Ezra begins the story of himself by tracing his ancestry back to Aaron the priest. He describes himself as a scribe well versed in the Law of Moses. He along with a number of others came up from Babylon to Jerusalem in the seventh year of the reign of King Artaxerxes. He was given everything he asked for of King Artaxerxes “because the gracious hand of the Lord his God was on him. His intention was to study and obey the Las and to teach its decrees and regulations to the people of Israel. The king’s decree is included in the text. Ezra had a lot of authority.
Ezra was a man of praise and prayer and fasting. He acknowledges that God is the one who took care of them on their journey.
After they arrive in Jerusalem, they discover that the men of Israel had married women who were not Jewish: “So the holy race has become polluted by these mixed marriages…” Ezra is utterly appalled and confesses their sin to the Lord. He prays “weeping and lying face down on the ground.” A large group of people gather there with him. They make a covenant to divorce their pagan wives and to send them away with their children. The book concludes with a detailed list of the men who broke God’s law by intermarrying.l What a mess that must have been! The men who broke the law and the women and children who were sent away must have grieved terribly.
Tomorrow, we’ll read Nehemiah 1 - 5.
I’m posting this at 5:46 am because, this morning, I am driving my niece and nephew to NC and won’t be home until Sunday. I should be at my brother’s in GA tomorrow and hope to post the next one from there. We’ll complete the Old Testament on 9/30/2012 – amazing, isn’t it?
Until next time…
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