Ezra 10:1-17--The People Confess Their Sin

Ezra 10:1-17
English Standard Version

The People Confess Their Sin
10 While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. 2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. 4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” 5 Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath.

6 Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. 7 And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, 8 and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles.

9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain. 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.” 12 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.” 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

​16 Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest selected men, heads of fathers' houses, according to their fathers' houses, each of them designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to examine the matter; 17 and by the first day of the first month they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

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Apparently, Ezra's prayer was cried out loud so that the people could hear him praying and weeping.  During his prayer, many people of the town came to him to encourage him, support him, and join him in his prayer.  They confessed corporately and individually that they had sinned before God and that they needed to repent, and they knew there was still hope for Israel if God chose to forgive them.  They knew from the book of Psalms that the LORD forgave David for his inequity when he repented and came before the LORD with a broken and a contrite heart, which the LORD will not despise.  The people approach with the same kind of broken hearts here, and they come expecting the same kind of forgiveness.

They agree to renew their covenant with the LORD once more and to put away all their foreign wives they have taken from the forbidden places.  Ezra made all the priests and Levites swear to follow through on this promise, and they swore with an oath to do so.

A convocation was then called that all the people had to attend, and Ezra stood up in front of all of them and confronted them with their sin.  He called them to confession and repentance, and they all replied, "It is so; we must do what you have said."  However, since there was heavy rain that day, the people asked if they could return home and have their leaders meet together and make a decision for them and come back and inform them of the details later.  They agreed that dates and times should be set by which each Israelite man should have separated himself from any foreign wives he had and sent them away out of the Land.  Anyone who had not done so by the established date and time would be in rebellion against the Law and should receive the full punishment prescribed by the Law.

There were only two men who opposed this and two other men who agreed with them after they stated their opposition.  Thier opposition was likely that they did not want to separate themselves from their foreign wives.  By the first day of the first month (the start of the new year), the matter had been settled and they were ready to see who had and had not complied with the Law.  Our next passage would reveal that even among the priests and the Levites, there would be those who swore with an oath to obey and were still living in disobedience.  We'll talk about that next time.