April 25 - Ezra 9-10
Upon Ezra's return to Jerusalem, he was saddened and astonished to find that the leaders of the Israelites were already returning to the sins that caused the exile in the first place. They were not separating themselves from the pagan peoples of Canaan, and they were even intermarrying with them, again. Ezra was overwhelmed by this sin. You can feel his grief as you read this passage. He realized the seriousness of the situation, and he began to personally confess these sins to God. He knew that these sins must be stopped, or God would have to punish His people again or even totally destroy them. Therefore, he took some drastic actions.
Ezra called everyone together for an assembly to deal with these sins. If a person did not attend the gathering, he was no longer a citizen of Israel and his property was taken away. The people gathered in an open area in a heavy rain. Ezra would not let anything stop him from getting rid of this deadly situation. Finally, the decree is made that anyone found to have taken a pagan wife, must divorce that wife. This was the only way the sin could be taken away. The leaders spoke to each person who had taken a pagan wife, and they even included a list of all of the names of the people who were found to have committed this terrible sin. They had broken the first command God gave the people upon entering the Promised Land. If you remember, God told them to kill all of the Canaanites. He knew that if the people were left in the land, they would influence Israel to sin. Also, He knew that they were not going to repent, so His decree was just. However, the Israelites did not take God seriously. Not only did they not kill all of the Canaanites, they began to marry them. Soon, idolatry had taken over, because a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
Now, does this mean that God permits divorce? No, the divorce was a sin, too. God hates divorce. It is never right in God's eyes. In this case it was the only option because God's people had broken an equally serious commandment to get married. The only option was to divorce their wives, or to lose the entire country. Therefore, Ezra commanded them to put away their pagan wives once and for all. It reminds me of when Jesus said that if your hand would keep you out of heaven, cut it off. If your eye would keep you from heaven, pluck it out. Is God in favor of self mutilation? No. However, when you are presented with that choice, you must choose the option that preserves your soul for eternity. That is what the Lord was saying here.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Nehemiah 1-3.
Ezra called everyone together for an assembly to deal with these sins. If a person did not attend the gathering, he was no longer a citizen of Israel and his property was taken away. The people gathered in an open area in a heavy rain. Ezra would not let anything stop him from getting rid of this deadly situation. Finally, the decree is made that anyone found to have taken a pagan wife, must divorce that wife. This was the only way the sin could be taken away. The leaders spoke to each person who had taken a pagan wife, and they even included a list of all of the names of the people who were found to have committed this terrible sin. They had broken the first command God gave the people upon entering the Promised Land. If you remember, God told them to kill all of the Canaanites. He knew that if the people were left in the land, they would influence Israel to sin. Also, He knew that they were not going to repent, so His decree was just. However, the Israelites did not take God seriously. Not only did they not kill all of the Canaanites, they began to marry them. Soon, idolatry had taken over, because a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
Now, does this mean that God permits divorce? No, the divorce was a sin, too. God hates divorce. It is never right in God's eyes. In this case it was the only option because God's people had broken an equally serious commandment to get married. The only option was to divorce their wives, or to lose the entire country. Therefore, Ezra commanded them to put away their pagan wives once and for all. It reminds me of when Jesus said that if your hand would keep you out of heaven, cut it off. If your eye would keep you from heaven, pluck it out. Is God in favor of self mutilation? No. However, when you are presented with that choice, you must choose the option that preserves your soul for eternity. That is what the Lord was saying here.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Nehemiah 1-3.