From Curse To Blessing

From Curse To Blessing

They wondered why it didn’t rain.

THE FIRST group of Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity in about 537 B.C., when Cyrus, the king of Persia, issued a decree authorizing them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple the Babylonians had destroyed. After the construction began, the Samaritans and other neighboring tribes so intimidated the Jewish builders that they ceased work from 530–520 B.C.

When they stopped working on the temple, God sent a drought as his judgment on them (Haggai 1:5-6). At that time the prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to the Jews of God’s judgment on them for their failure to work on the temple. Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and Jeshua, the high priest, responded to the prophesies by motivating the people to resume working again (Ezra 5:1-2).

But Tattenai, governor of the province west of the Euphrates, and his colleagues, hearing construction had resumed, soon arrived in Jerusalem and asked, “Who gave you permission to rebuild this temple?” As if the drought weren’t bad enough, now the Jews were being hassled by the government. The leaders of the Jews told Tattenai and his cohorts to write Darius, king of Persia, and let him verify that Cyrus had officially authorized the project. The Jewish leaders told the officials that they would continue to work until a reply was received from Darius (vv. 3-5).

Tattenai immediately wrote a letter to King Darius, asking him to search the royal archives in Babylon to discover whether King Cyrus ever issued a decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (vv. 6-17).

Upon receipt of the letter, Darius issued orders to search the Babylonian archives. But it was at the fortress at Ecbatana in the province of Media that a scroll was found that said:

“Memorandum:

“In the first year of King Cyrus’s reign, a decree was sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem. It must be rebuilt on the site where the Jews used to offer their sacrifices, retaining the original foundations. Its height will be ninety feet, and its width will be ninety feet. . . . All expenses will be paid by the royal treasury. And the gold and silver utensils, which were taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, will be taken back to Jerusalem and put into God’s Temple as they were before.”

So King Darius sent this message:

“To Tattenai . . .

“Stay away from there! Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its former site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the leaders of the Jews in their work. Moreover I hereby decree that you are to help these leaders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs without delay from my taxes collected in your province so that the work will not be discontinued. . . . And without fail, provide them with the wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil that they need each day. Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for me and my sons.

“Those who violate this decree in any way will have a beam pulled from their house. Then they will be tied to it and flogged, and their house will be reduced to a pile of rubble. May the God who has chosen the city of Jerusalem as the place to honor his name destroy any king or nation that violates this command and destroys this Temple. I, Darius, have issued this decree.” (Ezra 6:3-12)

Tattenai did as he was told. The Jewish leaders continued their work and finished the temple on March 12, 516 B.C., seventy years after its destruction in 586 B.C. Then all who had returned to Jerusalem dedicated the Temple to God with great joy (vv. 13-16).

Reflection

The Jews went from experiencing a drought when they were disobedient to the blessing of the Persian government paying all their expenses when they were obedient. Have you experienced God’s chastening when you were disobedient and his blessing when you were faithful?

As surely as the Lord your God has given you the good things he promised, he will also bring disaster on you if you disobey him.

Joshua 23:15