Ezra 4:23
Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
The Artaxerxes whose letter halted the work was the false Smerdis named in Ezra 4:7, who had been persuaded by the Samaritans to prohibit the rebuilding of both the temple and the city. That stop order was secured by disguising enmity under a pretense of fidelity to the Persian king and by cloaking slander. In the former years of rebuilding the house of the Lord, the adversaries weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building.
When the copy of the king's letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews and made them to cease rebuilding the Lord's house by force and power. This forcible stopping of the work was one of the manifold difficulties encompassing Zerubbabel. The enforced cessation lasted until the Lord interposed in behalf of the faithful builders.
The earlier efforts also failed because the Jews lacked true faith and lacked union of effort, so the zealous and true-hearted were again and again disappointed in their purposes. The enemies worked by a Satanic policy, and such a policy cannot succeed if the people of God bar the doors against the enemy, work harmoniously to carry out the divine will, and refuse to let traitors within throw open the gates. For loyalty and truth turn every attack into firmer reliance upon God and more determined effort to carry forward His work against all opposing influences.