Then king Darius gave orders, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
Darius was asked to check whether Cyrus had truly authorised the rebuilding of the temple, so the king ordered a search of the royal records. The question this verse raises is not whether the record existed, but who guided the searchers to it.
The place searched was the empire's records office, and the "rolls" were not paper. One writer explains both the material and the destination of the search:
The word "rolls" is "books" and these consisted of clay tablets on which the cuneiform inscriptions were preserved. Neither the Aramaic nor the Hebrew language has a word for clay tablets. Whole libraries of such clay tablets have turned up at Nineveh and other places. You can see them in museums today. The searchers found the record they wanted at Achmetha. Greek writers call it Ecbatana; it was the capital city of Media, and it is the modern Hamadan. Divine providence had preserved this interesting command of Cyrus. The same providence guided the searchers to the place where it was kept.
The search began in Babylon. The document turned up somewhere else entirely — and that detail carries weight:
In all this, we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus turns up at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). This proves that without divine intervention even the most careful research would have been in vain.
The search was not the Jews' idea. Their adversaries interfered — and that interference became the means of their blessing:
To faith, God was clearly working behind the scenes. He was using the power of the enemy to accomplish His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to them that love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus. He also issued another decree: everything the house of God needed was to be provided at his own expense.
The recovered decree did more than permit the work:
Once they discovered the original decree of Cyrus, it proved fuller in its details and more favourable to the Jews than their adversaries had imagined. It demanded that no one hinder them — and more, that they be actively helped in their work and supplied with what they needed. It also demanded that all who set themselves to hinder or destroy should themselves be destroyed, and their houses made a rubbish heap.
The building had stopped years earlier. Permission was not the problem; faith was. The order of events matters: they built again while a decree still stood against them, and the king's search came after.
All this shows us that Israel was at fault in stopping the building of the temple… The adversaries had filled the Jews with terror, and that terror had stopped them. They had no excuse for this, since even the king's commandment was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that, when there was faith, they dared to build, although there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith was a decree in their favour — and it came through the intervention of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
Darius had his own reasons for reaching back to Cyrus. One writer draws a practical lesson from them:
He had the greatest regard and reverence for Cyrus as the founder of the empire. He had a desire to restore all the institutions of Cyrus… So God knows how to redirect and arrange everything. Our business is not to set one king against another, but to go forward in the name of the Lord. We take His word as our full warrant. As we seek God's guidance, we can be perfectly sure of this: it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those that oppose us.
- Fear stopped. Terror of their enemies stopped the work. The king's own command was already on the builders' side, so the failure was a lack of faith, not a lack of permission.
- Faith built. They built again while the opposition was still unanswered. That faith gave rise to a decree in their favour, delivered through their own adversaries.
- God searched. The adversaries triggered the search, yet the scroll lay in Media, not Babylon. Without God's hand the most careful search would have found nothing.
- Kings supplied. The recovered decree was fuller than the adversaries imagined: protection, active help, supplies — and Darius added that the cost would come from his own treasury.
- We go forward. Guiding kings and circumstances is God's work, not ours. Our part is to take His word as our warrant and keep building.
And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written
Hostile officials asked Darius to check the royal records, and the search started in Babylon — but the scroll turned up hundreds of miles away, in a fortress in Media. Commentators see God's hand in that detail: the one document that could save the work lay where no one thought to look.
The record was not in Babylon. One writer shows how much hangs on that:
In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The decree of Cyrus is found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). That proves one thing: without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have come to nothing.
The roll itself was not paper, as we might picture it:
The word "rolls" means "books," and these were clay tablets that carried the cuneiform writing. Neither the Aramaic nor the Hebrew language has a word for clay tablets. Whole libraries of such clay tablets have turned up at Nineveh and other places, and you can see them today in various museums. The searchers found the record they wanted at Achmetha — the Ecbatana of the Greek writers, the capital city of Media, and the modern Hamadan. God's providence had kept this interesting command of Cyrus safe, and the same providence guided the searchers to the place where it lay.
A reference work on Bible places notes that the word has been read in more than one way, and says why the royal papers lay there:
This reads in the margin, "Ecbatana, or, in a coffer." Ezra 6:2. The Greek translation does not treat it as a proper name: there the passage reads, "And there was found in the city, in the palace, a volume." The modern Hamadan was in ancient times the summer home of the Persian kings, and the records of the kingdom seem to have been kept there. This is most probably the Achmetha of scripture.
The enemies themselves set this search in motion:
The opponents had written to Darius with the ultimate goal of stopping the building of the temple and of the city. But their strategy backfires.
One writer sees a wider pattern in it:
To faith, God was plainly at work behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is one more instance of how He makes all things work together for good to those who love Him.
The scroll said more than the Jews' enemies had bargained for:
Once the original decree of Cyrus came to light, it proved to be fuller in its details and more favourable to the Jews than their adversaries had imagined. It demanded that no one hinder them. More than that, it demanded that people help them in their work and supply what they needed. And it demanded that all who set out to hinder or destroy should themselves be destroyed, and their houses made a rubbish heap.
Darius had his own reason to honour anything that carried the name of Cyrus. One writer draws a lesson from it:
Darius was always ready to act on what Cyrus had done. He had the greatest regard and reverence for Cyrus as the founder of the empire... So God knows how to steer and arrange everything. Our business is not to set one king against another, but to go forward in the name of the Lord. We take His word as our full authority, sure that as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours.
The found roll mattered — but it never held first rank in the story:
The authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to force respect and help out of those who had tried to hinder. What an encouragement to look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens!
- Searched. The hunt started in Babylon and found nothing. The roll lay at Achmetha in Media. Without God's hand in it, the most careful search would have come up empty.
- Preserved. Providence kept the clay-tablet record safe for years. The same providence steered the searchers to the shelf that held it.
- Reversed. The enemies called for the search to end the work. God used the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes.
- Exceeded. The decree went further than the enemies expected: not just leave the Jews alone, but supply them, and punish anyone who blocks the work.
- Subordinate. Cyrus's roll and Darius's reply only confirmed God's word and His servants. Look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens.
In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree [concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem Let the house be built for a place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be solidly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits,
Buried in a Persian archive lay a scroll that decided the fate of God's house. Darius ordered a search. What turned up was not fresh permission but Cyrus's original order, with the temple's purpose, foundations and measurements already set down.
The Jews had claimed that Cyrus authorised the work. The scroll proved them right, and gave them more.
The king, when appealed to, ordered a search, and they found the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 6:1-5). This confirmed the statement of the Jews in every particular, and even more. They now discovered that Cyrus had not only issued his decree for the rebuilding of the temple. He had also ordered "the expenses to be given out of the king's house," as well as directed the restoration of the sacred vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away.
The scroll did not surface in Babylon, where the search began. And it was a foreign king who fixed the height and width of God's house.
In all this, we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus is found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes and not at Babylon (v. 2). This proves that, without God stepping in, even the most careful research would have been in vain… Darius does acknowledge the God of heaven, and he recognises the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God (Ezra 6:9-10, 3, 7, 8). He decrees dimensions which his own intelligence selects, because they no longer match the symbolic figures of the early temple (v. 3; 1 Kings 6:2). So more than one thought from the mind of God remains as though buried beneath the new figures.
Commentators differ on how the new measurements relate to Solomon's building. Rossier sees a break with the old pattern. Others think the size was much the same, and the record just tells us little.
Few particulars of this are given. Cyrus ordered the foundations to be laid firmly, with a height of sixty cubits and a breadth of sixty cubits (Ezra 6:3). It was probably the same size as the temple Solomon built. The sixty cubits of breadth here may be its "length," with its width not mentioned. Or, if the sixty cubits is the width, it may have included the chambers. It is not probable that it was larger than the first temple.
The decree names the house by what happened inside it. That purpose reached only so far.
The temple was the centre of worship. One approached God in His temple by means of sacrifices and the priesthood. Still, God remained out of reach. In actual fact, man in the flesh could not approach Him. The way into the holiest place was shown in picture form, but it was not yet made open. Only the work of Christ was able to open this up.
The returned exiles were building to a foreign king's measurements. They could have despised the result. God's view ran the other way.
Their efforts may have been weak. The building may have looked poor and different in the eyes of men. But in God's eyes it was wonderful. He saw the feelings of their hearts. He noted the obedience towards His Word in their hearts, and that was well-pleasing to Him. That is why He encourages them. He shows them that in His eyes it is the same Temple as the one Solomon built. He shows them too that the final glory of this House would be greater than the first. Solomon's temple, Zerubbabel's temple, Herod's temple and the temple in the Millennium (Ezek. 40-43) are, in His eye, one and the same. There is only one House of God.
For a time the work had stood still. Fear of their opponents, not any lack of permission, had stopped it.
It appears from Haggai (Hag. 2:15) that they had made no progress at all. The terror with which the adversaries had inspired the Jews had stopped them. They had no excuse for this, since even the king's commandment was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that, when there was faith, they dared to build, although there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith was a decree in their favour, and that even through the action of their opponents. It is good to trust in God.
- Found. The decree surfaced at Achmetha in Media, not in Babylon where the search began. Without God's hand in it, the most careful search would have failed.
- Confirmed. The scroll backed the builders' claim on every point, and added more: Cyrus had ordered his own treasury to pay, and the stolen vessels returned.
- Defined. The decree names the house by its purpose: sacrifices. That was how people came near to God, until Christ's work opened the way in.
- Measured. Sixty cubits high and wide. Commentators differ: some see the size of Solomon's house, others see a foreign king's figures put in place of God's symbolic ones.
- Valued. It looked poor to men. God counted it the same temple as Solomon's, with a final glory greater than the first.
[with] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king's house
Darius ordered a search of the royal records, and the lost decree of Cyrus came to light. This verse is part of what it said: how the walls were to rise, and why a Persian empire paid for the house of God.
This verse survived because someone filed it away and someone else went looking. One writer explains what those royal records were, and who steered the search.
The word "rolls" means "books," and these were clay tablets with cuneiform writing on them... The searchers found the record they wanted at Achmetha... God's providence had preserved this command of Cyrus, and the same providence guided the searchers to the place where it lay. From it we learn interesting details. Cyrus gave instructions about the foundations, the height and the width of the building, and the costs were to come from the King's house — that is, the royal treasury. Persian kings controlled the religious affairs of the nation, but Cyrus acted under the divine guidance of the LORD.
The same layered pattern of stone and wood appears in the court of Solomon's temple. A writer on that passage says both the picture and its meaning are hard to pin down.
The court surrounding the temple had a fence of three rows of cut stone and a row of cedar beams. It may be hard to picture just what this means, and its spiritual meaning may be just as hard to work out.
When challenged, the builders had said Cyrus gave them permission. The search produced the document itself.
This confirmed what the Jews had said, down to every detail, and more besides. Cyrus had not only issued his decree for rebuilding the temple. He had also ordered "the expenses to be given out of the king's house," and he had directed the return of the sacred vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took away.
The whole search began with a hostile letter meant to shut the work down.
The opponents had written to Darius with the aim of stopping the building of the temple and the city. But their strategy backfires. Through God's providence, the old decree of King Cyrus comes to light at Achmetha... This decree also stated that the king's treasure should pay the costs of the project. The attack on the work ends up helping it forward.
The same writer sees God's hand behind the reversal.
To faith it was clear that God was working behind the scenes. He was using the power of the enemy to accomplish His own purposes. This is one more instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.
Two authorities stand behind this work: a king's decree and God's commandment. One writer puts them in order.
So the authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to force respect and help from those who had tried to hinder... The commandment of the God of Israel held its rightful first place, and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes came second.
The building described here is modest next to Solomon's. One writer compares the two houses and asks what the Lord makes of the smaller one.
Solomon, in his day, built the house with power and wealth, and no one opposed him. Some among the people could still remember the glory of that house. Now a small remnant is called to build the house in poverty and weakness, facing opposition and reproach. The work of this feeble remnant may look "as nothing" next to the former glory of the house. Even so, they were doing the LORD'S work according to the LORD'S mind in a day of ruin. And so it is a work in which the LORD can take pleasure.
- Attack — enemies wrote to Darius to stop the building. Their letter set off the search that funded it instead.
- Archive — the decree lay on a clay tablet at Achmetha. God's providence kept it safe and guided the searchers to it.
- Account — the decree said more than the builders had claimed. The king's house would pay, and the temple vessels would come back.
- Authority — the kings' decrees only confirmed the work. God's commandment held first place.
- Acceptance — this house was modest next to Solomon's. It was still the Lord's work done His way, and He can take pleasure in it.
and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple that is at Jerusalem, in their place; and thou shalt put [them] in the house of God.
Darius ordered a search of the royal archives, and the officials found the original decree of Cyrus, word for word. Verse 5 is the part about the gold and silver vessels Nebuchadnezzar had carried off: they were to go back to the house of God in Jerusalem, each to its place.
The scroll did not turn up in Babylon, where anyone would have looked for it. And the Persian king who read it called the temple in Jerusalem the house of God.
In all this, we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The decree of Cyrus is found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). This proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have come to nothing. Darius does acknowledge the God of heaven, and he recognizes the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God.
Opponents of the work had asked Darius for this search, hoping to end the building. The record they asked for backed the builders instead. It gave them more than they had claimed for themselves.
The statement of the Jews was confirmed in every detail, and even more. It now came to light that Cyrus had not only issued his decree for the rebuilding of the temple. He had also ordered that the costs be paid out of the king's house, and he had directed that the sacred vessels Nebuchadnezzar took away be restored.
Three waves of exile struck Jerusalem. The worst damage came in the last one, yet God dated the seventy years from the first.
This matter of the vessels is very important. There had been three deportations... The last of the three did the most damage: the temple was burnt, and huge numbers went into captivity. But the 70 years of captivity count from the first deportation, the one we would call minor. Why was this first one the important one in God's eyes? Well, it's because of the vessels. Nebuchadnezzar took the vessels of the temple to Babylon, and even put them in the house of his idols. Such a thing had never happened before.
Earlier kings had stripped silver from the temple to pay off invaders. Putting the holy vessels into an idol's temple was a different kind of act.
Under Jehoiachin, Nebuchadnezzar plundered, in a much greater measure, all the treasures of the house of God and smashed the vessels which Solomon had made, according to the commandment of the Lord, but, I repeat, this was an unprecedented profanation: the ornamentation of a temple of idols with the vessels designed for the worship service of the true God.
The decree does more than send back valuables. Without these vessels, the rebuilt house could not do the one thing it was for.
Without vessels, it was impossible to bring the sacrifices as the law required. No vessels, no worship! This is the tragedy. Does it not remind us of a sad fact? In wide parts of the Christian world the very idea of worship, and especially of worship together, has been lost. Concerts, performances, and all kinds of things have taken the place of meetings for worship.
Even a full return left a gap. The most precious object in the house was not on the list.
They counted the holy vessels and gave them back, as far as was proper, for the Lord's house in Jerusalem. The ark was not there — the centre, the most valuable of all, the one nearest to the glory. Sadly, the glory itself had already left. But on the day when the salvation of Israel comes out of Zion, the glory will return, never to leave again.
The returned exiles had cause for joy and cause for tears at the same time. Writers apply that mixture to Christians now.
There is much ruin, our numbers are few, and so on. But the altar is there (we can worship). The new moon is there (we can give some light). The feast of Tabernacles is there (we have a heavenly position to enjoy). And the foundation of the house of God is there (we can gather to the Lord's name). Truths that had been forgotten for centuries have been rediscovered from God's Word.
after-check: meaning unchanged
- Loss. God dated the captivity from the deportation that carried off the vessels, not from the burning of the temple. What happened to the holy things counted most with Him.
- Record. The written decree survived seventy years and an empire change. The clerks found it in Media, not in Babylon. The search succeeded only because God watched over it.
- Reversal. Opponents asked for the search, hoping to stop the work. It confirmed the builders in every detail and added royal funding they had never claimed.
- Restoration. The vessels go back "each to its place." They return to use, not to a treasury. Without them there could be no sacrifice and no worship.
- Reminder. The ark did not come back. The recovery was real and joyful, yet incomplete. It fits a people who thank God for what He has restored, while owning what is still missing.
Therefore Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence
These words open King Darius's written reply to the officials who had challenged the Jews' right to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The men who came to investigate the work are now told to keep their distance. How did a hostile inquiry end up protecting the work it targeted?
Darius had the royal records searched for the decree of Cyrus. The moment it turned up, he answered the officials.
That was enough for Darius. He rebuked the officials. And far from listening to the enemies of the Jews, he honoured the Jews. He made fresh commands, carrying out even more fully what Cyrus had proclaimed in his first year.
Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai governed the province Beyond the River. One writer notes that they are only the latest in a line of men set against the same work.
New men had replaced the earlier enemies of the people. Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their companions opposed the temple at first. Now it is Tattenai, Shethar-boznai and their companions. In Nehemiah 6:1 the names change again: there Sanballat, Tobijah and Geshem the Arabian, with their companions, oppose the work. One group of men follows the other in their more or less violent hatred against the work of God. But the opposition remains, because the enemy who uses all these instruments has not changed.
Two things gave this command its force. The scroll lay in an unlikely place, and Persian law made a royal decree unchangeable.
Darius, the Persian, supports the Jews and gives a fair verdict. That verdict rests on "the law of the Medes and Persians… that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed" (Daniel 6:15). In all this we can see the providence of God watching over His people. They found the decree of Cyrus at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon. Without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have found nothing. … The adversaries have no respect for the people of God, yet they hurry to obey the king's decree, because the fear of man fills their hearts. But God uses everything, even this fear, to carry out His plans of grace for the protection of His own.
The complaint went up to Darius. The answer came back against the men who sent it, and one writer sees God at work out of sight.
Acting on this decree, Darius commanded Tattenai, Shethar-boznai and their companions to stop troubling the Jews and to let them continue their work in peace. To faith, God was plainly working behind the scenes. He used the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes — another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus when their adversaries stepped in. He also issued another decree: the king himself would pay for everything the house of God needed.
The order carried real weight. But the king's decree was not the first word in this story.
The authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and God's servants, and to force the respect and help of those who had tried to hinder. What an encouragement to look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens! … The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place, and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes came in underneath it.
Permission from a king is not the same as power to finish.
The decree of Darius was not enough to keep them building. They needed the help of God. We too need the grace and blessing of God if we are to build up the church of God according to His Word.
Kelly turns from Darius to the reader. The lesson is not about working the system.
Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord and to take His word as our full warrant. We can be certain of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those who oppose us.
- Search. The complaint against the Jews sent Darius to the records. Cyrus's decree turned up, and that settled the case.
- Hands off. Darius orders the very men who came to stop the work to stay away and leave it alone.
- Providence. The scroll lay in Media, not Babylon, and Persian law made the king's word unchangeable. God watched over His people through an old record.
- Reversal. The move meant to halt the building instead secured it, and brought royal funding with it.
- Order. God's commandment came first, and the king's decree came under it. No decree could replace God's help in the work itself.
let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
Darius searched the royal records and found Cyrus's original order. Now he answers the officials who had challenged the builders. His answer is not a permit but a command to stand back. Why would a foreign king defend a temple that is not his own?
The officials wrote hoping the king would stop the work. His reply came back as an order against them.
That was enough for Darius. He gave the officials a rebuke. And far from listening to the adversaries of the Jews, he puts honour on the Jews. He makes fresh commands, carrying out even more fully what had already been proclaimed in the first year of Cyrus.
The old decree was not filed where anyone expected. It turned up at Achmetha, a fortress in Media, far from Babylon.
In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus turned up at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon. This proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain. Darius does not go as far as Nebuchadnezzar did, who was humbled and then proclaimed that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Still, Darius acknowledges the God of heaven. And he recognizes the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God.
The adversaries' own letter produced this order. Their attack became the protection of the work.
To faith, God was plainly working behind the scenes. He was using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus. He also issued a second decree: his own treasury would pay for all the provision needed for the house of God.
The order names the builders: the Jews' own governor and elders, not the king's officers. The king's word did not start this work. It confirmed work already going on, and it turned the opposers into helpers.
So the great king's authority came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to compel the homage and help of those who had tried to hinder. What an encouragement to look above the hills to Him who sits in the heavens! And, as we read, the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah. The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place. The decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes came in under it.
Notice what the builders never did. They did not play one king off against another. They kept building and left the court to God.
Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord, taking His word as our full warrant. We can be completely sure of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those who oppose us.
Read chapters 4 to 6 together and an order appears. The work stopped. Prophets stirred the people. Then the way opened.
Look at chapters 4 to 6 as a whole and an important lesson appears. Where hearts are not stirred before God, He may allow circumstances to make the work impossible. On the surface it will look as though the work stopped because of forces no one could control. The deeper reason is that there was little or no stirring in the hearts of God's people. On the other hand, God steps in — for instance, by sending prophets who speak to the heart of the people. Then, when hearts turn to God, He also takes care of the circumstances. And then nobody can stop the work until it is finished, "by decree of the God of Israel."
- Hearts — The long pause was not just political. When the prophets reached the people's hearts, the outward obstacles began to move.
- Search — The lost scroll surfaced in Media, not Babylon. Without God's hand, the most careful search would have found nothing.
- Rebuke — The letter meant to stop the work came back as an order against the men who sent it. Darius added fresh commands that went beyond Cyrus.
- Distance — Told to keep away, the opposers then had to help. God used the enemy's own power to do His work.
- Order — God's word held first place, and the royal decrees came in underneath it. Faith keeps building and leaves the rulers to God.
Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of God that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered.
The officials over the province asked Darius to check whether Cyrus really authorised the temple at Jerusalem, and the search found the record. The king's answer went far beyond a "yes": here he orders the province's own tax money to pay the builders, in full and without delay.
The opponents of the work had written to the king hoping he would stop it. The orders that came back said the opposite, and one writer traces the hand behind them.
Darius acted on this decree. He commanded Tatnai, Shetharboznai and their companions to stop troubling the Jews, and to let them carry on their work in peace. To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries stepped in, Darius did more than confirm the decree of Cyrus. He issued another decree too: the king himself would pay for everything the house of God needed.
The first complaint against the Jews had been about money: rebuild the city, and the king loses tax revenue. This decree turns that argument on its head.
Darius issued a decree that taxes owed to the king from his lands west of the river should cover the cost of the building (v. 8). Rehum had argued that once the temple was built, the Jews would stop paying taxes. Darius decreed that the Jews would have tax money paid to them!
The purpose clause at the end of the verse is the point of the whole arrangement. One writer draws out how far that protection reached while the people stayed in their place of obedience.
God Himself was the shield of His people while they did His work. While they obeyed His word and counted on Him for strength and defence, no one could hinder them. In this way Satan once more overreached himself. He was used to further the very work he hated. Centuries later the apostle wrote the same thing: "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Phil. 1:12.)
The order of events matters. The Jews had once stopped the work. Then they took it up again, before any new decree existed.
In stopping the building, Israel was at fault. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is a decree in their favour — and that came through their adversaries' own interference. It is good to trust in God. Blessed be His gracious name!
So the king's money was not what drove the work. Another writer names what the record credits for their progress.
The beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they received this fresh decree. The record says the elders of the Jews built and prospered. They prospered not through the king's commandment, but "through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo."
The verse names the fund: the king's tribute from the province. One writer shows what that same tribute cost the people who paid it.
This king's tribute (Middah — Ezra 6:8; Ezra 4:20) was demanded of them. Everyone had to borrow from his brother, pledging his fields and vineyards. They could not repay the debt. So the land was no longer their own, and they even had to put their children into slavery, with no way to buy them back, because their fields were in their brothers' hands.
A Gentile king paying for God's house also says something about where the nation now stood.
This book of Ezra was of the greatest importance. It gives God's own account of the in-between state in which they waited for the Messiah… Meanwhile they are Lo-ammi (not-My-people). They are (not "were") slaves of the Gentile power. Yet Cyrus had proclaimed more than freedom to return. He had also given a charge to build Jehovah's house in Jerusalem, as prophecy had said.
- Attack. The complaint sent to Darius was meant to stop the temple; God used the enemy's own move to serve His purpose.
- Reversal. The accusers said the Jews would withhold taxes. The king handed tax money to the Jews instead.
- Shield. While they obeyed God and leaned on Him, no one could hinder them. Satan overreached again and pushed on the work he hated.
- Order. Faith built first, while a ban still stood. The decree followed their faith; it did not create it.
- Sobriety. The money came from a Gentile king's tribute. Real kindness — but it marked them as subjects of a foreign power, still waiting for the Messiah.
And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
Local officials asked a Persian king to shut down the building work in Jerusalem. Instead he ordered his own treasury to keep the altar stocked — animals for burnt offerings, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, fresh every day. Why does a pagan empire pay for the worship of Israel's God? And what was all that daily produce for?
Their opponents had written to Darius to stop the work. Commentators see God at work out of sight here. He used the enemy's own power to build what the enemy wanted stopped.
Faith could see God at work behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius confirmed the decree of Cyrus. He also issued another decree: he himself would pay for all the provision the house of God needed.
The turnaround goes further. An official named Rehum had earlier warned the king about tax money.
Rehum had argued that if the Jews built the temple, they would stop paying taxes. Darius decreed that the Jews would receive tax money! Yet even that was not all. Whatever the Jews needed, the priests in Jerusalem could ask for it, and they would receive it — bulls, rams and lambs for burnt offerings, wheat, salt, wine and oil. And not on one occasion only, but "day by day."
The building had stalled. The problem was never permission — the king's command was already on their side.
All this shows us that Israel was at fault in stopping the building of the temple. It appears from Haggai that they had made no progress at all. The fear their adversaries stirred up in them had stopped them. They had no excuse for this, since even the king's command was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that where there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is to bring about a decree in their favour, and that even through the action of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
Each item in the decree belongs to a particular offering. This was not a random food parcel.
The material mentioned was for the sacrifices and offerings. Young bulls, rams and lambs for the burnt offerings. Wheat, oil and salt for the grain offering, and wine for the drink offering. The priests were to receive all these things without fail, day by day.
Those three offerings are not interchangeable. Each one points to something different about the Lord Jesus.
The grain offering was never offered alone, but always together with a blood offering. In the burnt offering, the offerer recognises this: the Lord Jesus glorified God by sacrificing Himself at Calvary. But we may appreciate His sacrifice while not valuing the perfection of His person. So the grain offering reminds us of His life on earth. In every detail of it, the Lord Jesus expressed the perfection of human righteousness. Then the drink offering of wine stands for the offerer's joy in the offering. The believer rejoices in the Lord Jesus Himself and in the value of His work.
The decree names Him "the God of heaven." That title marks a change.
Long ago, when the ark passed through the Jordan, people spoke of Him as "the God of all the earth." Now He is to be known simply as "the God of heaven." As we see in Daniel, the earth passes in fact into the hands of the Gentiles. God's throne is no longer on earth where people can see it.
So Israel now leaned on the favour of foreign rulers. Commentators trace that back to the nation's own sins.
Because of their sins, Israel depended on the favour of those who ruled over them. They had to wait on God to make those rulers favourable. So they worshipped Him according to His merciful arrangements, until the Messiah should come, who would be their Redeemer and Deliverer.
- Attack — the letter meant to stop the work is what produced a royal decree to fund it. God used the enemy's power for His own purposes.
- Supply — the taxes the enemies feared losing now flow to the Jews, and the altar gets fresh supplies "day by day," not once.
- Faith — the delay was never about permission. What they lacked was faith in God. Faith is what brought the decree about.
- Christ — every item pictures Him. The burnt offering: God glorified by His sacrifice. The grain offering: the perfection of His life. The drink offering: the believer's joy in Him.
- Heaven — the decree calls Him "the God of heaven," for His throne is no longer on earth where people can see it. So His people wait on Him to turn rulers' hearts, until the Messiah comes.
that they may present sweet odours to the God of the heavens, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.
A hostile report to Darius was meant to shut the building down. Instead the king searched the records and confirmed the older decree of Cyrus. He paid for the sacrifices out of his own taxes — and asked the returned exiles to pray for him and his sons.
The enemies' letter to the king was the very thing that secured the work:
To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes, using the power of the enemy to serve His own purposes. This is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries stepped in, Darius did not only confirm the decree of Cyrus. He issued another decree: the king himself would pay for all the provision the house of God needed.
The reversal was sharper than it looks. The original complaint had warned that a rebuilt temple would cost the crown its taxes:
Rehum had argued that if the temple were built, the Jews would stop paying taxes — but Darius decreed that the Jews should be paid out of the tax money! And that was not all. Whatever the Jews needed, the king would supply: bulls, rams and lambs for burnt offerings, wheat, salt, wine and oil. The priests in Jerusalem had only to ask — and not on one occasion only, but "day by day."
The shopping list in the decree is not random. Each item belongs to a particular offering:
The material mentioned was for the sacrifices and offerings. Young bulls, rams and lambs for the burnt offerings. Wheat, oil and salt for the meal offering, and wine for the drink offering. These things were to go to the priests without fail, day by day.
Older translations call these "sacrifices of sweet savour." The ESV says "pleasing sacrifices."
The title Darius uses is the name God Himself takes while His people are under foreign rule:
From the start one solemn fact is clear: for now the Jews are Lo-ammi (not My people). God no longer speaks to them through the prophet… God is given the distinct title "the God of the heavens" (Dan. 2:18, 37, 44), and the same title comes back in Ezra 1:2, Ezra 5:12 and Ezra 6:9-10… His people had turned away from Him to idols. That state made it impossible, given His nature and majesty, for Him to act at their head or among them as "the Lord of all the earth."
What the king asked for from Jerusalem was prayer. That request says something about the standing of this small, humbled group:
Darius does not go as far as the humbled Nebuchadnezzar, who proclaimed that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Even so, he acknowledges the God of heaven, and he recognises the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God… Darius also recognises that the prayers of these despised and humbled people are effective on behalf of the king and his sons (v. 10).
Commentators differ on how far to press this. Rossier notes only what Darius acknowledged. Another writer sees a deeper change, and applies it to us:
Does this not appear to be a true work of God in the king's soul? Today, whatever government Christians may be under, it is important that they pray for those in authority over them.
Scripture gives a clear reason for praying for rulers:
We should pray for kings and all in authority, for the sake of the Lord's people throughout the world. We are to ask that the sovereign goodness of God may so control the rulers of this world that His people may lead "a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way"… Long ago the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to God's captive people in Babylon. He urged them to pray to the Lord for the city that held them, and so to seek its peace. For, says the prophet, "in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7).
Taking a pagan king's money did not make the returned exiles worldly. They held two things together:
They accept the favour of Cyrus, of Darius, and of Artaxerxes, in the spirit of the command "honour to whom honour, fear to whom fear"… They were clearly grateful for the kindness these powers showed them, one after another. They blessed God because of them, and I am sure they were ready-hearted to pray for the life of the king and of his sons. Yet with all this they were a separated people. They refused to join with the Samaritans just as earnestly as they accepted the favours of the Gentiles.
- Opposition — The letter written to stop the work uncovered the decree that funded it. God used the enemy's power to serve His own purposes.
- Provision — Bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine and oil covered the burnt, meal and drink offerings. They came "day by day" from the very taxes the enemies feared losing.
- Position — "The God of heaven" is the title God takes while His people are out of place under foreign rule. He does not act among them as "the Lord of all the earth."
- Prayer — Darius asked a small, despised group to pray for him. Their prayers counted for the life of the king and his sons.
- Peace — The pattern still stands. Pray for rulers and seek the welfare of the place you live. You will share in its welfare — and still stay a separated people.
Also I have given order that whosoever shall alter this rescript, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
Local officials had asked Darius to check whether Cyrus really authorised the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He did more than confirm it. He attached a death penalty to anyone who tampered with his order, so the empire's own power now guarded a work its own officials had tried to stop.
The threat is aimed at the man's house as much as at the man. A beam is torn from his own roof and becomes the means of his death. (Older translations read "hanged" where the ESV has "impaled".)
Darius clearly thought it necessary to add a solemn decree. Anyone who tried to change his edict was to have his house destroyed, and was himself to be hanged from the timber of his house (v. 11). This would very effectively stop any show of hostility by the enemies of the Jews.
The empire's power now stood around the builders instead of against them. The words Darius chose also hint at what he knew of the God whose house it was.
So the king surrounded the Jews with his authority. He guarded them from further interference with their work by making it a death penalty to meddle with it. From the language he used, there can be little doubt that Darius himself knew something of "the God of heaven," for he speaks of Him as causing "His name to dwell there." Either way, God turned his heart in favour of His people and of the work of building His house. The decree took effect at once. We read that Tatnai and his companions "did speedily" what Darius had ordered. All opposition stopped, and the enemies of the work disappeared from the scene.
Persian law made a king's written order permanent, and the decree itself rests on a scroll found in an unexpected place. Commentators read both facts as God directing events.
Darius the Persian supports the Jews and gives a fair sentence, and it rests on the fact that, by "the law of the Medes and Persians… no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed" (Dan 6:15). In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus is found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). That proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain… he uses the authority entrusted to him to punish those who would oppose the will of God; and last, he solemnly calls on the God who dwells at Jerusalem to carry out vengeance on those who oppose Him.
The Jews started building again while the case against them was still open. Their protection came later, and it came through the complaint their enemies had filed.
What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, even though there was a decree against it. This faith brings about a decree in their favour — and it comes through the action of their enemies. It is good to trust in God. Blessed be His gracious name!
The royal decrees were never the first cause of the finished house. Something else held that place.
So the authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to force respect and help from those who had tried to hinder… The commandment of the God of Israel had its right and first place, and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes came in under it.
The officials who wrote to Darius hoped for an order to stop the work. What came back was protection, and death for anyone who interfered. The same pattern shows up again in the New Testament.
God Himself was the shield of His people while they were busy in His service. As long as they obeyed His word and counted on Him for strength and defence, nothing could hinder them. In this way Satan once more overreached himself, and God used him to further the work that he hated. As the apostle Paul wrote centuries later, "I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." (Phil. 1:12.) … So, whatever the opposition or persecution, we may go forward calmly and with steady courage, because the work we are doing is the Lord's, and He has said, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
- Faith first. They started building again before any new decree existed. The protection in this verse came after the step of trust, not before it.
- Enemies as couriers. The complaint meant to stop the work produced the decree that defended it. Satan overreached, and furthered what he hated.
- Providence in an archive. The scroll turned up at Achmetha, not Babylon. God steered a search that would otherwise have found nothing.
- The real shield. God Himself shielded His people. Here He did it by wrapping a king's authority around them, and opposition stopped at once.
- Ranked authority. The decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes come under the commandment of the God of Israel. They confirm His word; they do not create the work.
And the God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given [this] order; let it be done diligently.
Darius ends his ruling on the temple with a prayer, not a threat of his own. He asks God to deal with anyone who would tamper with the house. The verse raises two questions. How much did this Persian king know of Israel's God? And why did an empire end up guarding a small and despised people?
The king does more than permit the work. He wraps the builders in his own authority, then hands the matter to a higher court. One writer notes the words Darius chooses for God, and what followed once the order went out.
The king surrounded the Jews with his authority. He guarded them against further interference by putting the penalty of death on anyone who meddled with their work. From the language he uses, we can hardly doubt that Darius had some knowledge of "the God of heaven." He speaks of Him as causing "His name to dwell there." However that may be, God turned his heart in favour of His people and of the work of building His house. The effect of the decree was immediate. Tatnai and his companions did quickly what Darius had sent. All opposition stopped, and the enemies of the work disappeared from the scene.
The phrase points to God's presence. One writer marks out what that presence included and what it did not.
Joy fills the hearts of the people. Once again God causes "His name to dwell" (v. 12) in this restored house, in a publicly approved way. His glory does not return to it, and neither does His throne between the cherubim. But where the centre of gathering of His people is acknowledged, His spiritual presence cannot be lacking.
The whole decree hangs on an old record that turned up in an unlikely place. One writer reads the search itself as God at work.
In all this we can see the providence of God, watching over His people. The edict of Cyrus turns up at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes, and not at Babylon (v. 2). This proves that without God stepping in, even the most careful search would have been in vain. Darius does not go so far as the humbled Nebuchadnezzar, who declared that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men. Still, he does acknowledge the God of heaven, and he recognises the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God. He also recognises that the prayers of these despised and humbled people are effective for the king and his sons (v. 10). He uses the authority entrusted to him to punish those who would oppose the will of God. Lastly, he solemnly calls on the God who dwells at Jerusalem to take vengeance on those who oppose Him.
The order of events matters. The builders had already picked up their tools before any of this reached them. Their enemies were the ones who wrote to Darius and triggered the search.
All this shows us that Israel was at fault in stopping the building of the temple. They had no excuse, since even the king's command was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that when there was faith they dared to build, although there was a decree against it. The effect of this faith is to produce a decree in their favour. And it comes even through the action of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
The lesson here is not a method for handling rulers. One writer draws the opposite conclusion.
So God knows how to turn everything aside and fit it to His purpose. Our business is not to set one king against another. It is to go forward in the name of the Lord, taking His word as our full warrant. We can be completely sure of this: as we seek God's guidance, it is God's part to guide all men and all circumstances. That is His work, not ours. Our part, in short, is to go on in faith. He knows how to deal with those that oppose us.
- Faith first. The builders dared to build while a decree stood against them. The decree in their favour came afterwards.
- Enemies as couriers. The decree that protected the work came through the action of their own adversaries. Opposition carried the help.
- Providence in an archive. The edict turned up at Achmetha in Media, not Babylon. Without God's hand, the most careful search would have found nothing.
- A name, not a glory. "Caused His name to dwell there" marks God's presence with a gathered people. The glory and the throne between the cherubim did not return.
- His work, not ours. Kings' hearts are God's business to direct. Ours is to go forward on His word and leave the opposers to Him.
Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, because of that which king Darius had sent, did so diligently.
In Ezra 6:13 the opposition collapses. The officials who had questioned the builders now carry out the king's orders at once. So who was really in control — Darius, his governor, or the God whose house they were rebuilding?
Tattenai — also spelled Tatnai — was not a neutral bystander. Earlier he came to Jerusalem as a Persian official and challenged the Jews' right to build.
The king of Persia's provincial governor in Palestine, who tried to stop the Jews from rebuilding the temple. Ezra 5:3, 6; Ezra 6:6, 13.
God Himself shielded His people while they worked, and that protection came with a condition. Darius, for his part, ended his decree by demanding speed and threatening anyone who tampered with it. Older translations say the officials "did speedily"; the ESV says they acted "with all diligence."
So God Himself was the shield of His people while they were doing His work. As long as they obeyed His word, and counted on Him for strength and defence, no one could hinder them. In this way Satan overreached himself once again. He was used to further the very work he hated... So the king surrounded the Jews with his authority. He guarded them against further interference with their work by making interference punishable by death... The effect of the decree was instant. We read that Tatnai and his companions "did speedily" what Darius had sent word to do. At once all opposition ceased, and the enemies of the work disappeared from the scene.
The hostile power that had once threatened the work now stood over it as a guard.
The opposition to the work of the house of God had now ceased. But that was not all. God, in His care for His people, and in response to their faith, had also turned the heart of the king toward them. So his royal power had now become their shelter and defence.
The enemy's complaint started the chain of events. It ended with the king paying for the work.
To faith it was plain that God was working behind the scenes. He was using the power of the enemy to carry out His own purposes. Here is another instance of how He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. When their adversaries interfered, Darius confirmed the decree of Cyrus. He also issued another decree: he would pay for everything the house of God needed.
This was not a one-off.
All that the enemy was doing to hinder the work turned out to help it forward. How often this has happened in the history of Israel and the Church.
The order of events matters. The builders had already started again, stirred by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. No favourable ruling had yet come from Persia.
As I noted, the building of the house seems to have stopped for about fourteen years. But it is a happy thing to see what started it again. It was not a decree in its favour from the great Persian king who ruled over the Jews at that time. It was the voice of God's prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. The Lord did indeed turn the heart of the king. But He did not do it until His prophet had turned the heart of Israel... The Lord turned the heart of the king their master to support them, when they had taken again the place of faith and obedience.
Their earlier stopping was a failure of nerve, not sensible caution. The decree in their favour then came through the very people trying to block them.
The terror with which the adversaries had inspired the Jews had stopped them. They had no excuse for this, since even the king's commandment was on their side. What they lacked was faith in God. We have seen that, when there was faith, they dared to build, although there was a decree against it. This faith results in a decree in their favour — and it comes through the very action of their adversaries. It is good to trust in God.
Verse 13 clears the road for the builders. But a royal decree cannot finish a temple.
Tattenai the governor and those with him did not hesitate to obey the king's decree. They were diligent in carrying out all his orders (v. 13)... The decree of Darius was not enough to keep them building. They needed the help of God. We too need the grace and blessing of God if we are to build up the Church of God according to His Word.
- Faith first. The work restarted at the prophets' word, even though a decree stood against it.
- Then the king's heart. God turned Darius toward His people only after His prophet had turned Israel's heart back to Him.
- Through the enemy. Their own complaint produced the decree that paid for the work and protected it.
- Speed, not delay. Tattenai had tried to halt the building. Now he carried out the orders at once. Opposition vanished, and royal power became the builders' shelter.
- Still dependent. A decree could not finish a temple. They needed God's help, and so does any work done for Him.
And the elders of the Jews built; and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed [it] according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
The temple work ends here, and the verse names two forces side by side: the preaching of two prophets and the decrees of three Persian kings. So which one made the elders prosper? And why list the kings at all?
The order of events matters. The Jews restarted the building before this fresh decree from Darius ever reached them.
The beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they got this fresh decree. "And the elders of the Jews built and prospered" — not through the commandment of the king, but they prospered "through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo." For now that God had given them power, He also controlled all the ruling authorities, so that they now favoured His people.
The verse keeps two groups distinct — those laying stones and those speaking God's word.
It is important to notice these two classes — the builders and the prophets. These two kinds of service can never be confused. A builder cannot take up the work of a prophet, nor could a prophet trade his prophetic mantle for the builder's trowel... A builder is one whose work is to lay stones on the foundation. God uses him, through preaching or teaching, to gather souls and bring them as living stones to the foundation, which is Jesus Christ. A prophet does two things. He urges the people forward in their work by passing on the mind of God, and he tests everything by His word.
The verse says they prospered through the prophesying. The same writer explains why, then traces the pattern through Israel's history and into the church.
The reason is clear. The Holy Spirit was acting in power — first through the prophets, and then in the hearts of the builders, producing a response to the word of God that the prophets brought. All through the history of the kingdom, the nation prospered when they listened to the voices of their prophets. Every evil consequence flowed from ignoring these heaven-sent warnings. It is no different in the church of God. Whenever "the builders" listen to the prophets who unfold and apply the mind of God as revealed in His word, they prosper. Their work lasts, and they themselves receive blessing. But if they are careless of divine guidance and correction, and work after their own ideas, they only corrupt the work they are doing. They put wood, hay, and straw in the place of gold, silver, and precious stones. Their work may look greater, and even more prosperous, to human eyes. But a future day will test it, and the Lord alone is the judge of true prosperity in service.
Haggai and Zechariah are named together, yet they did not bring the same message.
Haggai's ministry stirred up the conscience of the people, urging them to consider their ways, which must have led them to seek His face. Zechariah is the prophet of glory. The vision of glory, the final victory of God's people, the coming of the King and the setting up of His kingdom, the future overthrow of all their enemies — all this became an inspiration for them. God's people need this twofold ministry, which is so abundantly supplied in the Word of God.
The verse names God's commandment first, then the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes.
The authority of the great king came on the scene only to confirm God's word and His servants, and to force those who had tried to hinder the work to honour and help it. The commandment of the God of Israel had its just and primary place; and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes came in below it.
Yet the kings are not dismissed. Their names teach how God's people live under earthly rulers.
Everything was done, therefore, in obedience to God, and by the permission of the earthly power to which, by God's appointment, they were subject. What a privilege for these workmen to have laboured this way — and no small honour, we may add, for these Gentile monarchs to be linked with God's purposes and used to carry them out! No doubt the names of the kings are mentioned to show, for one reason, the value God attaches to the principle of obedience to constituted authority.
The same writer adds one limit. Human authority becomes void the moment it clashes with God's claim over the soul. Otherwise the believer submits.
Commentators differ over the text itself. Gaebelein notes that some claim the words "and Artaxerxes king of Persia" do not belong here.
- Faith first. They resumed building before Darius's decree arrived — obedience moved before official permission did.
- Word next. Prophesying made them prosper: Haggai pressed God's word on the conscience, Zechariah unveiled God's coming glory.
- Roles distinct. Builders lay stones on the foundation; prophets urge the work forward and test everything by God's word. Neither can do the other's job.
- Kings subordinate. God's commandment holds first place, and the kings' decrees come in underneath. Their names still honour obedience to governing authority — except where it clashes with God's claim on the soul.
- Result lasting. Builders who heed the word prosper, and their work endures. Work done our own way may look impressive now, but the Lord tests it later.
And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
The temple is finished, and Scripture fixes the day. Two questions follow. What finished a work that enemies had stopped for years? And why does the record credit both God's commandment and the decrees of foreign kings?
The verse before names two prophets as the reason the elders prospered. One writer points out that the builders had started again before the king's new decree reached them.
The adversaries were completely refuted and stopped in their evil work. The house of God received — I will not say an impulse, but — its completion. The beautiful fact, as we have already seen, is that the Jews had faith to resume the building of the house before they got this fresh decree. "And the elders of the Jews built and prospered [not through the commandment of the king, but] through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo." Now that God had given them power, He also controlled all the ruling powers in their favour.
Haggai and Zechariah served at the same time, yet their messages differed. Another writer separates what each one gave.
Haggai's ministry stirred up the conscience of the people. He urged them to consider their ways, which must have led them to seek His face. Zechariah is the prophet of glory. His vision showed the final victory of God's people, the coming of the King and the setting up of His kingdom, and the future overthrow of all their enemies. That vision of coming glory became an inspiration for them. God's people need this twofold ministry, which is so richly supplied in the Word of God.
Only four years passed between the restart and this date. One commentator names the conditions of that revival, and the cause of the long delay before it.
This revival came in the middle of humiliation, while the people were under Gentile rule. That is its special character. Work on the temple had stopped for fifteen years, from the second year of Cyrus to the second year of Darius the Persian (Ezra 4:24; Hag. 1:1). Four years later the house of God stood complete (v. 15). How disastrous are the delays caused by fear of man and by lack of confidence in the Lord! That lack of confidence is the sure outcome of fearing man.
Chapters 4 to 6 tell one story: work stopped, prophets sent, work finished. One writer draws the order out of it.
Where hearts are not stirred, God may allow circumstances to make the work impossible. On the surface it will look as though the work stopped because of forces beyond anyone's control. The deeper reason is that there was little or no stirring in the hearts of God's people. On the other hand, God intervenes, for instance by sending prophets who speak to the heart of the people. Then, when hearts turn to God, He will also take care of the circumstances. And then nobody will be able to stop the work, until it is finished, "according to the commandment of the God of Israel."
Verse 14 lays God's command alongside the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes. One writer reads the pairing as deliberate, and draws a rule from it.
So they did everything in obedience to God, and with the permission of the earthly power God had placed over them. What a privilege for these workmen to have laboured this way! And no small honour, we may add, for these Gentile kings to be linked with God's purposes and used to carry them out! No doubt the record names the kings partly to show the value God attaches to obedience to the authorities He has set over us. We should not pass over that lesson.
The verse gives a day and a year. The same writer counts back from it to the laying of the foundation.
Four years were taken up from the restart of the building until its completion (Ezra 4:24). No one can tell exactly how many years had passed since the foundation was laid, because Scripture does not give the length of the reigns between Cyrus and Darius. The years could scarcely have been less, and were probably more, than twenty. With what long-suffering and patience God had borne with the failures of His people! His purpose now stands accomplished and the house stands built. With what delight He calls our attention to the labours of His people! Although all had been done by His grace, in that same grace He credits to His people what He Himself had done.
- Stopped by fear. The fifteen silent years came from fear of man and lost confidence in the Lord, not from the enemy's strength.
- Restarted by the Word. Haggai reached the conscience, Zechariah showed the coming glory; God's people need both.
- Prospered, not permitted. They built before the new decree arrived. The prophets' word made them prosper, and God turned the ruling powers in their favour.
- Finished under two commands. God's commandment held first place, and obedience to the kings He had set over them held its own.
- Dated and credited. God bore with more than twenty years of failure. Then He fixed the day in the record, and credited to His people the work His own grace produced.