Ezra 4 THOSE LETTERS! The start of a new work is an exciting time. People are looking forward to a new beginning and the project that is beginning is a good one. To those returned from exile it was the house of God which would have been something most of them had never seen before. The old people there remembered the past with sorrow, but enthusiasm on the part of the younger people seemed to be real. However, we need to remember that when Satan has control of an area or a people, he wants to maintain that. When the Gospel of God comes and inroads are made with the truth of God into the hearts and lives of people who have become used to sin, then he is bound to oppose. When God is working, Satan will use whatever means possible to stop that work.
Samaritans were people who had settled into the area and intermingled with those who had been left to till the land and provide the taxes the conquerors wanted. People had become used to a certain lifestyle and didn't want any changes. That is a continuing problem throughout human history. It is rampant today. The only changes people want is more freedom to sin. Anti-Christian comments and mockery is often used by the media as well as those who teach our children in public schools. Many university professors make a point of seeking to undermine the faith of young believers, and will take unfair advantage of their position to make Christians a laughingstock before impressionable young students.
The enemies of the Jews who were rebuilding the temple began their assault by false friendship and compromise as a means of undermining the work of God's people. Their profession of sincerity was apparently easily discerned by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and their offer of participation was rejected. Unity can only be allowed if it is based on that which God allows. The fellowship of light and darkness produces a false twilight that is partly true and partly false. When those two are mixed, it is all false. Opposition may begin with compromise, but when compromise is rejected, alliances are formed against the truth by those who do not want the work of God to go forward. Alliances then use intimidation and accusations to hinder and stop that which is of God.
To mix the worship of God with the "worship" that is common to Christendom is sin. True worship is to God alone in spirit and in truth. Many people claim to be Christians for their own interests. "Christian" is only a word to them, not "one of Christ's." That is one reason discernment is so necessary when deception and confrontation arises. False friendship, undermining a work by creating weakness, and planned interference, falsehood and deceit are all ways in which the world, the flesh and the devil use to stop that which is of God.
Discouragement can become hopelessness. Hopelessness creates a, "Too bad. There's nothing we can do," attitude. Discouragement and fear can paralyze the people of God and stop that which is right. Opposition doesn't mean a work is wrong. Usually it means just the opposite. The devil won't oppose that which is already under his control. We must face the fact that there will be unified opposition as the Gospel spreads world wide to those places and people Satan claims as belonging to him.
Zerubbabel was a good leader as long as things were going ahead, but seemed to be intimidated when the opposition got strong from those higher in positions than he. The three letters written at different times to different kings were really distortions of the facts and some lies. The first letter was a misrepresentation of the present work by linking it with the past failures of God's people. There were also assumptions and false impressions created that implied bad consequences would be the result of the house of God being finished. That likely included the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem which was on the way to being a city of importance again. Haggai and Zechariah came to encourage Zerubbabel to start again. A discouraged leader is a defeated leader. Circumstances in life or in some particular endeavor can cause discouragement when we get our eyes off of our Lord. God's work, Zechariah said, "Is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord."
One of those letters was written when Esther was queen, and ten years later there was another letter of attack. The animosity in the letter to Artaxerxes that is copied in this chapter was a serious challenge that he felt he could not ignore. We have to fact the fact that there will be times of unified opposition as inroads into Satan's domain are made by the preaching of the Gospel. That can adversely affect the people of God, and cause a lack of interest and a loss of faith unless we are committed to the commission we have received and remember that our call to the work comes from the highest possible source in the Universe - the Almighty God. When letters are written to try to deal with differences of opinion or to correct what is perceived as wrong, they are open to misrepresentation. Our Lord indicated that when I have "ought against my brother," I am to go to him personally, not write him a letter. Usually the issue between two people is settled in that way. However, if the matter isn't settled, then we are to take one or two more who know the situation and go together to have a face to face conversation and deal with the problem in a way that not a lot of people know about. If it still is creating a problem, then we are to tell it to the church. Letters usually are biased and/ or a distortion of the facts written to create a certain impression. It is important we do God's things in God's way.