Ezra 5:12
But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.
Because their fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed the temple at Jerusalem and carried the people away into exile in Babylon. Their unfaithfulness brought that judgment upon them, and their sin made the destruction and captivity necessary, for the kingdom grew worse and worse until the Lord removed it with no remedy, leaving Jerusalem laid waste and the holy house burned. Yet those calamities were not God's will for His people, nor was the same fate His will for the rebuilt temple or for the Jews again. The ruin gives the historical background to their later return from that captivity under the proclamation of Cyrus and the work of restoring Jerusalem and its temple.
Setting in Rebuilding History
The verse is the Jews' own telling of their work when the renewed rebuilding was challenged, preserved in the letter sent by the governor of Syria to King Darius asking that search be made whether a Persian decree for rebuilding the temple had been given and whether the Jews had authority to proceed. The inquiry followed the Samaritan opposition and the deputation sent to Darius, and upon search Darius found the decree of Cyrus and ordered the rebuilding to proceed with imperial support.
Its time is the second year of Darius Hystaspes, about B.C. 520, fifteen years after the foundations were laid, and the account in Ezra 5 and 6 shows conditions at Jerusalem in March 519 B.C. The temple work begun in 536 B.C. was finished in February 515 B.C. in the sixth year of Darius, twenty years in building with nearly fifteen years in which almost nothing was done because of the opposition of enemies and the discouragement of the Jews.
After the return from Babylonian captivity in B.C. 535, the Jews were hindered by the Samaritans and other adversaries through hired counselors at the Persian court under Cyrus and Cambyses. Then the work was stopped for about two years by a decree obtained from the impostor Smerdis, held to be Artaxerxes who obtained the kingdom by fraud and was slain in 522 B.C., with Darius son of Hystaspes succeeding in 521 B.C. The stopping followed the proclamation of Cyrus for return to Jerusalem and the laying of the foundation, then opposition under that Artaxerxes.
The work was taken up again under Darius when Haggai and Zechariah prophesied to stir the people and encourage the builders, with Zerubbabel governor of Judea. Zechariah spoke to confirm Haggai and reveal additional truth, so that the Jews prospered in rebuilding. When the renewed building was opposed, the new governor sent an honest report to Darius, and Darius decreed not only that the work at Jerusalem should go on but that it should be helped speedily with money from the king's tribute and with bullocks, rams, and lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, all that was needed at Jerusalem.
At that time the city was in dilapidated condition and the temple building was languishing. The people had departed from the Lord, become discouraged, selfish, and lacking faith, and needed to be reproved and urged to rise and build. Their earlier neglect had brought loss of God's blessing. The troubles they faced after returning and beginning to restore the temple made God's promise of peace and protection seem marvelous.
Reason for Babylonian Captivity
After their fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath and anger, He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the people, destroyed this house, the temple in Jerusalem, and carried the people away into exile in Babylon. Judah's unfaithfulness brought God's judgment, and sin made the destruction and captivity necessary. The kingdom grew worse and worse until the Lord removed it with no remedy, leaving Jerusalem laid waste and the holy house burned.
Those calamities were not God's will for His people, and the same fate was not His will for the rebuilt temple or for the Jews again. The verse gives the historical background to the later return from that captivity under the proclamation of Cyrus and the work of restoring Jerusalem and its temple. Their earlier neglect after returning had brought loss of God's blessing, but the rebuilding of the temple resumed after Haggai and Zechariah called the people back to God's work. Together with the next verse it shows that the Persian king who restored the Jews could be called king of Babylon and Assyria.