You Have Nothing to Do with Us - Ezra 4:3

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel. Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as you do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither”, and in chapter four and verse three of Ezra, Ezra shared how the leaders of Israel said, “you have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God” where we read,

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

The verse reads, “But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God;” Ezra began with the words, “but Zerubbabel” which means “however, nonetheless, notwithstanding and moreover Zerubbabel whose name means sown in Babylon and was the grandson of king Jehoiachin and leader of the first group of returning exiles from Babylon”, “and Jeshua” which means “and Jeshua whose name means he is saved and was the head of a Levitical house which returned from captivity in Babylon”, “and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel” or “and the residue and remainder of the heads, captains and highest male progenitors pertaining to the forefathers belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name for the descendants and nation of descendants of Jacob”, “said unto them” which means “uttered, declared and proclaimed to the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin”, “you have nothing to do with us” or “you, enemies of Judah and Benjamin, have not one thing to act upon with us, the people of Israel” “to build an house” which means “to fix, establish and rebuild a dwelling place, habitation, abode and temple” “unto our God” or “to our, Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the people of Israel's, Supreme Deity”. Ezra shared how “Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the remainder of the forefathers of Israel” told the enemies of Judah and Benjamin that they did not have one single thing to with their rebuilding of the temple of Jehovah God. 

The verse goes on to say, “but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Ezra continued with the words, “but we ourselves together” or “however, notwithstanding, nevertheless and moreover we, Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the forefathers, their own selves assembled and gathered with one another” “will build unto the LORD God” which means “shall erect, rebuild and reestablish toward Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name of the One True God the Supreme Deity” “of Israel” or “belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and was the name for the descendants and nation of descendants of Jacob”, “as king Cyrus”which means “similar and in likeness to Cyrus whose name means possess you the furnace” “the king of Persia” or “the royal ruler and leader of Persia whose name means pure or splendid and was the conqueror of Babylon and the first ruler of Persia to make a decree allowing the Israelite exiles to return to Jerusalem” “has commanded us” which means “has given orders to, charged, appointed and ordained us, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the remainder of the forefathers of Israel and the people of Israel”. Ezra shared how “Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the remainder of the forefathers of Israel and the people of Israel” told their adversaries that they would “build” Jehovah God's temple even as “Cyrus” directed them to do. 

When we think through Ezra's words in this verse, we discover how “Zerubbabel, Jeshua, the remainder of the forefathers of Israel and the people of Israel” refused and rejected the help of their enemy to rebuild their temple. Jehovah God gave “Cyrus the king of Persia” the directive for the people of Israel to go back to Jerusalem and reestablish the sacred temple of worship for Jehovah God. God wanted to reestablish the worship of Him because it would benefit the people of Israel, and when God sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, He made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, granted everlasting life and kept in alignment with God's way through His Holy Spirit for performing His will and not being influenced by others. 

Next time Ezra shares how, “the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah”, 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".