Tatnai - Ezra 5:3

In the book of Ezra, after fifteen years delay in rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem, Ezra said, “then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them”, and in chapter five and verse three of Ezra, Ezra shared, “at the same time came to them Tatnai” where we read,

At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions, and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?

The verse reads, “At the same time came to them Tatnai, governor on this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions, ...” Ezra began with the words, “at the same time” which means “at the selfsame and identical season” “came to them” which means “entered and arrived to Zerubabbel, Jeshua and the people of Israel” “Tatnai” whose name means “gift and was a Persian governor in Syria who opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem”, “governor on this side the river” which means “captain and controller on the western side of the Euphrates River”, “and Shetharboznai” whose name means “star of splendor who was a Persian officer in the reign of Darius”, “and their companions” which means “and their, Tatnai and Shetharboznai's, fellow citizens and associates”. Ezra mentioned “Tatnai, Shetharboznai and their companions” who were opposing officials of Israel on the western side of the Euphrates River who asked the following question. 

The verse continues, “... and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house, and to make up this wall?” Ezra added the words, “and said thus unto them” or “and uttered, declared, proclaimed and therefore asked them, Zerubbabel, Jeshua and their companions”, “who has commanded you” which means “what person has set, made and appointed a decree” “to build this house” or “to make and erect this, Jehovah God's, habitation, abode and dwelling place”, “and to make up this wall” which means “and to erect and rebuild this, the city of Jerusalem's, barrier wall”? Ezra said “Tatnai, Shetharboznai and their companions” questioned who told “Zerubbabel, Jeshua and their companions”that they could erect and rebuild the dwelling place of Jehovah God and the barrier walls which surrounded Jerusalem. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how once again adversaries and foes arose against the people of Israel. “Zerubbabel, Jeshua and their companions” began rebuilding the temple of Jehovah God after the prophetic words of “Haggai and Zechariah”, but “Tatnai the governor, Shetharboznai and their companions” began to defy their ambition. Satan, our adversary, does not stop His opposition to us either. He first wants to keep us from a personal relationship with God whose Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. Then, when we receive Jesus as our “Savior and Lord”, Satan will attempt to cause us to have doubt and be ineffective as a witness for Jesus. God loves us, and when we submit to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and make us aware of our adversary's efforts and plans to stop our progress with God. (See John 16:13; Revelation 12:10)

Next time Ezra shares how Tatnai asked, “what are the name of the men that make this building?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".