The King Initiates A Search And Discovers The Decree Of Cyrus, The Contents Of Which Is Revealed (Ezra 6:1-5).
‘Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the archives, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.'
In response to Tattenai's suggestion Darius initiated a search for the decree concerning the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, and gave orders that it be discovered. But a search of the house of archives in the treasure house of Babylon seemingly produced no result. As so often in Scripture the consequence is assumed from what follows and not stated,
‘And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of Media, a roll, and in it was thus written for a record,'
So attention was turned to the palace at Achmetha (Ecbatana). Ecbatana was a magnificent city (see Jdt 1:1-4) and the former capital city of the Median Empire. It had become the summer residence of the Persian kings, and was in the province of Media In its archives was found a scroll in which was recorded the decree which was being sought. What follows was presumably recorded in Darius' reply to Tattenai.
‘In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree:'
These words were probably taken from the preamble to the decree. It made clear that the decree in question was made in the first year of Cyrus, and thus within a short time of his conquest of Babylon.
Large numbers of scholars now agree that this decree was genuine. It was written in Aramaic and bears all the hallmarks of a Persian document of the time. It was a different decree from the one mentioned in Ezra 1:2-4. That was for public consumption. This one was to be filed away as a record, and recorded the details of what Cyrus required with respect to the building of the Temple.
‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be built on the place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be fixed; the height of it to be threescore cubits, and the breadth of it threescore cubits, with three courses of massive stones, and a course of new timber, and let the expenses be given out of the king's house.'
In it Cyrus declared that ‘concerning the house of God at Jerusalem', the house was to be rebuilt on its holy site, the place where sacrifices had been offered, and its foundations were to be fixed, that is, in the same place as the previous foundations. His concern was to make use of the ancient sacredness of the site for the benefit of his realm. He wanted sacrifices to be offered there as a sweet savour to the God of Heaven while the priests and people prayed for the life of the king and for his sons (Ezra 6:10). The sacredness of the site would ensure God's response. He made a similar request to Marduk, the god of Babylon, and to other gods throughout his realm. He was seeking to get the gods on his side, and keep the people happy at the same time.
The building of the Temple was not, however, just a vague command. He wanted to have some say in how large it would be. So some details of how it was to be built were recorded, although the main detail was left to the builders who could call on the knowledge of people who had seen Solomon's Temple (Ezra 3:12). It was to have a height of sixty cubits, and a breadth of sixty cubits. In other words it was to be twice as large as Solomon's Temple, as befitted a Persian king. (Solomon's Temple was thirty cubits high and twenty cubits broad (1 Kings 6:2) but with side rooms at each side of five cubits (1 Kings 6:6), making thirty cubits in all). It was to be built with three courses of stones followed by one of timber, the same pattern presumably being repeated again and again. It would thus be massive, whilst protected against earthquakes. The courses of timber would enable it to respond to earth movement. The details of the whole were left for the builders to decide.
This was not intended to be a detailed building plan and we need not therefore ask why its length is not given. That was already determined by the length of Solomon's Temple (sixty cubits in length (1 Kings 6:2) plus additional for the porch and the back rooms (1 Kings 6:3; 1 Kings 6:16). This might be seen as having the intention of making a perfect cube, 60 x 60 x 60. It may simply be symbolic with no intention of carrying it out. The cost of the whole was to be borne by the Persian treasury. Cyrus undoubtedly expected that the benefits that would accrue to him and his house for honouring the God of Heaven would far outweigh the cost of building. This generosity towards the restoration of Temples is paralleled elsewhere. The kings of Persia were prepared to pay generously for the support of the gods.
‘And also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to its place, and you shall put them in the house of God.'
Furthermore the Temple vessels of gold and silver, which had been appropriated by Nebuchadnezzar, were to be restored to the house of God in Jerusalem, ‘every one to its place'. All was to be restored as formerly. The God of Heaven was to be fully satisfied that His house and everything in it was as before, courtesy of the kings of Persia. The minutiae of ritual was to be scrupulously followed, thus ensuring maximum benefit for the realm. Following the correct ritual would have been seen as important.
‘You shall put them in the house of God.' It is noteworthy that all references to Cyrus' edict stress that the Temple is ‘the house of God'. See Ezra 1:2-4; Ezra 4:3.