A Story in 5 acts, of Attack and Discouragement turning into Joy

1. When Israel was a child, I loved him,
         and out of Egypt I called my son.
2. But the more I called them,
         the farther they departed from me.
   They sacrificed to the Ba’al idols
         and burned incense to images.
3. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
         I took them up by their arms,
   but they did not know that I healed them.
4. I led them with cords of kindness,
         with the bands of love…
7. My people are obsessed with turning away from me;
         they call to Ba’al, but he will never exalt them!
8. How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
         How can I hand you over, O Israel?
   How can I make you like Admah?
         How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
   My heart recoils within me;
         my compassion grows warm and tender.
9. I will not execute my burning anger;
         I will not again destroy Ephraim;
   for I am God and not a man—the Holy One in your midst,
         and I will not come in anger.
10. They shall follow the LORD;
          he will roar like a lion;
    when he roars,
          his children shall come trembling from the west;
11. they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
          and like doves from the land of Assyria,
    and I will return them to their homes,
          declares the LORD.

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Ezra 4: The nations try to stop the work

1. When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles were building a temple for the LORD God of Israel,
2. they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders and said to them, “Let us help you build, for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him from the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
3. But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the LORD God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.”
4. Then the local people began to discourage the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building.
5. They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius of Persia.
6. At the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus they filed an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.…
11. (This is a copy of the letter they sent to him:)

17. The king sent the following response:

23. Then, as soon as the copy of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read in the presence of Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they proceeded promptly to the Jews in Jerusalem and stopped them with threat of armed force.
24. So the work on the temple of God in Jerusalem came to a halt. It remained halted until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia.

Ezra 5: But the Jews know they are doing God’s work

1. Then the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo prophesied concerning the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.
2. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak began to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3. At that time Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues came to them and asked, “Who gave you authority to rebuild this temple and to complete this structure?”
4. They also asked them, “What are the names of the men who are building this edifice?”
5. But God was watching over the elders of Judah, and they were not stopped until a report could be dispatched to Darius and a letter could be sent back concerning this.
6. This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and his colleagues who were the officials of Trans-Euphrates sent to King Darius.
7. The report they sent to him was written as follows:

Ezra 6: God’s power is greater than Satan’s

1. So Darius the king issued orders, and they searched in the archives of the treasury which were deposited there in Babylon.
2. A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows:
   “Memorandum:
3. In the first year of his reign, King Cyrus gave orders concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: ‘Let the temple be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be set in place. Its height is to be ninety feet and its width ninety feet,
4. with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. The expense is to be subsidized by the royal treasury.
5. Furthermore let the gold and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nebuchadnezzar brought from the temple in Jerusalem and carried to Babylon, be returned and brought to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. Let them be deposited in the temple of God.’

13. Then Tattenai governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-Bozenai, and their colleagues acted accordingly—with precision, just as Darius the king had given instructions.
14. The elders of the Jews continued building and prospering, while at the same time Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo continued prophesying…
15. They finished this temple on the third day of the month Adar, which is the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16. The people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—observed the dedication of this temple of God with joy…
22. They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the LORD had given them joy and had changed the opinion of the king of Assyria toward them, so that he assisted them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

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