An Uncomfortable Confession - An Unjust Law?

A Reflection on Ezra 10-1:4.

by @minidvr for #digidisciple 10 March 2014

The Leaders tell Ezra of the Sinful marriages of Jews to Foreigners (Ezra 9:1-2)

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Ezra’s story is troubling to us in these days. We have accepted ‘diversity’ and all that it means, including inter-racial marriage. But in Ezra’s time and context, he was troubled that the Jewish race was being diluted or was not remaining it’s pure line as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. People were marrying ‘foreigners’ (Ezra 10:2) which endangered the racial purity of God’s chosen people, but what could be done about it? If the people remained in this state, the prophecy of their kingdom being broken up and the people dispersed might well be repeated?

Ezra’s history is admittedly a little obscure. He had studied the laws given to the Israelites by God through Moses and had become a Teacher and the hand of God was upon him (Ezra 7:6). He had been favoured by Artaxerxes king of Persia (who described him as Ezra the priest, the teacher of the Law of the God of heaven (Ezra 7:11-21) in his commission to Ezra). Ezra was sent with others from Babylon with a personal mission to oversee the work of those rebuilding the Temple and Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-17). To “Appoint Judges and Magistrates to administer the laws and justice”.. and “ to teach those who do not know the laws” (Ezra 7:11-25).

Ezra seemed to be having a bad time of it; But the record shows that the leaders of the people? came to him complaining about the situation of intermarriage and the failings of those that they considered were in breach of God’s law (Ezra 9:1-2). Ezra has a meltdown on hearing this and begs God to forgive those who have forsaken the law and have brought impurity and disgrace upon the people of God. (Ezra 9:3-13). One wonders how he hadn’t noticed this before the leaders brought it to his attention?

The People’s Confession of Sin (Ezra 10:1-4)

10 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. ² Then Shekaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. ³ Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. ⁴ Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

The outcome was Ezra with the leaders issuing a proclamation (v10:7) calling together all of the exiles in Judah on pain of exile from the community is they didn’t come. Within three days, all had assembled in Jerusalem (v.10:9).

¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt. ¹¹ Now honour the Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives. Harsh, or what?

The surprising thing was that people appointed by Ezra formed a commission and dealt in days with those who had married foreigners (v10.16) and the passages from 10:18-44, actually name and shame those guilty of intermarriage with foreigners? And the unstated outcome that they cast out their foreign wives and any children, abandoned to whatever fate might befall them.

How does this speak to us of unjust laws? It certainly sounds cruel and negligent. Imagine the uproar if this were to happen today - it would cause enormous problems! it would break more secular laws than I can count and would infringe so many human rights that the legal profession would make millions from it. And it would be inhumane and cruel. Surely God’s law wouldn’t expect us to be so cruel, I sure that this isn’t still extant.

In the context of it’s time and the people of Israel, doing what they did, it must have broken so many hearts, caused so much pain, but people were willing to sacrifice their families for the sake of a law made centuries before, but would put them in good conscience with God? In an odd twist, divorce became an act of faithfulness among these newly married exiles.

To answer my question in the title, yes, the law appears unjust in the context of our time, but to the people of Israel, following God’s law was a serious business, in the main because they had already been all to aware of the consequences of falling away - their ruin and transportation to Babylon was fresh in their mind.

I have to seriously wonder at the mind set that could do this. But when I look at the New Testament what did Jesus say?

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them”. (Matt 5:17). Do we than accept that the law given to the Israelites remains extant, I can’t believe that Jesus would be telling us to abandon our families due to racial difference or nationality. I appreciate that sometimes so called ‘mixed marriages’ can cause religious or cultural difficulties in families and communities, but the norm is for ‘love to overcome’ and most such unions are successful and happy.

The book of Ezra highlights for me the importance of interpretation of scripture in it’s time, place and context and not to seek to apply it literally to our own context in the 21^st Century. We must seek to see what lessons might be drawn from particular texts.

The evidence for me in this book and the events depicted are repentence and unswerving faithfulness of those who sought to follow God’s law, whatever the consequences for them (and others).

I pray that I might be given such a depth of faith, albeit, not in the context of abandonment or divorce.

 This post originally featured on the www.bigbible.org/digidisciple site on 10 March 2014