At that time Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates went to them and asked, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and to finish it?" – Ezra 5:3

Today's Scripture Reading (September 29, 2023): Ezra 5

We live in a politically polarized world. That shouldn't be news to any of us. But what gets lost in such an environment is the simple fact that not everyone who believes differently from us is demonic or trying to pull something over on us. As adults, I know that is a huge assumption, we can honestly hold different opinions and yet still be friends. And this is true even with our big-ticket items. But the truth is that that is a challenging concept to get across to the people around us. Over the past few years, it has been an essential challenge to me, and I have felt the impact of being demonized by those who believe differently. Politically, I am a conservative who does not like how the conservative movement has been going in the past few years. But that does not mean that reasonable people cannot be supporters of the current conservative movement. It also does not mean that all liberals are morally deficient. That just isn't true. Our political beliefs are an area where we can honestly say that there are good people on both sides of the argument. (As opposed to a particular American politician who commented that good people were on both sides of a White Supremacy rally. White Supremacy is a moral issue on which the church needs to take a stand.)

Tattenai is the governor of the Trans-Euphrates province of the Achaemenid Empire. The Trans-Euphrates is also known as the Eber-Nari region, or the area "Beyond the River," specifically "Beyond the Euphrates River." Because it was a term used by Empires that existed on the East side of the Euphrates, the phrase "Trans-Euphrates" was used for civilizations found on the West side of the Euphrates River, which would have included Judah. The Inhabitants of Jerusalem and Israel were often thought of as people who came from "Beyond the River."

So, Tattenai asks, "Who authorized you to rebuild this temple and finish it?" It is not a question that comes with any defiance or disapproval. It is not like the opposition the Jerusalem rebuilding program had received from the Samaritans fifteen years earlier. It was a question coming from a politician who knew that he would have to give an answer to his superiors over what was taking place in Jerusalem. In our modern world, he would have been a civil servant who was just trying to ensure that all of the documents had been submitted and that i's were dotted and the t's were crossed. It is a practice that might be frustrating at times for us, but it is not purposefully defiant.

All of this should teach us that not everyone we think is opposing the move of God is doing so out of a deliberate bent toward evil. Some, like Tattenai, are not fighting the move but making sure things are being done correctly out of a sense of responsibility and duty.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezra 6