UBF Daily Bread

THE TEMPLE WORK BEGINS AGAIN

Passage: Ezra 5:1~17

Key verse: 5

Tattenai’s Letter to Darius

5 Now Haggai^(A) the prophet and Zechariah^(B) the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied^(C) to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. ²Then Zerubbabel^(D) son of Shealtiel and Joshua^(E) son of Jozadak set to work^(F) to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

³At that time Tattenai,^(G) governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai^(H) and their associates went to them and asked, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”^(I) ⁴They^[a] also asked, “What are the names of those who are constructing this building?” ⁵But the eye of their God^(J) was watching over the elders of the Jews, and they were not stopped until a report could go to Darius and his written reply be received.

⁶This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates, the officials of Trans-Euphrates, sent to King Darius. ⁷The report they sent him read as follows:

To King Darius:

Cordial greetings.

⁸The king should know that we went to the district of Judah, to the temple of the great God. The people are building it with large stones and placing the timbers in the walls. The work^(K) is being carried on with diligence and is making rapid progress under their direction.

⁹We questioned the elders and asked them, “Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?”^(L) ¹⁰We also asked them their names, so that we could write down the names of their leaders for your information.

¹¹This is the answer they gave us:

“We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple^(M) that was built many years ago, one that a great king of Israel built and finished. ¹²But because our ancestors angered^(N) the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean, king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.^(O)

¹³“However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus issued a decree^(P) to rebuild this house of God. ¹⁴He even removed from the temple^[b] of Babylon the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to the temple^[c] in Babylon.^(Q) Then King Cyrus gave them to a man named Sheshbazzar,^(R) whom he had appointed governor, ¹⁵and he told him, ‘Take these articles and go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem. And rebuild the house of God on its site.’

¹⁶“So this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God^(S) in Jerusalem. From that day to the present it has been under construction but is not yet finished.”

¹⁷Now if it pleases the king, let a search be made in the royal archives^(T) of Babylon to see if King Cyrus did in fact issue a decree to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem. Then let the king send us his decision in this matter.

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Footnotes

Ezra 5:4 See Septuagint; Aramaic We.
Ezra 5:14 Or palace
Ezra 5:14 Or palace

After Darius became king, some prophets encouraged the people with the word of the Lord. The elders of the people took heart and began building the temple again. As soon as they started the governor of the region challenged them once again. He took down the names of the builders and sent a letter to the king. He informed Darius that the people were again constructing the building. This time the eye of the Lord was on his people. This time they were not stopped by the opposition they received. They continued to build with diligence. God watched over them, and they continued to make rapid progress.

The letter contained the response of the people of Israel. They described themselves as servants of the God of heaven and earth. It was this God who had destroyed the temple in his anger over their sin. But it was also this God who moved the heart of Cyrus to authorize the rebuilding project. Their answer is the testimony of the sovereign creator. This is who they worship and proclaim. He is over all, including the kings of this world.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see you when I meet challenges in this world. You are watching over your people. Bless me to trust you alone.

One Word: God watches over his people