Dawn in late winter seen from the Mount of Olives: across the misty Kidron valley the small, broken city on its ridge, and at its top the finished second temple, a plain flat-roofed stone house in a walled court with a thread of smoke rising from the altar, an almond tree in white blossom in the foreground, under a clear pale-gold sky.

The Book of

Ezra 6

A lost scroll, a king’s decree, and a house finished at last, with joy.

22 verses≈ 5 min5 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–2The returnCyrus lets them go up
3The altarFoundations laid
4OppositionThe work stopped
5–6The templeFinished and dedicatedChapter 6
7–8Ezra comesThe good hand of God
9–10RepentanceFaithless marriages confessed

The Decree of Darius

A long dim hall in the fortress of Ecbatana, tall slender columns with double-bull capitals, shelves of clay jars holding sealed scrolls: an old Persian archivist holds up one sealed scroll he has drawn from a jar while a second official turns toward him in the lamplight.

Thus King Darius ordered a search of the archives stored in the treasury of Babylon. And a scroll was found in the fortress of Ecbatana, in the province of Media, with the following written on it: Memorandum:

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Cyrus

From DariusTo Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates

Therefore Darius decreed: To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region: You must stay away from that place!

Leave this work on the house of God alone. Let the governor and elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its original site.

I hereby decree what you must do for these elders of the Jews who are rebuilding this house of God: The cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces west of the Euphrates, so that the work will not be hindered.

Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, as well as wheat, salt, wine, and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without fail. Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.

Ezra 6:6–10

I also decree that if any man interferes with this directive, a beam is to be torn from his house and raised up, and he is to be impaled on it. And his own house shall be made a pile of rubble for this offense. May God, who has caused His Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to alter this decree or to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued the decree. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Reflect

Pray for the king

Darius wanted the priests in Jerusalem “to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.” God’s people have always been told to seek the good of the place where they live and to pray for those in authority over them, even those who do not know Him. Who in authority over you could you pray for by name today? Write their names down, and pray for them.

The Temple Completed

In response, Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried out what King Darius had decreed.

A clear late-winter morning: the finished second temple, a plain flat-roofed stone house with closed cedar doors and the altar of rough stones before it, as builders lower the last ropes and carry away scaffolding poles and the elders and two prophets stand together looking up at it, under a calm pale sky.

So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.

And this temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

0:21

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Dedication of the Temple

A bright day in the crowded court before the finished second temple: priests in white linen, Levites in undyed linen and the returned families, children on their fathers' shoulders, lift their hands, singing and rejoicing, smoke rising from the altar of rough stones.

Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy

Ezra 6:16

For the dedication of the house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and a sin offering for all Israel of twelve male goats, one for each tribe of Israel.

They also appointed the priests by their divisions and the Levites by their groups to the service of God in Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

Question

Quick question

Most of those who had come home were from Judah and Benjamin, yet the offering was for the whole people.

How many male goats were offered as a sin offering at the dedication?

The Returned Exiles Keep the Passover

On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles kept the Passover. All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves.

Evening in the walled courtyard of a rough stone house in Jerusalem by clay lamplight: two households of returned families share the Passover meal on mats, roasted lamb, round flat unleavened bread, bitter herbs and clay cups, the host serving an older couple newly welcomed among them.

The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel.

Ezra 6:22

Pray

Made joyful

Thank the LORD that He keeps His word through the decisions of kings and the work of ordinary hands. Thank Him for the joy of His house and His presence, a joy He gives. Pray for those in authority, that their hearts would be turned to do good. And ask for a welcome as wide as His, for everyone who turns from other gods to seek Him.

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Ezra 6

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A verse to carry with you

For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.

Ezra 6:22

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