and laid the foundation of the assembly, the enemy stirred into action… But as with Paul, so also with Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the enemy took on the appearance of friendship.
Their own words in verse 2 give them away. They claim to have sacrificed to God "since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria."
The adversaries were the Samaritans… These words revealed their true origin. They were a mixed race settled by heathen kings in the conquered territory of the house of Israel, the ten tribes. We find their history in 2 Kings 17:24. The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in Samaria… One of the captive priests taught them at Bethel the corrupt worship which had ruined the ten tribes.
Rossier reads the word "adversaries" in verse 1 as God's own name for them:
Here God describes the instruments of Satan with this word: "the adversaries of Judah" (v. 1)… The second book of Kings tells us about the religious state of these nations. They kept their gods. At the same time they acknowledged the God of Israel. In the language of the Bible, "these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images" (2 Kings 17:41).
The verse settles their character before we hear a word from them.
The reader is not left in doubt for a single moment about the character of these would-be helpers of God's people in their work. The Holy Spirit tells us plainly that they were "the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin," although words of peace were on their lips. He knew their hearts, their aims and ends. And indeed they give themselves away in the very words they use… By their own confession they were Assyrians, not children of Abraham, with no claim to belong to Israel. They were, in fact, the ancestors of the Samaritans, who kept trying to push into the place of privilege and blessing. That is why the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans… From this incident we may learn the source of one of the gravest dangers in the work of the Lord. The kisses of an enemy are both deceitful and dangerous, though it seems so ungracious to refuse the offered help of professed friends.
In verse 3 the exiles turned the offer down. Rossier asks what such helpers could bring to the house of God.
These people came from an idolatrous mixture. They offer to build together with the people, but what materials could they bring to the house of God?… Do God's people today understand that His work cannot allow any mixture with the world in those He entrusts with it?… In speaking this way, the remnant show no spiritual pride. They admit that they are under the king of the Gentiles because they had been unfaithful. But they have understood that they alone are called to this work.
Once turned down, the same men dropped the mask. Rossier names the two forms the enemy takes.
The enemy had presented himself as a friend. This called for special watchfulness and caution. But once refused, these men soon show their true character openly… The people had been firm. They had resisted the tricks and cunning that belong to the ancient serpent. But they become frightened when the adversary appears as a roaring lion. They forget that their enemy is a defeated enemy, and that he would have fled from anyone who stood up to him.
Mackintosh gives the ground for such a refusal, and the names it earns.
A child of God should refuse to be yoked with an unbeliever. This holds at home, in business, or in religion. He refuses simply because God tells him to be separate, and not because of his own personal holiness… People will call it intolerance, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, exclusiveness, and the like. But we cannot help all this… No doubt the remnant in the days of Ezra must have looked very intolerant when they refused the help of the surrounding people in building the house of God. But they acted on a divine principle in that refusal.
- Foundation — work for God draws opposition as soon as it starts. The foundation went down, and the adversaries appeared.
- Flattery — the first attack came as an offer to help. An enemy is far more dangerous as a friend than as a foe.
- Fingerprints — their own words gave them away. They feared the LORD and served their idols at the same time.
- Firmness — the refusal was obedience, not pride. God's people stay separate because God says so, not because they are better.
- Force — flattery refused turns into open attack. They stood up to the serpent, then feared the lion — forgetting he was already beaten.
and they came to Zerubbabel and to the chief fathers, and said to them, We would build with you; for we seek your God, as ye; and we have sacrificed to him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up hither.
The builders had just laid the foundation of the temple. Then neighbours arrived with a warm religious offer: they worshipped the same God, and had been sacrificing to Him for generations. Scripture has already told us who these men are. So why was such a reasonable offer refused?
Verse 1 calls these men adversaries. Verse 2 puts friendly words in their mouths. One writer traces the refusal back to grace, not to suspicion:
They argued for their claim by saying that they called on God as the Jews did. They had also sacrificed to Him since Esarhaddon brought them into the land. This was not enmity. Why turn away such a desire? The Spirit of God calls them the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. The people of God — the assembly of God — should know their own special privileges. They should know that they are the assembly of the Lord. The Lord loved Judah and Benjamin. All the blessing they received flowed from His grace towards them. They were bound to recognise that grace fully. Not to recognise it was to despise it.
Their claim to seek the same God sounds unanswerable. But the next clause dates their worship from the day a foreign king moved them into the land:
However, their next phrase gives them away: "and we have been sacrificing to Him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here." A comparison with 2 Kings 17 will show what had happened. Assyria had deported the ten tribes, and its king repopulated the land of Samaria with people from Assyria. But God sent lions who killed some of these people. So the king took advice. He sent them a priest to teach them Jewish ways, hoping to appease the God of Israel. The result was a strange mixture of the worship God had established and idolatry.
That blend of true and false worship is not a curiosity of ancient history. One writer sees the same pattern wherever religion keeps God's name while keeping the world too:
You could not call this mixture pure idolatry. It makes us think of the blend people call Christendom, in whatever form it appears... where the worship of the true God stands side by side with the moral darkness of the world, and where what people claim to be has no connection with what ought to mark out the people of God.
One writer pictures how the offer must have looked to the builders:
How kind it seemed! How fair! Now at least, instead of the old antagonism, their neighbours were going to be so friendly — to help them build, and to worship and serve the same Lord as they did!
The refusal showed what the offer really was. The friendly neighbours turned into open opponents, and the builders who stood up to the flattery gave way to the threats:
The enemy had presented himself as a friend; this called for special watchfulness and caution. But these men, once rejected, very soon show their true character openly: "Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose." The people had been firm. They had resisted the tricks and cunning of the ancient serpent. But they become frightened when the adversary appears as a roaring lion.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua answered by pointing to Cyrus's command. One writer asks why a foreign king had to be mentioned at all:
No doubt it was a state of weakness, a state of humiliation — for why mention king Cyrus? What had he to do with it? What a strange position, that he should be commanding Israel! But so it was... They owed their protection and whatever good government they enjoyed to the powers of that day. Even so, they held strictly to the word of God about the special place of Israel... Never was there a deeper sense in Israel of Israel's special place than when they were this low and feeble.
One writer brings the same refusal into the work of God today:
To this day, the people of God must do the work of God. If the world offers cooperation 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. The world's principles end up ruling the work we wanted to do for God.
- Named first. Scripture calls the speakers adversaries before they open their mouths. The verdict comes from God, not from the builders' instincts.
- Betrayed by their own sentence. Their own words tied their worship to the day a foreign king moved them in. Their religion mixed true worship with idolatry.
- Kindness as the weapon. The offer looked like the end of old hostility and the arrival of help. The enemy had come dressed as a friend.
- Refusal unmasks. Once refused, the friends became open opponents. They discouraged, frightened and bribed. The builders stood up to the tricks, but not to the threats.
- Weakness is no excuse. Humbled under a foreign king, they still held the special place God's grace had given them. The work of God still belongs to the people of God.
But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the chief fathers of Israel said to them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we alone will build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as king Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.
Work on God's house in Jerusalem had only just begun. Neighbours offered to help, and the leaders of the returned exiles said no. How can it be right to turn away people who say they seek the same God? What gave Zerubbabel and Jeshua the right to say we alone?
The offer sounded reasonable. Nothing in it looked hostile. One writer asks that same question, then answers it from the name Scripture gives these men:
They claimed that they called on God as the Jews did. They said they had sacrificed to Him ever since Esarhaddon brought them into the land. This was not open hostility. Why turn such a desire away? The Spirit of God calls them the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin. The people of God — the assembly of God — ought to know their own distinct privileges. They ought to know that they are the assembly of the Lord.
Their claim was meant to prove they were kin. It proved the opposite.
They say, "We have been sacrificing to Him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here." In this way they revealed their true origin. By their own confession they were not the children of Abraham but Assyrians. So they had no claim to be of the children of Israel. These were in fact the fathers of the Samaritans (see 2 Kings 17:24-41), who kept trying to force their way into the place of privilege and blessing. That, and the strife it caused, is why the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. We can learn from this incident where one of the gravest dangers in the Lord's work comes from. The kisses of an enemy are both deceitful and dangerous. Yet it seems so ungracious to refuse help offered by people who claim to be friends.
Refusing a friendly offer takes judgment. An earlier generation had failed this test. The Gibeonites tricked Joshua by dressing as travellers from far away.
We must take care how we judge, but we still have to judge. We have to test everything and hold fast what is good; and so they did on this occasion. Zerubbabel and Jeshua were not deceived in these later days. Joshua and the princes were taken in on a similar occasion long before, when the Gibeonites came up disguised as travellers.
The answer sounds narrow. Commentators agree that it was, and say the narrowness was right.
Some may think these leaders of the people were taking a narrow and exclusive position. In fact they were. But in doing so they had the Lord's mind. They were resting on a divine principle that still holds: only the Lord's people can do the work of His house. Others may call themselves builders and claim they want to help His work forward. But they can only build with wood, hay, or straw… No difficulty, no shortage, no circumstances whatever can justify an alliance between the Church and the world. Nothing can justify taking the world's favour or help in the holy work of the Lord.
Another writer names what accepting the offer would have denied:
To admit strangers would have been to deny that He was their God, the God of Israel.
The same answer that shuts the door admits a foreign king is giving the orders. That keeps the refusal from being pride.
In speaking this way they show no spiritual pride. They admit that they are subject to the king of the Gentiles, and that this is the result of their own unfaithfulness. But they have understood that they alone are called to this work. They cannot in any way associate with the religious character of the people around them.
Another writer weighs their appeal to the king's decree:
It was not a question of friendly feeling or of broad sentiment, but of God and His will. It may have been shrewd to plead the command of Cyrus the Persian. But God's people are strongest when in their weakness they stand only on the word of God.
Verses 4 and 5 show what the offer had been hiding all along.
They failed to corrupt the work the returned exiles were doing. So now they throw off the mask of friendship and try to hinder them by open hostility. This is Satan's method in every age. He and his servants will often disguise themselves as angels of light and ministers of righteousness. They do this because it is easier to deceive the saints than to frighten them. But the moment someone detects and exposes his presence and activity, his rage knows no limit.
- Named — the Spirit calls these volunteers adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, though their offer sounded friendly.
- Exposed — their own words about Esarhaddon proved they were Assyrians, with no claim to be children of Israel.
- Discerned — Zerubbabel and Jeshua tested the offer. They were not deceived, as Joshua had been by the Gibeonites.
- Refused — only the Lord's people can build the Lord's house. No difficulty can justify taking the world's help in His work.
- Unmasked — once refused, the would-be helpers dropped the mask and fought the building in the open.
And the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building;
The returned exiles had just begun rebuilding the temple when they refused an offer of help from the surrounding peoples. That refusal turned neighbours into open enemies, and it raises the question this chapter answers: what really stopped the work of God — the enemy outside, or something inside the builders?
The friendly offer earlier in the chapter and the hostility here are two stages of one campaign. Dennett sees the attack as proof of what the offer really was:
They had failed to corrupt the work the returned exiles were doing. So now they throw off the mask of friendship and try to hinder it by open hostility. This is Satan's method in every age. He and his servants will often transform themselves into angels of light and ministers of righteousness. They do this because it is easier to deceive the saints than to scare them off. But the moment someone detects and exposes his presence and activity, his rage knows no bounds.
Rossier names the two forms the enemy takes, and what the builders forgot:
The people had stood firm and resisted the tricks and cunning that belong to the ancient serpent. But they become frightened when the adversary appears as a roaring lion. They forget that their enemy is a defeated enemy, and that he would have fled from anyone who stood up to him.
Where the ESV says the people of the land "discouraged" Judah, older translations read that they "weakened the hands" of Judah — the wording these writers use. The opponents were not idol-worshippers from a foreign religion. Kelly notes how respectable they looked, and why that made no difference:
Then the people of the land weakened their hands. Now they showed what they really were — not friends, but adversaries. And notice: they were adversaries even though they worshipped the Lord God of Israel. They were adversaries even though they were not idolaters, as far as we know at this time. The text does not accuse them of that, but they were not Israel. That was enough.
Hardt draws the same line for the work of God today:
To this day, the work of God must be done by the people of God. If the world offers to co-operate, we have to refuse. If we do, 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.
A royal ban did come, but only much later and under a different king. Darby shows that the ban was not what stopped the work:
There were adversaries in the land who made them afraid, and so prevented their building. It seems the Jews did not dare to continue... But the first thing was that the adversaries weakened the hands of the people. The ban only came two reigns later, but the Jews had already stopped building through fear of their adversaries... God was no more to be feared under Darius than under Cyrus or Artaxerxes. Their weakness came from having forgotten God.
Kelly presses the point into a rule about God's people in any age:
God does not attribute the stopping of the work to the command of the king, although the king did give in at last... It was lack of faith, and not the king's authority, that stopped the work; and, dear friends, as a rule, is it not always so? When blessing stops among God's people, it is really never the work of the enemy outside. It is lack of faith, and therefore of faithfulness, within.
Dennett traces the slide from fear to self-interest:
Fear of their adversaries was stronger than their faith in God. So they lost heart, thought only of themselves and their own selfish interests, and began to build their own houses and to say, "The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
Patterson shows what restarted the work: two prophets, and one fear replacing another:
Fear of man stopped the work of the Lord. The energy and beauty of their first efforts of faith were gone. God sends the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to stir up the people to the work of the Lord... Once stirred up, we find that they obeyed the voice of the Lord and did the work of the Lord. The fear of man gave place to the fear of the Lord; and God was there to accept and bless the renewed efforts of faith.
- Mask — the offer of help and the attack came from the same source. Refusal only exposed what was already there.
- Measure — these opponents worshipped the God of Israel and were still adversaries. The test was not their religion but whether they belonged to God's people.
- Method — cunning first, then open terror. The builders resisted the trick and gave way to the threat.
- Motive — the enemy weakened their hands before any law forbade the work; fear, not force, was the true hindrance.
- Mercy — God did not leave them there: two prophets replaced the fear of man with the fear of the Lord, and the work went on.