What did the “enemies” do in Ezra 4:6-24 in order to stop the work in Jerusalem?

The “people of the land” wrote letters of accusation against the Jews and their work first to Darius (Ezra chapters 5 and 6), then to King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) as well as Artaxerxes. They were doing everything in their power to stop the work in Jerusalem.

Work Stoppage

The people of the surrounding nations claimed that if the city were rebuilt, the king would lose his power over it because Jerusalem had always been a place of rebellion and trouble in the past. Unfortunately, King Artaxerxes was swayed into believing that the Jews were building only because they wanted to gain their independence and therefore incite confrontation. He ordered the work to cease, and the people sent an army to prevent further building of the city. This forceful approach brought the work for God to a halt.

Read Ezra 4:23-24. Why did the Jews stop building? Didn’t they know that God wanted them to rebuild the city? What got in the way?

It is apparent that the Jews realized that God had called them to rebuild the city and the temple, but because of the strong opposition, they were afraid. Perhaps they came up with excuses such as “Now must not be the right time”, or “If this were truly what God wanted us to do, He would have provided a way”, or “Maybe we weren’t supposed to come back here at all”. When opposition gets in the way of doing what we believe God calls us to do, we have the tendency to question and doubt God’s guidance. We can easily convince ourselves that we made a mistake. Fear can paralyze our minds, and our thoughts turn to despair and helplessness instead of being focused on the power of God.

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While “Facing Opposition”, Ezra and Nehemiah still went ahead with their work. We too must
“Go, Preach My Gospel”, Hymn 378 and
Hymn 377, “Go Forth, Go Forth With Christ”.

The way to encourage the people building the temple was to send in two prophets:
Hymn 413, “God Has Spoken by His Prophets”

With the opposition, the people forgot about the power of God and should be singing
Hymn 88, “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”,
Hymn 90, “Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds” and now that we have the history of Jesus, we can add hymns like
Hymn 229, “All Hall The Power of Jesus’ Name”,
Hymn 294, “Power in the Blood” or even
Hymn 415, “Christ the Lord, All Power Possessing”.

In rebuilding the temple, ’God made provision to help the Israelites come into the presence of God with reverence’:
Hymn 36 “O Thou in Whose Presence”.

2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

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1. Opposition to having helpers. If you were launching a new enterprise at your church and building a good-sized structure to contain it, wouldn’t you be delighted if a crew of experienced builders stopped by and volunteered to help? Why did the post-exilic Israelites back off when the local opposition offered to help rebuild the temple? Does our church or any part of it ever become too closely aligned with people who do not share our Biblical perspectives? Be careful how you answer this question!
2. Prophets encourage. The locals had opposed the building project. Why? What was the result of their opposition? And now the former followers of Jehovah are “adversaries.” Did they deserve that label? Our lesson points to an alarming similarity between a major stumbling block by God’s people earlier in their history and the current compromise with paganism. Why were beliefs and practices of pagan people so attractive to God’s people? What did hard times and affliction have to do with their stumbling into pagan thinking?
3. Work stops. Imagine being a curious 11-year-old post-exilic Isrealite youngster when all at once work on the re-building of the temple that you had been observing for some time suddenly stops.”Grandpa! The workers have stopped building God’s temple. They all stopped working. Just like that!” Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes all received letters full of accusations against God’s people that seemed to justify the stopping of their work on the temple. What was the fundamental reason why the workers stopped the building project? Share with the class if you can your experience when you felt that God had stopped a project you wanted to do.
4. Nehemiah Takes Action. Imagine heeding God’s comment and going back to work on the temple. How were God’s people organized to deal with possible opposition? What two groups were organized to help the work continue without interruption? In modern-day wars, are these procedures ever followed? What gave the Jews courage to carry on with the work to be done this time? How is your courage during these end times?
5. Doing a “great work” anyway! Threats against Nehemiah’s life didn’t seem to faze him. What was suspicious about messages by Sanballat and Gesham trying to persuade Nehemiah to attend a meeting in enemy territory? The main reason Nehemiah refused to go, he said, was “I am doing a great work.” Why was his work “great”? Even greater than being the king’s cupbearer? What are some ways the lesson of Nehemiah in following God’s will should be an encouragement for us today?

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You can view an in-depth discussion of “Facing Opposition” in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. Click on the image to view:

You may download an MP4 video file, and audio file or a PDF lesson outline from the HopeSS site.

With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Unfortunately, the opposition that the Jews encountered from the surrounding nations, as described in Ezra chapters 4-6, left them afraid and unwilling to work on the temple.

As mentioned before, Ezra 4:6-6:22 is not written in chronological order. Therefore, we will look at chapter 5 before chapter 4.

Read Ezra 5:1-5. Why does God send the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to the Jews? What is the result of their prophesying?

Image © Standard Publishing from GoodSalt.com

The Jews had stopped building because they were afraid. But God had sent them to Judah to rebuild the temple and the city, and He had a plan. Since they were afraid, He had to do something in order to encourage them. Therefore, He called two prophets to step in. Human opposition doesn’t stop God; even if the Jews contributed to this opposition by their own actions, God did not abandon them. He worked through the prophets to motivate and propel them into action again.

Read Haggai 1:1-15. What is the message for them, and what can we take away from this for ourselves?

“The prophets Haggai and Zechariah were raised up to meet the crisis. In stirring testimonies these appointed messengers revealed to the people the cause of their troubles. The lack of temporal prosperity was the result of a neglect to put God’s interests first, the prophets declared. Had the Israelites honored God, had they shown Him due respect and courtesy, by making the building of His house their first work, they would have invited His presence and blessing” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pages 573, 574.

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