Ezra 9:1-15--Ezra Prays About Intermarriage

Ezra 9
English Standard Version

Ezra Prays About Intermarriage
9 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 6 saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

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This passage speaks to a topic that is hard for us to connect with because we don't live in that theocratic society of Old Testament Israel.  Ezra sees that the those who are responsible for teaching the Law and upholding it as an example for others are openly breaking it by taking wives for themselves from among the Gentiles.  The priests were first to marry within the tribe of Levi if possible, and if not possible, then they were to take wives from among the righteous members of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.  Yet, the Levites and priests had intermarried with the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.  Marital relations were forbidden with these people because God knew they had a pagan worldview antithetical to the Law and they would take the LORD's people away from the gospel purposes that He had for them.  They would not try to make themselves holy to be like the LORD's people, but instead they would try to make the LORD's people wicked like them.  So, there is something to be learned by us still today that the LORD doesn't want us to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (a New Testament principle) and that a Christian should not marry a non-Christian.

The New Testament talks about what happens if someone who is already married becomes a Christian in the midst of their marriage and their spouse does not, but that is not the case here.  All of the people that Ezra is speaking to are ethnically Jewish--specifically they are from the tribe of Levi, and many are from the family of Aaron (they are the priests).  They didn't suddenly become Jewish one day through a conversion experience.  They were born into Judaism and if they don't want to be Jewish, they have the choice to be excommunicated and go live among the Gentiles (and be under the judgment and condemnation that God would bring upon them), but there is no situation in which an unbelieving Jew should be serving as a priest or a Levite that is responsible for teaching the Law of the LORD to other and living as an example of faithfulness and holiness.  It breaks Ezra's heart to see this, and he mourns and grieves to the point of tearing his clothes and weeping and cries out to the LORD in prayer, for he fears the LORD's judgment is going to come upon them for living in such open rebellion to the LORD's Law that they are to uphold and teach.

It's not just the Levites who are guilty though, but also the leaders who from the tribe of Judah.  The government officials also seem to be ignoring the Law that they are supposed to uphold and enforce.  With political and spiritual leaders like this, who can the people look to as examples, and how can these leaders possibly lead the people in the right direction when they have rebelled against the LORD in one of the most important decisions any man can make in his life?  The issue is not just that of pulling the man away but pulling the hearts of the hearts of their children away and raising the next generation to not worship the LORD or obey His law, statutes and decrees.  The whole covenant community could be lost as we would say today "without a single shot being fired."  That is, this seen as spiritual warfare from the enemy to try to undo the covenant promises that the LORD has made to His people--either trying to get Him to abandon them, or them to abandon Him.  Either way, Satan imagines that the way to get the covenant to be broken is for these leaders to share their marriage beds with the Gentile nations around them which the LORD told them to have no part in--in fact, these were the nations for the most part that Moses, Joshua, and the Israelites were supposed to destroy during the time of the Exodus and Conquest.

Ezra looks at how the LORD has been at work to return them to the Land through the miraculous work the LORD has done in the hearts of these Persian kings, and now the Land has already been polluted by the wickedness of these pagan peoples.  This is in clear violation of God's Word in the Law and in the Prophets--Ezra seems to indicate that the LORD has sent prophets to the people to tell them not to behave this way, and the people had ignored them.  Ezra says that it is clear that the whole nation is guilty, for even those that haven't been doing this themselves have known it was happening and let it go on in their presence.  They did not call their neighbors to repentance or demand that their leaders be Holy Unto the LORD or that the Law of the LORD be fulfilled in this matter and that this sin of high-handed rebellion be enforced by such men being cut off from the covenant community (excommunicated--if they want to take Gentile wives and live as Gentiles, then they have chosen to no longer live under the Abrahamic Covenant).  God being Just and Righteous must judge this iniquity, but Ezra prays instead that the LORD would cause the hearts of the people to repent so that the people would not have to go into Exile again.  God is up to something so big that Ezra prays that the disobedience of these leaders will not tarnish and thwart what He is doing.  The LORD will use Ezra to speak out against this evil and call the nation--especially it's spiritual and political leaders--to repentance.  We'll see how that goes and how the priests, Levites, and officials respond as we continue studying the book of Ezra.