Tuesday
But opposition seems to find its way into the situation and the local residents harassed the people of Judah to try to keep them from their work. It wasn’t until King Darius took over that work on the Temple resumed. Zerubbabel and Jeshua started once again to rebuild the Temple.
Tattenai and Shethar-Bozenai (officials under King Darius’ command) are apparently making a sort of routine check when they begin to interrogate the workers. Remember now that they are just in the second year of king Darius’ reign (4:24). So it would be quite normal for the king to have his officials check the activities of all the people in his new kingdom. So they ask the people of Israel by whose authority they are building a Temple. The Jews answer that the Temple had been built a long time ago, but that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed it and taken the people captive. But then Cyrus the King, had decreed that the Temple should be rebuilt. And Cyrus had also given them back the gold and silver items that had been originally taken from the Temple. A search is made in the archives to find out if this was true, and the decree was found at Ecbatana.
There are some differences between the decree Darius is given here and the same decree given in Chapter 1. I think it is most interesting that the decree given to Darius does not give God the credit for the victories of Cyrus, and nothing is mentioned about God “appointing Cyrus to build a temple for him at Jerusalem.”
But never-the-less, Darius rules that the edict by Cyrus should be upheld and he commands the officials to not interfere with the work on this temple of God. And even more so that they should help in whatever way is needed for the daily sacrifices. (It seems that Darius does not want to interfere in anyway with the rebuilding of the Temple and he is not above asking for the Jews to pray for the well-being of himself and his sons.)
The Temple is completed without any more interference and dedicated in the sixth year of Darius’ reign (four years to build). Great joy is felt throughout the land as they are now able to celebrate the Passover.
I find it most interesting in our reading today, how it seems like every time God’s people try to follow God, there seems to be opposition. I know that when I have been a part of various church building projects we have always been met with someone who wants to put a stop to it. But in each case, God always intervenes and the opposition is suppressed and the building projects are able to continue on. Once again, a great example of staying the course, being obedient to God and following His call no matter what the cost. Whatever the world might throw at you, when God is on your side, there is no better place to be.
Blessings on the day
Pastor Kathy