Ezra 3 describes the rebuilding of the altar in Jerusalem and the reestablishment of the sacrificial system. This took place in the first seven months of the children of Israel’s return to Jerusalem. At the beginning of the second year of return, the foundation of the temple was rebuilt. This was an extremely important event that further proved the Lord was intent on dwelling among His people.

Ezra 4 recounts the opposition to the rebuilding project. While on the surface, human rivalries contributed to this opposition, below lay a very real spiritual issue. The temple was God’s special dwelling place on earth, where His people received the forgiveness of sins and worshiped the Lord. Satan and his evil host want nothing more than to prevent God’s people from receiving forgiveness of their sins. As noted in the introductory material, chapter 4 also breaks chronological sequence to help those in Ezra’s day to see how opposition to their work was similar to problems faced by their ancestors.