10/03/2026
It’s an old story that mimics our modern times.
In the beginning of the book of Ezra, Cyrus the Great’s spirit was stirred by God to allow the Jewish people to return to devastated Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild the temple after 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Cyrus’s spirit was stirred when he was told or read that Isaiah prophesized about him 150 years before his birth.
The first wave of exiles returned to Judah and Jerusalem led by Zerubabbel, a royal heir to the throne of King David, and Jeshua the High Priest. These two leaders, one belonging to the line of Judah and one representing the High Priesthood, foreshadowed the coming of Jesus who came from the tribe of Judah, was a branch of Jesse, and the high priest. The returnees also included rag-tag mix of various people whose spirits were also stirred to undertake the massive reconstruction project. Many of these returnees were grandchildren of the original people exiled and had never been to Jerusalem. Some of the returnees were, however, old enough to remember the former city and temple. In total over 40,000 returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.
After a four-month trek through the desert back to Jerusalem, the people began to re-establish roots and homes, and to plan and execute the temple’s rebuilding. The theme of Ezra chapter 4, however, describes the external opposition and sabotage that erupted once the rebuilding project was underway. This chapter describes a universal truth: “Whenever you step out of captivity to build something sacred, the devil will aggressively try to stop you.”
The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin, the Samaritans, heard about the captives rebuilding the temple and deceptively approached Zerubabbel and Jeshua with a “friendly” proposal. The Samaritans were a hybrid people that mixed pagan culture and practices with Godly worship. The Samaritans were Israelites who intermarried with foreigners sent to Israel after the Assyrian takeover. The comingling was strictly prohibited by God. Therefore, the Samaritans formed a hybrid religion where they feared God but served their own gods. They were neighbors of the Judeans and witnessed the rebuilding. When they approached Zerubabbel and Jeshua stating “Let us help you, for we worship your God as you do. We sacrificed to him since the Assyrians brought us up here” they were not exactly telling the truth.
Zerubabbel and Jeshua saw through the deception and rejected their offer to help. Once rejected, the Samaritans became unfriendly and began a centuries long campaign to oppose and sabotage the rebuilding project. Their plan was to weaken Judah’s hand, to cause trouble, drain worker’s resolve, multiply fears, and turn the creative momentum of the returnees into exhaustion.
The Samaritans were persistent in their opposition. They started with letter-writing campaigns as each new Persian king transitioned into power. They continually applied political pressure using manipulative lies, truth distortion to create fear, and legal mechanisms to subvert any progress. They bribed lawyers to create false or inaccurate accusations to purposefully frustrate the people of Judah. The opposition continued through 4 kings, Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes.
The tactics grew in intensity with each new king. The final legal brief was put together by a coalition of nine groups of various pagan populations who were made up of people forcefully displaced and resettled in Samaria over the centuries since the Assyrian capture. These groups consisted of officials, judges, inquisitors, magistrates, and royal secretaries that were sent into the area to supervise the people, to enforce the Persian culture, and to break down national identities. They formed local governments that enforced the emperor’s rules, maintained the status quo, and kept a tight lid on any local independent movement.
The ultimate goals was to exploit the emperor’s fears by outlining potential bureaucratic sabotage that the Jews may engage in, such as instituting a tax revolt that would affect the king’s revenue. They might become a national security risk by attempting to overtake neighboring areas. The Samaritans requested a search through historical archives that might paint the Jews as rebellious. They distorted history and reality of the time to create opposition.
Does any of this sound familiar? The whole story parallels the modern American political arena. Many are trying to dilute or change America’s national identity. They are trying to institute bureaucratic mechanisms to exploit tax codes, legal systems, and history to reshape laws and culture. Shifting demographics are utilizing political channels, voting blocks, and political frameworks to influence the cultural and legal direction of our country. They are running for political offices and getting elected.
The current struggle to maintain traditional American culture and values involves the legal direction of our country, national borders that affect national security, and fundamental family values. The struggle for many involves these questions, especially in the very important upcoming election. Can we maintain our traditional American values with a blended regional system and open borders? How do we preserve our core national identity, our foundational legal system predicated on Judeo-Christian principles, and our historical heritage amid rapid demographics and political evolutions? How do we maintain our national sovereignty when some groups our infiltrating our local governments to sabotage and reconstruct our culture?
The people we elect get to write the rules and the laws, construct the infrastructure, and dictate culture values. Beware. Know your history.
Ezra is an ancient story about restoration, identity, opposition, discernment, and the difficult work of rebuilding after a nation has been uprooted. The circumstances are ancient; the questions it raises are remarkably current.
These questions are timeless…. Who are we? What principles are worth preserving? What are we rebuilding? And can we recognize the difference between genuine cooperation and influences that would gradually change the thing we set out to restore?
