Smoodock's Blog

Ezra had been given great authority by Xerxes, King of Persia (Ezra 7:12-13) to teach and enforce the Law of God upon the Jewish people in the land of Judah, even to the point of death, banishment, confiscation of property and imprisonment (Ezra 7:25-26), and this is what we find taking place in the final chapter of the Book of Ezra. Ezra had identified the iniquities committed by the children of Israel, who were living in the land of Judah, and he had set an ultimatum upon the people to repent or have their property seized and be banished from Jewish society (Ezra 10:8).

Ezra was the priest who defined what the law was, and Nehemiah was the Tirshatha, or governor who enforced the Law, as Ezra defined it (cp. Nehemiah 8:9, and the whole chapter of Nehemiah 13). The text doesn’t tell us, when Nehemiah returned to Judah as the Tirshatha. However, he was recalled in the thirty-second year of the king of Persia (Nehemiah 13:6) after spending twelve years in Jerusalem, building the Temple and the wall around the city (Nehemiah 5:14). Nevertheless, he did obtain leave from King Xerxes a few years after his recall and was able to return to Jerusalem, perhaps in the second year of the king’s reign (Ezra 4:24; cp. Ezra 6:1-12), or he may have gained leave nearer to the time of Ezra’s release in the seventh year of the king’s reign (Ezra 7:7).

So, as far as present circumstances are concerned, on the twentieth day of the ninth month, when the children of Israel returned to Jerusalem, according to the proclamation (Ezra 10:7-9), Ezra stood up and reminded them of the reason they were there, present in Jerusalem at that time. They had transgressed the Law of God and had taken heathen women as their wives (Ezra 10:10). Earlier, during the annual holy days that fell in the seventh month, he had read out of the Law showing them their transgressions (Nehemiah 8:1-2), and the Levites explained or translated his words, so the people could understand (Nehemiah 8:7-8), but the annual holy days, which incorporated the time of Ezra’s testimony against their behavior, were a time of rejoicing before the Lord, not a time of mourning (Nehemiah 8:9-17). Therefore, the people were given a short season to consider what they had done. First, they returned to their villages to consider their ways, and afterward they returned once more to Jerusalem to repent and publicly make a covenant with God at the appointed time in the ninth month (Ezra 10:9). At this point, they were required to confess their sins of rebellion before the Lord, vis-à-vis admit they were wrong in what they had done and recommit themselves to the Lord, their God, and they agreed (Ezra 10:11-12).

Nevertheless, this matter was too great to perform in so short a time as a few days, because there were many in Judah who were involved in this transgression. Moreover, the rainy season was upon them, and that also contributed to the difficulty in executing these matters (Ezra 10:13). Therefore, it was decided that, beginning in the tenth month (Ezra 10:16), the people would return to Jerusalem in an orderly fashion, by towns and by families to recommit themselves to the Lord and divorce their heathen mates (Ezra 10:14),[1] and this took time,[2] especially in cases were exceptions needed to be made, vis-à-vis when the foreigner embraced the Lord God of the Jews and was raising their children in the Jewish faith.

Nevertheless, there was some opposition recorded in the text, concerning what Ezra demanded. Whether or not this opposition amounted to a disagreement with Ezra’s interpretation of the Law or the expediency of its execution isn’t said. However, the Meshullam mentioned in the text is mentioned again in Ezra 10:29, as one of the offenders. However, the context seems to show that he was one of the repentant Jews. Moreover, Shabbethai, the Levite seems to be otherwise a well-respected man in the community (cp. Nehemiah 11:16). So, the character of the opposition seems to be in question. Nevertheless, even if it were true that they sought only to delay Ezra’s plans to a more convenient time, a delay of obedience to the Lord often causes folks to reconsider the need to repent. So, no matter what the character of the opposition, it was wrong and might have undermined Ezra’s call to repentance, if taken seriously.

_____________________________________________________

[1] Certainly, exceptions could and probably were made for foreign mates who had become Jewish proselytes and whose children were circumcised. Hadn’t Boaz taken Ruth, the Moabitess (Ruth 4:13). Nevertheless, matters such as these were permitted by the Law in that Ruth, and others like her embraced the God of the Jews as their God, and their children were raised as Jews.

[2]