Introduction
‘King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it: Memorandum: In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem: Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits high and sixty cubits wide, with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.’ Ezra 6:1-5
The Decree Of Darius
At the request of Tattenai, Ezra 5:17, a search was made for the decree of Cyrus, which states that the Jews were permitted to return home and rebuild the temple, Ezra 1:1-4. We must remember that whilst this search was going on, the Jews continued to work on the temple, Ezra 5:5.
This wouldn’t have been an easy task to find the scroll as the Persian archives were vast and credit must be given to Darius, for not giving up the search. He could have easily given up when nothing was found in Babylon, but he continued the search and eventually found it at Ecbatana.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following about this account of the decree.
‘The variations between this decree of Cyrus and that report of it in Ezra 1 is due to the fact that this one was an official document relating to the expenditure of public money, and that one was an oral, public proclamation. There is no disharmony whatever between them!’
‘The dimensions for the temple listed by Cyrus area problem. There are different accounts of the size of Solomon’s temple, in 2 Chronicles 3 and 1 Kings 6, and, it is difficult to reconcile the dimensions given here with the statements made in Zechariah 4:10 and Haggai 2:3, implying that the second temple was smaller than the first. Perhaps the dimensions here are those which Cyrus required the Jews not to exceed.’
‘Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God: Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons. Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem. I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.’ Ezra 6:6-12
After discovering Cyrus’ decree, any opposition was completely stopped and Darius commands Tattenai, and those associated with him, to actually help the Jews with their work of building the temple and asks them to use the royal treasury to help them with any funds which may be required.
Darius not only wanted to help the work to continue, but he also wants the Jews to pray for him and his sons, which I’m sure they would have done, Jeremiah 29:7 / 1 Timothy 2:1-2.
Notice also that he took further steps to enforce his new decree by declaring that there will be severe consequences to anyone who ignored or disobeyed his decree.
Completion And Dedication Of The Temple
‘Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.’ Ezra 6:13-18
Tattenai, Shethar-Bozenai and their associates diligently carried out Darius’ orders, they supported the work and punished anyone who opposed it. the work continued and the Jews were encouraged to keep going through God’s prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
Remember the building work was going very slowly because God’s people were more interested in building their own homes, Haggai 1:2-3. As a result of their neglect of building the temple, God sent them famine as a judgment, Haggai 1:5-6 / Haggai 1:10-11.
This famine got their attention and they listened to Haggai and Zechariah, and under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua, a new effort was begun, Haggai 1:12-15.
The work was completed on ‘the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.’ This means that it took four years to complete the work initially begun. The first captives returned from Babylon when Cyrus was king but the temple construction was completed under the reign of Darius.
Artaxerxes is mentioned here because it was during his reign, almost sixty years after the first Jews returned from Babylon and began the construction under Zerubbabel.
It was during his reign that Ezra was given permission to take all the sacred articles of the temple from the temple in Babylon to be placed inside God’s new temple in Jerusalem, Ezra 7:1-26.
After the temple was finished being built, they offered many sacrifices to God, 1 Kings 8:62-66, and there was a great celebration among the Jews. Notice that they offered ‘twelve male goats as a sin offering’, this speaks of all their past failures but also their reliance on God.
These would be the remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel who offered these sacrifices in the newly built temple, Ezra 2:2/ Ezra 2:59 / Ezra 2:70 / Ezra 3:1 / Ezra 3:11 / Ezra 6:16 / Ezra 7:7 / Ezra 7:28. It’s important to note that they were very careful to follow the proper priestly service as commanded by the Book of Moses.
The Passover
‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the LORD had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.’ Ezra 6:19-22
The writer now resumes the Hebrew language at this point, Ezra 4:8 and with the exception of the letter of Artaxerxes, Ezra 7:12-26, the remainder of the book is in Hebrew.
Here again, we’re reminded of their faith in God as they celebrate the Passover. When the initial Passover was kept by the Israelites the night before they left Egyptian captivity, Exodus 12:1-20, the Israelites focused on the future promises of God.
Here when they celebrate the Passover they not only remember how God delivered from Egypt, but they would be looking forward to what God has planned for them in the future, the coming of the Messiah.
For the original Passover, it was the one who was offering the lamb who would slaughter it, Exodus 12:1-6, but here we find the priests did it for them. Along with the Passover, there was also the feast of Unleavened Bread, Exodus 12:17-20, which represented purity among God’s people.
Notice also that everyone ate together, including anyone who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of the Gentiles. In other words, there were Jewish coverts taking part, we see this with Rahab and Ruth, Ruth 4:20-21 / Matthew 1:4-5 / Luke 3:32.
Notice that the Lord filled them with joy because he changed the mind of the king of Assyria, to help them finish the temple building work.
When we think about this, Ezra 1:1 begins by telling us that God moved the heart of Cyrus and here this ends with God changing the heart of the king of Assyria. That is, the king of the Persian empire, which now included the possessions, and had surpassed the glory, of Assyria.
Rawlinson, in his commentary, gives the following wonderful summary of Ezra’s commission.
The Temporary Provisions
1. Permission for all Israelites who desired to do so to go with Ezra to Jerusalem.
2. Permission to carry the monetary gifts of the king and his counsellors to Jerusalem.
3. Permission to draw upon the royal sub-treasury large grants up to the limits set in Ezra 7:22.
4. Permission to convey to Jerusalem all of the money that Ezra might receive from an area-wide fund-raising effort.
5. A royal mandate to ‘inquire’ concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
The Permanent Provisions
1. Ezra was endowed with the chief authority over all the great satrapy beyond the River, with the power to appoint magistrates and judges and to require their knowledge of the Mosaic Law.
2. He was empowered to enforce his decisions by penalties of fines, imprisonment, banishment, or even death.
3. A permanent status of tax exemption was granted for the entire religious community concerned with services in the temple.
