GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
EZRA 6:6-12
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6 “Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the Trans-Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and you, their fellow officials– the governors who are in the Trans-Euphrates, keep away from there. 7 Leave the work on the house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and their elders rebuild the house of God on its site. 8 Furthermore, I decree what you will do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God: The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal treasury, the tribute of the Trans-Euphrates. 9 And whatever they need– bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, whatever the priests at Jerusalem require—give it to them day by day without fail, 10 so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone makes changes to this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be put to death upon it, and his house shall be made into a pile of rubble. 12 May the God who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people that reach out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”
This scene reminds me of the westerns that I love to watch as reruns these days. Somebody picks a fight in a saloon, and the fight escalates a little, but then the marshal walks through the swinging doors. He has on a big hat (not always white), a single gun in his holster, spurs jingling a little as he walks, and a tin star on his chest to show his credentials. His name might be Matt, or Micah, but here his name is Darius. He stares down the ones picking the fight. “I’m Darius, and I’m making this here decree. You guys, keep away from there. Let the work on the temple get going, and leave those people alone. Oh, and you’re gonna pay for it out of the allowance I let you have from the Trans-Euphrates tribute money.”
And he goes on: “If they need bulls, they get bulls every day. If they need rams, you give them rams every day. If it’s sheep, give ‘em sheep. Without fail.” And the reason for this generosity? He doesn’t mention anything about fairness or abiding by any ancient pact or some previous king’s agreement. He makes it all about himself. “They’re going to pray for the life of the king– me– and my sons.” Therefore, if anybody get’s in the way, they’re getting in the way of religious prayers all about Darius. That’s where he draws this line. If you guys interfere, you’re interfering with people praying to their God about me. We add that this is the duty of any subject of a king. Paul says: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority…” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). It is our duty to pray for our leaders. If we do not happen to agree with their methods, we can surely still pray for them and about them. Paul cannot have been happy about the prospect of being executed by his government for his faith, but he still stood by the Lord’s Fourth Commandment, proclaiming that the one in authority “is God’s servant” (Romans 13:4).
Darius makes it a crime to even try to make any changes in this decree. This means that if someone didn’t know about this law, it didn’t matter. His life was still forfeit. The threat has such a personal touch when the King makes the man’s house, his ruined house, his place of execution.
“A beam shall be pulled out of his house.” We can well imagine the roof collapsing because of this, and all of the possessions that the man’s wife and children might have suddenly wrecked by the collapse of the home on top of it all.
“And he shall be put to death on it.” A quick death, a beheading, a stabbing with a sword; even a hanging might be done quickly. But the king orders that the guilty man will be killed on that beam of wood. This would certainly make anyone stop and think, imagining what the punishment would be like, before acting rashly. Translations struggle with how to take the passive (hithpeel) verb yithmache, but it certainly means “to be killed.” The manner is not necessarily specified. Impaled is a typical translation (NIV, ESV, EHV). The parallel verse in the Apocrypha clearly has “hanged upon it” (κρεμασθῆναι, suspendantur, 1 Esdras 6:32), but our standard Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon (BDB) prefers “crucified.” In support of this view, we note that Herodotus reports that Darius crucified 3,000 men when he captured Babylon.
Finally, the King commanded that his servants do all of these things “with all diligence.” Why don’t we apply this word to the way we obey God, do his will, and serve him each day? Think of the way that Saul of Tarsus turned his whole life around after Christ appeared to him on the Road to Damascus. From that moment, Saul (later Paul) did everything he possibly could for Christ and the gospel “with all diligence.” Just reading about Paul’s efforts gets me tired.
But there the devil throws dust in our eyes trying to make us feel guilty about how much or how little we do. It isn’t for him to say. It’s for us, in our Christian freedom, to say, “I want to do such or this for my Lord today!” And doing it, we please our Lord. When we sin, we turn to Christ for forgiveness, and this pleases God, too. “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Be happy about the things you can do for the sake of our Lord Jesus. Do your service with a smile. As Nehemiah says, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Ezra 6:6-12 Service with a smile