And this morning we continue going through the book of Ezra, and today we are in chapter 4, verses 1 up to the end, verse 24. And I will read the whole passage as well. Let us hear the Word of God. Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of father's houses and said to them, let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do. And we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who brought us here. But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God, for we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us. Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribe counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. All the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. In the days of Ataxasus, Bishlam and Mithridat and Tabu and the rest of their associates wrote to Ataxasus, king of Persia. The letter was written in Aramaic and translated. Rehum, the commander, and Shimshai, the scribe, wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ataxasus, the king, as follows. Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Iraq, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnapur deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river. This is a copy of the letter that they sent. To Ataxasas, the king, your servants, the men of the province beyond the river, send greeting. And now be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll. and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now because we eat the sword of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers, You will find in the Book of the Records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and a sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province beyond the river. The king sent an answer to Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the river, greeting. And now the letter that you sent to us has been plainly read before me. And I made a decree and search has been made and it has been found that this city, from of old, has risen against kings. and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province beyond the river, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebelled, until a decree is made by me. and take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the heart of the king? Then, when the copy of King Ataxas' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem, and by force and power made them cease. Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped and ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia." Let us go before the Lord in prayer. Our dear Heavenly Father, we thank you and we give you praise, glory, and honor for your goodness, mercy, and kindness. Lord, we thank you for your word. Indeed, it is truly a blessing for us to gather together this morning to hear your word. Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit will be our guide as we hear your word. May we not hear the voice of a man, but may we hear your very voice. And I pray, Lord, that the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, our Rock and our Redeemer. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. As we continue our study through this book of Ezra, we come to this theme which is going to cover the most part of the book of Ezra and into Nehemiah of opposition from the people dwelling in the land who are against the people of God, not for any other reason but for jealousy. And as I've been thinking about this passage which is before us in particular, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11 came to my mind. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. And think about that in the context of our covenant relationship with God. God You know, when we look at the Bible, this is a covenant book. It's not just a book that anyone can just pick up and read. This is the book of the people of God. And there we find the promises of God. There we find the encouragement of God. And there we also find what God is doing in the history of redemption as it is progressing from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And so, reading this passage, and these people, they've come to rebuild the temple, and they're facing this opposition. And it's not just a temple, it's the temple of the Lord. The first question that I kind of thought and asked myself was, why is not God simplifying for them, like he has done in the past? We know in the past when the people of God encounter enemies, God will raise a leader, like in the book of Judges, to fight for them. What's happening here? Well, we know that they do not have that power or capability. They are not in a position where they have an army that they can use to fight these enemies. They are under foreign power, and in this case, they are under the Persians. But then God allows them to go through this moment, perhaps to test their faith, and to show them the importance of relying and trusting upon the Lord. And here, we know that the primary focus of the people of Israel, as they have returned, is to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, and not fighting battles. The Israelites are living in this context of real enemies, which might seem familiar to us. As believers in Christ, we live in the context of real enemies, people who might not like us. It will also help us to understand and appreciate the fact that Israel does not happen in one day, or in one week, or in one month. Ezra is a story that has developed over years, even decades. And these years are marked with the faithfulness of God. But also we see the failure of Ezra and God's gracious work of bringing revival. And so the people in this story, in particular, in chapter four, as we have read, they are praying, they are facing opposition, and they are learning to trust God. God will answer their prayers because he cares for his people. And these activities represent, which is the primary message of the book of Ezra, just as they share the basic element of the Christian life. History shows us that in times of opposition, the gospel thrives. And in times where people are pretty much like, okay, in prosperity, people grow complacent. And that brings me to my summary statement, as is printed in the bulletin. How should we obey the covenant Lord during opposition from those in power? This is what the Israelites are confronted with. And here we see that the Israelites are beginning to have that test of what it means to obey God during a lack of political or military might. This sets for us a picture of living under the sun, living on earth, and encountering difficult providences. That's the way the Puritans refer to suffering, difficult providences. You ask yourself, why God allows these things to happen? It can't be hard. And so we're going to look at the three points that are before us, an inconvenient offer, an inconvenient response, a letter, and an inconvenient response. You know, it's not just like I'm clever to put those points. I was just thinking about it like, you know, these are all problems. First of all, the offer is a problem. And then secondly, the letter that is written is a problem. And finally, you look at the response that's coming from the king, it's also a problem. And you want to say, okay, what's going on here? And so, first of all, an inconvenient offer, verses one up to five, just think about you have, you know, You have an enemy. I mean, we all have enemies, okay? The Bible tells us to love our enemies. But you have an enemy, and he comes to your door, and he gives you food. What are you going to do? Are you just going to grab it and eat? You might ask yourself many questions, like, okay, is this food okay? You know, and if it's me, I'll say, okay, can you bite a piece first before I eat? Just to make sure. And so that's like what's happening here in these verses. And no wonder Ezra shows us that these are their enemies at the beginning. If you read in verse one, now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel. So Ezra has already told us that these are their enemies. And the people know it. And if we go to verse number two, it's kind of like interesting. They say, we worship your God. We worship your God. And so you wonder, like, who are these enemies? Who are they? What is it that encourages them to say, we worship your God? Well, that's why we have to go to 2 Kings chapter 17, and there we will learn that these people are the descendants of the people who were resettled in Samaria by the king of Assyria during the reign of Jeroboam, you know, when they were attacked by Assyria. And these people's ancestors, they had been taught the religion of God, or the Covenant Lord, by a priest who was sent for that purpose. And you can read all that in 2 Kings chapter 17, verses 24 to 28. But there is also another thing that is mentioned even in that passage, that these people did not only worship Yahweh, or the Covenant Lord alone, they also worshipped other gods. And that is why they are identified as enemies. Because God, remember, the first reason why the Israelites were sent to exile is because they were worshipping other gods. And God did not like it. And so with that background, then it makes sense what Zerubbabel and the other people are saying in verse number three. But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses in Israel said to them, you have nothing to do with us. You have nothing to do with us. And if we don't have that background, it might be difficult to understand, like, why is he saying that? Well, it's because these people were worshipping other gods as well. It's like Jesus speaking to Peter and saying, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance, you have nothing to do with me. In that moment when Peter was trying to confuse glory and suffering, and in his category, suffering doesn't have a place in the life of Jesus. He says, no way, Lord, you will not die. They say, okay, get behind me. So here, Zerubbabel and the others say, you have nothing to do with us. Why? Because worship of the Lord must be exclusive and not inclusive. You know, it's not just like we just bring in whatever is there. No, it has to be the way God wants it and worship him alone. And at this point, as I had already said, they've been in exile for this very reason, that they were worshiping other gods. And that lesson was very clear to them. They wouldn't want to go back to the same. They wouldn't want to involve anyone in this work who has their hands in idolatry. Syncretism is not permissible. And this is where we come to realize that when the work of God is progressing, there will be opposition. And some of the opposition will come in sneaky ways like this. We are part of you. We belong to you. We are not your enemies. Just accept us. Well, even though they said they worship God, they did not. They understood. Zerubbabel and the others, they understood that the actual reason behind their request was to frustrate the work. And this is what we see in verses four and five. You know, the first, their tactic has failed, and then verse four and five, they go for it. The people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build. So first they wanted to be part of them, and when that didn't work out, okay, we're gonna threaten you. And they bribed the counselors against them to frustrate their purpose. And this happened all the days of Cyrus until Darius, king of Persia. And so that's what's happening here. They started discouraging, threatening, bribing, and that goes on for a period of about 20 years, up to the time the temple was completed in 516 BC. Now, from verse number 6, going down up to verse number 23, Ezra will turn to another period in time. Because that might be confusing a little bit. Is Ezra talking about the same period or another period of time? As I have been studying and preparing for this, it's clear there that Ezra is talking about another period when Ahasuerus, or Atexas, was the king. And it is important for us to understand that he is showing this other period to make it clear that opposition was not just a one-time event or incident that happened. It continued for this long period of time. But before we go and look at that other part, it is important for us to understand this principle which has been introduced for us of religious separation, even in the New Testament. We might be called names as being intolerant, that we don't want to associate with anyone. We might be called unloving, but we must make clear the exclusive nature of our faith, even as we are called to love our enemies. Loving our enemies does not mean that we sacrifice the essential truth of the Christian faith. We have to stand bold and declare with Paul, as he's saying, do not be unequally yoked with any believers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? There's nothing there. Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. And God said, I will make my dwelling among them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I'll welcome you, and I'll be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." So the Christian faith stands on its own. You know, it's not just one way of the many. It's the only way. And this is what we truly believe. This is the only way. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And so here, it has to be our strong conviction that this is the only truth. And let's turn to verse number six to 16 as we look at this letter that is presented to us. This section, as I mentioned, should not be put together with the previous one, verses one up to five, because it is mentioning other examples of hostility from the people of the land, and showing that this hostility continued for a certain period of time, for a century or more after the decree of Cyrus. And then when we go down to verse number 24, that's when Ezra is going to resume the passage that we've just looked at, verses 1 up to 5. And so this situation, which happened during the reign of Attaxas, needs our attention. First of all, There we see that the motivation of these enemies is to stop the work of rebuilding the city walls. They are jealous. That's their motivation. They just want it to stop. They don't want this to continue. And the exact occasion of this action against the community is not clearly known, but it is supposed that the people had made an attempt to rebuild the city wall sometime before the mission of Nehemiah, who arrived later, as the book of Nehemiah tells us in Nehemiah chapter 4 verse 6. And so, when they attempted to start rebuilding the city walls, they encountered this opposition and that put their work to a stop. And this is the news that Nehemiah is going to hear. So when the letter is introduced in the Book of Ezra, it's interesting that in the original, even the language also changes from Hebrew to Aramaic. Aramaic was like the language of the day at that point. You know, like today English in most cases, in most places you go to is like the official language of many places. So that's the way it was. Aramaic was like the language of the day. And so here it changes up to chapter 6, verse 18 of the book of Ezra. And Ezra is going to return to Hebrew in chapter 6, verse 19, up to the end. And this letter, as I had mentioned, wants the people of Israel to stop rebuilding the wall. The letter refers to Jerusalem as a rebellious and wicked city. and they try to poison the mind of the king that if this city is rebuilt and the wars are finished, they will not pay tribute, they will not pay taxes to you. And so that's like, you know, the king might say, oh, okay, I want to receive the taxes. And the writers of the letter say, do not blame us when this happens. We are warning you now. We don't want you to be dishonored. You know, that's kind of way of trying to persuade the king to be with them or to accept their leader. They are very clever in their attempt to persuade the king. And to prove the fact that this has always been a rebellious city, they say, you should search the books of your father. And they end the letter with a threat to the king, kind of, if this seat is rebuilt, then just know that we will not submit to you. You will have no position in the province. You will have no authority. And at that point, perhaps the king will say, oh, wow, this is going to be hard. And so here, Israel is beginning to learn and perhaps understand that the physical opposition that is encountered has some spiritual significance as well. It shows us that opposition is not simply for a short period of time, but persistent. And if you look at it, they have not committed any crime to deserve this. They have not done anything. These people are just jealousy. And this is where we, as believers, should also learn from. That when people hate us or when people say anything that is not true about us, we know that this is a spiritual battle. It's not just about what is there on the surface. As believers, we should expect this. And Peter, writing to the churches in Asia Minor, which went through very difficult persecution, says, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord. And so, you know, as I mentioned that this is a covenant book, and as we look at these stories of the people of old, Suffering or being persecuted is the same story that's going to continue even in the New Testament. That the people of God will be hated. But we do not fight against flesh and blood. That's what Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12. We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. This is tough. This is a spiritual battle. And we have to expect it. And this is where I think the Israelites who have just returned, this is what they are learning. I mean, there's no way you're going to explain this. What have we done wrong to deserve all this? This is tough. This is tough. But as believers, we know that it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. And here, they are learning, through this letter, all these lies that are presented against them. They are rebellious. I mean, what does it have to do? You know, it's the past. All of that, they're putting it on them. In this world, you will be hated. And that's the reality of life. We shouldn't expect that it's always going to be nice and good, that everyone is going to accept us. The fact that we belong to God, light and darkness cannot dwell together. And the moment we are there, you know, as believers in Christ, trying to do what God has commanded us, we shouldn't just sit and expect that, OK, everyone is going to understand this. It's not going to happen. And it's not what happened here. You would expect that people would just understand, oh, these people are here because God has sent them to rebuild the city walls, you know. And so it's going to be OK. No, it doesn't work like that. They are in the world. But we take courage in the fact that Christ has conquered. It's not our conquering that makes a difference, it's what Christ has done that makes a difference. And that's what we lean on to. That's what we lean on to. And as if that was not enough, you know, to make matters worse, so this letter, trying to talk all these kinds of things against them, And the response actually makes matters worse. If you look from verse 17 up to 24. So here, you know, as I was just reading out the response from the king, apparently it looks like the king is convinced about one thing. That we should search the records. Okay? And so this is what happens. They go and search the records, and lo and behold, it's proved that indeed there were uprisings of kings from Jerusalem in this region, beyond the river. And these kings were powerful, and they used to receive taxes. And perhaps that's what could have made Ataxasus worried that maybe another king is going to rise there and rebel against him. And if you look in verse 21, the king directs making a decree. Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease and that this city be not rebuilt. And to a decree, another decree is made by me. And so here, we see that there's still some hope that the walls might be rebuilt. The world must cease for now until another decree is granted by the king. You know, that's what he says. I mean, just reading between the lines. Until another decree is made by me. And this is the decree that is given when Nehemiah returns. to rebuild the city walls in Nehemiah chapter two, verses one to nine. Nevertheless, as we think about these things, we should also remember that full restoration of the people of God is in the hands of God and the Messiah, not Nehemiah. It's only the Messiah who will truly restore the people of God back to him. And in this period of God working things out, why all these frustrations? You know, God perhaps wants them to understand that, okay, there has to be someone who is going to be able to restore you fully to me. not through any initiatives, not through these powers, as good as they might be. That's why we talk about types and shadows, looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so here, the king responds, and he kind of, it gives these enemies an authority to go and just stop the work by force. That's another problem for them, another challenge for them that they have to face. And as I mentioned, verse number 24 is kind of like going back to the beginning of the chapter. then the work of the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. If you read verse number five and read verse number 24, it's going to be similar. Verse five says, and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, until the reign of Darius, king of Persia. And so if you look at that, that's the way that the Hebrews used to write to connect to different episodes. The middle part was just a way of showing them that, hey, there is also another hostility that happened. And so the enemies were truly determined to frustrate this work. As I mentioned, while this is a test of their faith on the part of God's people, it certainly does not make it easy to bear. You know, sometimes we tend to think like, you know, when you just say, oh, okay, God is sovereign, and so these things are happening because God has allowed them to happen. It doesn't make the difficult circumstances easy to go through. is still difficult. It is still challenging. And this perhaps makes them to cry to the Lord. And as believers in Christ, we have to realize that opposition and suffering are not easy subjects to address in the Christian life. It can be painful. And just being honest sometimes can be the best thing to do. Instead of rambling and trying to say, oh, you know, all things work together for good. That is true. But, you know, when you are deep in the suffering, you know, just like Job, that was a difficult circumstance. And you can't just come and say, hey, I'm going to console you. Bear with the reality of life. Life is hard. Life is difficult, especially for those who believe in Christ, because they are in this spiritual battle, which is difficult. Now, overall, what did we learn from here? I remember many years ago, when I was in high school, reading about Christians in China, and the persecution they were going through, and how they were still holding on to faith. And I remember thinking about the early church as well in Jerusalem. The church that grew through persecution. And just trying to compare then, you know, I was still a young believer, comparing how I saw Christians in my own country, really feeling like comfortable, you know, and saying, we're okay here. And the gospel, Looks like dying. No one is spreading the gospel. No one is caring about sharing the good news. And just thinking to myself, hmm, maybe the Lord should shake us a little bit. Now, this does not mean that we should invite opposition and persecution deliberately. But it tells us that when opposition and persecution comes, we should take it as an opportunity to stand for Christ. One of the verses that kind of like still troubles me to understand when I read about it is from the book of Acts, chapter 5, verse 41. Remember that incident, you know, when the apostles are called by the Sanhedrin, they're told not to preach about Christ again, you know, they're beaten, and they're sent away, you know, go, but don't preach again. But what happened? Verse number 41. Then they left the presence of the council, crying. Is that what the Bible says? No. Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for their name. Now, who talks about rejoicing when you've been beaten? You know, when someone is hitting you, who can talk about rejoicing? But here we see that this is the joy of suffering for a worthy cause, for something that is precious, namely the gospel. That's what makes it an occasion to rejoice. And that's exactly what we should do when we face opposition. When we suffer, You know, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 12 to 13, you know, when reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. That's the Christian way. That's the Christian way. It's hard, but we rejoice realizing that we are suffering for something that is truly precious. And if you listen to the prayers of Christians in Muslim countries who are going through difficult circumstances. I remember in our class, one of our professors, Dr. Clark, talked about a pastor in Turkey who is suffering. And he sent like a prayer request and said, hey, please do not pray that they should not persecute us. Wow. but pray that our faith should stand. And that's what we have to think about when we think about suffering, that our faith should stand. If it pleases the Lord, he might remove the challenges before us, but that's not our goal. When it comes to opposition, suffering, persecution, And 1 John chapter 3, 13 says, do not be surprised when the world hates you. It shouldn't be a shock. You know, sometimes as Christians, we wonder like, why is this happening to me? You know, why all these problems? But hey, do not be surprised. Don't be shocked. Because you are in the light and light and darkness cannot stay together. And when we think about the Lord Jesus Christ, no one in this earth went through difficult opposition and suffering than our Lord Jesus. What did he do to deserve all that they did to him? He never sinned. He never did anything wrong. But he was beaten. He was wounded. Why? For our transgression. For someone else. We might say, you know, the people in the book of Ezra, perhaps they deserve it. You know, they are sinners. So they can go through suffering. They can go through this opposition. They should not complain. But what about Christ? Who never sinned in a single moment. And yet he suffered. He suffered for us. He suffered for us. That we might be redeemed from our sins. That we might be saved. That we might be transformed and have new life. And when we look at Jesus Christ, we don't just look at him as an example, we look to him as a savior, as the only savior. of the world, that there is no hope apart from him. And it is because of our hope in him that helps us to remain strong when we go through suffering and opposition, when we go through difficult circumstances, because he suffered. Him who suffered, who knew no sin, suffered on our behalf. And who are we not to suffer? Who are we not to face opposition? So as believers in Christ, let us have that perspective in mind when we encounter difficulty and opposition from around us. Let's pray. Our God and our Father in heaven, we give you praise, glory, and honor for your goodness, mercy, and kindness. We thank you, Lord, for this passage as we learn about the opposition that your people went through. And as we think about this, we remember our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered more than anyone, more than anyone will for our sin. Help us, Lord, to have this perspective in mind when we go through suffering. Be gracious to us and help us as we continue our service, as we partake of the Lord's Supper, as a reminder of the sufferings of Christ for us. Be gracious to us in Jesus' name. Amen.