Centuries ago, when the Kingdom of Israel was united and, in its infancy, the Lord told its king, Saul, to completely and utterly destroy the Amalekites, even all their possessions. They were to be wiped out, because Amalek was dedicated to the total destruction of Israel. I bring this up at this point, because it seems that politics is often ignored in our studies of the word of God. It is almost like its undercurrents do not exist in our assessment of Biblical context. The emperor of Persia, was supreme in authority, as was the emperor at Babylon, but even emperors can be taken in and used for the ideology of smaller and less powerful political groups (cp. Daniel chapters 3 and 6). Furthermore, we need to realize that, while part of the events of the Book of Ezra were taking place, so the events in Esther were also taking place.
We see that there were political undercurrents taking place in the first chapter of Esther, and the king followed the advice of men who had influence over him. Moreover, even those with supreme authority were vulnerable to political enemies (cp. Daniel 4:19; Esther 2:19-23). More importantly, and as it pertains to political opposition against the Jews, Haman, the Agagite, had powerful influence with the king, and he used it against the Jews, seeking to utterly destroy every last one of them (cp. Esther 3:1-5, 8-13). Notice, that Haman was an Agagite, a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites, whom King Saul spared against the Lord’s wishes (cp. 1Samuel 15:8-9). In other word, all the Amalekites were destroyed, except for the royal family, the Agagites, and some of them were in important political positions in Babylon and Persia, and it is also logical that some would have been transplanted to Samaria by the King of Assyria, when he conquered the House of Israel, the northern kingdom of the Jews (2Kings 17:24).
Thus, as one can see, this was the political climate surrounding those days as the Jews sought to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple of God. Some of the dangers were past, and some were yet future, but stirring in the mix, both in Samaria and in the king’s court, was the hatred that some had for the Jews. It was there throughout their existence as a nation, and throughout their captivity in Babylon, and it was still there during the days when Jerusalem and the Temple were in the process of being rebuilt.
So, Artaxerxes, vis-à-vis Darius Hystaspes, sent his reply to Rehum, governor of Samaria and Shimshai the Persian scribe there, and to the men under their authority (Ezra 4:17), saying their letter had been read before him (Ezra 4:18). Moreover, he had, indeed, commanded that a search be made in the records of the kings, as they had advised, and it had been found just as they had said. Jerusalem was, indeed, a rebellious city that rose up against the kings they served. Indeed, there were mighty kings that come out of that city who ruled many surrounding countries, making them pay tribute to Jerusalem (Ezra 4:19-20).
Therefore, the king commanded the governor of Samaria to bring the building of Jerusalem and the Temple to a halt, by force, if necessary, so that the kings of Persia wouldn’t suffer harm or loss of revenue (Ezra 4:21-23). An interesting point in the king’s letter indicates that the work should cease: “…until another commandment should be given by me!” (Ezra 4:21). Such a statement can be understood that the king stopped the building project, due to the political undercurrents at the time. In other words, if he didn’t stop the building project at Jerusalem, court politics might rise against him to his hurt. If this is logical and true, then the king’s former relationship with Nehemiah told him he had nothing to be concerned over the things said against him, because Nehemiah had served him well. Nevertheless, the king couldn’t ignore the political climate within his court that rose up against the Jews. Support for this understanding may be derived from what occurred when Nehemiah returned to the palace after spending 12 years in the Province of Judah. The fact that Nehemiah wasn’t slain, which should have been done, if it were true that he sought to make himself king (cp. Nehemiah 6:5-7), implies that the king didn’t really believe the Samaritan’s assessment of what was taking place at Jerusalem.
Nevertheless, the work on the House of God at Jerusalem ceased until the second year of Darius, Xerxes, the son of Darius Hystaspes (Ezra 4:24), according to the chronology of Daniel 11:2.
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