For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand,
Ezra 7:14 sits inside a letter that Artaxerxes, ruler of the Persian empire, handed to Ezra before he left Babylon for Jerusalem. A foreign court sends a priest and scribe to look into the state of Judah — and tells him to measure it by the law of his own God, carried in his own hand.
A king's decree serving God's purpose
The striking thing is who issued this commission. One writer draws out the lesson:
Edward DennettWe cannot help noticing that this Gentile ruler refers everything to the will of God. To put it more exactly, he directs that everything should be ordered in subjection to that will... From his confession of the LORD as the God of heaven (vv. 21, 23), it is not impossible that grace had visited his heart... The 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. None can stop His hand or say to Him, "What are you doing?" We see an illustration of this in our chapter: "Artaxerxes, king of kings," and "Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of God," are yoked together for carrying out God's thoughts for His people and for His house in Jerusalem.
The powers granted went well beyond what a foreign official could normally expect. Another writer reads the king's generosity as evidence of something working behind the throne:
F. B. HoleAs one reads through these verses, one cannot help being struck by the wonderful work of God in the mind of a pagan king, which led him to grant such powers, to order such help to be given, and to express such recognition of the claims and greatness of "the God of heaven". We also see the over-ruling wisdom of God controlling the mind of the king, so that His servant was given liberty — and even commanded — to do what God intended.
Sent to inquire — and not sent empty
The verse ties the inquiry to something else. One survey of the chapter notes what went with Ezra:
The Bible TreasuryHe was not sent empty-handed to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem. The king and his seven counsellors offered gifts to the God of Israel of their own free will, because he was to inquire "according to the law of his God which was in his hand" — a remarkable testimony from such a source.
How far the king's own knowledge went
One commentator tracks how far the king's knowledge of God went, and where it stopped:
H. L. RossierThe decree of Artaxerxes... shows us the mental attitude of the rulers of Persia. They had a certain fear of God, but without living faith... Although he allowed, as history tells us, each people to keep their idols, he himself had none... Without doubt their religion disposed them to acknowledge the "God of the heavens". 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 owns that he is responsible to this God, and that His anger is to be feared (v. 23).
Commentators differ here. Dennett thinks grace may have touched the king's heart. Rossier stops at a fear of God without living faith.
The man who held the law in his hand
Why was the law "in your hand" at all? A few verses earlier we read what Ezra did first:
H. L. RossierHe prepared his heart to seek it first, and then to do it. He himself did not separate practice from knowledge. He was not like the teachers of the law in the days of Jesus. They laid on people "burdens hard to bear", and would not touch the burdens with one of their fingers. The precepts of the Word he fed on soaked into his daily life. Only after this did he set his heart "to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances."
The sequence explains the royal letter rather than the other way round. The open door came second:
William KellyIn the book we are considering, king Artaxerxes is a picture of one who sets an open door before Ezra. Yes — but Ezra's heart was set to do the will of God. God works all outward circumstances. He opens the way when our heart is inwardly set to do the right thing in the sight of the Lord. We have no ground ever to complain of circumstances if only our heart is right with the Lord. The Lord can and will take care of everything else.
Mercy that still carries a reminder
There is a shadow over all this favour. One summary of the chapter names both sides at once:
William KellyEzra the priest went up from Babylon, and with him other Israelites of every rank. He went by the king's favour, with freewill offerings and with authority for everything he needed for the house of his God, and for instructing and judging the Jews. It was a witness both of God's mercy through the Gentile king, and of the abnormal position of Israel.
Summary
- Hand — the law is "in your hand" because Ezra first sought it, then did it, then taught it.
- Heart — the open door came after the settled heart. When the heart is set right, God arranges the outward circumstances.
- Throne — a foreign king and a Jewish scribe are yoked together for God's purpose. God chooses His instruments, and no one can stop His hand.
- Reach — the decree moves from "God of heaven" to the God of Ezra, of Israel, of Jerusalem. Yet it stays a fear of God, not living faith.
- Reminder — the king's favour was real mercy. But needing a foreign king's letter showed how far from normal Israel's position had become.