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| Source: https://quotefancy.com/ |
Ezra 5:6-17
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bonzenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: "To Darius the king, all peace. 8 Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: 'Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?' 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders. 11 And this was their reply to us: 'We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, "Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site." 16 Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.' 17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter."
Conniving, underhanded and desperate. These people from Beyond the River (that is the River Euphrates) had already tried to stop the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem by questioning the Jews. But, as you can read in God is With Us, God was indeed with the Jewish elders and gave them strength and courage not to back down. They knew by whose authority they were rebuilding, even if that king was no longer around. They knew that God had stirred the heart of Cyrus, king of Persia to allow the temple to be rebuilt. However, the governor and his associates from Beyond the River were having none of it. They were going to stop the Jews from rebuilding the temple of the God of heaven and earth if it was the last thing they did.
Failing to stop the Jews directly, the governor and his associates resort to desperate measures and write a letter to the king of Babylon. Now, it had been more than 18 years since Cyrus king of Persia had received the word of God (Ezra 1:1 and God is In Control, the year 539BC) and in that time, there had been two other kings after Cyrus and before the current king, Darius king of Babylon. No doubt, the governor and his associates were relying on that fact to succeed in their sinister plans.
Notice, however, this letter, thanks to the historical accuracy of the author of the book, is accurate to the wording spoken to and by the Jewish elders. These people in opposition to God's plan are not resorting to lies which have the potential of being found out, rather they resort to the truth and ask the king to search the records. Perhaps they did not believe a king would authorise such a thing to the 'enemy' or that the records had been lost over time, perhaps they had hoped Darius would refuse to search for the decree, choosing to believe them. Either way, they put the responsibility on the king to find the royal decree giving permission to rebuild. In doing this, they absolved themselves of any wrongdoing against those they saw as a threat, almost washing their hands of the situation and 'passing the buck' to the king.
The same thing happened to Christ Jesus leading up to his death on the cross. In Matthew 27, Jesus is bound by the chief priests of the Jewish people and taken to the Roman Governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate. They wanted to absolve themselves of all responsibility for killing the man they saw as a threat: Jesus of Nazareth who claimed to be the Son of God. Perhaps they saw it in the Holy Scriptures that this man was the Messiah, he certainly fitted the bill, but in order to accept that, they would have to agree to a great many changes in their lives and the way they did things. The very beliefs they held dear were under threat from this man, Jesus. They were hoping the Roman governor would take matters out of their hands.
To their surprise, however, Pontius Pilate absolved himself in Matthew 27:24 where he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." The Jewish leaders who were against Jesus did not have a leg to stand on (so to speak). This all fitted into what God had ordained centuries before by prophets such as, Isaiah. Scriptures had to be fulfilled and the plans of the Jewish leaders were foiled by God's ultimate plan.
Even today, those opposed to God will resort to a great many things to stop the good news of Christ Jesus, including the truth. Do not be deceived just because they tell the truth, they very well may be trying to absolve themselves of any wrongdoing so they are not held to blame for things that go wrong. Satan uses this tactic in the garden with the woman. He twisted the truth to make God out to be the spoil sport. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5).
Notice how Satan uses the truth to persuade the woman, but goes a step further and twists it. The man and woman did not physically die, but when they introduced sin into their lives and separated themselves from God, they died spiritually. Satan absolved himself of the fallout of the introduction of sin by blaming God and giving the responsibility of committing the sin to the woman and the man. But if you keep reading Genesis 3, you will see God has the final triumph and Satan's plots are foiled, as they are through the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do not be deceived. Be like the Jewish elders in Ezra 5 who held firmly to the God of heaven and earth and stood their ground when opposition came knocking. Those who try to get you into trouble may tell the truth, or at least what sounds like the truth, but if it is not from God, it is not the truth.
