Ezra: The Lord Helpsنموونە

Whenever we’re building the church, we can expect opposition to come, and sometimes it’s very subtle. 

Ezra 3 ended with the people of Judah having rebuilt the altar and laid the foundations of the temple in Jerusalem. They have finally made some progress, only for opposition to come (vv. 1–2). But what happens next looks like a very gracious and magnanimous offer of help: ‘Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God’ (v. 2). Surely the people of God could do with any help offered them? 

While they are called ‘enemies’ (v. 1), they certainly don’t look like enemies. They speak as friends. They claim to be following the same God. That makes the response from Judah’s leaders in verse 3 a real surprise. 

Why do Judah’s leaders see these people as enemies and so categorically reject their help? It’s because they also say, ‘we … have been sacrificing to [God] since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ (v. 2). 

History tells us that Esarhaddon reigned from 681–669 BC. That means these people have not been sacrificing at the temple altar in Jerusalem, which has only just been rebuilt. 

This really matters because the Lord made it very clear that there is only one place where sacrifice for sin could be made: at the temple altar in Jerusalem (see Josh. 22). In sacrificing somewhere else, they had been very significantly disobeying the Lord. They thought that they could come to God via a route other than the one designated by Him. 

Fast forward hundreds of years to Jesus Christ and we see very clearly why this is such a serious issue. Jesus is the one person, and His cross is the one place, where we can go to be put right with God. Jesus Himself stated very clearly, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ (John 14:6). If we think that there is another way to know God, then we are making at least two huge mistakes. First, we are arrogantly saying that we know better than God. Second, and perhaps most worrying of all, we are dismissing the necessity of the sacrifice for our sins that God Himself provided in Christ, which is highly offensive. 

So anyone who states they can bypass Jesus and reach God by another route is an enemy of God, even if they claim otherwise. We must not join forces with them.

Reflection 

Be sure you understand why Jesus is the only way to God. Be committed to never work in gospel ministry with anyone who does not unswervingly hold to the uniqueness of Christ and His cross.