The REAL King of Kings

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.

A Letter to the Home Office

Sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places. Who would ever expect to see God inspire His Word to be written in a letter from a couple of local pagan political appointees to a Persian dictator? Well that’s exactly what went down in Ezra 5:6-17. In this section of Scripture, the author cuts and pastes a note from some dudes named Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai back to King Darius. They’re concerned about the huge construction project back on the pile rubble that used to known as Jerusalem. Nobody back at the home office notified them about this. They check in just to make sure the Jews have all the proper permits and paperwork. But a funny thing happened after these local officials licked the envelope and dropped this in the mail. God decides to supernaturally include this letter in the Bible. Yeah, sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places.

First of all, the folks who originally wrote this note are “Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bezenai and his associates, the governors who were in the province Beyond the River” (v6). Beyond the River is actually the official name of an area under Persian rule just west of the Euphrates River. The authors of this letter are people appointed by the king to keep an eye on things. They’re not so much power players but political appointees who got their jobs because they support the king. There are actually ancient documents listing Tattanai as the governor of the region under Darius. The city of Jerusalem and the land of Judah would have fallen under the jurisdiction of Beyond the River. It’s only natural that these local officials want to know what in the world is going on right under their noses.

This letter from Persian bureaucrats actually includes some very cool details about the reconstruction of the temple. It gives us an interesting view of the scope and history of the project from a non-Jewish third party. First of all, they describe it as “the house of the great God” (v8). The city is in rubble. The temple is destroyed. But the reputation of the LORD still resonates throughout the land. There is a level of respect and honor for Yahweh in the words of these administrators. 

Tattenai and the boys also tell us about the kinds of building materials used by the Jews as well as their construction methods. “It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls” (v8). The phrase “huge stones” describe stones so incredibly large that they can’t be carried. This is literally “stones of rolling.” Wait a minute! Were Mick Jagger  and the Rolling Stones providing musical entertainment in Jerusalem? Well, the Stones have been around a long time and Keith Richards may look like he’s a couple of thousand years old, but they did NOT play a temple gig back in 522 BC. At least I don’t think they did. The Israelites are building not just with these massive stone blocks but beams of timber running inside the walls. This is not only typical construction techniques of the day for large buildings, but the same method used by Solomon’s crew the first time around (1Ki 6:36; 7:12).

The letter also lets us in on the incredible work ethic of the Israelite craftsmen. “This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands” (v8). They’re making up for lost time. Remember, a gang of Samaritans sabotage the project for 16 years (Ez 4:4, 24). God uses the prophetic pair of Haggai and Zechariah to light a fire under His people to get things going again (Ez 5:1-2). Once they’re back on the job site, they make HUGE progress. They are committed. They are tenacious. And the officials of Beyond the River make note of the fact that what’s going on at the temple project “prospers at their hands” (v8). They aren’t just throwing this new temple together willy nilly. This is quality craftsmanship.

This note to the home office quotes Hebrew officials as to the nature of what they’re up to. “We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth” (v11). They let these local Persian officials just who’s REALLY behind this effort. It’s the “God of heaven and earth” (v11). They’re not just serving some regional franchise deity. This isn’t your garden variety god. He’s in charge of of it all. Heaven. Earth. If you’re scoring at home, that’s pretty much everything. Take a look around. Whatever you’re looking at, He’s the God of it. That’s the God they served. That’s the God we serve.

Zerubbabel and his leadership team make it clear that this isn’t new construction. “We are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, which a great king of Israel built and finished” (v11). Just for review, that “great king of Israel” is the one and only Solomon. You can read all about the original project in 1 Kings 5-7. Solomon built the glorious first temple in 966-960 BC, 450 years before this reconstruction effort.

These local bureaucrats even find out why the Israelites have to rebuild the temple. It seems that their ancestors had a bit of an issue with Almighty God. “Because our fathers angered the God of heaven” (v12). If their predecessors listed their relationship status with God on Facebook, it would probably be “it’s complicated.” The dust of the original temple hadn’t even settled when our boy Solomon started jacking around with other idols. It seems Sol was more concerned about his harem than his God (1Ki 11). That started a long, slow slide of idolatry and evil among God’s people and their kings.

When it comes to the kings of Israel, Manasseh was the poster boy of evil (2Ki 21:1-17). “He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel” (2Ki 21:2). He brought back old school idolatry that folks did back in the day. Manasseh put altars to false gods everywhere, including IN THE TEMPLE! He made witchcraft, the paranormal, psychics, fortunetellers, and mediums all part of the worship in Jerusalem. This crappy king even went so far as to offer his own son as a burnt offering! He wasn’t alone in his idolatry and led the people of God away from God. 

Yahweh might be slow to anger but He will get there eventually. “His anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh provoked Him” (2Ki 23:26). To say that “our fathers angered the God of heaven” is a bit of an understatement. Over and over and over, Yahweh tried to get His people back into obedience for their own good. He tried everything. But they kept turning to other gods to make their offerings (2Chr 34:25). And laughed at His handpicked prophets until He really had no other choice. “But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against His people, until there was no remedy” (2Chr 36:16).

The Israelites tell Tattenai and his buddies how God eventually called on a pagan dictator to do His work. “He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia” (v12). Everybody knew all about Nebuchadnezzar. For 40 years, he was the baddest man on the planet. Yet he was just a puppet in the hand of Almighty God. Yahweh used Nebuchadnezzar like an errand boy to get the attention of His people when they turned their backs on Him. “Therefore He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of the sanctuary and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or aged. He gave them all into his hand” (2Chr 36:17). The Babylonians burned the city to the ground, including the temple, and bulldozed the massive city walls. It was an absolute bloodbath. Nebuchadnezzar’s army hauled the best and brightest of the survivors. They left behind the poorest of the poor and hauled most of the survivors back to Babylon (2Ki 24:3-17; Jer 52:12-16).

Seventy years later, the Persians are the new bullies on the block after knocking off Nebuchadnezzar. God taps King Cyrus on the shoulder and supernaturally suggests that he let His chosen people make the Exodus 2.0 (Ez 1:1-4). The Jewish leadership give these local officials know that they have the royal stamp of approval for their project (v13-16). If they will just check with the home office, they’ll see that everything is on the up and up (v17). Instead of shutting down the project until they get an answer from King Darius, we read earlier how God kept things rolling until they got a response from the capital (Ez 5:5).

It’s tempting to overlook what seems like a boring document from a bureaucrat to pagan dictator as unimportant. But God made sure that Ezra stapled it in the book he wrote about the Jewish return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple. In this note, we read about the massive construction effort, the quality of the work, the diligence of the labor, but most of all, we read of the God who was behind it all. Yeah, sometimes you find the coolest things in the weirdest places.

Worship in Progress

What are you waiting for? Yeah, I’m talking to you. What needs to happen before you worship God? For many of us who’ve been away from church for a long time, we think we need to get our life together before we can ever dream of getting religious (whatever THAT means!). We think we need to get cleaned up. We think conditions need to be perfect. We think everything needs to be just right. But here in Ezra 3:1-7, you’ll see that the people were so stoked about worshiping God that they weren’t going to let the mess get in their way. They made worship a priority. They didn’t need a building. They didn’t need a temple. They simply needed God. They needed to celebrate who He was and what He has done. It was a work in progress and a worship in progress.

Let’s set the scene. After being held captive in Babylon for 70 years, God’s people are allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Yahweh had allowed Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians to haul away the Hebrews because they had completely turned their backs on His goodness and grace (2Ki 17:7-1; Jer 2:7-13). But their situation had changed drastically since they had been thrown in the supernatural penalty box. God dropped the hammer on Babylon when He sent King Cyrus and His Persian to knock them off the top spot as the world’s superpower. The LORD then stirred Cy’s heart to let God’s people pack up and head home  (Ez 1:1-4). Almost 50,000 Jews packed up and made the 500 mile trip back home. Just as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt into the Promised Land, Zerubbabel led them on the Exodus 2.0 (Ez 2). 

Once the Hebrews are back home, the flipped their calendar over to the most special time of the year. “The seventh month came” (v1). This is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, not seven months after they hit town. It’s Tishrei, a month that falls within our September and October. For the Jewish people, this is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s when they celebrate the high holy days. It’s the Big Three of Hebrew holidays. The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. The city may be in shambles. The temple may be a pile of rubble. But that’s not going to stop God’s people. Their rebuilding project may be a work in progress but they’re going to worship in progress.

Despite the devastation all around, the people made worship priority one. “They built the altar of the God of Israel,” (v2). They didn’t let the lack of a temple keep them from worshiping God. They knew that this was NOT about a building! They didn’t need some brand spanking new church building in order to thank the LORD for who He was and what He had done. It’s about worshiping God! This is all about keeping the main thing the the main thing. And God is THE Main Thing! Rebuilding the temple is a work in progress. This is worship in progress.

Ezra tells us how they cranked up the grill “to offer burnt offerings on it, as is written in the Law of Moses” (v2). We find all the details of these offerings in everyone’s favorite book of the Bible, Leviticus. The LORD tells Moses all about these in Lev 1:3-17. There we read that we should “offer a male without blemish” (Lev 1:3, 10). That’s a preview of Jesus’ sinless sacrifice for our sin almost 500 years later. The other holy days of the seventh month are also listed in Leviticus (Lev 23:24-44). 

The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) falls on the first day of the seventh month. This is the Jewish New Year’s Day and is a celebration of Creation of Adam and Eve. They blow a ram’s horn called a “shofar” to kick things off (makes me wonder if you have to have a “shofar’s license;” think about that one for a moment). This points us to Jesus “for by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him” (Col 1:16). And for those of us who are “in Christ, he is a new creation” (2Cor 5:17).

On the tenth day of Tishrei, they would celebrate the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). God spends the entire chapter of Leviticus 16 going in great detail of this incredibly important day. This is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. As part of an elaborate ceremony, the high priest offers sacrifices as a sin offering for all the people. God uses these sacrifices to cleanse them of both their sins of commission and omission over the past year. Five centuries later, Jesus would one day act as the ultimate High Priest offer Himself for our sins once and for all (Heb 7:24-28; 9:11-14). Because of what Christ did to celebrate the supreme Day of Atonement on Calvary, we no longer have reason to do it every year.

Less than a week later, the Israelites would celebrate the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) on the fifteenth day of the month. They would remember how their ancestors lived in temporary booths when God brought them out of Egypt after Exodus 1.0. It’s a celebration of God’s deliverance from slavery. In 500 years, Jesus would deliver us from our slavery to sin (Rom 6:18).

So what does this passage about the Jewish high holy days have to do with a 21st century follower of Jesus? As you can see, each of these celebrations point to the One who would come to and fulfill them all. They also remind us that we don’t need a temple to worship God. We don’t need a gorgeous church building to show our love to Him. We don’t need to have all our ducks in a row in order express our thanks to Jesus. We don’t have to get ourselves all scrubbed up and buttoned down to worship God. We can worship Him in the rubble. We can worship Him in the mess. We can worship in progress.

Exodus 2.0

Long before Christian Bale and even before Charlton Heston, God used the original Moses to lead His people out of Egypt after 400 years of forced labor. While you might have seen the movie, I suggest you read the book. Or should I say The Book. Flip back over and check out Exodus 1-15 for the full story. Hollywood spent millions making these motion pictures but they look like bad straight-to-DVD flicks when compared to the epic true story. Did you know that God wrote a sequel to His original blockbuster? You’ll find it in the second chapter of Ezra. After 70 years of slavery in Babylon, God moves the heart of King Cyrus to send the Israelites back to the Promised Land (Ez 1:1-4). Ezra tells the story of the second Exodus. Exodus 2.0.

Before we get to the roster of who’s headed home, Ezra wants to remind us of just how God’s people got to Babylon in the first place. They were “those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia” (v1). Seventy years before, Nebuchadnezzar was the baddest man on the planet. Seventy years before, God’s people had taken His gift of the Promised Land and turned it into a dumpster fire. So as a result, Yahweh used the Babylonian king to, shall we say, get the Israelites attention. Nebuchadnezzar brutally attacked Jerusalem in one of the most bloody assaults ever recorded (1Ki 24:10-14). Just as God had promised, the brutal king’s troops destroyed the city and the temple, stole the temple treasure, and hauled 10,000 Jews back to Babylon. Seventy years later, God uses the Persians and King Cyrus to kick a little Babylonian booty. Not long after that, it’s time for Exodus 2.0.

As folks head home “to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town” (v1), we see a list of those leading the way. “They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reeliaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah” (v2). If you’re looking for extensive bios of these dudes, you have come to the wrong place. We just don’t know much about most of this crew. We do know that this is NOT the Nehemiah that we read about later in the book bearing his name. And we know that this is NOT the Mordecai we read about over in the story of Esther. 

However we DO know Zerubabbel and Jeshua. This dynamic duo play similar roles to Moses and Aaron in the prequel. One is the leader and the other is the prophet. The Z Man is the point man for this return and will take office as governor when they arrive. And check out Zerubbabel’s family tree. He’s a descendant of the one and only King David. And that’s not all! Both Matthew and Dr. Luke list him as one of Jesus’ ancestors (Mt 1:12-13; Lk 3:27)!! So he’s kind of a big deal. We’ll see that he’s also credited with playing a key role in the rebuilding of the temple (Zech 4:9). His tag team partner is Jeshua. He’s the high priest who’ll take the lead in the worship of God once the temple is back up and running. Jeshua’s family history is also pretty impressive. He’s a direct descendant of Levi and Aaron. And if that’s not enough, his name means “God saves” in Hebrew. Yeshua is not only the same name as Joshua in the original language but is also what people would have called Jesus. 

This Old Testament connection to Christ is huge. Our Savior said so Himself. Jesus told the Jewish leaders that they were missing the point in how they read the Bible. “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me” (Jn 5:39). Later He goes so far as to say that when Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible “he wrote about Me” (Jn 5:46). After His resurrection, Jesus leads two dudes headed back to Emmaus in one of the most spectacular Bible studies in history. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Lk 24:27). The big idea is that it’s all about Jesus. The purpose of God’s Word is to point us to His Son and our Savior. Jesus is THE HERO of THE STORY. Every book of the Bible predicts or points to Christ in some manner. It’s all about Jesus. Period.

Meanwhile back in Ezra, we read the roster of the Jews headed back home from Babylon. First the author lists the families of Israelite citizens (v2-35). Next, the priests (v36-39), the Levites (v40-42), the temple servants (v43-54), and the descendants of King Solomon’s staff (v55-58). Next we see folks in the traveling party that couldn’t trace their ancestry back before the exile (v59-60) as well as folks who were pretty sure they were priests but couldn’t prove it (v61-62). Let’s call these people “undocumented.” I’m not making a political statement on immigration here, but they were allowed to be part of the second Exodus but had limited rights and privileges. Once everybody was back in the Promised Land, the high priest would try to sort everything out using something called the Urim and Thummim (v63). We’re not exactly sure what this was. Would it be sacrilegious for me to think of this as some sort of divine Magic 8 Ball? Whatever the case, they were part of posse that totals 49,697.

Once they hit the city of Jerusalem, it became obvious that they needed to raise funds in order to fix up the temple. Folks stepped up and “made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site” (v68). I’m pretty sure Jewish leaders didn’t bring in consultants to run a capital campaign for the project. These people gave willingly as an act of worship of the One who brought them out of Babylon. They gave abundantly as an act of thanksgiving for all that God had given them. This isn’t duty. This isn’t obligation. This is love. This is worship. They give because He gave. Think back on all that Jesus has done for you and all that He’s given you. Shouldn’t we give because He gave?

So now God’s people are home. It’s the Exodus 2.0. Will there be another episode in the trilogy? Will there be an Exodus 3.0? Of course there is! Just as God freed His people from slavery in both Egypt and Babylon, He has something else up His supernatural sleeve. The first time He used Moses. The second time He used Zerubbabel. The third time He did it Himself. In the final and most thrilling episode, Jesus personally leads us from the slavery of our sin and self into the Promised Land of freedom and salvation. 

Call it Exodus 3.0.