Ezra 9-10

READ: Ezra 9-10

REFLECT:

In Ezra 7-8 we see Ezra leading a group of people from Persia back to Jerusalem to participate in working on the temple. The good hand of God was with him as he devoted himself to studying God’s law, doing God’s law, and teaching God’s law (Ezra 7:10). But as he came back to Jerusalem to do the work of restoring the temple and restoring the hearts of the people to God, he learned that there was a big mess that must be dealt with. 

The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites had not separated themselves from the people of the land and were practicing all the detestable, idolatrous practices that the locals practice. In a matter of 60 years the people were back to sinning in the same way for which they were deported from the land by God in the first place. Rather than being separate from the people and their practices, they were just like the people of the land and practicing the same things. Not only this, in verse 2 we read that the people were marrying the surrounding people. Now it is important to understand that this was a command to Israel under the Law of Moses. When the people came into the land they were not supposed to marry the people who lived in the land of Canaan (Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3). Now that the people had returned to the land, in these last 60 years they were doing what God said not to do in marrying the people of the land. If this was not bad enough, you will notice at the end of verse 2 that we are told that the leaders of the people were the ones who led the way in this sinning.

Ezra was outraged when he heard this news. He tore his clothing. He pulled some hair from his head and beard, and sat down appalled at what had happened. These were visible acts of distress and grief. As Ezra sat in outrage, some who trembled at the word of the Lord gathered around Ezra. But Ezra sat in distress all day. Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, he got on his knees and prayed. Ezra began his prayer about how ashamed and humiliated he was because of the people’s sinful deeds. Ezra confessed the sins of their past that led them into Babylonian slavery. In verses 8-9 Ezra acknowledged the grace of God. In verse 10 Ezra says that they had abandoned the commands of the Lord. They violated the very commands that God told them to keep. Ezra even quoted those commands in verses 11-12. Now listen to verse 13 where Ezra said that the Lord had punished them even less than they deserved for their prior sins. They had received less than what they deserved but they had broken God’s commands again! As a remnant they did not deserve to exist as they stood before God. “We are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this” (9:15). 

RELATE:

What a prayer that Ezra offered! God, you are righteous and just. We are sinful and our sins go all the way to the sky. We are worthy of being wiped and up to this point we have received far less than we deserve. Please note that there is no request by Ezra. He just simply placed their sins and their lives in the hands of God. Ezra interceded by confessing the sins of the people.

Notice what is happening while Ezra prayed. Ezra 10:1 tells us that while Ezra prayed, made confession, cried, and threw himself on the ground, a great assembly of Israel came to him also crying bitterly. One of the people that we know nothing about, Shecaniah, stood up and made a declaration. "We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women. We have been unfaithful to our God in what we have done." But listen carefully to what he said next at the end of verse 2. “But even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.” What could the people possibly do?

Listen to what he said in verses 3-4. "We will make a covenant with God to put away all of these wives with their children. Let it be done according to the Law. We will be with you, Ezra, to help us do this. Be strong and take action." Notice that Ezra did not get up in verse 5 and retorted that this was a ridiculous idea. He did not get up and said that this was an unbiblical idea. Ezra got up and made the priests, Levites, and all of Israel take an oath that they would do this very thing. So they all took an oath that this was what they would do.

The first thing to observe is they were self-motivated. Ezra did not get up and tell them that this is the response they need to take. The people were cut to the heart. They were truly moved by the grace of God and their sinning in the face of God’s grace. They were the ones who were seeking to do what was right. They wanted to get right with God. They determined that this was what they must do. They were looking to truly repent.

The second thing is what Shecaniah and Ezra noted. Shecaniah says that they would put away these wives and it will be done according to the Law (10:3). Where did the Law of Moses say that this was the response for marrying foreign women? Where did the scriptures specifically teach that this is the response for sinful marriages? The Law does not say this anywhere. So where did they get this idea? Why did Ezra agree to it since he had devoted his life to studying the Law, doing the Law, and teaching the Law? Why is this action being done according to God’s law when God’s law does not say to do this?

The answer becomes clear. A person cannot continue in sin thinking that grace will continue. If a marriage is unlawful to God, then the solution is not to stay in that marriage. Now let me ask you something. If there was another solution, do you suppose that these people would want to do that instead? Of course they loved their wives and their children. This was not a bunch of people who wanted to get out of their marriages. But they understand that there is not another option. Their only hope was to stop the sin which meant they needed to end these marriages. If it was unlawful to get married, then it was unlawful to stay married. Putting away their wives was what the Law required.

In verse 6 we saw Ezra still mourning and interceding on behalf of the people. A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles needed to gather at Jerusalem. So all the people gathered in Jerusalem in the freezing rain, trembling. Ezra declared in verse 10 that the people had broken faith with God with these unlawful marriages. Ezra then said that the answer was to confess their sins and separate themselves from the peoples of the land. The people responded in agreement to do just as Ezra had said.

But notice what else the people said in verse 13. There were many people and this was not a matter that could be taken care of in a day or two because they had sinned greatly. "Let everyone in our towns who have married foreign women come at appointed times with the elders and judges of the town until this matter is properly dealt with" (10:14). Ezra and the people agreed to these terms. Two people were named as not agreeing with this solution, seeming to identify their unwillingness to do what was necessary to repent. Verses 16-17 tell us that on the first day of the tenth month they sat down and began investigating each case until they made it through all the people months later. The rest of the book named all the men who had married foreign women and had children with them.

Now it is important that we ask another question. Why did it take months to go through this process? Why did the people need judges to sort out these situations? Isn’t the situation easy to figure out? Did you marry a foreign woman or not? If yes, then put her away. If not, then you are fine. Why do we need leaders and judges? Why do we need time? Why does it take months? I think it is not hard to see that the issue is not about determining if someone sinned by marrying a foreign woman. The challenge is trying to figure out how to unravel this sinful situation. It would have been ungodly to just leave these women and children in the streets, unable to care for themselves and unable to be cared for. These children were still their children. They had  homes and families. This was terribly complicated. Spiritual judges would have been needed to determine how to separate from this sin while still maintaining the commitments that were made to these women and children. Spiritual wisdom was needed to sort out how to follow God’s will in ending the unlawful marriage while also following God’s will to do what was right by these women and children. There was nothing easy about this solution. But this was the right solution to follow by God’s will.

REST:

Friends, we need to have compassion on those who come to Jesus and come to understand that they are in a sinful marital situation. We need to understand and have compassion that it is going to take time to unravel these complicated situations. We need to hold fast to the truth that we cannot remain in sinful relationships. We must also hold fast to the need to be compassionate and wise as we help people work through those circumstances as they move through that process. We must heed Jesus’ warning that as we follow God we do not neglect justice and mercy.