HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-3.-The work endangered. Moses was exposed to danger whilst Atill in his ere.die. The same was true about Christ. There is yet another parallel in this passage. No sooner is the foundation-stone of the restored temple laid, than we hear of thnt branch of the great work of Restoration being in imminent peril. To profit rightly by this story of d1mger, two things must be pondered, viz., the nature of the dang'er, in the first place; and the manner of the deliverance, in tho second. I. THE NATURE OF TIIE DANGER. This wns -1. Serious in itself. It was a serious thing for the Jews, in their circumstances, that their work should have so strongly attracted the notice of their" adversaries." "The adversaries" (see cl1. iv. 3) "heard" of their doings. This was bad, to begin. Such hearing was only too likely to lead to "doing;" and to unfriendly doing, of course. So, in fact, it turned out. .After unfriendly notice came unfriendly interference. The people referred to "came." How unwelcome a sight to the Jewish builders and rulers. How fur from "beautiful" the" feet" of these strangers on the "mountains round about Jerusalem" (Ps. ex.xv. 2). "What have they come for?" Not merely to inquire and observe; but to interfere, and that not for good ( comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 4; 2 Kings ix. 17-23), Still more serious, when these adversaries did come, was the course which they took. We must bear in mind who they were. A" mixed multitude" in every sense. Of 4G THE BOOK OF EZRA. [cH. IV, 1-6,
variou_s stocks; of. ,-a1ious ci:eeds. . The desce!ldants of men brought to the cities an_d ~ills o~ Samaria_ from w1dely-d1_stant _Provmces of the great Assyrian empire; bnngmg with them, m all cases, t?eu old idols and c:eeds ; but grafting on to these afterwards, through the mere motive of fear, somethmg of that already grievously- corrupted worship of Jehovah which had prevailed in the kingdom of the ten tribes previously to its final overthrow and dispersion (see 2 Kings xvii. 7-18 24-33), S1,1ch mingled worship, being in violation of the very first of the ten comm~ndments was especially displeasing to the one true God; and had, indeed, in this instance' been already condemned by him as no true worship of his name (see ibid. vers. 3~ 39). It was the children then of these men, walking in the steps of their fathers who now came to Mount Zion. To whom had they come? To those "children of the captivity" who had been so careful to prove themselves of the stock of Israel only (see eh. ii. 59), and who had been brought back to that holy mountain to restore there, in a for ever purified form, the worship of Jehovah alone. To such men came this mixed multitude, as though brothers in blood and religion. " We seek your God ; we would help in your work; let us build by your side." A serious proposal, indeed ; being a proposal virtually to break down the very division which they were engaged in constructing, and for neglecting and despising which that long just-completed Babylonian exile had come upon their race. To consent to such ~ proposal would be to consent to their ruin. They could never so build the house of Jehovah. What could they so build, in fact, but a Babel, a monument of displeasure and disaster to themselves, and of no benefit even to their adversaries? Better not build at all than build thus. At the same time this danger was-2. Most insidious as to its form. After all, the proposal made came in the shape of an offer of help. Better to have that help than be without it. So many would think. Better to have such neighbours for us than against us (see 2 Chron. xxv. 9); especially they being so many and we so few. Besides which, to all appearance, it was an offer of help made in perfect good faith; and by men even of tried sincerity, it also appeared. ,; We seek your God, as ye do; we have done so ever since coming to these regions, some 150 years from this date."* How harsh it would seem to reject such assist- ance l How bigoted l How "narrow l " How opposed indeed to true religion I Even supposing these men to be seeking Jehovah in a somewhat ignorant and unacceptable way, might they not be won over to the truth by a little brotherly kind- ness? Might not the influence of the Jews tell for good on them, if they two were associated in so good a work? Whereas, if rejected and driven away from the work, would they not also be driven away even more from the truth? In a word, be servants to them so far; afterwards they will be your servants-and, what is more, the servants of Jehovah-for ever. So plausible, and, therefore, so doubly. dangerous, was this offer of help. II. THE DELIVERANCE vouchsafed from this danger has, next, to be marked. God, who allowed this great and subtle temptation to come on his servants, made them also a w_ay ~f escape (1 Cor. L 1~). This h~ did by gr9:nti~g to them-I. A epiri_t «?f ducrirninatwn. " Ye have nothing to do with us to bmld. In other words, Thie 1s not a task" for you and us in common 11 (see Lange, who compares Josh. xx. 24 [sic]; Judges xi. 12;. 2 Kings iii. 13). The r?ot or foundation of the propo~al made lay in the assumption that there was much m common between the Same.ntans and the Jews. In reality, eo far as this matter was concerned, there was nothing in common except a name. The Samaritans worshipped other gods first, and Jehovah only 11econd. The Jews worshipped Jehovah first, and no one else second. This was not holding common gro_un_d, but bein_g at opposite poles. Ho_w: could f_o~ces thus intrinsically antagorustic work effic1entlr together ? 2. A epmt of de=ion. Besides seeing the truth thus clearly, the Jew1Bh leaders were 9:leo enabl~d to act on it boldly. Was it indeed for "them alone II to undertake this enterprise? They alone, as one body, would do so. They would say so openly, and in so many words.
• This may be the purport ~f the end of v~r. 2,. even if we read it, es some do, '' W ~ do not eacrifice, &c., &c.;" the meanmg probably bemg, m that case," We have sought or wished to sacrifice to him all these years but have not been able to do eo for want of such a temple as }'OU have 110w commenced. Hence this proposal of ours to assist in that effort," t1U, IV, 1-6.] THE BOOK OF EZRA.