Ezra 6:13 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the Jews’ enemies becoming their friends. When they received the king’s order, they hurried to encourage and help the work, just as their earlier efforts had been to stop it (Ezr 4:23). They did what the king commanded, and they did it quickly, so no one could say they obeyed with reluctance (Ezr 6:13). The king’s moderate spirit made them moderate too, even against their own wishes.

The temple building was pushed forward and finished in a short time (Ezr 6:14, Ezr 6:15). The Jewish elders built with cheerful hearts. For all we know, the elders themselves may have worked with their own hands, and that would not have lowered their dignity. It would have encouraged the other workers. They were bound to this work by the command of the God of Israel, who had given them authority so they could use it in his service.

They were also shamed into action by the commands of heathen kings, Cyrus earlier, Darius now, and Artaxerxes later. Could the elders of the Jews be slow in this good work when these foreign rulers were so eager for it? Should native Israelites be unwilling to give their time and care to the building when outsiders did not mind paying for it? They were also encouraged by the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, who likely pointed them to God’s great goodness in turning the Persian king’s heart toward them. The work went so well that it was completed in four years. God’s work is perfect. The gospel church, that spiritual temple, takes a long time to build, but it will be finished at last when the whole body is complete. Every believer is a living temple, building himself up in the most holy faith. Satan and our own sinful nature oppose this work, and we often move forward with stops and starts. Yet the one who began the good work will complete it, and he will bring justice to victory. The spirits of just people will be made perfect.

When the temple was finished, they dedicated it to sacred use. In other words, they set it apart for God’s honor and worship, and showed by their actions that it was not for common use anymore. The service included not only the priests and Levites who ministered, but also the children of Israel, some from each of the twelve tribes, though Judah and Benjamin were the main ones. It also mentions the children of the captivity, or exile, which may mean that others from the nations had joined them and become converts. Or it may simply point out their poor and troubled condition, since that would make them more serious and devout in worship. It was a sad change, though, when the children of Israel became the children of captivity, and only a remnant remained, as in (Isaiah 7:3), Shear-jashub, “the remnant shall return.”

The sacrifices included bullocks, rams, and lambs (Ezr 6:17), offered as burnt offerings and peace offerings. They were not nearly as many as at Solomon’s temple dedication, but they matched the people’s present means and were accepted by God. After great hardship, their great joy and deep poverty overflowed into generous giving (2Co 8:2). Their hundreds meant more to them than Solomon’s thousands had meant to him. Along with these, they offered twelve male goats as sin offerings, one for each tribe, to make atonement for their sins. They knew this was necessary if their service was to be accepted. By having their guilt removed, they freed themselves from what had caused their earlier troubles and could spoil their present joys if left in place.

This dedication was done with joy. They were glad to see the temple built and its work in such good order. We should also welcome holy worship with joy and attend it gladly. We should serve the Lord with gladness. Whatever we give to God should be offered cheerfully, thankful that he is willing to accept it.

When they dedicated the house, they also set the temple service in order. They appointed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups (Ezr 6:18). After setting up God’s worship at the dedication, they took care to keep it going, and they used the book of Moses as their guide. Though the temple service was not as grand or plentiful as before because of their poverty, it may have been carried out with even greater purity and closer obedience to God’s command. That was its true glory. No beauty is like the beauty of holiness.

They also celebrated the Passover in the newly built temple. Since they had just been delivered from Babylon, it was fitting to remember their deliverance from Egypt. New mercies should remind us of old mercies. They may have kept the Passover in some form every year since their return, since they had an altar and a tabernacle. But enemies troubled them often, they had little space, and they lacked proper arrangements, so they could not observe it with full solemnity until the temple was built. Now they made it a joyful festival, since it came in the month after the temple was finished and dedicated (Ezr 6:19).

Notice is first taken of the purity of the priests and Levites who killed the Passover (Ezr 6:20). In Hezekiah’s day, many priests were blamed for not purifying themselves. Here, by contrast, they are praised because they purified themselves together, as one man. They were united in both their decisions and their efforts to make and keep themselves ceremonially clean for this holy occasion. They worked together in their preparation so they could help one another, and in that way they were all clean. The purity of ministers adds much to the beauty of their work, and so does their unity.

Notice also the proselytes, the converts, who joined with them in this ordinance. These were people who had separated themselves from their own land and its false worship, and had chosen to cast in their lot with the Israel of God. They had turned from the uncleanness of the heathen around them, both their idols and their immoral ways, to seek the Lord God of Israel as their God, and they ate the Passover.

See how the new converts are described. They had separated themselves from the pollution of sin and from close fellowship with sinners. They joined themselves to the Israel of God in life and worship, and they set themselves to seek the God of Israel. Those who do this sincerely, even if they are strangers and outsiders, are welcome at the gospel feast, as fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.

They also kept the feast of unleavened bread with great joy and satisfaction, as in Ezra 6:22. The Lord had made them glad, giving them both reason to rejoice and hearts able to rejoice. By then, about twenty years had passed since the temple’s foundation was laid, so most of the older men who had wept when they remembered the first temple were likely gone. That means their joy was no longer mixed with tears.

Those who have true, well-grounded joy have every reason to be thankful, because it is God who gives that joy. He is the source from which every stream of our joy flows. God has promised all who hold fast to his covenant that he will make them glad in his house of prayer.

Their special reason for joy at this time was that God had turned the emperor’s heart toward them and strengthened their hands. If people who once opposed us, or whom we feared would oppose us, instead support us, we may take that as a sign for good, showing that our ways please the Lord (Proverbs 16:7). God must receive the glory for it.