Let’s read that verse: “Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and so forth.” Ezra was a godly man who was living in Babylon (during the captivity of the Jews) and was desiring to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and in time, the whole city that had been destroyed. He loved the Lord and the Lord’s people (the Jews) and we read in verse 9, “on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.” We know from this verse that God was leading Ezra and, in His sovereignty, He opened the doors for Ezra to return. One of those “doors” is mentioned in verse 6, “The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD His God upon him.” This teaches us that God’s hand was also upon king Artaxerxes by allowing Ezra (and many others) to return to Jerusalem. We read in Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” I believe we can safely say that what we read in verse 12, and the king’s DECREE in verses 13-26, is further evidence that “God’s hand was upon the king for good” for in the decree King Artaxerxes gave many provisions, powers and privileges to Ezra and he had a real reverence for God’s law.

In view of what we’ve just seen, I tend to believe he was NOT PROUD in calling himself “king of kings.” In truth, he was a mighty ruler in the Medo-Persian Empire who God had raised up to rule the world at that time. This Empire would succeed the first World Empire, the Babylonian Empire (see Daniel 2:39). Regarding the Babylonian Empire, we read these words uttered by Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar, “You, O king, are a KING OF KINGS. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory” (Daniel 2:37, see also Ezekiel 26:7). If God chose to call him “king of kings” because he was ruler of a World Empire, then we can assume God looked upon Artaxerxes in the same way as “king of kings.” And thus, he would only be referring to himself with a title given to him by God.

In closing, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ knows that this title today belongs to only one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote of this in 1 Timothy 6:14-15, “that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the KING OF KINGS, and Lord of lords.” The Apostle John echoes this truth in Revelation 17:14, “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords, KING OF KINGS.” John was made to see the vision of Christ coming to make war with His enemies and he said, “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (19:16). Praise be our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who will, in a coming day, manifest Himself as “King of kings” to the whole world and then Revelation 11:15 will be fulfilled, “Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”  (DO)  (632.5)