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Matthew Henry |
E Z R A
CHAP. VI.
How solemnly the foundation of the temple was laid we read in
How slowly the building went on, and with how much difficulty, we found
in
But how gloriously the topstone was at length brought forth with
shoutings we find in this chapter; and even we, at this distance of
time, when we read of it, may cry, “Grace, grace to it.” As for God,
his work is perfect; it may be slow work, but it will be sure work. We
have here,
I. A recital of the decree of Cyrus for the building of the temple,
II. The enforcing of that decree by a new order from Darius for the
perfecting of that work,
III. The finishing of it thereupon,
IV. The solemn dedication of it when it was built
(ver. 16-18),
and the handselling of it (as I may say) with the celebration of the
passover,
And now we may say that in Judah and Jerusalem things went well, very
well.
| The Favourable Decree of Darius. | B. C. 519. |
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1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in
the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in
Babylon.
2 And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in
the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record
thus written:
3 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king
made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the
house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and
let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof
threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;
4 With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber:
and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:
5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of
God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is
at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought
again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his
place, and place them in the house of God.
6 Now therefore, Tatnai, governor beyond the river,
Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, which are
beyond the river, be ye far from thence:
7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of
the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in
his place.
8 Moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of
these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the
king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith
expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and
rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven,
wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the
priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day
without fail:
10 That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God
of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
11 Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this
word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up,
let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill
for this.
12 And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy
all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and
to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius
have made a decree; let it be done with speed.
We have here,
I. The decree of Cyrus for the building of the temple repeated. To this
the Samaritans referred because the Jews pleaded it, and perhaps hoped
it would not be found, and then their plea would be over-ruled and a
stop put to their work. Search was ordered to be made for it among the
records; for, it seems, the tribes had not taken care to provide
themselves with an authentic copy of it, which might have stood them in
good stead, but they must appeal to the original. It was looked for in
Babylon
(v. 1),
where Cyrus was when he signed it. But, when it was not found there,
Darius did not make that a pretence to conclude that therefore there
was no such decree, and thereupon to give judgment against the Jews;
but it is probable, having himself heard that such a decree was
certainly made, he ordered the rolls in other places to be searched,
and at length it was found at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes,
v. 2.
Perhaps some that durst not destroy it, yet hid it there, out of ill
will to the Jews, that they might lose the benefit of it. But
Providence so ordered that it came to light; and it is here inserted,
1. Here is a warrant for the building of the temple: Let the house
of God at Jerusalem, yea, let that house be built (so it may
be read), within such and such dimensions, and with such and such
materials.
2. A warrant for the taking of the expenses of the building out of the
king’s revenue,
v. 4.
We do not find that they had received what was here ordered them, the
face of things at court being soon changed.
3. A warrant for the restoring of the vessels and utensils of the
temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away
(v. 5),
with an order that the priests, the Lord’s ministers, should return
them all to their places in the house of God.
II. The confirmation of it by a decree of Darius, grounded upon it and
in pursuance of it.
1. The decree of Darius is very explicit and satisfactory.
(1.) He forbids his officers to do any thing in opposition to the
building of the temple. The manner of expression intimates that he knew
they had a mind to hinder it: Be you far hence
(v. 6);
let the work of this house of God alone,
v. 7.
Thus was the wrath of the enemy made to praise God and the
remainder thereof did he restrain.
(2.) He orders them out of his own revenue to assist the builders with
money,
[1.] For carrying on the building,
v. 8.
Herein he pursues the example of Cyrus,
v. 4.
[2.] For maintaining the sacrifices there when it was built,
v. 9.
He ordered that they should be supplied with every thing they wanted
both for burnt-offerings and meat-offerings. He was content it should
be a rent-charge upon his revenue, and ordered it to be paid every day,
and this without fail, that they might offer sacrifices and prayers
with them (for the patriarchs, when they offered sacrifice, called
on the name of the Lord, so did Samuel, Elijah, and others) for the
life (that is, the happiness and prosperity) of the king and his sons,
See here how he gives honour, First, To Israel’s God, whom he
calls once and again the God of heaven. Secondly, To his
ministers, in ordering his commissioners to give out supplies for the
temple service at the appointment of the priests. Those that thought
to control them must now be, in this matter, at their command. It was
a new thing for God’s priests to have such an interest in the public
money. Thirdly, To prayer: That they may pray for the life of
the king. He knew they were a praying people, and had heard that
God was nigh to them in all that which they called upon him for. He
was sensible he needed their prayers and might receive benefit by them,
and was kind to them in order that he might have an interest in their
prayers. It is the duty of God’s people to pray for those that are in
authority over them, not only for the good and gentle, but also for the
forward; but they are particularly bound in gratitude to pray for their
protectors and benefactors; and it is the wisdom of princes to desire
their prayers, and to engage them. Let not the greatest princes despise
the prayers of the meanest saints; it is desirable to have them for us,
and dreadful to have them against us.
(3.) He enforces his decree with a penalty
(v. 11):
“Let none either oppose the work and service of the temple or withhold
the supports granted to it by the crown upon pain of death. If any
alter this decree, let him be (hanged before his own door as we
say), hanged upon a beam of his own house, and, as an execrable man,
let his house be made a dunghill.“
(4.) He entails a divine curse upon all those kings and people that
should ever have any hand in the destruction of this house,
What he would not do himself for the protection of the temple he
desired that God, to whom vengeance belongs, would do. This
bespeaks him zealous in the cause; and though this temple was, at
length, most justly destroyed by the righteous hand of God, yet perhaps
the Romans, who were the instruments of that destruction, felt the
effects of this curse, for that empire sensibly declined ever
after.
2. From all this we learn,
(1.) That the heart of kings is in the hand of God, and he turns it
which way soever he pleases; what they are he makes them to be, for he
is King of kings.
(2.) That when God’s time has come for the accomplishing of his
gracious purposes concerning his church he will raise up instruments to
promote them from whom such good service was not expected. The earth
sometimes helps the woman
(Rev. xii. 16),
and those are made use of for the defence of religion who have little
religion themselves.
(3.) That what is intended for the prejudice of the church has often,
by the overruling providence of God, been made serviceable to it,
The enemies of the Jews, in appealing to Darius, hoped to get an order
to suppress them, but, instead of that, they got an order to supply
them. Thus out of the eater comes forth meat. The apocryphal
Esdras (or Ezra), Book I. ch. iii. and iv., gives another
account of this decree in favour of the Jews, that Darius had vowed
that if ever he came to the kingdom he would build the temple at
Jerusalem, and that Zerubbabel, who was one of his attendants (whereas
it is plain here that he was now at Jerusalem), for making an ingenious
discourse before him on that subject (Great is the truth and will
prevail), was told to ask what recompence he would, and asked only
for this order, in pursuance of the king’s vow.
| Completion of the Second Temple. | B. C. 516. |
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13 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai,
and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had
sent, so they did speedily.
14 And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered
through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the
son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to
the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the
commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month
Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the
king.
16 And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites,
and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the
dedication of this house of God with joy,
17 And offered at the dedication of this house of God an
hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a
sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the
number of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites
in their courses, for the service of God, which is at
Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the
fourteenth day of the first month.
20 For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all
of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children
of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for
themselves.
21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of
captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them
from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD
God of Israel, did eat,
22 And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy:
for the LORD had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the
king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work
of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Here we have,
I. The Jews’ enemies made their friends. When they received this order
from the king they came with as much haste to encourage and assist the
work as their predecessors had done to put a stop to it,
What the king ordered they did, and, because they would not be thought
to do it with reluctance, they did it speedily,
v. 13.
The king’s moderation made them, contrary to their own inclination,
moderate too.
II. The building of the temple carried on, and finished in a little
time,
Now the elders of the Jews built with cheerfulness. For aught I
know, the elders themselves laboured at it with their own hands;
and, if they did, it was no disparagement to their eldership, but an
encouragement to the other workmen.
1. They found themselves bound to it by the commandment of the God
of Israel, who had given them power that they might use it in his
service.
2. They found themselves shamed into it by the commandment of the
heathen kings, Cyrus formerly, Darius now, and Artaxerxes some time
after. Can the elders of the Jews be remiss in this good work when
these foreign princes appear so warm in it? Shall native Israelites
grudge their pains and care about this building when strangers grudge
not to be at the expense of it?
3. They found themselves encouraged in it by the prophesying of Haggai
and Zechariah, who, it is likely, represented to them (as bishop
Patrick suggests) the wonderful goodness of God in inclining the heart
of the king of Persia to favour them thus. And now the work went on so
prosperously that, in four hears’ time, it was brought to perfection.
As for God, his work is perfect. The gospel church, that
spiritual temple, is long in the building, but it will be finished at
last, when the mystical body is completed. Every believer is a
living temple, building up himself in his most holy faith. Much
opposition is given to this work by Satan and our own corruptions. We
trifle, and proceed in it with many stops and pauses; but he that has
begun the good work will see it performed, and will bring
forth judgment unto victory. Spirits of just men will be made
perfect.
III. The dedication of the temple. When it was built, being designed
only for sacred uses, they showed by an example how it should be
used, which (says bishop Patrick) is the proper sense of the word
dedicate. They entered upon it with solemnity and probably with
a public declaration of the separating of it from common uses and the
surrender of it to the honour of God, to be employed in his worship.
1. The persons employed in this service were not only the priests
and Levites who officiated, but the children of Israel, some
of each of the twelve tribes, though Judah and Benjamin were the
chief, and the rest of the children of the captivity or
transportation, which intimates that there were many besides the
children of Israel, of other nations, who transported themselves with
them, and became proselytes to their religion, unless we read it,
even the remnant of the children of the captivity, and then, we
may suppose, notice is hereby taken of their mean and afflicted
condition, because the consideration of that helped to make them devout
and serious in this and other religious exercises. A sad change! The
children of Israel have become children of the captivity,
and there appears but a remnant of them, according to that
prediction
(Isa. vii. 3),
Shear-jashub–The remnant shall return.
2. The sacrifices that were offered upon this occasion were
bullocks, rams, and lambs
(v. 17),
for burnt-offerings and peace-offerings; not to be compared, in number,
with what had been offered at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, but,
being according to their present ability, they were accepted, for,
after a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy, and
their deep poverty, abounded to the riches of their liberality,
2 Cor. viii. 2.
These hundreds were more to them than Solomon’s thousands were to him.
But, besides these, they offered twelve he-goats for sin-offerings, one
for every tribe, to make atonement for their sins, which they looked
upon as necessary in order to the acceptance of their services. Thus,
by getting iniquity taken away, they would free themselves from that
which had been the sting of their late troubles, and which, if not
removed, would be a worm at the root of their present comforts.
3. This service was performed with joy. They were all glad to see the
temple built and the concerns of it in so good a posture. Let us learn
to welcome holy ordinances with joy and attend on them with pleasure.
Let us serve the Lord with gladness. Whatever we dedicate to God, let
it be done with joy that he will please to accept of it.
4. When they dedicated the house they settled the household. Small
comfort could they have in the temple without the temple service, and
therefore they set the priests in their divisions and the
Levites in their courses,
v. 18.
Having set up the worship of God in this dedication, they took care to
keep it up, and made the book of Moses their rule, to which they
had an eye in this establishment. Though the temple service could not
now be performed with so much pomp and plenty as formerly, because of
their poverty, yet perhaps it was performed with as much purity and
close adherence to the divine institution as ever, which was the true
glory of it. No beauty like the beauty of holiness.
IV. The celebration of the passover in the newly-erected temple. Now
that they were newly delivered out of their bondage in Babylon it was
seasonable to commemorate their deliverance out of their bondage in
Egypt. Fresh mercies should put us in mind of former mercies. We may
suppose that they had kept the passover, after a sort, every year since
their return, for they had an altar and a tabernacle. But they were
liable to frequent disturbances from their enemies, were straitened for
room, and had not conveniences about them, so that they could not do it
with due solemnity till the temple was built; and now they made a
joyful festival of it, it falling out in the next month after the
temple was finished and dedicated,
Notice is here taken,
1. Of the purity of the priests and Levites that killed the
passover,
v. 20.
In Hezekiah’s time the priests were many of them under blame for not
purifying themselves. But now it is observed, to their praise, that
they were purified together, as one man (so the word is); they
were unanimous both in their resolutions and in their endeavours to
make and keep themselves ceremonially clean for this solemnity; they
joined together in their preparations, that they might help one
another, so that all of them were pure, to a man. The purity of
ministers adds much to the beauty of their ministrations; so does their
unity.
2. Of the proselytes that communicated with them in this ordinance:
All such as had separated themselves unto them, had left their
country and the superstitions of it and cast in their lot with the
Israel of God, and had turned from the filthiness of the heathen of
the land, both their idolatries and immoralities, to seek the
Lord God of Israel as their God, did eat the passover. See how the
proselytes, the converts, are described. They separated themselves from
the filthiness of sin and fellowship with sinners, joined themselves
with the Israel of God in conformity and communion, and set themselves
to seek the God of Israel; and those that do so in sincerity, though
strangers and foreigners, are welcome to eat of the gospel feast, as
fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God.
3. Of the great pleasure and satisfaction wherewith they kept the
feast of unleavened bread,
v. 22.
The Lord had made them joyful, had given them both cause to
rejoice and hearts to rejoice. It was now about twenty years since the
foundation of this temple was laid, and we may suppose the old men that
then wept at the remembrance of the first temple were most of them dead
by this time, so that now there were no tears mingled with their joys.
Those that are, upon good grounds, joyful, have therefore reason to be
thankful, because it is God that makes them to rejoice. He is
the fountain whence all the streams of our joy flow. God has promised
to all those who take hold of his covenant that he will make them
joyful in his house of prayer. The particular occasion they had for
joy at this time was that God had turned the heart of the
emperor to them, to strengthen their hands. If those that have
been, or who we feared would have been, against us, prove to be for us,
we may rejoice in it as a token for good, that our ways please the
Lord
(Prov. xvi. 7),
and he must have the glory of it.
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