Commentary - Ezra 6:13-18

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of Ezra, we see the triumphant conclusion to a long and arduous building project. After years of opposition and delay, the decree of a pagan king, moved by the invisible hand of God, clears the final hurdles. The enemies are not only silenced but are made to foot the bill. This is how our God works. The completion of the temple is not merely an architectural achievement; it is a testament to God's faithfulness to His covenant people, brought about through the powerful ministry of the Word by His prophets. The dedication that follows is a joyous, orderly, and sacrificial act of worship, realigning the people with the patterns established in the law of Moses and pointing forward to the greater realities of the New Covenant. God builds His house, and He does it through faithful preaching and the obedience of His people, all while making His enemies serve His purposes.

This passage is a beautiful picture of God's providence, the efficacy of the prophetic Word, and the nature of true, covenantal worship. It demonstrates that when God's people set their hand to the work He has given them, and do so under the authority of His Word, their labor is not in vain. The result is a completed work, offered back to God with joy and according to His prescribed order, reminding us that God is not the author of confusion but of peace, and that His house is a house of order.

Outline

Context In Ezra

This passage marks a major turning point in the book of Ezra and in the life of the returned exiles. The previous chapters detailed the initial return under Cyrus, the laying of the temple foundation, and the subsequent opposition from the Samaritans which successfully halted the work for about sixteen years. Chapter 5 saw the work resume, prompted by the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, which in turn provoked a new round of official inquiry from Tattenai, the local governor. Chapter 6 records the result of that inquiry: King Darius, after a search of the royal archives, not only reaffirms the original decree of Cyrus but strengthens it, commanding Tattenai and the other officials to assist the Jews and provide for the temple's expenses from the royal treasury. Our text picks up immediately after this royal edict is received. It is the climax of the first major section of the book, which focuses on the rebuilding of the temple. The completion and dedication of this house of God is the goal toward which everything from chapter 1 has been driving.

Verse by Verse Commentary

13 Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent.

Here we see the beautiful outworking of God's absolute sovereignty. Tattenai, who began as an antagonist, or at least a suspicious bureaucrat (Ezra 5:3), is now the diligent enforcer of God's will. He doesn't drag his feet. He doesn't look for loopholes. He and his colleagues act with "all diligence." The Hebrew word here means something like speed, or haste. They got right on it. Why? Because the king commanded it. And who rules the heart of the king? "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will" (Prov. 21:1). God had turned the heart of Darius, and the fear of Darius now falls upon his subordinates. God's enemies are made His footstools, and in this case, they are also made His foremen. This is a constant pattern in Scripture. God uses Pharaoh to display His power, He uses Cyrus to issue the decree of return, and here He uses Tattenai to make sure the work gets done without a hitch. The enemies of the church, whether they know it or not, are on a leash, and they often end up carrying the water for the saints.

14 And the elders of the Jews were building and succeeding through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. So they built and completed it according to the decree of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.

Notice the engine of this success. The elders were building, yes, but they were "succeeding through the prophesying." The work had languished for years until the Word of God came through Haggai and Zechariah. It was the preaching that put steel in their spines and calluses on their hands. The Word of God is never just informational; it is performative. It accomplishes what it says. It builds things. The primary tool for building God's house, whether a physical temple in the Old Covenant or the spiritual temple of the church in the New, is the faithful preaching of the Word. Without it, the people grow discouraged, distracted, and disobedient. With it, they prosper.

Then we see a fascinating dual causality. They built "according to the decree of the God of Israel and the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." God's decree is ultimate, the true cause behind it all. But it is worked out in history through the decrees of men. God did not drop the temple out of the sky. He worked through pagan kings, royal archives, and official correspondence. This is the doctrine of concurrence. God is 100% sovereign, and man is 100% responsible. The decrees of these kings were their own choices, for which they were responsible, and yet they were the outworking of God's eternal decree. The mention of Artaxerxes here is likely a summary statement, looking ahead to his later decrees that would support Ezra and Nehemiah, completing the whole restoration project. The author is telescoping the events to show that the entire Persian dynasty, from start to finish, was an instrument in God's hand to restore His people and His worship.

15 And this house was brought to completion on the third day of the month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

God's work is not sloppy or open-ended. It has a completion date. The precision here is important. This was a real historical event, grounded in time and space. The work was finished in 516 B.C., about twenty years after the work had restarted in earnest. It had been roughly seventy years since the first temple was destroyed, fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy. God is always on time. The month of Adar is the last month of the Jewish calendar, meaning they finished just in time to prepare for the Passover in the first month of the new year, as the subsequent verses show. God's timing is perfect, not just in the year, but down to the month, preparing His people for the next appointed feast, the next act of covenant worship.

16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

The proper response to God's finished work is joyful celebration. This wasn't just a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It was a corporate act of worship involving the entire covenant community, "the sons of Israel." The leadership is mentioned, priests and Levites, but also "the rest of the exiles." This was everybody's party. And the central emotion was "joy." This is not a flimsy, sentimental happiness. This is deep, robust, theological joy. It is the joy of restoration, the joy of answered prayer, the joy of seeing God's faithfulness with your own eyes after years of rubble and ruin. It is the joy of having a place to worship God again, a center for their life as a people. This joy is a fruit of the Spirit, a gift from God Himself, who had turned their mourning into dancing.

17 They brought near for the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Joyful worship is not empty-handed worship. Their celebration was expressed through sacrifice. The numbers are significant. While they are far less than the staggering number of sacrifices at the dedication of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8:63), this was not Solomon's Israel. This was a remnant, a poor and struggling community. And yet, what they offered was substantial and costly. This was a real sacrifice, demonstrating real gratitude. Notice also the different kinds of offerings. There were burnt offerings (bulls, rams, lambs) signifying total consecration to God. But critically, there was also a sin offering. Even in their highest moment of joy, they were keenly aware of their sinfulness and their need for atonement. They could not dedicate this house to a holy God without first dealing with their own unholiness. The twelve male goats are particularly poignant. Though only a remnant from Judah, Benjamin, and Levi had returned, they saw themselves as the continuation of "all Israel." They were not a new entity; they were the faithful remnant representing the whole. The ten northern tribes had been scattered for centuries, but in this act of worship, the ideal of a united, twelve-tribe Israel is reaffirmed. This points us forward to the true Lamb of God, whose one sacrifice would be the ultimate sin offering for the true Israel of God, gathered from every tribe and tongue and nation.

18 Then they appointed the priests to their sections and the Levites in their divisions for the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.

The final step after the dedication was the restoration of orderly worship. It wasn't enough to have a building; they had to have the right service within the building. And the blueprint for that service was not their own invention. It was "as it is written in the book of Moses." Their worship was regulated by Scripture. The priests and Levites were organized into their courses and divisions, just as David had originally arranged them, all based on the foundation of the Mosaic law. This is a crucial point. True worship is not a free-for-all. It has a structure, a divinely-given grammar. The restoration of the temple meant the restoration of the rule of God's Word over God's worship. This re-establishment of biblical order was the capstone of the entire project. The house was built, dedicated with joyful sacrifice, and now properly staffed for the ongoing service of God according to His Word. This is a picture of true reformation. It is a return to the Word, which results in a restoration of right worship, which overflows in the joy of God's people.

Application

There are several points of direct application for us today. First, we must recognize that God is still building His house, which is the Church, and the primary instrument He uses is the prophesying of His servants, the faithful preaching of the Word of God. If we want to see the church prosper, we must be committed to the pulpit. Second, God's sovereignty is our great comfort and confidence. He turns the hearts of kings and governors, and He will accomplish His purposes, often using the very people who oppose Him. We need not fear the Tattenais of our day. Third, our worship must be characterized by joy, sacrifice, and biblical order. Our joy is rooted in the finished work of Christ, our great temple. Our sacrifices are not bulls and goats, but our very lives, offered as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). And our worship must be ordered according to the Word, not the whims of culture or personal preference. Finally, we must always remember the sin offering. We never approach God on the basis of our own merits, not even on the merits of a great work we have done for Him. We come only through the blood of the Lamb, the great sin offering for the true Israel of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.