Ezra 4
Opposition to the Rebuilding
1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD , the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, "Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here."
3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD , the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us."
4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. [1] 5 They hired counselors to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes
6 At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, [2] they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language. [3] , [4]
8 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:
9 Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates-the judges and officials over the men from Tripolis, Persia, [5] Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, 10 and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal [6] deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.
11 (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)
To King Artaxerxes,
From your servants, the men of Trans-Euphrates:
12 The king should know that the Jews who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.
13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and the royal revenues will suffer. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place of rebellion from ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.
17 The king sent this reply:
To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:
Greetings.
18 The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. 19 I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. 20 Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. 21 Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. 22 Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?
23 As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.
24 Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Cordially,
Interesting scripture. However, Cyrus the Great is mentioned as the annoited 22 times in the Bible. And it was the Iranians who freed the Jews.
http://www.farsinet.com/persiansinbible/chapter1.html
God’s instrument came to power sometime around 550 B.C.: they called him "Cyrus the Great." Read about him in Isaiah 41:2-3,25; 44:28; 45:13; 46:2,11; 48:14-15.
1. The name, "Cyrus," in the Persian language is Korrush and sounds similar to the original Hebrew in the Old Testament. Hundreds of years after his death, Korrush continues to be remembered in Iran. For years the largest department store was named after him along with many hotels. The two main streets running through the center of Tehran toward the northern mountains were called Korrush-e-kabir, Cyrus the Great. After the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of the Islamic government, many of these names were changed. However, some Iranians still give their boys the name of Korrush.
2. Notice the titles God gave to Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; 41:2
My Shepherd
Anointed One
Righteous Man
3. These titles are unusual, most often being reserved for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
4. Look at the job description God gave Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28; 45:13; 48:14-15:
To free the captive Jews
To help rebuild Jerusalem
To cause the foundations of the temple to be laid
To punish Babylon
5. Why would God use a Gentile king to deliver Israel? Read Isaiah 45: 5-6:
"I am the Lord and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none other."
Again in verses 21 and 22 of that same chapter the Lord declares that He is the only God and refers to himself as righteous and a Savior. Only God can truly save. Yet we see that He uses a foreign king in order to show His sovereignty over all things.
6. What promises did God give to Cyrus? There are many outlined in Isaiah 45:1-3. He would hold Cyrus’ right hand, demonstrating His bestowal of power. He would subdue nations before opened gates, make crooked places straight, and break gates of bronze and iron. Cyrus overtook three of the four great empires of the world in his day. One of them was Media–which was absorbed into Persia and became Medo-Persia. God gave Cyrus the "treasures of darkness," probably referring to the riches of the Kingdom of Lydia, which Cyrus conquered prior to invading Babylon. The fables about King Midas may be rooted in the land of Lydia and her historical King Croesus.
C. CYRUS COMPLETES HIS JOB DESCRIPTION
A person who has a job usually has a job description so he knows what his responsibilities are. Cyrus’ job description was fourfold:
Cyrus freed the Jewish people to return to their homeland. Isaiah 45:13 tells us that he was appointed to this specific task, but not for a price or a reward. (See Chapter 6, How Did Five Persian Kings get in our Bible, for further details). History also accounts for a job well done. A sixth grade history book from Iran gives some of the details about Cyrus. It says: "By the order of Cyrus, the Jews who were captive became free and were able to return to their own holy city of Jerusalem."
Cyrus enabled the rebuilding of Jerusalem as predicted in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:13. With his blessing large numbers of Jews returned to the city of Jerusalem. Though their impetus was to rebuild the temple, they would eventually rebuild the city walls and fortify Jerusalem once more.
Cyrus helped to rebuild the temple foundation. We can see in II Chronicles 36:23 his acknowledgment that God had specifically appointed him for the task. However, remember from Isaiah 44:28 that only the temple foundation would be laid. The Book of Ezra tells the story of Israel’s enthusiasm in laying the foundation and the subsequent discouragement they received from the surrounding nations. The work would not be finished until 50 years later, under the leadership of Haggai.
Cyrus punished Babylon. In Isaiah 48:14-15 he is referred to as "the Lord’s chosen ally" who carried out His purpose against Babylon. Historical legends have arisen about his massive victory over the Babylonian Empire. One claims that Cyrus secretly diverted the Euphrates River, which runs through the middle of the Babylonian capital, so that his army could march through the riverbed by night and capture the city.