“Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace. And now
This verse opens the royal letter that Artaxerxes handed to Ezra, and the book quotes it down to verse 26. Why does a Persian emperor who calls himself "king of kings" write to a Jewish priest, and how do the two end up serving the same purpose?
A Letter in Another Language
At this verse the book changes language. Two sections of it are not in Hebrew, and this letter is one of them.
Walter ScottTwo parts of this book are written in the Syriac or Aramean language — the language spoken in Babylon and Assyria. They are Ezra 4:8 to 6:18, and Ezra 7:12-26.
"King of Kings"
The title was true of Artaxerxes in a limited way. One writer points out who it fits far better.
Leslie M. GrantHe refers to himself as "king of kings," for there were kings in the Persian empire who were subject to him (v. 12). But how much more fitting is this title when applied to the Lord Jesus! (Rev. 19:16). However, he addressed Ezra as "a scribe of the law of the God of heaven." It seems he realized that Israel's God was much higher than the idols of Persia.
Why "the God of Heaven"
The name the king uses is not a vague courtesy. It belongs to a particular moment in God's dealings, after He had given His people over to Gentile rule and said of them Lo-ammi, "not my people."
The Bible TreasuryGod gave up apostate Judah to the Gentiles, as He had given up Israel before, and passed the sentence of Lo-ammi (not-my-people). He stopped acting as God of the earth, the Jehovah of His people. As "God of the heavens" He granted world-empire for a time to the four Gentile powers that followed one another. See Daniel 2.
That explains the strangeness of Ezra's position. The man sent to restore God's law among God's people carries his authority from a foreign throne.
The Bible TreasuryBut he takes up this work under the authority of the Persian power that had followed Babylon, made supreme by the God of the heavens. It was a strange thing for Israel, whose turning away from Jehovah had brought it about.
How Far the King's Own Knowledge Went
The letter does not stop at a general name for God. Later on the king becomes more specific, and one writer asks how deep his knowledge really went.
H. L. RossierThey had a certain fear of God, but no living faith. Like his grandfather Darius, Artaxerxes acknowledged the God of heaven... but in his decree Artaxerxes goes further: he acknowledges the God of Ezra (v. 14), the God of Israel (v. 15), and the God of Jerusalem (v. 19). He also acknowledges his responsibility toward this God whose wrath is to be feared (v. 23).
Another writer reads the same letter more hopefully, so commentators differ here.
Edward DennettThough he was a Gentile, it would almost seem that he was in full fellowship with Ezra's object. And from his confession of Jehovah as the God of heaven (vv. 21, 23), it is not impossible that grace had visited his heart.
"The Scribe of the Law"
The king addresses Ezra by the one title that mattered. Ezra held two positions, and he came by them in two very different ways.
Edward DennettHe became a priest by birth and consecration. But he became "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given" only by personal study of the Word. So inherited office, even among the Jews, could not give a man the qualifications for doing the work. Those could only come from personal time with God in the Scriptures.
Two Names Yoked Together
The greeting of the letter is itself the lesson. God chooses whom He will to carry out what He intends.
Edward DennettThe lesson lies on the surface. God is sovereign in the choice of His instruments. He does according to His will among the inhabitants of the earth as in the army of heaven, and none can stop His hand, or say to Him, "What are you doing?" Our chapter illustrates this. "Artaxerxes, king of kings," and "Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of God," are yoked together to carry out God's thoughts for His people and for His house in Jerusalem.
Summary
- Cause — Israel's apostasy is why the letter exists. God set His people aside as "not my people." He stepped back from acting as God of the earth and handed world power to the Gentiles.
- Title — "The God of heaven" is the name that fits those times. A Persian king uses it, and it marks both God's unchanged supremacy and Israel's lost place on earth.
- Instrument — God chooses whom He will. He yokes a Persian king and a Jewish priest together to serve His purpose for His house.
- Qualification — Ezra's priesthood came by birth; his knowledge of the law came only by personal study. A man can inherit an office. He can never inherit fitness for it.
- Result — Under the authority of a foreign crown, God's word goes back to Jerusalem. Nothing in the king's greeting is outside God's hand.