The Hand of God Beautifying the House of the Lord

This passage is one of the many illustrations of God’s sovereign control over the hearts of men as in Proverbs 21:1, “The kings heart is like a watercourse in the hand of the Lord.” Artaxerxes who has been opposed to the work of God in Jerusalem has a change of heart from his letter of opposition in 4:8-23. Now, he sends another letter to Ezra giving him permission to rebuild with his blessing and His bounty. In this section we learn that God glorifies Himself in all things, whether they seem good or bad from our perspective... He causes “all things to work together for good...”