A RECOMMITMENT TO OBEDIENCE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”

When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God and prayed:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to You, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

“But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and He has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

“But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands You gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices, they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’

“What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, You have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would You not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in Your presence.”

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

So Ezra rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested. And they took the oath. Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While he was there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.

Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain. Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now honor the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”

The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: “You are right! We must do as you say. But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.” Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this.

So the exiles did as was proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, one from each family division, and all of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to investigate the cases, and by the first day of the first month they finished dealing with all the men who had married foreign women.

Among the descendants of the priests, the following had married foreign women:

From the descendants of Joshua son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib and Gedaliah. (They all gave their hands in pledge to put away their wives, and for their guilt they each presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.)

From the descendants of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
From the descendants of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel and Uzziah.
From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah.
Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah and Eliezer.
From the musicians: Eliashib.
From the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem and Uri.
And among the other Israelites:
From the descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malkijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malkijah and Benaiah.
From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth and Elijah.
From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad and Aziza.
From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai and Athlai.
From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluk, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal and Jeremoth.
From the descendants of Pahath-Moab: Adna, Kelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui and Manasseh.
From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Ishijah, Malkijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluk and Shemariah.
From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh and Shimei.
From the descendants of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Keluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai and Jaasu.
From the descendants of Binnui: Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Maknadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah and Joseph.
From the descendants of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel and Benaiah.

All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.

Ezra 9 - 10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Ezra and his fellow Israelites had returned to Jerusalem safely due to, as Ezra’s credits, the gracious hand of God…the hand that provided provision and protection.

So what happened once they settled into Jerusalem, restored from exile by God?

Unfortunately, they reverted back to repeating the mistakes of the past.

Part of what got the people of Israel in trouble was assimilating with other peoples who had very different religious practices. These people worshipped multiple gods and carried on lifestyles that were contrary to what the true God of Israel expected. The people of Israel started to adopt the religious practices of others which brought on the ire of the God who commanded that there would be no other gods allowed before Him. As Israel continued to commit this sin, they eventually found themselves removed from the Promised Land all together and sent into exile in babylon with a remnant allowed to return one day and start anew. That remnant, now returned to Jerusalem, was slipping back into past practices.

We know this from the closing chapters of Ezra. As Chapter 9 opens, we read where Ezra received the following report from his leaders:

“The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”

These words pierced Ezra deeply for he shares that he “tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled… until the evening sacrifice.” As Ezra sat in his sorrowed state, he was surrounded by “everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel.”

Once the evening sacrifice began, Ezra fell on his knees and prayed the following:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to You, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today. But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and He has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

“But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands You gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices, they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’ What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, You have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would You not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in Your presence.”

Indeed, Ezra was worried and rightfully so. He understood what it meant to fear the Lord because he fully understood God’s law and what it required. He also knew very well the consequences of knowingly violating God’s expectation. It was called the wrath of God. This is why Ezra was so filled with fear, not so much for himself as for the people he had come to teach about the law of God.

Ezra’s dismay was not lost on those who witnessed his actions. Scripture tells us that while Ezra was “praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God”, he was joined by “a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children” who “gathered around him” and also “wept bitterly.” Things looked dire unless something was done to make amends with God. A recommitment to obedience was in order.

The first step in the right direction came when Shekaniah, one of the volunteers who joined Ezra in Babylon, said, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

Getting right with God sometimes requires drastic measures and difficult sacrifices. In the instance Ezra and the Israelites were dealing with, Shekaniah’s recommendation was to “make a covenant before…God to send away all (the foreign) women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of (Ezra) and of those who fear the commands of…God.”

Ezra was to take the lead in this and as we read, he did just that. He “rose up and put the leading priests and Levites and all Israel under oath to do what had been suggested” and they did just that. Then Ezra left the Isaraelites to do what they had sworn they would do while he “withdrew…and went to the room of Jehohanan” where he “ate no food and drank no water, because he continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.”

Meanwhile. “a proclamation was…issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem” and “anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.” Scripture tells us that “within…three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem” and “on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain.” It was then that Ezra stood up and spoke the following words:

“You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. Now honor the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.”

In reponse to Ezra’s demand, we read where the “whole assembly responded with a loud voice” saying, ‘You are right! We must do as you say. But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing. Let our officials act for the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at a set time, along with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.’”

And so “the exiles did as was proposed” and Ezra “selected men who were family heads, one from each family division” to “investigate the cases.” They began “on the first day of the tenth month” and finished their work “dealing with all the men who had married foreign women”, listed at the end of the chapter.

So what do we take away from this scripture?

We’re all sinners, that’s a fact. We all have weaknesses, temptations that Satan, our enemy, tries to use against us…to live in a way contrary to God’s expectations.

For the men of Israel, it was falling in love with women who would end up being an adverse influence on them spiritually. For us, maybe it’s a bad habit or addiction. Maybe it’s any number of actions that would violate how the Bible says we should live.

Whatever our issues, we are expected to do something about them, not just continue violating the Lord’s standards.

We can do this by following the lead of the Israelites in Ezra’s time and take an oath to rid ourselves of what would cause us to sin. For the Israelite men, it was the foreign women they had decided to wed. That couldn’t have been easy but it was necessary for them to do it. They got themselves into their situation and they would have to correct it. So too is it for us if we smoke, drink excessively, do drugs, selfishly hoard what God blessed us with vice be charitable, use profanity regulary, lust after others, find ourselves quick to anger and slow to love, etc, etc, etc. We must make radical changes to correct our sinful lifestyles. Like get rid of smoking, alcohol, pornography, greed, lust, cigarettes, etc…whatever causes us to live outside of God’s expectations.

In the end, our sole goal in life should be to live in a way that pleases Him and brings glory to His name. We can’t expect to do that if we conscientiously choose to be disobedient and violate God’s commands.

As we get set to enter into a new year, maybe we would all be well suited to renew our commitment to obedience, identifying where we are failing and doing something about it.

The good news is the Lord is ready to provide you with anything you need to get right with His word, will and way. He’s just a prayer away.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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