Wednesday – History
Reading – Ezra 9-10
Highlight Verse:
“While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.”
Ezra 10:1 NLT
Today’s reading is a tough pill to swallow.
As always, we need to look at it in a cultural context. The Israelites had strict rules about who they could marry. This was especially true about the leadership that today’s passage talks about.
They had broken those rules and were seeing the consequences in their watered-down faith.
The effects were heart breaking and the solution was too.
Fortunately, there were few children born from these unsanctioned marriages.
While it did not talk about it here, by Jewish law of the time, the men would have had to give provisions to the ex-wives and children.
It is still brutal and I’m sure there was a lot of hardship born of this situation.
If you are wondering if this passage means that we should be following these marriage rules today, I would say the answer is yes and no.
While race should have no impact on who you marry, faith should.
While it is not a law in the context of today’s church,
a married couple that shares faith goals will be far more effective in achieving those goals.
I could go into what to do in the case of a married couple where one is a believer and the other is not, but there are other New Testament scriptures that cover that. We can talk about that then.
One last thing that I don’t want to overlook from today’s reading is the fact that Ezra wept for the sin of Israel’s leadership even though he did not commit it.
As a good leader, he took on the guilt of those he led rather than just accusing the ones who actually committed the sin.
He brought the seriousness of the sin to light in humility, not arrogance.
Do you understand why Ezra called for divorce/annulment in today’s reading?
What are your thoughts on this difficult passage?
How do you think we can lead effectively in humility?
