Ezra 10
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The People Confess Their Sins
The People Confess Their Sins
1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly.
2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.
3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.
4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.
6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.
7 And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem,
8 and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.
10 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.
11 Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”
12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said.
13 But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
14 Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”
15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.
16 Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter;
17 and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.
18 Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers.
19 They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.
20 Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
21 Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.
22 Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
23 Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25 And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah.
26 Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
27 Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.
28 Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
29 Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.
30 Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.
31 Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,
35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,
36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu.
38 Of the sons of Binnui: Shimei,
39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
44 All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.
As we discussed last week in Chapter 9, Ezra took on the responsibility of the sins of the nation of Israel. It burdened him to the point he could not carry on. Why? Because the religious leaders and others had taken foreign wives in direct rebellion to God’s commands to remain a pure people. While there were some who remained in the region during the Babylonian captivity, the vast majority returned from captivity. You would have thought they would have learned that God required obedient people, but they again wandered from God’s Word.
When Ezra returned, it was his duty to teach the Word and lead the returned exiles to repentance.
Five months after his arrival, the “leaders” approached him with concerns of the nation - there was sin in the Levites and priests. They had married outside the community of believers in direct contradiction to God’s law.
1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you,
2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
God knew when intermarriage occurred between believers and non-believers there would be a constant struggle with their relationship - both human and spiritual.
God wanted to protect against this - put the people did not listen, and unfortunately some religious and civic leaders were in the forefront of this sin. As a result, Ezra tore his clothing, pulled out his hair and beard - in both a sign of mourning and the angry grief he felt. He was appalled of the people’s sin. His only recourse was prayer to God, and he prayed until evening sacrifice (around 3 p.m.). Not only did Ezra pray, but he did so in a way that showed himself thrown before God begging mercy for the peoples actions.
Ezra confessed the sin, he was embarrassed by the sin, he felt guilty because of the sin, and he asked forgiveness for the sin. The nation had no excuse before God.
They knew God’s Law, they broke it. Clearly, defiantly, and willingly. Ezra’s reaction to the sin of the returned exiles, though, led to an action by the people.
The People Acknowledge Their Sin
The People Acknowledge Their Sin
1 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly.
2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.
3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law.
4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
The brokenness of Ezra was both seen and felt by the people, and they also joined in his weeping.
It was all the people - men, women, and children - who realized something had to be done.
The sin had been tolerated for way too long, and they had allowed it to occur.
Children were born to some who intermarried, leading to an even more complicated matter. Can you imagine those who were truly seeking God seeing this occur, knowing it was against God’s will. What had they done? Had they prayed? Had they said something and been berated? Individually, it’s hard to be recognized. But as a group, it’s hard to be missed. Ezra was praying and mourning the sin, the righteous leaders joined, and the righteous people joined with them - weeping bitterly. One leader spoke out, acknowledging their sins “We have broken faith with our God” but also acknowledges confession is the first step to restoration “but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this”.
God had made covenants with Israel since Abraham, and now Shecaniah suggested the people make a covenant before God. They should divorce their foreign wives and send them away along with the children they bore, according to the Law.
Notice he knew this would not be something easy to do - to literally abandon their families, but Shecaniah appealed to Ezra and to the people that it was not his idea, but should be carried out on the basis of the Law of God which was supposed to be the people’s rule of life. The Law also was a safeguard for this situation, for an Israelite could marry a woman from outside the nation if she had become Jewish in faith. Perhaps that is why each marriage would be investigated thoroughly—to see if any women had become Jewish proselytes.
Though divorce was not the norm, it may have been preferable in this situation because the mixed marriages, if continued, would lead the nation away from true worship of Yahweh.
Eventually they would destroy the nation. On the other hand some Bible students believe this plan was not in accord with God’s desires
16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”
Do two “wrongs” make one “right”? Does sin ever trump God’s Law? It’s a no-win situation…all because of sin. The act of divorcing unbelievers may seem drastic and harsh to people today, but the returnees were concerned with the sinfulness of intermarriage. They sensed a deep need that this and all other sin must be put out of their lives. Although believers today are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, the New Testament teaches that once people are married, they are to stay married if at all possible.
12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her.
13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
16 For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
The People Take an Oath
The People Take an Oath
5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.
6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles.
7 And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem,
8 and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.
Ezra immediately arose and took decisive action.
The people’s sincerity in their confession and repentance was shown by the fact that they took an oath before God. Taking an oath was not a light matter; it bound the oath-taker to do what he had promised. If he did not, he would be punished.
Ezra withdrew to fast and mourn by himself. Jehohanan was the same as Johanan (Neh. 12:23) the grandson of Eliashab (Neh. 12:10–11), who was the high priest (Neh. 13:28). Hence, son of Eliashab means “grandson of Eliashab” (“son” in Heb. often means a grandson or even a later descendant).
A proclamation was sent out to all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. Anyone who did not come would lose his property and would be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.
In effect such a person would no longer have any legal rights. Ezra had this authority to send out a proclamation with threat of punishment, because of the edict of the king.
The People Gather at the Temple
The People Gather at the Temple
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.
10 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.
11 Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”
12 Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said.
13 But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
14 Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”
15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.
The square to the east of the temple could accommodate thousands of people. The temple area was always the center of action in the Book of Ezra.
On the appointed day (three days after the proclamation) as the people were gathering, a rainstorm was in progress. However, because of the oath
and because of the threat of punishment the meeting went on as scheduled.
The people were distressed out of fear of God’s wrath and over concern about their families being separated.
As Ezra addressed the group, he cited their sin of unfaithfulness, pronounced their guilt, and challenged them to acknowledge their sin and do something about it by becoming separate from their foreign wives.
The people responded that they agreed, but that the matter would take some time because of the large number of people involved and because of the rain (In fact, it took three months).
Each man who had married a foreign woman should make an appointment with the elders and judges of his hometown so that the matter could be settled locally.
This was a good suggestion because the elders and judges of each town would know the individuals involved.
The local leaders would know whether the women involved were worshipers of the Lord or were still involved in pagan worship.
Ezra knew marriage was instituted by God as a permanent relationship, however the moral dilemma Ezra faced was caused by the pagan influence these foreign women would have on the children of these mixed marriages and on the newly reestablished community of faith. The family and the convictions of the whole religious community were at stake. Ezra’s action was drastic, but he chose the path most likely to protect the covenant community from pagan influence in worship. In this historically unique case, Ezra and the Jewish leaders considered that the importance of maintaining the purity of the religious community superceded that of these marital relationships.
Four leaders opposed the plan, though it is not clear why. Perhaps they wanted to take care of the matter right away; or perhaps they did not want to take care of it at all. At least one of them, Meshullam, was guilty of this exact sin.
The Marriages Examined
The Marriages Examined
16 Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers’ houses, according to their fathers’ houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter;
17 and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.
11 days after this oath was taken, the examining began.
Following the proposal that had been laid out, the local officials began to counsel and investigate the cases of intermarriage among the Jews. Wisely, Ezra appointed leaders of each family or clan to judge the cases of his own family. This meant there was a close bond between the judge and the guilty parties. In all likelihood, both counseling and encouraging unbelievers to become converts to the only true God were part of the investigation. Being a family affair also meant that each case would be handled with more compassion and understanding. More pressure would be placed upon the family head to do all he could to lead the unbelievers to the Lord and the guilty Jews to true repentance.
It took three months for all the marriages to be examined, from the first day of the 10th month (December–January 457) to the first day of the 1st month of the next year (March–April 456). Obviously the problem was widespread and could not be settled in a day.
Each case was judged individually so that justice would be done. By this action the community was not saying that divorce was good. It was a matter of following God’s Law about the need for religious purity in the nation.
The people kept their oath. They divorced their foreign, unbelieving wives who refused to accept the Lord. They then offered sacrifices to the Lord, seeking His forgiveness.
Ezra wrote nothing about what happened to these foreign women or their children. Presumably they returned to their pagan countries.
The Offenders Listed
The Offenders Listed
18 Now there were found some of the sons of the priests who had married foreign women: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah, some of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brothers.
19 They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.
20 Of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
21 Of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah.
22 Of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
23 Of the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 Of the singers: Eliashib. Of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25 And of Israel: of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Hashabiah, and Benaiah.
26 Of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
27 Of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza.
28 Of the sons of Bebai were Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai.
29 Of the sons of Bani were Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth.
30 Of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh.
31 Of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah.
33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei.
34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel,
35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,
36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu.
38 Of the sons of Binnui: Shimei,
39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph.
43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
44 All these had married foreign women, and some of the women had even borne children.
Ezra concluded his account by listing the offenders in the foreign marriages.
Involved in this serious sin were 17 priests and 10 Levites including a singer and 3 gatekeepers, and 84 others from around the nation. As the leaders had said, some priests and Levites were guilty. The guilty priests each offered a ram … as a guilt offering in accord with
14 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering.
The family names in Ezra 10:25–43 correspond closely to those in 2:3–20. Some of these had children by these marriages). This was a grievous separation from God’s covenant.
Unfortunately the people would again slip into the same kind of sin only one generation later (Neh. 13:23–28).
The narrative ends abruptly at this point. The message of the book is complete. In order for the people to be back in fellowship with the Lord it was absolutely necessary for them to have proper temple worship and to live according to God’s Word.
Revival can come only through confession and repentance of sin. A person who continues in his sin will not experience revival. Why? Because the heart cannot be truly revived, put at peace and made restful, if it is alienated from God. And sin alienates, separates the human heart from God. The heart is restless—dissatisfied, unfulfilled, and somewhat insecure—until it finds its rest in God. True revival of the human heart can only come if we confess and repent of our sins. So it is with the church. The church will be truly revived, awakened to righteousness, only when its members confess and repent of their sins. But when they do confess and repent, the most wonderful experience of revival will flood the church. Revival brings a sense of peace, rest, and fulfillment to the heart of the church. In addition, the church is aroused with a renewed spirit of purpose and mission, bearing a far stronger testimony for the Lord. But this fact must be kept in mind: to experience revival we must confess and repent of our sins.