Ezra 7:13

Notice again that the signs are everywhere: governmental power on earth has passed from the Jew to the Gentile. The date of Ezra's mission is "in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia," and the king sets out his commission for the work at length (vv. 11-26). This proves that God's people were at this time under the authority of the Gentiles. It also proves that God Himself always recognises the powers that have their source in His own sovereign appointment.

God puts it into the heart of Ezra, a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, to think of the remnant in Jerusalem. He puts it into his heart to seek the law of the LORD, to teach it and to see it obeyed. Here again it is still the Gentile king who sends him for this purpose to Jerusalem. All blessing is of God. But when it comes to authority, nothing comes directly from God — except prophecy, in which God was sovereign. He could not leave unrecognised the throne He had Himself set up among the Gentiles on the earth. And Israel was an earthly people.

As you read through these verses, you cannot help being struck by the wonderful work of God in the mind of a pagan king. That work led him to grant such powers, to order such help, and to express such a recognition of the claims and greatness of "the God of heaven". We also see the over-ruling wisdom of God controlling the king's mind. So the king gave God's servant liberty, and even commanded him to do what God proposed.

Cyrus, as seen in Ezra 1, had also granted the same privilege. Now, many years later, the Spirit of God works through the king once again to deliver His people. But there was to be no human force. If any man went up, it must be his own free choice, for God would have willing servants. If any pressure moved him, it must be only the pressure of the Holy Spirit.

In view of the magnificent decree and liberality of Artaxerxes, the company was very small. The majority preferred Babylon, and remained there. The faithful ones are known to God, and their names are here written forever in His Word. The Gentile king had given the decree, and the people had all the means they needed. Even so, the undertaking was one of faith. They came out of Babylon trusting the LORD; they marched on in faith.

Worded this way, the proclamation meant that those who responded would mostly be men of piety. Their hearts were alive to the glory of God and to the place of His Name. The more worldly-minded and selfish would rather stay in the comfortable homes they had built during the seventy years of captivity. They would leave the task to others who were ready to face the difficulties and hardships.

I think this work of God through Ezra's mission is a touching proof of His loving-kindness. It fitted the needs of the people exactly. It was not power. That had been removed to another place. It was the knowledge of the will and the ordinances of God — of the mind of God in the word.