Then 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.
Ezra 4 ends with the temple work at a standstill, and the pause runs on for years until a new king takes the throne. Was this the enemy's victory, or had something already failed inside the people who had come back?
A chapter where God does not appear
The chapter closes with no sign of God stepping in. One writer weighs that silence.
The Christian's FriendAltogether it is a sad chapter — the account of the activity of Satan. The only bright gleam in it is the faithfulness of the leaders of Israel in refusing the alliance of the world. The rest of the chapter is darkness. God does not appear in it; and, looked at with human eyes, it would seem as if the enemy had completely conquered. While, however, God does not interpose, He is no uninterested spectator of what is taking place. Whatever His people are, He stays faithful. He will let His people be fully tested. But He is only waiting for the right moment to raise up a power the enemy will not be able to withstand.
Where the verse fits in the chapter
Verse 24 does not follow on from the letters just quoted. The same writer traces the chapter's order, and dates the stoppage earlier than the royal ban.
The Christian's FriendVerses 4 and 5 sum up what the enemies of Israel did during the reigns of Cyrus, Ahasuerus, and Artaxerxes. So verse 24 connects with verse 5, and everything in between is a side note... Compare the prophecies of Haggai with this chapter, and it seems the people of Israel stopped building long before their enemies got the ban... Fear of their enemies 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. They said, "The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD."
Why the opposition worked
The enemy had only the power that unbelief handed him. One writer sets an apostle's work beside theirs.
The Christian's FriendThese adversaries could have had no power against the people of God, if the people themselves had not lost faith in God and heart for their work. The apostle wrote, "a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Cor. 16:9). But not one of his opponents could have stopped his work, because he was counting on Him who "opens and no one will shut." It would have been the same for the returned people, if not for their own laziness and unbelief.
Four weapons, one defence
The enemy used more than one method in this chapter. Another writer names all four, and what alone could have met them.
H. L. RossierSo four hostile forces join here to ruin the work of God: cunning, intimidation, accusation, and violence. Only faith could have resisted them. But the people had no faith at all, and so the building of the house was stopped for fifteen years.
What the delay cost
The word "until" points forward. The second year of Darius is where the silence breaks, and Rossier names what restarted the work.
H. L. RossierThe elders among the Jews build and prosper through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah... Four years later the house of God was completed. How disastrous are the delays caused by the fear of man, and by the lack of confidence in the Lord that always follows it!
Difficulty, not obstacle
The people started building again before any new permission came.
J. N. DarbyThey should always have leaned directly upon God, and gone on with the work, unless hindered by force... The king's support had been prepared by God for the moment in which their faith should have been shown. In fact, the difficulty did arise. But faith was at work, so they kept building despite their enemies... A difficulty may be real. Yet it is only an obstacle to unbelieving hearts, if we are on the path of God's will. Faith counts on God and does what He wills, and difficulties are nothing before Him. Unbelief can always find excuses, and excuses that look well founded too. They have only one fatal defect: they leave God out.
Summary
- Cunning, then force. The enemy used four weapons: cunning, intimidation, accusation, and violence. Only faith could have withstood them.
- Fear before the ban. The people stopped building before the royal ban even arrived. Fear of their enemies beat their faith, so they built their own houses instead.
- Excuses leave God out. A difficulty is only an obstacle to unbelief; unbelief's reasons always look well founded, and always omit God.
- Delay is costly. The fear of man cost them years — yet once the work restarted, the house took only four.
- God waits, He does not lose. God does not appear in this chapter, but He is watching. He tests His people, then raises up a power the enemy cannot withstand.