Ezra 4:6

The opposition extended from the days of Cyrus until the reign of Darius, Ezra 4:5. Two kings came between Cyrus and Darius. Ahasuerus (Cambyses) succeeded Cyrus. A letter was written to him (Ezra 4:6), but no answer is recorded. Another was sent to Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smerdis), and both the letter and the reply are recorded... Ezra 4:6-23 are a parenthesis.

In between these kings came Ahasuerus, not the one mentioned in the book of Esther, but the one known as Cambyses. During his reign the opponents were very active. They wrote up an accusation against the Jews in Jerusalem, but apparently without any definite effect.

This is hardly the place to discuss the question of who Ahasuerus and Artaxerxes were. There is great difficulty in identifying them now with the monarchs of secular history. Probably the first was Xerxes, and the second Artaxerxes Longimanus.

This was the name given to a well dug by Isaac's servants, because the servants of Abimelech seized it. Genesis 26:21. Fürst says it means 'strife'; Gesenius says 'contention'. In Ezra 4:6, where the same word appears as a common noun, it is 'accusation'.

Some asked to share in the building. They called themselves 'worshippers,' but God called them 'adversaries.' The leaders refused their help, and that stirred up their hatred and hostility.

The enemy had presented himself as a friend. That called for special watchfulness and caution. But these men, who were rejected, very soon show their true character quite openly... The people had been firm and had resisted the tricks and cunning of 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 left anyone who stood up to him.

And so, these four hostile forces unite here to ruin the work of God: trickery, intimidation, accusation, and violence. Only faith could have resisted them. But the people had no faith at all. As a result, the building of the house stopped for fifteen years.

But mark this — and it is very important. God does not blame the king's command for the stopping of the work. The king did give in at last, and did yield to their persistent begging. But the Israelites had begun to stop before the king's order came. 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? The stopping of blessing among God's people is really never the work of the enemy outside. It is lack of faith, and so of faithfulness, within.

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.