Excerpts: 5:3 At the same time Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: “Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?”…5 But the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it. 6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River…sent to Darius the king…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?’…13…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.”
Stop! That was the order from the local authority of “Beyond the River” that brought the rebuilding of the temple to a halt. Beyond the River was the name given by Persian rulers to their province that included Judah and Israel. The local authority was foreign people, aka “samaritans,” brought into this land by the Assyrians to replace the exiled tribes after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple. During the years of exile they have become the controlling presence in the land and are determined to protest the Jews right to rebuild the temple. They have no legitimate connection with Jerusalem, but they see themselves as heirs of the Northern Kingdom. They’re not a bit confused about the legality of what the people of God are doing but they’ve found a loophole to explore using the only bureaucratic tool they’ve got.
The letter to the King details good things about the work on the project using all the right words and then taints the truth of their words by asking King Darius to verify certain things for them. Did Cyrus really issue such an edict and does it limit the Jews in any way? Just asking. Is this letter a veiled warning to the King that he “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.” Is this persistent building of the Jews only the first phase of a larger plan to take over the whole city and undermine the king’s authority, and theirs? What has prompted my question is their odd phrasing in the last half of verse 16…“from that time until now it has been in building, and it is not yet finished.’”
The Jews are acting as “the servants of the God of heaven and earth” and they have faith in the legality of the edict of King Cyrus that gave them permission and support to rebuild the temple on it’s former site in Jerusalem. Their confidence in those two things has encouraged them to resume building “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.” The Altar has been repaired √, the foundation completed √ — and now under the watchful “eye of their God” there will be a new temple “and it is not yet finished.” Stay tuned, there’s drama to come.
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