Introduction
3. The delay in construction ch. 5
As a result of Samaritan intimidation (Ezra 4:1-5), the restoration Jews stopped building the temple in 536 B.C. (Ezra 4:24), and did little work on it until 520 B.C. The Jews should have persevered because Cyrus had supported their efforts to rebuild it. Artaxerxes’ work stoppage order (Ezra 4:21) came much later, in 446 B.C., and suspended work on the walls of Jerusalem, not the temple.
"Like every spiritual advance, from Abraham’s to the missionary expansion in Acts, this venture began with a word from the Lord. And in common with the rest, it was quickly tested and threatened." [Note: Kidner, p. 53.]
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