No. 32 of Returning Home (Renewed)
The men of Israel had married women they knew were godless and would remain godless. They married these women knowing they were making political alliances with other nations in the region. It was a way to ensure protection and favor for the Israelite nation by having these godless relatives. Using human wisdom, it would sound like a wise diplomatic move. Yet, this is exactly the type of alliance that would later become a thorn in the side to Nehemiah when building the wall of Jerusalem. (Tobiah, who was related by marriage to men of Judah, worked with Sanballat to hinder the builders. Some of Judah’s men even tried to talk Nehemiah into trusting Tobiah. See Nehemiah 6:17-19.) These faithless exiles, who had gone through all the grief and struggle to reestablish their nation under God their king, are breaking their King’s laws and undermining those laws in the eyes of the people. Some of them are priests–government officials who were obligated to serve the nation.
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.” -Ezra 10:10ESV
Some mistaken readers of these passages look on this account of breaking up marriages and destroying the families of these Israelite men as being cruel and wrong. From a civil law perspective, governments even today have the God-given right to wield this authority over the marriage union. The union of two people cannot break our nation’s laws and be legally recognized as a lawful marriage. This is why the officiant asks if there is any just cause why a couple cannot lawfully be joined together in matrimony. The children of Israel were told in advance that marriage with unbelieving women was not going to be recognized by God’s government (Deuteronomy 7:1-4). So, it was not the act of dissolving these unlawful marriages that was cruel and wrong; it was the sin of making these marriages that was cruel and wrong! The pain the fathers, wives, and their children had to endure was a terrible, terrible consequence of that sin. It was a tragedy that left the entire nation to suffer.
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. -Ezra 10:12-14ESV
The assembly agrees and stands behind Ezra’s declaration but asks for relief. The people allude to the lengthy amount of time it’s going to take to carry out this verdict, as well as their circumstances: they are shivering, unprotected, out in the heavy rain. They will have to do this day after day until the sin is removed if Ezra doesn’t grant them a reprieve. This picture parallels how this whole assembly is left open and vulnerable to the Adversary while men in their number, some being their own leaders, corrupt God’s laws. Does this scenario sound familiar? True, this depicts the corruption in our national government, but that system is not the one with which God’s people should be most concerned. It is more crucial to consider how leaders in the Church succumb to the false doctrines of their surrounding neighbors in order to create advantageous alliances. They introduce the false teachings with an end in mind: that they will reap the benefits of a diplomatic decision that will “make everyone happy.” They fill the ears of the people with the “blessings” of uniting with unbelievers–unbelievers who profess to love God and refuse to obey and worship Him as He instructs them. These leaders “marry” their congregations to the faithless by participating in joint ventures that introduce and reproduce ways to corrupt Christ’s perfect law until the chosen people of God are lost in the web-like prison of compromises. It is then that sound doctrine is no longer endured because it will anger those who will not obey. Without the Word, the people do not learn and grow. They are weakened because they lack knowledge of the truth. Soon the deluge comes, the heavy rain of division and strife. The whole assembly is made vulnerable to the sins of a few until the call goes out for a return to God before it is too late.
Sin deceives Christians into believing, “You can get away with doing this, and it won’t hurt anyone.” We forget to look back at accounts like Ezra’s and truly tally up the exorbitant price of sin. It destroys marriages, it destroys families, it destroys nations, it destroys the Church, and it destroys the soul. This is why God is angered by unrepentant law-breakers of the Faith when they put His sheep in danger. God’s wrath is fierce, and He shows us here how that fierceness is warranted and necessary. He cannot stand to see His people torn down from the inside–from the place where they are meant to find strength, solace, compassion, and protection.
Through the eyes of Ezra, God shows His long-suffering. He has waited for these faithless men to change. He has borne with their infidelity and has watched His dear ones suffer under a corrupted system. And now, God gives the assembly mercy. There will be officials appointed to see to the separations of these marriages so the assembly does not have to stand in the downpour day after day. This account exemplifies for us how our Father does know and He does care about His children. He has a purpose that will strengthen and renew His people.
Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. – Ezra 10:15KJV
Bible versions that record the participation of Jonathan and Jahaziah vary regarding their part in Ezra’s work for God. The ESV states that they “opposed” or “stood against this,” but the original word can also mean they “stood up” for this job. The people’s request that officials stand for the whole assembly is immediately followed by this line that uses the “stand” term. If these men are not the officials the people ask for, then there remains no record of who did take up this task. Plus, if these men are in opposition, why is it only mentioned and the opposition not dealt with? Currently, I believe their names were recorded by Ezra to indicate their role as civil servants overseeing this. If you come to a different conclusion after studying this, please share your thoughts with me.