Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ezra 4:4-5 NIVUK
Before we go into this in any depth, we need to understand who these people were. More than seventy years previously, the idolatry and treachery of the kingdom of Israel was punished rather brutally with their exile to Assyria (2 Kings 17:1-23). The king of Assyria repopulated the land with pagan peoples from other, less rebellious nations, who eventually worshipped God, but only after they'd been threatened by wild animals (2 Kings 17:24-41). Their worship was syncretistic - they combined the worship of their gods with the worship of the One True God.
It is these people who are the ancestors of the people called Samaritans in the New Testament. What we see here is the first culture clash between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Ezra 4:9-10 makes plain that these people were moved into the territory of Israel and Judah to administer and repopulate it.
In other words, they held a senior position in their society. The return of the Jewish elite and their descendents from exile would, without a shadow of a doubt, be a threat to their position of authority.
So we see here a group of people facing three threats from the returning Jewish exiles: loss of religion, due to the return of a Jewish leadership that had actually become stricter during exile; loss of identity, as they faced the prospect of many of their people being attracted by more orthodox Jewish teaching; loss of way of life, as Sabbaths, religious festivals and the like would be imposed on them and their nice positions with the occupying government would be under threat.
You can understand why they were angry.
Let's examine those three threats again: religion, identity, way of life. Where have we heard these before? Haven't extremist politicians on the left and right been quick to exploit our fears of these threats to get us to vote for them? Haven't conspiracy theories been quick to play on our suspicions to attract followers?
Haven't power hungry people been very quick to use these threats to gain our support?
This is where Christian communities - especially Evangelical communities - need to take great care. There are many who have struggled with lockdown. There are many who have lost income, livelihoods, businesses, careers, investments and so much more during this pandemic. We can understand why they are angry and frustrated.
But we cannot agree with every expression of it.
You see, there is such a thing as misplaced anger, especially when there are so many who are prepared to lie shamelessly to gain power and influence. But there is a standard we can apply with ourselves and others to ensure that the energy created by our anger and frustration is channeled the right way.
Firstly, is our anger legitimate? Is it based on the truth? Have we checked the veracity of the message that riled us and confirmed that it is true?
You see, the Bible tells us that we should think about "whatever is true" (Philippians 4:8), but just as the Samaritans successfully manipulated the Persian king Darius the Mede to ban the reconstruction of the Temple, so there are many who spread half-truths, falsehoods, fake news and lies for their own ends. As believers we must be able to tell the truth from the lie, and should pray for wisdom and discernment if we lack it (James 1:5). We should never be so gullible that we believe every piece of information flying round the internet. Much of this information is at best misleading, at worst counterproductive or even downright dangerous.
As Christians each of us has the responsibility to not just take messages at face value, no matter who they come through (Acts 17:11). We should be sure to fact check everything.
Secondly, we should check that our anger is proportionate. The Bible - and indeed human history - is littered with times when one man's anger or the anger of a race escalated into violence that was out of all proportion. None more so than here, where the Samaritans manage to prevent the Temple from being rebuilt (Ezra 4:17-24).
However, there are two things we need to take note of here. Firstly, disproportionate anger never, ever has a positive result. Secondly, in this case, the anger of the Samaritans did not stop the building of the Temple forever - it just delayed it for five years.
Our anger and frustration might drive us to the streets in protests. However, we need to ask ourselves if this is proportionate; if it's worth the risk. At the start of the pandemic in the UK and recently in the US anger at what has happened has driven people to attack Asians. This is clearly disproportionate and absolutely wrong.
And that leads us to third point. The expression of anger must be appropriate. At first glance, what these Samaritans were doing seems to be appropriate. They are using the pen instead of the sword. But their notification to the king was full of lies and exaggerations. Only 42,360 people had returned. How could they possibly take on the might of the Babylonians and take back the whole province (Ezra 4:16)? The very idea was preposterous!
It must be the same for us. Our anger cannot drive us to connive, to politik, to manipulate, to 'spin', to lie, to sin (Ephesians 4:26). Violence is absolutely out of the question, whether verbal or otherwise (Ephesians 4:29-31). The way we express our anger must have an air of self-control about it. It must be appropriate.
But more than anything, we need to ask ourselves a huge, challenging question: will it work? Will we get what we want?
You may wonder who I am to talk like this, when your situation is enough to make you furious. I sympathise with you. I really do. But a number of years ago I was informed that I was being made redundant by email. I was then asked to train my replacement, who was from India.
Have you ever been in an office that had been earmarked for closure? You can imagine what the atmosphere was like. Officially the closure was 'subject to consultation', but I was not fooled. A big corporate closing an office for financial reasons is not going to change their mind during a consultation. It was all the more galling when the CEO of the company received a salary of five times the amount of money that would have kept my office open for a year. It got worse when a senior figure in the company was indicted in a corruption trial where his legal fees would have been astronomical.
If I had been angry, would I have been justified? I'm sure you would say 'Yes'.
But what would have been the point? What would have happened if I was?
My mental and physical health would have suffered. My performance in interviews to get a new job would have suffered. My family would have suffered. The situation would not have changed. But I would have. I would have become bitter.
Listen to these words:
See to it that no-one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:15 NIVUK
The word for 'bitter' here also means 'poison'. And that what bitterness is. It is a poison.
We must understand that anger doesn't necessarily change our situation. But it does change the people around us, and it also changes us. It makes us bitter. And being bitter is completely unhealthy, potentially poisonous and can cost us a high price.
We are primarily the ones who suffer.
The bitterness and anger of the Samaritans in these verses had no good result. Not only did it confirm their alienation from the Jewish neighbours, it also proved that it wasn't legitimate, proportionate, appropriate or successful. It was, indeed, a complete waste of time and energy.
Don't get me wrong: we are free to be angry. Absolutely. No-one is denying that. But we need to ask ourselves if it's the right thing to do: both for the people around us and for us ourselves. And if it's not, then let's see it for what it is and set it aside.
Having seen people who react to change with anger, we'll move on to look at THE SAD PEOPLE.
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