Continuing on with King Artaxerxes’ letter:
“I, Artaxerxes the king, hereby send this decree to all the treasurers in the province west of the Euphrates River:
‘You are to give Ezra, the priest and teacher of the law of the God of heaven, whatever he requests of you. You are to give him up to 7,500 pounds of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 550 gallons of wine, 550 gallons of olive oil, and an unlimited supply of salt. Be careful to provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his Temple, for why should we risk bringing God’s anger against the realm of the king and his sons? I also decree that no priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, Temple servant, or other worker in this Temple of God will be required to pay tribute, customs, or tolls of any kind.’
“And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it. Anyone who refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king will be punished immediately, either by death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.”
Praise the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who made the king want to beautify the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem! And praise him for demonstrating such unfailing love to me by honoring me before the king, his council, and all his mighty nobles! I felt encouraged because the gracious hand of the Lord my God was on me. And I gathered some of the leaders of Israel to return with me to Jerusalem.”
Ezra 7:21-28 NLT
The king proves how serious he is about making sure Ezra has what he needs for his travels and for the Temple. Of course, we see a glimpse of some of the king’s motives in verse 23: he doesn’t want to risk God’s anger toward him, his reign, or his family. Fortunately the God of heaven seems to use whatever human motives are present to show His worth to those watching. And if we let Him, He can change our hearts until He is our motive.
The cool thing about it all is it results in teaching: A non-Jewish king commanding Ezra to govern with God’s flawless Law and to teach it to anyone who doesn’t know it.
The only time we will have ultimate Shalom is in the New Heavens and the New Earth. When the King of all Kings will rule justly and mercifully among His people. Until then, the best shot we have at shalom in our broken world is when the Truth of God’s law is reflected in our human laws. When every person is seen as an image bearer of the Creator. When we don’t violate our neighbor or take what isn’t ours or tell lies.
And the One Who didn’t just obey the truth but walked around in human flesh as The Truth is our guide. More than that, He lives in us if we invite Him in. He can eclipse our motives and personalities and broken, sinful hearts and take over. As His rescued ones, we can walk around and embody the nature of His beautiful character and Kingdom.
We hear Ezra’s first-person voice for the first time in verse 27. And He’s praising Yahweh that the king wanted to beautify the temple of God.
Friends, if the King lives in us, we are the temple of God.
And the best way to beautify our temple is to bow to this King and let Him take over.