More on separation

My Bible reading for today was Ezra chapter 4. In it, the returned exiles, who are rebuilding the Temple of the LORD, receive an offer of help from some of the local inhabitants, who say that they too seek the God of the Israelites and sacrifice to Him. They receive a very definite 'no' from the leaders of the exiles. Now, to a modern reader of Scripture, this seems a bit harsh. Although these people are described as 'the enemies of Judah' right at the start of the chapter, that may be from the benefit of hindsight, as they certainly went on to become enemies after their help was rejected. Not an unnatural reaction. If a similar situation were to occur nowadays, many would say that seekers who seem to worship the same God as we do and who want to get involved in our church should be welcomed, not rejected. Why make enemies of your neighbours?

However, the Israelite leaders were quite right. To understand the situation fully, you need to know the background of the people who came to help. They were not Israelites or descendents of Abraham but people from elsewhere who had been relocated from their conquered homelands by the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon, in line with Assyrian policies which aimed to uproot conquered peoples in order to subjugate them to Assyrian rule and assimilate them into the Assyrian empire. 2 Kings 17:24-41 describes how these people worshipped the God of Israel but also continued to worship their own gods. In other words, they were idolaters. If their help had been accepted, their idolatry would soon have infected the Israelites, who had managed to stay faithful to the God of Israel throughout the exile. A temple built with their involvement would have ostensibly been a temple to the God of Israel but would probably also have had annexes for the worship of other gods!

Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the others seem, to our modern way of thinking, to be anything but inclusive when they tell the locals "You have no part with us in building a temple to our God." They not only forfeited help they could have had but also suffered years of opposition. However, they stayed true to God and, in the end, the temple was built. It may have lacked the glory of Solomon's Temple but it was dedicated to the one true God. That was more important. They applied the principle of separation and stayed faithful to God. Would that more of our churches would do the same.

PS. And if the Israelite leaders knew at the time that these people who came offering help were enemies, they were smart enough not to be taken in by the story of them seeking the God of Israel. They didn't just take them at face value but applied biblical principles and rejected the offer. Something for churches which accept lottery money to think about!