seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Ezra 9:1 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. 2 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.”
3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. 4 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.
5 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 God6 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.7 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 swordand captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.
8 “But now, for a brief moment, the Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place[a] in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 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.
10 “But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands 11 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. 12 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.’
13 “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. 14 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?15 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.”
a. Ezra 9:8 Or a foothold
Ezra said.... " We know we're not supposed to mingle because that's how the fake little gods and shiny little idols got into the worship service.... but what do we do now? "
The commentary this morning is from Bible.org.
Ezra was appalled when he heard about these Jews marrying pagans because he knew that God’s Word condemns it. He laments, “For we have forsaken Your commandments,” and he goes on to cite God’s prohibition against intermarriage with the pagans of the land. His citations are not an exact quote, but rather a summary of passages such as Exodus 34:11-16 and Deuteronomy 7:1-4. The reporting of this sin to Ezra reflects the biblical language, in that these are the people groups that inhabited the land before the conquest under Joshua. Only the Ammonites, Moabites, and Egyptians were still extant. But the point is, Ezra and the leaders who reported this sin to him knew that it was sin because God’s Word declared it to be sin.
When the princes reported that the holy seed had been intermingled with the peoples of the land, their concern was not racial corruption, but rather, moral corruption. In the original command, God explained the reason for the prohibition: “For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods” (Deut. 7:4; see Exod. 34:16). God knew the tendency of fallen hearts. Rather than influencing their mates to abandon their idols and follow the one true God, the Israelites would be prone to mingle pagan idolatry with their worship of God.
Wow, the last time I heard a sermon on intermarriage of faiths was when I was about 16 years old. I was attending a Baptist Church in Princess Anne Plaza in Virginia Beach. It made quite an impression on me.... but I have to admit.... the preacher made it very plain.... this scripture was not about race... this one is about Religious Belief. This is from enduringword.com.
With respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites: This shows that the problem was not primarily ethnic. The problem was they did not separate themselves from these abominations, specifically the idolatry of these people.
Here is another description of Ezra's distress from studylight.org.
EZRA'S ASTONISHMENT AND HORROR (Ezra 9:3, Ezra 9:4). In Babylonia, whence Ezra had come, the inclination to intermarry with the heathen had not, it would seem, shown itself. Exiles in a foreign land naturally cling to each other under their adverse circumstances, and, moreover, being despised by those among whom they sojourn, are not readily accepted by them into social fellowship, much less into affinity and alliance. Thus the thing was to Ezra a new thing. His familiarity with the Law, and, perhaps we may add, his insight into the grounds upon which the Law upon this point was founded, caused him to view the matter as one of the gravest kind, and to feel shocked and horror-struck at what was told him respecting it. He showed his feelings with the usual openness and abandon of an Oriental: first rending both his outer and his inner garments, then tearing his hair and his beard, and finally" sitting down astonied," motionless and speechless, until the time of the evening sacrifice. Such a manifestation of horror and amazement was well calculated to impress and affect the sympathetic and ardent people over whom Providence had placed him.
I'm posting this on Easter Sunday. Hubby has the news on loud enough I can hear it.... there are lots of "easter egg" hunts.... not a lot about church services or schedules.
Consider this.... if the Jews had not intermarried.... how would history have been different? It's not about race.... it is about religious beliefs.
