Although the letter of King Artaxerxes contains several references to the Lord being the God of heaven (Ezra 7:12, Ezra 7:21, Ezra 7:23), this is not the key message of this chapter. Instead, the key message can be discerned from how it begins and the reason why Ezra goes to Jerusalem.

Ezra 7:1–28 begins with, After these things, in the reign of King Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:1) Ezra came up from Babylon (Ezra 7:6). After the temple has been rebuilt, after worship has been re-established, after God’s people have been rescued from exile, Ezra came up from Babylon.

The primary reason Ezra is sent to Jerusalem is to make sure that God is being worshipped in accordance with his law. Ezra must go and teach God’s people to follow God’s decrees. We see this in two ways:

1. The instructions focused on temple worship. In Ezra 7:15–24, the king of Persia ensures that all the resources necessary for worship at the temple are provided. Silver and gold, bulls and lambs, wine and oil, everything needed for the temple is freely given. In addition, those who work at the house of God, be they priests or Levites, must also be excused from paying taxes. There must be no hindrance to the worship of God; whatever God has decreed must be done with diligence.

2. Along with worship, there is also an emphasis on obedience to the rest of God’s law. Once Ezra has discovered what is going on among the people (Ezra 7:14), he must appoint judges and magistrates and must teach them to judge in accordance with the law of God and of the king (Ezra 7:25–26). Ezra is a teacher of God’s law, and he is sent to teach it to God’s people.

Ezra’s being sent to Jerusalem is entirely the work of God. Even though it is the king who gives him permission and resources, the reference to the hand of God (Ezra 7:6, Ezra 7:9, Ezra 7:27) reveals that it is God who works to ensure that the king treats Ezra favourably. God was working in history in order to send Ezra to Jerusalem.

We are never explicitly told why the Lord wanted to send Ezra to Jerusalem. We know that it was to teach and to ensure that Israel is busy worshipping the Lord in accordance with his law, but why was it necessary for Ezra to go all that way? At the end of Ezra 6, God’s people were enjoying fellowship with God and following his commandments, and there were already priests and scribes in Jerusalem who could teach God’s people.

In Ezra 9 we will find out the reason why it was necessary for God sent Ezra in particular to Jerusalem. But before we come to that chapter, we can already highlight an important principle about the way God works. That principle is simply that if God loves us, he will see to it that we are not only delivered from exile; he will also instruct us in his ways.

Deliverance followed by instruction has always been the pattern of God’s dealings with his people. For example, Abraham was called out of a pagan city (Genesis 11:31), he built an altar to the Lord as an act of worship (Genesis 12:7), and then for the rest of his life he was taught by God what it means to live in relationship with him (Genesis 13:1 – 25:34). Likewise, Moses and Israel were delivered from Egypt (Exodus 1:1 – 14:31), then met with God at the foot of Mount Sinai for worship (Exodus 19:1–25), and then were given God’s law (Exodus 20:1 – 23:33). In response to God’s salvation, his people must be taught how to live. If God is going to dwell in their presence, they must know how to approach God and what he expects from them.

In the new covenant, we also find that the same pattern is repeated. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he came to earth, had the task of delivering God’s people from death and hell. His primary mission was the work of redemption, of providing atonement for sins in order to rescue his church from the burden of God’s wrath. But he did not come only to provide us with access to God the Father. He also came to teach and explain God’s truth. Jesus came to reveal God in a much fuller way than anything achieved by the Mosaic law taught by Ezra (see John 1:17). Through his life and in his teaching he showed us what it means to live in relationship with God. More than anyone else, he taught as one with authority (Mark 1:27). Even after his resurrection and ascension, Jesus did not stop teaching his church. First he sent the apostles to proclaim the good news of the gospel (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8). Then later, through the letters of the apostles, he taught God’s people what it means to live in the light of God’s truth. In the book of Revelation, Jesus himself sends letters to his church (Revelation 2:1 – 3:22); warning, encouraging, and instructing his people.

Because God loves and cares for his church, he makes sure that his people are taught how to live in response to his grace. God cares for the purity and health of his church. He does not rescue people from exile (Colossians 1:13–14) and then leave them by themselves to figure out how to live. Having brought his people back from exile to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1 – 6:22), God then sends a teacher to instruct them (Ezra 7:1–28). The fact that the Lord sends Ezra to Jerusalem is thus a testimony of his love and concern for his people.