Ezra 7:25

EZRA'S AUTHORITY EXTENDED TO INCLUDE ALL BEYOND THE RIVER

There was some quality of mind and character among a number of ancient Jewish leaders that earned for them the respect and honor of world rulers who observed them. Joseph under Pharaoh, Daniel under Nebuchadnezzar, and now Ezra under Artaxerxes I were all granted a status under their respective overlords that was little less than that of a deputy monarch. Note the following:

"And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who shall judge all the people who are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment."

This concludes the letter of Artaxerxes I. It gave Ezra almost despotic power over the whole Persian province beyond the River. Also, of very great significance, it recognized the Law of Moses as the supreme law of the land, along with that of the king, which are here understood to be one and the same thing. From this we must recognize in Artaxerxes I an unusually brilliant mind, in that he recognized the utility of the Mosaic Law, including, of course, the Decalogue, as a fit charter of government for the whole kingdom. How strange it is that forty-seven of the forty-eight contiguous states of the U.S.A., in their various constitutions, have specifically listed the Ten Commandments as the basic law in every one of them. Clarence Manion, Dean of the College of Law at Notre Dame University, declared this to be a fact.

"Let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence" (Ezra 7:26). Here is another vital principle of just government that was commanded by Artaxerxes, namely, that punishment of violators of the law, should be executed immediately, promptly, with all diligence. Our own system of government in the U. S. A. today is tragically unjust and inefficient in their rejection of this vital principle. The average time between the conviction of some brutal and heartless murderer and his execution is measured in years, and sometimes reaches more than a decade. There is no wonder that criminals hold the law in utmost contempt. Half a millennium before Christ, a pagan Persian king, knew the futility and worthlessness of such a system as we in America have imposed upon ourselves.

AN ANALYSIS OF EZRA'S COMMISSION

We are indebted to Rawlinson for this summary of Ezra's commission.[19]

A. The temporary provisions: (1) permission for all Israelites who desired to do so to go with Ezra to Jerusalem; (2) permission to carry the monetary gifts of the king and his counsellors to Jerusalem; (3) permission to draw upon the royal sub-treasury large grants up to the limits set in Ezra 7:22; (4) permission to convey to Jerusalem all of the money that Ezra might receive from an area-wide fund-raising effort; and (5) a royal mandate to "inquire" concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

B. Permanent provisions: (1) Ezra was endowed with the chief authority over all the great satrapy beyond the River, with power to appoint magistrates and judges, and to require their knowledge of the Mosaic Law. (2) He was empowered to enforce his decisions by penalties of fines, imprisonment, banishment, or even death. (3) A permanent status of tax exemption was granted for the entire religious community concerned with services in the temple.

Having recorded, without translating it, the important document in Aramaic by which Artaxerxes conveyed to Ezra his commission, "Ezra then resumed the use of the more sacred Hebrew language and employed it uninterruptedly to the end of the narrative."[20]