Ezra 6:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the decree of Cyrus for rebuilding the temple repeated. The Samaritans had appealed to it because the Jews had already based their case on it. They may have hoped the document could not be found, which would have let them stop the work. So an official search was ordered among the royal records. It seems the Jews had not kept an authenticated copy for themselves and had to appeal to the original.

The search first began in Babylon, where Cyrus had signed the decree (Ezra 6:1). When it was not found there, Darius did not treat that as proof that no such decree existed. He likely already knew the decree had been made and ordered the records searched in other places. At last it was found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes (Ezra 6:2). Perhaps someone had hidden it there out of hatred for the Jews, hoping they would lose its protection. But God arranged for it to come to light, and it is recorded here (Ezra 6:3-5).

The decree gives a clear warrant for rebuilding the temple: “Let the house of God at Jerusalem be built,” with its proper size and materials. It also orders that the cost of the work be paid from the king’s revenue (Ezra 6:4). We do not know that the Jews ever received all that was ordered, because the mood at court soon changed. The decree also ordered the return of the temple vessels and utensils that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and the priests, the Lord’s ministers, were to place them back in God’s house (Ezra 6:5).

Darius then confirmed the decree and acted on it. His order is direct and full. First, he forbade his officers to interfere with the rebuilding. The wording shows that he knew they wanted to hinder it: “Stay away from there” (Ezra 6:6), and “Leave the work of this house of God alone” (Ezra 6:7). In this way, the anger of the enemy was turned to praise God, and the rest of that anger was held back.

Second, Darius ordered money from his own treasury to support the builders (Ezra 6:8). In this he followed Cyrus, who had given a similar order (Ezra 6:4). He also provided for the sacrifices after the temple was finished (Ezra 6:9). He commanded that everything needed for burnt offerings and grain offerings be supplied. He was willing for this to be a regular charge on the royal income, paid each day without fail. In return, the Jews were to offer sacrifices and prayers for the life, meaning the safety and well-being, of the king and his sons (Ezra 6:10).

This shows his respect in several ways. First, he honors Israel’s God, whom he calls the God of heaven. Second, he honors God’s ministers, since his officers were to give out the supplies at the priests’ direction. Those who had wanted to control the priests now had to take orders from them in this matter. It was a new thing for the priests to have such influence over public money. Third, he honors prayer, because he wanted them to pray for the king’s life. He knew they were a praying people and had heard that God was near when they called on him. He understood that their prayers could benefit him, and he showed kindness to them so he might have a share in those prayers.

It is the duty of God’s people to pray for rulers over them, not only for good and gentle rulers, but also for difficult ones. They are especially bound by gratitude to pray for those who protect and help them. And it is wise for rulers to desire those prayers and encourage them. The greatest princes should not look down on the prayers of the humblest saints. It is a good thing to have them on our side, and a serious thing to have them against us.

Third, Darius enforced the decree with a penalty (Ezra 6:11). No one was to oppose the temple work or withhold the support granted by the crown, on pain of death. If anyone tried to change the decree, he was to be hanged on a beam from his own house, and his house was to be made a dunghill, a heap of refuse and disgrace.

Fourth, he called down God’s curse on any king or people who would later have a hand in destroying that house (Ezra 6:12). What he would not do himself to protect the temple, he asked God, to whom vengeance belongs, to do. This shows his zeal for the cause. The temple was later destroyed by God’s righteous hand, and justly so. Yet the Romans, who carried out that destruction, may have felt something of the force of this curse, since their empire steadily declined afterward.

From all this we learn that the heart of kings is in God’s hand, and he turns it wherever he pleases. God makes rulers what they are, because he is King over all kings. We also learn that when God’s time comes to fulfill his gracious plans for his church, he raises up helpers from places no one expected. Sometimes even “the earth helps the woman” (Revelation 12:16), and people with little religion themselves are used to defend religion.

We also see that what is meant to harm the church is often, by God’s overruling providence, turned to its benefit (Philippians 1:12). The enemies of the Jews appealed to Darius hoping to get the work stopped. Instead, they received an order to support it. In this way, out of the eater came food. The apocryphal book of Esdras gives a different account of this decree, saying that Darius had vowed to rebuild the temple if he came to the throne, and that Zerubbabel, one of his attendants, won this favor by a wise speech. But that does not match this account, which shows Zerubbabel already at Jerusalem.