There are four times in Ezra 5:1 – 6:22 where we are told that the Lord is God of heaven and earth (Ezra 5:11–12; Ezra 6:9–10). Ezra wants to emphasize that the Lord is not a pagan god who rules only over a small territory; he is the God who rules over heaven and earth. He is not a God who rules only in one place; every single place belongs to him. All people are subject to him. He alone is to be worshipped and honoured as God. There is no other God. Not Allah, not Buddha, not Tao—the Lord alone is God (Deuteronomy 6:4).
1 Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.