Bible Commentaries
Ezra 6

Verses 1-22

XXI

THE RETURN AND REORGANIZATION UNDER ZERUBBABEL

Ezra 1-6

This section embraces the return unto the dedication of the Temple, 536-516 B.C. (Ezra 1-6). First, we have the decree of Cyrus, Ezra 1:1-4, issued 536 B.C. In this remarkable decree Cyrus gives his authority for issuing it, as Jehovah, the God of Israel. This does not imply that Cyrus was a monotheist or a believer in the God of Israel, but it does imply that he recognized the existence of the God of the Hebrews and acknowledged him as the promoter of their welfare.

There are five remarkable things about this decree, viz: (1) It was promulgated by a heathen king. (2) It recognized Jehovah as the dispenser of the kingdoms of the world, saying, "All the kingdoms of the earth hath Jehovah, the God of heaven, given me." (3) It declares that the supreme God had "charged" him to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. (4) It originated in a "stir" of the king’s spirit by God himself. (5) It provided for money and free will offerings for the Temple. All this may have been brought about as tradition says, by Daniel showing Cyrus the prophecy of Isaiah, thus causing him to issue this decree. However this may be, we have here some great lessons on God’s government of the world, viz: First, God’s universal sovereignty over the kings of the earth. Second, these heathen people had some light of the true God which perhaps, they received from the Jews. Third, God’s prophecy cannot fail and his promise is made sure, as in the case of Caesar Augustus, who issued the decree that all the world should be enrolled, fulfilling a prophecy of Micah some five hundred years before. It may be added that all this shows that the Persians during this period recognized the one supreme God, though they worshiped others gods, and that Isaiah had foretold this decree giving the very name of the king and bringing us the lesson that God’s foreknowledge is unlimited making possible all predictive prophecy.

Next follows the first return and genealogy, Ezra 1:5-2:67. The company was composed of those whom the Spirit of God stirred up, which was not large comparatively speaking, perhaps, because the larger part of them were engaged in commerce and did not wish to take chances on transferring their business interests. He charged their friends to help them freely, which has a parallel in the case of the children of Israel leaving Egypt, though without order from the king. Cyrus was honest in his decree. All the vessels that had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar were returned. They numbered in all 5,400. A partial list of them is given, but only the best materials are mentioned, such as the silver and the gold.

The genealogy in the second chapter gives only the heads of the various tribes or representatives of them: this list had been carefully preserved through the Exile. This company of returning pilgrims is the "remnant" so frequently spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. The total number was 42,360 Jews, and 7,337 servants. Their beasts numbered 736 horses, 250 mules, 435 cattle, 6,720 asses – a large caravan. The mention of the actual heads of the tribes in Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7, gives evidence that the twelve tribes were represented in this return, the prophetic proof of which is found in Jeremiah 3:18; Jeremiah 16:15; Jeremiah 30:3; Ezekiel 11:15; Ezekiel 11:17. These prophecies show that Israel and Judah both were to return to their land. There is also abundant historical proof that Israel returned with Judah. After the division of the kingdom and before the captivity ’of Israel there were four defections from Israel to Judah. Then the history of the Jews after their return proves it (See Zechariah 11:14) ; the twelve tribes were there in Christ’s day, and James addresses the twelve tribes. This exact numbering here in Ezra has the historical value of preserving the genealogy and the details here given show the poor and insignificant beginning they had upon their return.

The first attempt was to rebuild the Temple, Ezra 2:68-3:13. There was a considerable amount of wealth among those who returned in this company. The larger part of them settled in the various cities of Judah, comparatively few of them in the city of Jerusalem. We have an account of the first offering toward the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 2:69) amounting to about $450,000.00. In the seventh month they gathered together under the leadership of Joshua and Zerubbabel and erected an altar; the starting of the worshiping of God in sacrifices. They had learned in the Exile that it was impossible to have a religion without a temple. It is probable that the stone upon which this altar was erected is the stone now under "The Dome of the Rock." They offered their burnt offerings and then kept the "Feast of the Tabernacles" as best they could. In the next year under the direction of the leaders they laid the foundation of the Temple. This probably occurred in 535 B.C. It was attended with joyful ceremonies as recorded in Ezra 3:10. It is possible that the song they sang then was the whole or part of Psalm 136. There were those present who remembered the former Temple and they thought of the destruction of that grand building and doubtless they lived over again the fifty years intervening. The younger members of the congregation were overjoyed at the present success, and the old men as truly were grateful, but gave vent to their feeling with a wailing of sorrow at the memory of the former Temple. Fifty years had passed since their former beautiful Temple had been destroyed, and they could not but think over the awful past, when it went down in ruins. So the younger men rejoiced but the older men wept and wailed.

We find the first hindrance to the work in Ezra 4:5-24. This is by the Samaritans) that mixed race to the north of Judah. Their first offer was friendly, to co-operate with and help the Jews build the Temple, and from Ezra 4 we see that Zerubbabel did not accept their offer, but promptly rejected it because they saw the outcome of such an alliance; then, they showed that the decree of Cyrus had appointed them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The refusal angered the Samaritans and they succeeded in putting a stop to the work of erecting the sacred edifice. In Ezra 4:24 we are told that the work on the house of the Lord ended until the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia. This would be 520 or 519 B.C.

In Ezra 4:4-5 we have a general statement of the opposition in this language: "Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia." Then follows the opposition in particular: In a letter to Ahasuerus (Cambyses) they bring an accusation against Judah and Jerusalem, but there are no particulars given. Then in a second letter to Artaxerxes (Pseudo-Smerdis), they brought an accusation against Jerusalem with the following particulars: (1) they are building the rebellious and bad city; (2) they have finished the walls; (3) the people are preparing to avoid tribute, custom and toll; (4) the records show this to be a rebellious and hurtful city, and there should be an investigation to see if these things are so; (5) this means that Persia will have no portion beyond the river Euphrates. The result was that Artaxerxes responded that he had examined and found records as they had charged, and therefore he ordered the work stopped, and did stop it by force.

There are some critical matters just here that call for consideration: (1) "Ahasuerus" and "Artaxerxes" are royal titles and are applied to various monarchs of Persia; (2) these are not the "Ahasuerus" and "Artaxerxes" of Esther and Nehemiah, making Ezra 4:6-23 parenthetical as some say, but they refer to "Cambyses" and "Pseudo-Smerdis" as indicated above, and Ezra 4:6-22 connects directly with the preceding and following verses; (3) "the rebellious city" has a certain basis of truth in three instances: It rebelled (a) in the reign of Jehoiakim, (b) in the reign of Jehoiakin, and (c) in the reign of Zedekiah; (4) the statement, "have finished the walls," is an Oriental exaggeration (Ezra 5:3) ; (5) "no portion beyond the river" has basis of truth in the reigns of Solomon and Menahem.

The work was stopped, for probably seventeen or eighteen years, and apparently no efforts were made to continue it. At this time there appeared two prophets upon the scene, Haggai, an older prophet, and Zechariah a younger one. They aroused the people to activity by a series of prophecies which we find recorded in their books. Haggai says, "The time has come for you to build God’s house." The trouble was they had taken time to build houses for themselves and neglected God’s house. He says they ought to consider their ways; that the present drought and hard circumstances existed because they had neglected the building of the house of God (Haggai 1:7-11). Zechariah by a series of visions co-operates with Haggai and the people are at length aroused to a genuine effort to build, or rather rebuild the Temple.

As they were rebuilding the Temple the matter was reported to Tattenai, the Satrap, who had charge of all this part of the Persian Empire. It caused him some apprehension. He wished to know for certain whether the Jews had authority to rebuild the Temple or not. They answered that the decree of Cyrus was their authority. Then Tattenai entered into correspondence with the king about the matter.

The history of the old Temple, the Jews’ disobedience and captivity, and the decree of Cyrus was all recited in the correspondence between Tattenai and Darius. The king ordered a search for the Cyrus decree, the decree was found, and the work was ordered to go forward. This decree granted all that the Cyrus decree did and added the help of the governor with gifts of various kinds and for various purposes. The date of this decree was 519 B.C. If we compare this letter of Tattenai to Darius with the former one, we find that there is a vast difference. The former was characterized by bitterness and false accusations, while the latter was a fair statement and a legitimate inquiry into the merits of the case.

We note here that credit is given to the prophets for the success of the work, though it was four years, five months, and ten days after they began to prophesy before the work was completed. It is well to note here also the points made by the prophets bearing directly on the work of rebuilding the Temple. Haggai reproves them for excusing themselves from the building under the plea that it was not time to build and refers to their building themselves houses to live in and neglecting the house of God. Zechariah by a series of visions confirms Haggai’s work and encourages them to undertake the great task of building. (Here the student should read Haggai and Zechariah – they will be interpreted later in the course).

The Temple was finished and dedicated 516 B.C. (Ezra 6:13-22). This great event occurred about seventy years after the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar. The nation now had a religious center. A new era for Judaism dawned. This Temple remained until A.D. 70, when it was destroyed by the Romans. Haggai promised that the desire of all the nations should come into it. In the courts of this same building Jesus of Nazareth walked and talked. There was a note of joy in this dedication. They offered sacrifices as they did at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, but this exercise did not compare with Solomon’s in magnificence. There was also a resetting here of the priests and Levites in the service of the Temple. Then followed a great celebration of the Passover. Few other such celebrations of this feast are recorded in sacred history. Along with this one may be named the one in Egypt at its institution, the one at Gilgal upon the entrance into the land, another in the days of Hezekiah, yet another in the days of Josiah, and the last one in the days of Jesus when he instituted his Supper to take the place of the Passover.

QUESTIONS

1. By whose decree did the first exiled Jews return to their country and what was the date of this decree?

2. What five remarkable things about this decree and how brought about?

3. What great lessons here on God’s government of the world?

4. What light does this give us on the religious condition of Persia during this period?

5. What great prophet had foretold this decree giving the very name of this king and what the lesson?

6. What, in general, was the response to this decree, what kindness shown to them by the Persians, what parallel found in earlier Jewish history and why was the response so small?

7. Who were the men named in Ezra 2:2 (cf. Nehemiah 7:7), counting the regular Israelites, the Nethinim, the servants and singers, how many people and how many beasts of burden in this first return, and what evidence that all the twelve tribes were represented in this return?

8. What prophetic proof that the ten tribes were not wholly lost?

9. What historical proof?

10. Why this exactness in numbering and detail?

11. What was the first thing they did upon their arrival in Jerusalem and what was the amount of this offering?

12. When did they set the altar and inaugurate regular service, who were the leaders, what was the first feast kept, what was the next step, what steps did they take now toward rebuilding the Temple, and where did they get their material? (See your Bible.)

13. When did they lay the foundation, what correspondence here (see 1 Kings 6:1), what the ceremonial on this occasion, what Psalm did they sing; how did they sing it and how did the people give expression to their emotion?

14. From whom did opposition come to the work of rebuilding the Temple, what proposition did they make, what the subtlety of it, how was it met and why?

15. Where do we have a general statement of the opposition, in what form does the opposition appear in particular, what points made, what result and what critical matters in this connection?

16. How long did the work of building cease, who stirred them up to renew the work, what new opposition arose, what form did it take, what history was recited in the correspondence, what was the result, what enlargement of this decree over the Cyrus decree, what was the date of this decree and how does the correspondence here compare with the former letter to the king?

17. What credit is here given to the prophets for the success of the work, and how long after they began to prophesy to the completion of the work.?

18. What were the points made by these prophets bearing directly upon the work or rebuilding the Temple?

19. Describe the dedication service, contrast it with Solomon’s dedication of his Temple and note the resetting here in the service of this Temple.

20. What great Jewish festival did they keep at this time and how many great occasions of a like celebration in the history of Israel can you name?

Verses 1-44

XXII

EZRA AND HIS GREAT REFORMATION

Ezra 6-10

In the previous chapter we considered the history on this period up to the time the Temple was rebuilt and dedicated and the first Passover after the return was celebrated. This event occurred about 516 B.C. In this chapter we make a leap of nearly sixty years. This is ascertained by comparing the dates in Persia. The first verse of the seventh chapter begins thus: "After these things" and goes on to record the events which occurred about 458 B.C. In the meantime the work had lagged. The people had become lax. Numbers of foreign marriages had been contracted; many moral delinquencies had crept in.

In Persia several events of importance had transpired. Xerxes had become king (488-465 B.C.) . Esther had become queen, the incidents of Mordecai and Haman had taken place and Artaxerxes Longimanus (465-425 B.C.) had succeeded Xerxes on the throne. So we are now to consider the events in Judah during the reign of Artaxerxes of Persia, to whom Nehemiah was cupbearer.

First, we will consider the person and character of Ezra, 7:1-10. We have the record of his genealogy from Ezra himself. He traces his lineage back directly to Aaron, the brother of Moses. He is thus of genuinely priestly blood. His business was that of a scribe: a writer, a recorder, a codifier of the laws. He was an expert in Jewish law. He was doubtless a teacher and a man of high personal character and scholarship. There had been no revival during this period of nearly sixty years among the colonists in Judah and Jerusalem, and when God would stir up a revival among them, he began by arousing a man in faraway Babylon. He impressed upon this man the importance of the work, and stirred him up to lead the people into the complete adoption of the law of Moses among the Jews in Judah. They had no great leaders there. Ezra was among the exiles in Babylon and as a result of long and profound study of the matter, determined that the complete law of Moses must be made effective in Judah and Jerusalem, which was over eight hundred miles away and required about four months for the journey.

Next comes the decree of Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:11-26). Ezra must have been a man of great reputation and influence, highly respected by the king and nobility, for in some manner, we know not how, he secured from Artaxerxes the king this remarkable decree. He granted Ezra his whole request. We find two kinds of provisions in this decree, viz: the temporary and the more permanent ones. The following were the temporary provisions:

1. Like Cyrus, his predecessor, he made it a matter of choice to every one as to whether he would return or not.

2. He was to carry the silver and the gold which the king had freely offered for the establishment of the Law.

3. He was to buy with this money all the animals which he required for the performing of the sacrifices and ceremonies.

4. The money not required for this they were at liberty to use as they thought best.

5. The vessels were given them to be brought back to Jerusalem.

6. What other money was required Ezra was at liberty to draw upon the king’s treasure house.

7. All the treasurers who are beyond the rivers are commanded to give Ezra whatever he may require of them, with no restrictions as to the amount of salt he should need.

The following constitute the permanent provisions:

1. Priests and Levites and Temple officers were excused from taxation.

2. Ezra was empowered to appoint magistrates and judges to enforce the law of God, and to teach those who might not know it.

3. Whoever refused to obey this law might be punished by death or banishment or the confiscation of his goods or imprisonment.

The date of this decree is 457 B.C. and it is the most liberal decree yet. No wonder that Ezra breaks forth into that matchless song of thanksgiving! What marvelous powers had been granted to him by the great king of Persia! He blessed God that he had put such things into the king’s heart.

In Ezra 8:1-14 we have the genealogy of those who returned with Ezra. This account is taken from the personal memoirs of Ezra himself. Here he uses the first personal pronoun. Comparing this list with Zerubbabel’s list we find 17,073 males, making in all, perhaps 9,000 people; fewer families, though three new ones added, instead of eleven chiefs, or heads of families, we find eighteen, and there appears one remarkable name, "Hattush," a descendant of David and the great-great-grandson of Zerubbabel.

In Ezra 8:15-36, Ezra describes how he himself gathered the caravan together on the banks of a certain river, how he found no Levites among them, how he found certain Levites at a place called Casiphia and thus adds to his company a considerable number of Levites and singers. He proclaims a fast of three days at this camping place, and doubtless the fast was accompanied by earnest prayer. There was a long and dangerous journey before him, and he fully realized it. Ezra knew that a considerable portion of that desert would be infested by roving bands of robbers who would watch for just such caravans as his. He had a large amount of money with him and might have asked for a band of soldiers to accompany them, but he says, "I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against enemies in the way, because we had spoken to the king saying, The hand of our God is upon all those who serve him." Such faith could not fail, and the journey was safely made, requiring about four months. It was in 458 B.C. The first thing they did was to turn over the money; the next thing was to offer sacrifices, and the third thing was to deliver the king’s commission.

At this time a considerable amount of laxity prevailed among the priestly families of Judah and Jerusalem. Many of the princes and the chiefs and priests had married daughters of the alien tribes that settled in and around Judah. The law of the priesthood was that they should marry only among the priestly families, and they were violating the law openly and flagrantly. For such a state of affairs to continue would mean the entire dissolution of the race and the obliteration of their religion. The princes, the civil heads, made the complaint because the priests and Levites were guilty. Ezra was dumbfounded. His actions are described in Ezra 9:3 where he says, "I rent my garments and my mantle and plucked out the hair of my head and beard and sat down astounded." In this attitude he attracted a great deal of attention. And in spite of the crowd that collected about him, he remained in this position until the time of the evening oblation. That hour arriving, it was time for prayer. He stretched forth his hands in an earnest confession. That confession gives a glimpse into the heart of the man. It shows us his whole intense honesty and integrity of purpose. It shows how he identified himself with the people, for in his confession of the sins of the people he included himself with the others. He realized that if this state of affairs continued, the race would deteriorate, the religion of Jehovah would be lost among the foreign elements; that it would be practically impossible for him to impress the law of Moses upon the community; that the nation would justly die, for God would drive them into exile again. As might be expected, a great awe-stricken crowd gathered about the man so humiliated and grieved. They knew full well the cause. One young man, named Shecaniah, speaks. He thinks there is hope for Israel concerning this thing; that all that is necessary is for these men to put away their wives and the children born of such wives; only let it be done in a legal fashion, according to the law of Moses. Ezra revived. He roused himself up and issued a proclamation, calling an assembly of the people to consider the matter. He commands that they make confession of their guilt and separate themselves from the strange women, whom they have married. A divorce court is appointed whose duty it is to carry into effect this command. Two men refuse to obey (Ezra 9:15) and the same verse tells us that they had their friends. The work is completed. Homes are broken up. Wives are torn from their husbands and sent back to their homes. Children were torn from their fathers; husbands sat in the gloom of their homes, childless. It is difficult for us to even imagine the full results of such a rigid decree. According to the law of Moses it was the only thing that he could do to save the race and the law of God. The list of those who were guilty of this sin was formidable, but this radical measure was necessary to preserve Israel for her mission in giving the religion of Jehovah to the world.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the time period between the events of Ezra 6-7, how ascertained and what changes occurred during this period?

2. Who was Ezra, what did he do for Jerusalem and how long on the journey?

3. What was the nature of the decree of Artaxerxes concerning Ezra, what was the temporary provisions, what was the more permanent provisions, what date and how does this decree compare with the two preceding ones?

4. What of Ezra’s exultation in Ezra 7:27-28?

5. Compare the list of those who returned with Ezra with Zerubbabel’s list as to number, as to families, as to the chiefs, and as to the remarkable names.

6. What was the course of Ezra’s journey and what were the incidents and details of the journey?

7. Upon their arrival at Jerusalem what were the first things they did?

8. What immoral condition did Ezra find in Israel when he arrived in Jerusalem, who made the complaint and why, how did it affect Ezra, and how did he manifest his grief?

9. What course did he pursue and what are the striking features of his prayer?

10. How did God answer his prayer and what measures recom

11. How then did they proceed and what was the details of the work?

12. What do you think of the list of those who were guilty of this

13. What was the ground of justification for this radical measure by Ezra?