seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezra 6:1King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:
Memorandum:
3 In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:
Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits[a] high and sixty cubits wide, 4 with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. 5 Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.
6 Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. 7 Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.
8 Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:
Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. 9 Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, 10 so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.
11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.
I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.
a. Ezra 6:3 That is, about 90 feet or about 27 metersWow.... everything is set out.... clear as day.... they had to allow the rebuild, pay for it, give back all the stolen stuff, give the priests animals and other sacrifices.... daily.... and if they tried to stop the Temple Rebuild Project again... they are to be impaled on a beam from the rubble of their own home. It seems that king Darius had a good hold on what was going on with construction projects and labor unions.
This is from the easy English site.
The record showed that the Jews had spoken the truth (Ezra 5:13-15). Cyrus had ordered the Jews to build the house of God again. He even said that he would pay the cost. He also told the Jews to take the special gold and silver objects back to the temple at Jerusalem.
The Persian officials may have been worried about the large stones that the Jews were using to build the temple (Ezra 5:8). But Cyrus had actually ordered the Jews to build the temple with large stones.
Darius told his officials that they must not stop the work. They must allow the Jews to continue to build the temple. In fact, the king ordered his officials to help the Jews. He told them to take the taxes that they collected in the district. They must use this money to pay the costs of the work. He even told them to give to the Jews whatever they needed for their sacrifices to God.
Darius gave honour to many false gods. He did not serve the real God. But he still wanted the Jews to pray to their God for him and for his family.
It is clear that God was using Darius in order to help the Jews. Like Cyrus, Darius was acting as God’s agent, although neither king actually served God. But both kings also had a political reason for their actions. The Persian kings were often good to the people whom they had defeated. Then the people would not oppose the king and the country would have peace.
Darius made another command. He believed that it was very important for the Jews to rebuild the temple. His officials must allow the Jews to build and they must help the Jews. Darius would punish greatly anyone who did not obey this command.
God was now speaking into the heart of another king of Persia (Ezra 1:1). God did this so that God’s people, the Jews, would rebuild the temple. Like Cyrus, Darius did not actually hear God’s voice. But he knew what was the right thing to do.
Here's a little more on the subject from studylight.org.
So these guys were trying to stop them, but instead they were ordered to give part of the taxes to them to help them.
In other words, anybody tries to hinder them, tear down his house and take the timbers of his house, make a gallows and hang the guy on the gallows. Now you remember in the book of Esther how Haman sought to destroy the people of God and he was hanged on a gallows that he had built in his backyard. So hanging was a form of capital punishment during that period of time. But rather than thwarting now the building of God, Darius, no doubt because of Daniel"s influence, ordered that they help them, that they give them expense monies, that they give them animal to sacrifice and pray for Darius the king as they are praying there before God.
Back in chapter 5 it appeared there was a dispute [something like a labor union dispute]. The Israelis didn't want to hire anyone from outside the faith to rebuild the Temple.... it would be safer from the encroachment of shiny little idols and fake gods that way. Those making the complaint tried to hang a "Stop Work" order on the gate.... but Darius let the work continue while they searched for the original order from Cyrus years and years before. The Cathedral at Notra Dame burned yesterday. It's still smoldering as I write this posting. I was impressed, as was the reporter, at the silence....nothing but prayers and songs of worship were heard while the cathedral burned and its spire came down. I was thinking.... everyone was watching....the whole world is watching.... now will there be two witnesses?
I heard on the news last night.... that the french government is going to help pay for the restoration. Apparently the Cathedral fire was a result of a horrible construction accident. So the government will help.
Beautiful churches burn to the ground all the time in the US.... it's not making the lead story on the news anymore..... that's how common it has become. But we have separation.... even if it's political or hateful.... the church is on its own.
