In Ezra, chapter four, verse one, believers will always undergo a measure of opposition from the ungodly, as in Second Corinthians eleven, verses thirteen through fifteen, Ephesians six, verse twelve, and Second Timothy three, verse twelve, respectively. The righteous, who proclaim the truth and rely on God alone, must respond to these threats by constant prayer and sincere faith.
The adversaries of Judah and Benjamin are the strangers that settled in the land of Israel. The adversaries, being not accepted in the building of the Temple with the Jews, endeavour to hinder it. The adversaries were the Samaritans, a mixed race, partly Israelite but chiefly foreign, which had replaced to some extent the ancient inhabitants after they were carried into captivity by Sargon, as in Second Kings seventeen, verse six.
Opposition began as soon as the foundations were laid, as is usually with all great attempts to build God’s house. It came from the Samaritans, the mingled people who were partly descendants of the ancient remnant of the northern kingdom, left behind after the removal by the deportation of the bulk of its population, and partly the descendants of successive layers of immigrants, planted in the empty territory by successive Assyrian and Babylonian kings.
One can easily understand that the Samaritans looked with suspicion the new arrivals, the ancient possessors of the land, coming under the auspices of the new dynasty and likely to interfere with their position if not reduced to inferiority or neutralized somehow. The proposal to unite in building the Temple was a political move, for, in old-world ideas, cooperation in Temple-building was incorporated into national unity. The calculation, no doubt, was that if the returning exiles could be in union with the much more numerous Samaritans, they would soon be absorbed in them. The only chance for the body was to keep itself apart and to run the risk of its isolation.
As believers, we are engaged in a spiritual conflict with evil. Satan is a masterful strategist who seeks our downfall by his various schemes. He will use unbelievers or lukewarm church-goers to perpetuate division in the church, unbelief in the promises of God, discouragement, temptation to sin, compromise of conscienece, unwillingness to forgive, getting our eyes off Jesus, fear, accusation, indulging our sinful nature, spiritual apathy, and so forth.