Every once in a while, God simply shows off. Sometimes He cranks up something miraculous. You know, stuff like the pillar of cloud and fire, parting the Red Sea, and resurrecting His crucified Son from the dead. But there are other times when flexes His almighty muscles to let us know He’s really in charge of the whole deal. Case in point, Ezra 7:11-26. A pagan Persian king named Artaxerxes is the baddest man on the planet. He sits on the throne of the most powerful nation in the world. He even goes by the nickname of the king of kings. Yet for some strange reason, this bloodthirsty dictator suddenly gets all warm and fuzzy when it comes to the Israelites. That’s because there’s ultimate King sitting on the ultimate throne who’s REALLY in charge. There’s only one King of Kings. And it’s not Artaxerxes.
A little context is probably a good idea at this point. After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the Israelites are in the process of returning back home to the Promised Land. And God is behind every single step. He’s the one who used Nebuchadnezzar to yank them out of the land (Jer 25:8-9). His chosen people had made the huge mistake of choosing to not worship Him. Yahweh wanted to get their attention again. If you’ve read much of the Old Testament, this is pretty much the cycle of God’s relationship with His people. When it’s time for them to return, Yahweh taps King Cyrus of Persia on the shoulder and gives him the idea to not only let the Jews go home but finance the rebuilding of their temple (Ez 1). When local bureaucrats want to see if the Israelites have all the permits for the project (Ez 5:3-17), God steps in once again. This time He nudges King Darius to sign off on the temple completion and use government funds to make it happen (Ez 6:1-12). Now 59 years after His people cut the ribbon on the rebuilt temple, the LORD is up to His old tricks again. This time its Artaxerxes. At God’s prompting, the king of Persia throws his full support behind Ezra’s plan to continue the resettlement of Israel (Ez 7:1-10).
Just as he did earlier with letters from Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai (Ez 5:6-17) as well as Darius’ decree (Ez 6:1-12), Ezra cuts and pastes Artaxerxes’ letter of endorsement for this amazing move (Ez 7:11-26). “This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and His statutes for Israel” (v11). His royal highness lets the world know that he might not worship Yahweh, but he certainly sees Ezra as someone who knows all about the God of Israel and His Scriptures. This man isn’t just a priest and scribe. This dude has serious skills when it comes to God’s law. Mad skills. It’s a variation of what we read earlier in Ezra 7:6 and 11. If anyone wants to know anything about the God of heaven, the Big E is your go-to guy. Are you someone goes to for answers to questions about Jesus? Do you have someone from whom you seek guidance and counsel in spiritual matters? For a lot of folks 500 years before Jesus, that man was Ezra.
Artaxerxes opens his decree and immediately lets anyone who reads it know that he’s not just any garden variety king. He’s the “king of kings” (v12). He’s no second-rate ruler of some jerkwater province on the backside of beyond. He’s the most powerful king of the most powerful nation on the planet. Every other king, queen, prince, princess, duke, duchess, governor, and mayor answers to him. This title comes with the territory of running the dominant world superpower. A few years back, that honor belonged to our old buddy from Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar as the “king of kings” (Ezek 26:7; Dan 2:37). There’s just one little problem with that. The throne of the king of kings is already occupied. The one and only Jesus has title embroidered on His royal robe and tattooed on His leg. “On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev 19:16). Artaxerxes really believes he’s the king of kings. Isn’t that cute?!? He has no idea that King Jesus is orchestrating everything like chess pieces.
The Persian king decrees that any Jew who wants to go home can go home with Ezra. “Anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you” (v13). This is an open invitation to all. You don’t need a passport. You don’t need to buy a ticket. You just show up with your bags packed and go. But somehow someway, I’m sure there were those who turned down this all expense paid return home. They had gotten comfy in captivity. This mirrors Jesus’ invitation to all to join Him. Anyone may freely come into His kingdom. Somebody else is picking up the tab. All we have to do is show up and turn to Christ. But there ares those who ignore the incredible offer. They have gotten comfy in the captivity of their sin.
The king’s ruling was amazingly open-ended. “Anyone” could go (v13). Artaxerxes mandated that Ezra could take “whatever” he and his crew needed (v18). Just in case you mistakenly thought there was a limit on the financial resources available, the king threw open the doors of the royal treasury so they could take “whatever else is required” (v20). The dictator makes sure the local Persian governors back in Jerusalem did the very same. “Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of God of heaven requires of you, let it be done with all diligence” (21). The king repeats this idea a fourth time to ensure this move gets “whatever is decreed by the God of heaven” (v23). Whoever wants to go. Whatever Ezra needs. Whatever God wants. There doesn’t seem to be any limit on what God makes available to Ezra through Artaxerxes.
Artaxerxes closes this decree by giving local autonomy to Ezra and the Jewish people. Remember, the Promised Land is currently part of the Persian Empire. Yet, the king hands over crucial control of political appointments to this Jewish high priest. “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as you know the laws of your God” 25). This dictator knew that Ezra could be trusted. He knew that Ezra is a man of integrity. He knew Ezra continually sought God’s wisdom. That’s what God can do when we live a life of obedience to His Word.
The king closes this royal document by ordering this combo high priest/scribe to instruct all of the people back in the Promised Land in the law of God. “And those who do not know them, you shall teach” (v25). In this resettlement of the Hebrew people who have lived an entire generation almost 1,000 miles away, they need to taught about God. They desperately need to know who He is. They desperately need to know what He’s done. They need a teacher. And that teacher is Ezra.
All of this happens when God prompts a pagan Persian king to throw his support behind the return of God’s people to their homeland. Artaxerxes thinks this is his idea. He thinks he’s the king of kings. Isn’t that cute?!? There's only one King of Kings. And it's NOT Artaxerxes.
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