No. 25 of Returning Home (Renewed)
Ezra was a great student of Moses’ law. He was a priest, and he was a scribe. He kept the records, and he kept God’s word in his heart. As a faithful follower, God gave him many responsibilities. Perhaps the most difficult task–more difficult than his role in bringing the second group of Israelites back to Jerusalem–is his role in bringing Israel back into a right relationship with God.
After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” – Ezra 9:1-2ESV
Ezra writes his narrative in the first person from chapter 7:28 to chapter 9:15. While there is no explanation given for the change from ‘Ezra’ to ‘I’ and ‘me,’ the content of these verses deals with Ezra’s personal responsibility and his responses in carrying out his God-given tasks. Ezra, who has just arrived and finished the big move to Jerusalem, is informed of a huge problem happening among the people. Why the leaders come to him to straighten out the matter is not expressed, but it is implied that, as a priest and a student of the law, Ezra has knowledge of God’s specific commands and the experience to resolve the issue.
When problems of an ingrained nature arise in the church, sometimes Christians can see the problem but don’t know how to address it. God knows that we need experienced men of faith to look at the big picture to help us clearly understand the depth of the sin and how to change and turn from it. There is a tradition in the churches of the U.S. which has benefited congregations in addressing heart-buried issues. Christian men, experienced in situations and issues facing struggling congregations, are asked to come and teach–sometimes for a week and sometimes longer. In the past such revivals, or gospel meetings, brought in well-loved and prudent students of the Bible to proclaim what the Bible stated on a topic, a topic that a congregation specifically needed to understand or be reminded of again. These men sided with no one but God and could advise objectively with no conflict of interest. Today, the revival concept has become less about correcting a congregation’s walk regarding specific struggles and more of a general personal examination and encouragement event. Ezra’s account shows us how important it is to seek the help of godly, experienced, proven servants of God to help rout out sinful behaviors that have gone unchallenged. In this case, the sin of the people extended to the tribe of Levi. Levites were the spiritual leaders of the people. How much more difficult would it be for them to turn away from sin when the ones leading in the worship were participating?
Ezra records the great sin of God’s people. They were marrying Gentiles. If a Christian made the statement, “She married a Gentile!” today, it wouldn’t mean the same thing. God’s law in Ezra’s time was different. Before the Israelites settled in Canaan, God had warned them not to intermarry with the people of that land.
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. – Deuteronomy 7:1-4ESV
Israel was commanded to keep their bloodline pure. God explained to them that intermarrying would turn their hearts away from Him and then gave them a second reason not to marry Gentiles.
For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers – Deuteronomy 7:6-8ESV
Israelites were separated to God’s use in a physical way from the other nations for Jehovah to keep the oath he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised that through Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Jesus could not come through Abraham if the Israelites intermarried with other nations. Viewing this command from the other side of the cross, it’s clear why this law had to be carried out. Ezra didn’t have the clarity we are blessed to have today. Still, questions arise about intermarriage. For example, Moses, who spoke these commands of God, had sons who were born of Zipporah, a Gentile. And Jesus had Gentile blood in His lineage from Gentile women who gave themselves to the service of God. These were singular exceptions that did not affect the paternal bloodline; they were not the rule. God’s law to keep Israel’s bloodline pure preserved the path through which Christ would enter the world. Matthew establishes this record of Jesus’ ancestry back to Abraham and records how He blessed all nations through His sacrifice and resurrection. Today, no man’s lineage can be traced back to Abraham. The last records of this nature were destroyed at Jerusalem in 70 C.E.
While Ezra could not fully understand the importance of the command not to intermarry, he knew God’s law and responded in a way that exemplifies for us what it means to obey.