Ezra 4 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
Ezra 4 Short Summary:
In Ezra 4, the non-Israelite inhabitants of Judah approach Zerubbabel and ask if they can participate in the Temple rebuilding project in Jerusalem. When their request is denied, they get angry and try to hinder the progress of the Jews. When a new king of Persia, Artaxerxes, ascends to the throne, they write him a letter, framing the Jews in a bad light, and convince him to make a royal decree halting the Temple project.
Ezra 4 Summary
WHEN:
538-537 BC - The people of Judah return to Judah.
536 BC - Rebuilding of the foundation of the Temple.
536-530 BC – The adversaries of the Jews oppose the Temple rebuilding.
530-520 BC – Work on the Temple stops by decree of King Artaxerxes.
KEY CHARACTERS:
Captives of Judah (Jews) – The descendants of Israel who returned to Jerusalem and Judah following 70 years of exile in Babylon. The returning exiles became known as the Jews (4:12).
Zerubbabel – One of the leading men of the returning exiles. He was one of the leaders of the Temple rebuilding project. Many believe he was also known as Sheshbazzar, and that he was appointed by King Cyrus to be governor of Judah (1:8; 5:14).
Jeshua – Leader of the priestly families. He managed the construction of the new Temple, alongside Zerubbabel.
The Adversaries of the Jews – They opposed the Jews as they tried to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
Artaxerxes - King of Persia after Cyrus. The kings of Persia often had several names and titles. Artaxerxes in Ezra 4:7 appears to be the same as Ahasuerus in Ezra 4:12. He was also known as Cambyses II.
WHERE:
Jerusalem – The capital of the Kingdom of Judah and the location of God’s Temple. The city was under reconstruction after being destroyed by the Babylonians 50 years earlier.
OUTLINE:
THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND OPPOSE THE TEMPLE RECONSTRUCTION (4:1-5):
When the exiled Jews returned to Judah, they were returning to a land that was already partially inhabited.
In Ezra 4, the inhabitants of the land come to view the Temple project and ask Zerubbabel if they can participate.
They told Zerubbabel they worshipped the same God as the Jews, and had done so since Esarhaddon, king of Assyria (680-669 BC), had relocated them to that area of the world.
Zerubbabel and Jeshua firmly denied their request.
This denial was probably because their worship of the true God was mixed with the worship of idols. They likely practiced some kind of hybrid religion, not a complete adherence to the laws of God. Additionally, these men were not direct descendants of the Israelites, but foreigners who had been relocated to the Promised Land by the Assyrian Empire.
Rather than accepting Zerubbabel’s decision and moving on with their lives, the people of the land became the enemies of the Jews and tried to hinder their progress.
All the days of King Cyrus, they hired counselors to thwart the Jews. Their tactics were evidently effective because the text says the Jews were “afraid to build” (4:4).
THE LETTER TO KING ARTAXERXES (4:6-16):
When the reign of Cyrus ended, the enemies of the Jews wrote to the new king, Artaxerxes, and informed Him of the Jew’s actions.
They framed the Jews as rebels, describing Jerusalem as a “rebellious and wicked city.” They told the king that the Jews would refuse to pay taxes when they finished rebuilding the city.
They framed themselves as allies of Artaxerxes who were concerned about the welfare of the Persian Empire.
They prompted Artaxerxes to search the archives of history and read the records of the historically rebellious nature of the people of Israel and Judah.
ARTAXERXES STOPS THE TEMPLE RECONSTRUCTION (4:17-24):
The letter of the adversaries of the Jews reached the king, he read it, and then he proceeded to confirm in the archives that Judah had been rebellious in the past.
Artaxerxes made a decree that the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple was stop.
As soon as the adversaries of the Jews received Artaxerxes response, they hurried to tell the Jews and “with force and power made them cease” (4:23).
The work stopped until the 2nd year of King Darius of Persia.
APPLICATION:
This chapter includes an excellent illustration of one of the proverbs we studied in Proverbs 18.
Proverbs 18:17 – “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
It’s easy to sound convincing when you only present one side of the facts.
While it was true that the people of Judah had been rebellious in the past, they showed no sign of rebellion during the time of Zerubbabel. In fact, they were in total compliance with the instructions of Cyrus.
When writing to Artaxerxes, the adversaries of the Jews only highlighted the facts they wanted to highlight and failed to point out that Cyrus had commissioned the Jews by royal decree to rebuild the Temple.
Unfortunately, Artaxerxes was duped by them, because he didn’t investigate further into the details. He only looked at one side of history.
We need to be careful about something similar when it comes to our spiritual lives. Many people who teach false things are very good at convincing people of their views because they are clever about the way they frame the facts.
They only present the facts that are favorable to their view.
Many people are like Artaxerxes, they won’t do the work to investigate deeper. They’ll accept the first convincing thing they hear.
Just as Artaxerxes made a mistake in listening to the adversaries of the Jews, many people make the mistake of listening to adversaries of God’s truth.
