The Efficacy of a Divine Decree Text: Ezra 6:13-18
Introduction: When God Builds, It Gets Built
We live in an age of frantic, sweaty activity. The church is constantly being told to reinvent itself, to find a new strategy, to launch a new program, to get with the times. We are told that if we just find the right marketing gimmick, the right political lever, or the right therapeutic technique, then we can finally build something that lasts. But this is to get it entirely backward. The lesson of Ezra, and the lesson of our text today, is that when God determines to build something, it gets built. And when He is not in it, all our frantic energy is just so much dust-making.
The story of the rebuilding of the Second Temple is a story of stops and starts, of political opposition, of discouragement, and of human frailty. And yet, the temple is completed. Why? Not because the Jews were particularly clever, or because their political maneuvering was especially shrewd. The temple was completed because God had decreed it. And when God decrees a thing, the universe rearranges itself to make it happen. The wills of pagan kings, the diligence of baffled bureaucrats, and the prophecies of faithful ministers all become tools in His sovereign hand. He is the master builder, and history is His construction site.
This passage is about more than just ancient history and Middle Eastern politics. It is a paradigm for how God works in the world. It shows us the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility, between the word of God and the work of man, between the decrees of earthly kings and the unshakeable decree of the King of Heaven. It teaches us that true, lasting reformation begins and ends with the worship of the one true God, established according to His Word. And it shows us that when God's people set their hand to the work He has given them, energized by His prophetic word, not even the inertia of a foreign empire can stand in their way.
We are in the business of building today as well. We are not building with stone and timber, but with living stones, building a spiritual house for God. And we face our own Tattenais, our own opposition, and our own temptations to discouragement. This text is therefore a profound encouragement. It reminds us that our success does not depend on the whims of the powerful or the approval of the culture, but on the firm decree of the God of Israel. Our task is to build and prophesy. God's task is to make it succeed.
The Text
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(Ezra 6:13-18 LSB)
The Diligence of Baffled Bureaucrats (v. 13)
We begin with the surprising obedience of the opposition.
"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." (Ezra 6:13)
Remember who Tattenai is. He was the one who came to investigate the Jews, demanding to know who authorized this construction project. He was the opposition. He sent a letter to Darius hoping, no doubt, that the king would shut the whole thing down. But God, who holds the hearts of kings in His hand and turns them wherever He wishes, had other plans. Darius not only confirms the original decree of Cyrus but commands Tattenai and his cronies to stay away, to pay for the whole project out of the royal treasury, and to provide for the daily sacrifices. And he attaches a rather severe penalty for disobedience, that the offender's house be torn down and made into a dunghill and that he be impaled on a beam from it.
And what is the response? Diligence. The very men who sought to obstruct the work now expedite it. They don't drag their feet. They don't engage in malicious compliance. They carry it out with "all diligence." This is a beautiful illustration of God's absolute sovereignty. God does not just work through the willing obedience of His saints; He works through the coerced, baffled, and reluctant obedience of His enemies. Tattenai did not have a sudden conversion experience. His heart was not changed. But his hand was forced. God can make even a pagan governor serve His purposes with zeal, not because the governor loves God, but because the governor fears the king, and the king's heart is in the hand of God.
This should be a profound encouragement to us. We are often tempted to despair when we see men in high places who are hostile to the faith. We see their decrees, their investigations, their opposition, and we think the work is doomed. But we forget that their authority is entirely delegated. God can, and often does, use the machinery of the pagan state to protect and provide for His church. He did it here with Persia, and He did it later with Rome. Our job is not to fret about the Tattenais of the world, but to be faithful in our work and prayer, trusting that God will handle them.
The Two Decrees (v. 14)
Verse 14 gives us the central engine of the whole project: the divine word and the human response.
"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." (Ezra 6:14 LSB)
Notice the cause and effect. They were "building and succeeding." Why? "Through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo." The work had stalled for years. The people were discouraged and had turned to paneling their own houses while God's house lay in ruins. What got them going again? A building program? A capital campaign? No. It was the preaching of the Word of God. Haggai and Zechariah came with a "thus saith the Lord," and that prophetic word was the fuel that drove the project to completion. All true reformation is driven by the pulpit. When the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed, God's people are stirred from their lethargy, and they put their hands to the plow.
Then we see the ultimate authority behind the work. They built "according to the decree of the God of Israel." This is the primary decree, the ultimate authorization. But then, mentioned alongside it, is "the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia." This is a marvelous theological statement. The decrees of these pagan emperors are not presented as being in opposition to God's decree, but rather as the instrumental means by which God's decree was carried out. God decreed it, and so Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes decreed it. Their decrees were simply the earthly echo of the heavenly declaration.
This is not a dualism. It is not that God handles the "spiritual" side and the kings handle the "earthly" side. No, it is one reality, governed from top to bottom by the God of Israel. He is the one who stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. He is the one who gave Darius the wisdom to search the archives. God's eternal decree is the ultimate reality, and the decrees of men are either lined up with it in obedience, or they are lined up with it in judgment. But one way or another, they all serve His ultimate purpose. This is the foundation of a robustly Reformed political theology. The civil magistrate has a real, God-given authority, but it is always subordinate to the authority of the God of Israel.
Completion and Dedication (v. 15-17)
The work, authorized by God and man, and fueled by the prophetic word, is now brought to its conclusion.
"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. 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." (Genesis 6:15-16 LSB)
The work is finished. God's promises are never empty. What He starts, He completes. And the response of the people is not grim satisfaction, but joy. This is crucial. The goal of our obedience, the goal of building for God, is not a joyless, dutiful drudgery. It is exuberant, celebratory joy. When God's house is built, when right worship is restored, the necessary result is gladness. As Nehemiah would later say, the joy of the Lord is your strength.
And how do they express this joy? Through worship. Specifically, through sacrifice.
"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." (Ezra 6:17 LSB)
This is a pale shadow of the dedication under Solomon, where tens of thousands of animals were sacrificed. But it is what they had, and they offered it joyfully. The numbers are significant. We have ascension offerings (bulls, rams, lambs), which represent total consecration to God. And we have a sin offering. Notice this. Even at the height of their celebration, at the moment of their greatest achievement, they do not forget their sin. They know that the only way they can approach a holy God, even in a house they built for Him, is through blood atonement. They are not coming to God on the basis of their successful building project. They are coming on the basis of a sacrifice for sin.
And notice for whom the sin offering is made: "for all Israel 12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel." This is a statement of faith. The people who returned were primarily from Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. The ten northern tribes had been scattered for centuries. But here, in this act of worship, they lay claim to the entire covenant promise made to all twelve tribes. They are saying that God's covenant with Israel has not been broken. They are the true remnant of all Israel, and they are consecrating the temple on behalf of the whole scattered nation. This is an act of eschatological hope. They believe God will one day gather His people, and this temple is the center of that hope.
Restoring Right Order (v. 18)
Finally, the dedication is not just about a building. It is about restoring the life of worship that the building was designed to house.
"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." (Ezra 6:18 LSB)
It is not enough to have the right place of worship; you must have the right practice of worship. And where do they find the blueprint for that practice? "As it is written in the book of Moses." Their authority is not tradition, not personal preference, not what seems relevant or contemporary. Their authority is the written Word of God. Sola Scriptura is not a Reformation invention. It is right here. They are restoring the priesthood, the divisions of service, the entire liturgical order, according to the book. All true worship is a response to God's revelation. We do not get to invent it. God tells us how He is to be approached, and our job is to obey, down to the details.
They are putting things back in their proper order. Priests in their sections, Levites in their divisions. This is the opposite of the chaotic, syncretistic worship that led them into exile in the first place. Reformation is re-ordering. It is taking the jumbled mess that sin has made and putting it back into the divine pattern revealed in Scripture. This is true for our corporate worship, and it is true for our individual lives.
The Greater Temple
This entire story is a glorious foreshadowing. As wonderful as this rebuilt temple was, it was just a picture, a type, of a much greater reality. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who spurred this work on, both prophesied that the glory of this latter house would be greater than the former. This was a baffling prophecy. This temple was smaller and less ornate than Solomon's. How could its glory be greater?
The answer is that one day, the Lord Himself would walk into its courts. The glory of this temple was not in its gold or its size, but in the fact that it would be visited by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He is the true temple, the place where God and man meet.
And when He came, He declared that this physical temple's time was up. He would tear it down and in three days raise up the temple of His body. And now, through faith in Him, we have become the temple of the living God. The church is God's house, a spiritual building made of living stones. And God is still in the building business.
The principles we see here in Ezra apply directly to us. The work of building the church succeeds only by the decree of the God of Israel. It is fueled by the bold and faithful preaching of the whole counsel of God. It is often accomplished through the unwitting cooperation of pagan authorities who are being managed by our sovereign God. And our central act as this new temple is the joyful celebration of our dedication. We too offer sacrifices, not of bulls and goats, but the spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. We too have a sin offering, not twelve goats, but the one perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And we too must order our lives, our families, and our worship, not according to our own bright ideas, but "as it is written" in the book. Let us therefore build, and let us prophesy, and let us watch with joy as our God brings His house to completion.