Rebuild for the King
Posted: May 5, 2019 Filed under: Commands, Commission, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Kingship, Obedience, Protection, Provision, Sermons, work Leave a commentThis sermon can be watched or listened to at www.templebaptistchurch.ca!
Who are you working for? Let’s stop and pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal our true motivations. Pray!
So are you working for your parents that they would commend whether you are working hard at school or at a job? Are you working for your boss’ or teacher’s praise? Are you working for your family to provide for them such as helping them out with college bills? Maybe you are working to get married? Why do you do what you do?
Maybe you are working for yourself? Maybe you are working to achieve some financial goals such as early retirement or a cottage on the lake or vacation travels? Who are you working for? Maybe it just feels like you are working for the bank trying to pay off that mortgage or the credit card companies to pay off that loan? Who are you working for?
There was a man named Ezra who got a memo, a letter from his boss. If Ezra was living today, he would have received an email. However, this letter wasn’t just from his boss, but also his king. It is one thing to receive a letter from a boss who can terminate you and it is another to receive a letter from a king who can exterminate you. Let’s read this letter from the king to Ezra to remind ourselves who we really work for. We find the letter in Ezra 7:11-24. It is really important to understand for whom we really work because so many of us are setting our sights too low. We think we are working for a company, for a scholarship or even our family. And it shows because the pay out is paltry when we don’t get them to reward us with what we expected, especially those closest to us. We will put in the effort to meet expectations or worse, we may hate our jobs or classes so much that we are ready to quit. We have forgotten who we really work for. The letter from King Artaxerxes to Ezra will recalibrate us to the person we should really be working for. My prayer for us today is that we would study, obey and teach God’s Word so that we become learned in matters of the commandments of the Lord and learn who we are really working for. Read Ezra 7:11-24!
After reading this letter, it would appear that Artaxerxes is dictating to Ezra what to do. Amazingly, this dictation to an immigrant with no status is from Artaxerxes, a Persian pagan king and one who continued to enslave God’s people. Artaxerxes’s dictation was to carry out instructions about rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. This would be like the leader of ISIS, Al-Baghdadi, who reappeared on video this week after a five year hiatus in hiding, saying to his followers that all the people he terrorized in Syria should go back to their homes and all the resources ISIS took should be returned in order to build churches of Jesus Christ. You have to remember as this chart shows, Artaxerxes was one the Persian Kings who oppressed God’s people, the Jews. The kings in red are our focus this morning!
KINGS OF BABYLON & PERSIA[1] DATES OF REIGN BIBLICAL REF.
Artaxerxes was not a kind man. He was a murderer growing up in a culture and family of violence! I know that we have been experiencing more violence and murders in our community and this is disturbing, but it pales in comparison to ancient Persia. You see, “Artaxerxes was probably born in the reign of his grandfather Darius I, to the emperor’s son and heir, Xerxes I. In 465 BC, Xerxes I, who was the husband of Queen Esther, was murdered by Artabanus, the commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court with the help of a eunuch, Aspamitres. Greek historians give contradicting accounts of events. According to Ctesias, Artabanus then accused the Crown Prince Darius, Xerxes’s eldest son, of the murder and persuaded Artaxerxes, to avenge the patricide by killing Darius. But according to Aristotle, Artabanus killed Darius first and then killed Xerxes. After Artaxerxes discovered the murder, he killed Artabanus and his sons.”[6]All this to say, Artaxerxes was not somebody you messed with. When you grow up with all your caregivers killing each other, it makes you have trust issues. Sure, he was the son of Ahaseurus who gave great power to the Jews due to his marriage to Queen Esther and this probably made Artaxerxes friendly to the Jews, but as we already studied in Ezra 4:23, it was this king who stopped the work on the temple in the first place and by force, “Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.” So Artaxerxes’ decree to start rebuilding the temple again was amazing after he had forcefully stopped the work beforehand.
This is akin to your difficult boss having a change of heart and becoming a benevolent boss or even better, think of a pro-abortion politician who starts working at a Crisis Pregnancy Centre trying to help women choose life rather than end it. You would think that there would have been a radical transformation. Ezra might have been tempted to think that he was now working for Artaxerxes and you and I might be thinking that we are working for our immediate supervisor. No, we serve at the pleasure of a higher authority, the King of kings.[7]
How do I know this? Four reasons from Ezra 7:11-24 – The King of kings’ commands, commission, provision and protection! We serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His commands, His commission, His provision and His protection!Look at Ezra 7:11-24 closer. Verse 11 says, ‘This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest, the scribe, a man learned in the matters of the commandments of the Lord and his statutes for Israel.” Take note of the phrase “commandments of the Lord.” Then notice verse 12, “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven. Peace.” Did you catch that emphasis on this being the Law of the God of heaven? Finally, we get to verse 13 where Artaxerxes declares, “And now I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.” We serve at the pleasure of the King of Kings because God’s law comes before any manmade law.That is the first thing to remember today – who you work for – Jesus Christ. Remember, the law of God comes before any manmade decree. Today, you may be facing a choice between following some decree or dictate that a fellow human has made over that which contradicts God’s law. Don’t do it! Obey God before man! God’s law comes first! Don’t compromise your convictions. Serve at the pleasure of the King of kings! Serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His commands!They are always good and bring you back to God and His blessings just as the exiled Jews returned to God and worshipped Him in Jerusalem.
But we don’t just serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His commands, but also because of His commission. Ezra 7:14 records Artaxerxes statement, “For you are sent by the king and his seven counsellors to make inquiries about Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.” Again at first glance it appears Artaxerxes is calling the shots and sending Ezra back to Judah, but even Artaxerxes admits that this was according to the Law of God. What was that law? The prophet Jeremiah gave it in 605 B.C., around 150 years earlier, in Jeremiah 29:11-14, “11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”This is an awesome promise. God was keeping His Word and sending Ezra and his companions back from the land of exile and they sought God and He was found by them. Please remember that God’s plans are good for you – to give you a future and a hope. And He is the one that sends you. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone through hard times and had to do difficult things and say hard truths: visiting people in jail, confronting sin, walking people through the valley of the shadow of death, and having what felt like all hell against me. What got me through? Knowing that I serve at the pleasure of the King of kings who commissions me. He was the One who sent me and He even went with me. Jesus is so amazing. Remember when Jesus sent out His brand new disciples and then makes this outlandish statement in Luke 10:3, “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”How could any good shepherd send out precious little lambs and plunk them down in the middle of a pack of wolves? That’s crazy… unless the good shepherd went with them.[8]And this is true for Ezra and the second wave of returning Jewish exiles. The King of kings went with them. Maybe you are fearful of the journey? Maybe you are fearful of the destination? You do not need to fear because the King will go with you. He sent you! We serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His commission.
By now, you should understand that Artaxerxes was just a mouthpiece of God. But he became more! Artaxerxes also became a hand of God. Look at verses 15-20, “15 and also to carry the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 with all the silver and gold that you shall find in the whole province of Babylonia, and with the freewill offerings of the people and the priests, vowed willingly for the house of their God that is in Jerusalem. 17 With this money, then, you shall with all diligence buy bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and you shall offer them on the altar of the house of your God that is in Jerusalem.18 Whatever seems good to you and your brothers to do with the rest of the silver and gold, you may do, according to the will of your God. 19 The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.”Wow! The Persian king and his court seem so generous and benevolent. They are offering up silver and gold, bulls, rams and lambs and not just from their own money and livestock, but also from anything that the returning Jews find in all of Babylonia to be used in this rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. “This meant that Ezra had a free hand to demand what he needed.”[9]It is a reminder that we serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His provision. Only God could make such a decree! Friends, some of you are really struggling to see how you are going to make it financially. Are you worse off than an exiled priest and scribe and his companions? And yet, God provided for them. One of the great assurances of God’s provision as well as protection is in verse 19, “The vessels that have been given you for the service of the house of your God, you shall deliver before the God of Jerusalem.” Bible Scholar Derek Kidner explains, “These vessels may have been some, which had been overlooked when the captured vessels were restored by Cyrus as recorded in Ezra 1:7.”[10]Think about that! God protected His worship utensils from His own people who hocked them when enemy armies threatened them because the Israelites were committing idolatry. This is akin to selling your wedding ring to your lover as a bribe not to tell your spouse and your spouse intercepts the ring, hides it in your lover’s house and then gives it back to you after you repented. But it gets even better, God even protected the things that the pagans lost. To use our metaphor again, imagine your engagement ring was also lost in your lover’s house and worse, the diamond was missing from the ring. However, your spouse sneaks into your lover’s house, finds both the ring and diamond and gives it back to you as a symbol of their love. That is how audaciously gracious and good God is! No wonder we serve at the pleasure of the King of kings.
Are you convinced yet who your work for? If not, I want to remind you that you serve at the pleasure of the King of kings not only because of His commands, and commission and provision, but also His protection. Look at verses 21-23 to see what I am talking about, “21 And I, Artaxerxes the king, make a decree to all the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, requires of you, let it be done with all diligence, 22 up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much. 23 Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest His wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons. 24 We also notify you that it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll on anyone of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.” Artaxerxes essentially created the first clergy allowance. He protected Ezra and his fellow priests from any financial repercussions and retaliations. The Persian Revenue Agency wasn’t coming after them with an audit!
It is a good reminder! We serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because of His command, His commission, His provision and His protection. But there is also one more reason why we work for and please the King of kings. You see, He is the only One who could stop God’s wrath. Verse 23, our memory verse for the month of May, declares Artaxerxes wanted sacrifices and prayers to go up on behalf of him and his sons. In fact, this sets precedence for what we are told by the Apostle Paul later on to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-2making “supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all people, for kings and for all who are in high possessions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Pause here for second. I want you to pray by finishing this phrase, “Because You are the King of kings and You put authorities over us, we pray for name of a government officialthat they would …”
And yet we can pray these prayers, just like Ezra did for Artaxerxes, only because Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself. Romans 5:9declares this precious and saving truth, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God?” We serve at the pleasure of the King of kings because He died for us. He took the wrath of God that should have been aimed at us, of which we could not forebear and He placed it on Himself. He loved us that much!
And now, He wants us to remember. One of the reasons why we should have Communion frequently is to remember who we are working for. And lest you think that in working for the King of king you are earning your keep, repent of that thinking now. You are kept by King Jesus! It is all because of His extravagant grace. I love that Artaxerxes decreed that 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of oil and salt along with 100 baths of wines were to be provided for with all diligence. And remember I am a non-drinking Baptist preacher. Why do I love it? Because it points to this table – the table of the King. Wheat, oil and salt are used to make bread. I love bread and it was lavish. 100 cors of wheat is equivalent to 22,000 liters of wheat, 100 baths of oil and wine was 2200 liters of oil and wine respectively. Jesus used wine and bread to demonstrate to His disciples that His body would be broken and His blood would be poured out for us. Artaterxes was benevolent; Jesus was extravagant in His provision. He gave His very self.
So are you serving at His pleasure because you have received His grace? If so, you are welcome to join us at His table. If not, what is keeping you from believing in this King of kings?Do you understand what this bread and cup symbolize? Last week we taught you that you need to study, obey and teach others God’s Word. You are to make disciples. So take 30 seconds and tell the person next to you what these elements symbolize and why you are taking them to eat and drink. We then are going to pray, then pass out the bread and then take it together. This will be followed by prayer, passing out the cup and then drinking together. At the end of eating, we are going to redeem an old phrase that Pastor Dan taught us on Good Friday, “To the king!”
[1]Adapted from ESV Study Bible(Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 1587 & 813.
[2]The most well-known Babylonian king who exiled the Jews to Babylon in 586 B.C. His pride led to his insanity and losing his kingdom until he repented and was restored.
[3]Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s son and is known for being the king when God’s “hand” wrote on the wall after using the gold vessels from the Temple in Jerusalem and worshipping them.
[4]Though the Achaemenid dynasty began in 705 B.C., the Persian Empire did not begin until Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great as he was called conquered the Babylonians. Cyrus was half-Persian and half-Median.
[5]Darius was appointed viceroy over Babylon by his nephew Cyrus II and was most famous for being tricked and throwing his friend Daniel into the Lion’s Den.
[6]Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artaxerxes_I_of_Persia. Accessed May 2, 2019.
[7]I first heard this phrase from my wife, “We serve at the pleasure of the King!”
[8]Neil Cole, Organic Church(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), 174.
[9]F. Charles Fensham, The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah – NICOT(Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1982), 105.
[10]Derek Kidner, Ezra & Nehemiah – Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries(Downer’s Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1979), 63.
Commissional 