Ezra 7:25
And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.
Artaxerxes commissioned Ezra by the wisdom of God's law in his hand to appoint magistrates and judges over the people beyond the Euphrates to govern justly by that law, judging those who knew it and teaching those who did not. This was the third decree for restoring and building Jerusalem, issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus in his seventh year in 457 B.C. after the seventy years captivity, authorizing the restoration of the city and the return under Ezra. Ezra was made the king's special representative with extensive powers to lead the exiles, revive study of God's word, restore the city and temple service, and institute reform so Israel might serve God in their own land. The command in Ezra 7:12-26 in its completest form is the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem that dates the seventy weeks cut off from the 2300 days, with Cyrus originating it and Darius re-affirming it. Reckoned from the autumn of 457 B.C., the 2300 years reach to the fall of 1844 for the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14, correcting the earlier plain reckoning to 1843 that ended in disappointment.
Decree's Setting and Command
Ezra 7:25 belongs to the third decree for the restoring and building of Jerusalem, issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus after the close of the seventy years captivity. It was issued in his seventh year, in 457 B.C., authorizing the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of a company of Jews under Ezra. The decree accompanied Ezra's return for the work of restoring temple services and instituting religious reform.
In the decree Artaxerxes made Ezra his special representative with extensive powers to carry out the purposes in his heart. He was commissioned to lead the returned exiles back to Jerusalem, to revive interest in the study of God's word, and to help his brethren restore the holy city so that the Israelites returning there might serve God in their own country. That work included restoring temple services and instituting religious reform among the returned community.
The favor was granted because Ezra declared his perfect trust in the God of Israel as abundantly able to protect and care for His people, which deeply impressed the king, and because the king had great confidence in Ezra's integrity. God moved the king's heart to favor Ezra, granting his request and bestowing resources and rich gifts for the temple service. Thus after seventy years of Babylonian captivity the Jews were enabled to return and given another opportunity to serve God in their own country as a sign of God's forbearance.
By the wisdom and knowledge of God's law in his hand, Ezra was to set magistrates and judges over all the people beyond the river, the Euphrates. They were to govern justly in accordance with the Jewish code of laws. Those who already knew the laws of God were to be judged by them, and those who did not know them were to be taught, thereby joining civil administration with teaching and applying God's law among the returned community.
Prophetic Starting Date
The decree recorded in Ezra 7:12-26 is the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem that dates both the seventy weeks and the 2300 days. In its completest form it was issued by Artaxerxes king of Persia in 457 B.C., in the autumn near the end of that year, when it took effect. It joins with the decree of Cyrus originating it and of Darius re-affirming it to bring the decree to the perfection required by prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking 457 B.C., when the decree was completed, as the date of the commandment fixes the starting point for the 2300 days, because the seventy weeks cut off from the 2300 days must begin together with them. From that date every specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy weeks is fulfilled.
Counting 2300 years from 457 B.C. by subtracting 457 from 2300 leaves 1843. That reckoning of prophetic time for the termination of the 2300 years and the cleansing of the sanctuary of Daniel 8:14 with the coming of the Lord was so simple and plain that even children could understand it. When 1843 fully passed and the Saviour had not come there was sad disappointment. Because the decree was issued near the end of 457 B.C., the period was reckoned to reach the fall of 1844 rather than ending in 1843. This corrected the apparent delay of the vision and anchors the reckoning that leads to the sanctuary's cleansing in 1844.