Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 9-10.

I have always been bothered by this passage because, on a surface reading, it seems cold, uncaring, and xenophobic.  However, a closer reading indicates that it is more nuanced than it seems at first glance.  First, I need to summarize what the passage says happened.  Some of the leaders of the returned Exiles came to Ezra and complained about the returned Exiles intermarrying with the pagan peoples who had been living in the land while they were in Exile.  Ezra was distressed by this information and publicly prayed about how terrible such intermarriage was.  The people gathered and demanded that those who had intermarried put aside their foreign wives and the children they had by those wives.  As I said, this seems cold and uncaring.  I first realized that it was a little more complicated than it seems at first when I paid attention to the fact that the people responded to the decision that the men should separate themselves from their foreign wives and children by saying that it could not be done in a day or two.  That was followed up by the appointment of men to investigate each of the cases.  If it was just a matter of, “You married a foreign woman, send her and her children away or be shunned by polite society,” it would not have required any investigation.  Then I looked a little closer at Ezra’s prayer.  In his prayer he said, “Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices?” The key here was that the foreign wives were still practicing the worship of idols, and raising their children to do so.  It still feels cold and uncaring, but the fact that it took them three months to resolve all of the issues tells me that it was not the simple, uncaring thing which it reads as.  At least part of what was going on here was that some of these men had married their wives in order to enter into business and economic deals with pagans (in his prayer Ezra mentioned God’s prohibition against the Israelites signing treaties of friendship with the pagan peoples).  I still struggle with how this passage describes how they handled this.  However, I think it is important to realize that they strove to find a way to deal with their disobedience to God’s commands, and they did not use a one size fits all solution.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 6-8.

Yesterday’s passage described how, after their help in building the temple was rejected, those who had lived in the land while the Jews were in Exile had managed to prevent work on the temple beyond relaying the foundation to come to a halt.  It also described how a new generation under the prodding of Haggai the prophet and of Zechariah resumed work on the temple only to be interrupted by those whose forefather’s help had been rejected.  This new generation attempting to prevent the rebuilding of the temple appealed to Darius, the king of Persia.  However, when Darius had a search of the archives made he discovered that Cyrus had ordered the rebuilding of the temple.  So, Darius ordered those who had attempted to prevent the rebuilding of the temple to provide sufficient resources to the Jews, the returned Exiles, for them to complete the rebuilding.  Thus God proved that Haggai and Zechariah were indeed speaking His word when they prompted the people to resume work on rebuilding the temple.

Sometime after the temple was completed Ezra appealed to Artaxerxes and was granted an edict to go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices on behalf of the king.  As part of that trip, Ezra and those accompanying him received a large amount of wealth to take with them.  Apparently, the amount of wealth which was given to the pilgrims was more than Ezra had anticipated (or, just as likely, he had given no thought about the wealth they would be transporting until it was gathered).  In any case, having proudly told the king that not only was God able to protect them from any harm but that He would be with them on this journey, Ezra was too embarrassed to ask the king for a military escort to protect them, and the wealth they carried, from bandits.  So, Ezra divided the treasure they were transporting up among several different people, making each person responsible for a portion of the treasure being transported to Jerusalem, and called upon the entire group to fast and pray, asking God to grant them a safe journey, both for themselves and their possessions.  When they arrived in Jerusalem and made an accounting of the treasure, it had all survived the journey.  We learn two important lessons here.  First, Ezra, and those traveling with him, fully put their faith in God for safety because they were embarrassed as to what people would think if they asked for guards to protect them.  Sometimes God uses our fear of what others will think of us in order to motivate us to act in faith.  And, as a corollary to that, sometimes it is good to brag up our faith, so that we will be embarrassed to not fully put our trust in God.  Second, while putting his faith in God, Ezra still took steps to mitigate the risk.   By dividing the treasure they were transporting up among several people, and making those to whom it was given responsible just for the portion they were given, Ezra made it less obvious how much wealth their caravan was transporting.  Just because we trust God to protect us does not mean that we do not take action to reduce the risk.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 3-5.

When the Jews (as they now referred to themselves) who had returned from Exile had gotten settled in the land, they began to offer sacrifices to God in Jerusalem.  It is worth noting that they did this even before they had started rebuilding the temple, they had not even begun laying the foundation for the rebuilt temple.  They did not wait to have a specially consecrated space before they began obeying God’s commands about gathering together to worship Him.  In the same way, we should gather together with our fellow believers to worship and honor God, even if we do not have a space specifically designated for doing so.

As we read farther into the passage we see that some of those who lived in the land before the Exiles returned asked to help with the rebuilding of the temple.  The returned Exiles flatly rejected their help.  I am conflicted about this.  The passage writes that those who offered were the enemies of the returned Exiles, suggesting that the offer to help was less than sincere.  However, I cannot help but think that perhaps if the returned Exiles had responded in hostile manner things may have gone differently.  If those offering help had already demonstrated their hostility to the returned Exiles, or had indicated that they wanted the plans for the rebuilt temple to include practices contrary to those laid out in the Law of Moses, then the rejection was appropriate.  On the other hand, if the offer of help was genuine, out of a desire to join with the returned Exiles in worshiping God, perhaps if they had conditionally accepted the help they could have defused a tense and difficult situation.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 1-2.

When Cyrus issued his edict for Israelites to return to Jerusalem and restore the temple of God, most of the Jews who returned were able to provide records which indicated that they were indeed descended from someone who had lived in Israel before the Exile.  As I understand the passage, they were included among those considered Israelites by the returned Exiles, but were not allowed to act as priests (at least not at this time).  I find it interesting that the plan was for a priest to use the Urim and Thummim to inquire of God as to whether they should be included among the priests.  Which tells us that at this time they believed they would be able to reproduce the Urim and Thummim.  Yet today no one is quite sure what the Urim and Thummim looked like (there are some theories, but no actual descriptions from the time when they were in use).  In any case, what we need to note is that while they did not let these people take the role of priest, they did accept them as part of their fellowship.  They welcomed those who sought to be part of God’s people into God’s people.  And they planned for requesting guidance from God as to whether they should be acknowledged as priests.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 9-10.

When Ezra learned that the returned exiles were sinning by making alliances with and marrying idolaters, he did not just ignore it, or throw up his hands and say, “Well, that’s too bad, I hope they repent,” or even preach a sermon about their sin.  No, he publicly abased himself before God and prayed.  Others joined Ezra in his prayer and abasement and prayer about the sin.  And their prayer was not about other people’s sin, they prayed, “We have sinned…”  Then they decided to enter into a covenant with God and each other to change their behavior, to stop sinning and make good for their past sins.  If you, like me, see God’s judgement coming upon our society because of our sins, let us acknowledge our part in that sin and pray to God to transform our hearts, and the hearts of those around us, so that we change our ways and live the life He desires us to live.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 6-8.

I do not normally write about this because it crosses over passages I read on separate days, but I decided to write about it anyway today.  Toward the end of yesterday’s passage, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah inspired the Jews to resume work on rebuilding the temple.  The political leaders of the people around them attempted to intimidate them into stopping, when that failed those leaders sent a letter to the King of Persia to request that he order them to stop.  However, instead of ordering the Jews to stop work on rebuilding the temple, Darius, King of Persia, ordered the people who had sent him the letter to cover the costs of rebuilding and provide animals for the Jews to sacrifice on its altar in order to pray for the king and his sons.  This gives us a great example of how God moves to aid those who faithfully serve Him, even in the face of opposition.

Some time later, Artaxerxes sent Ezra the priest to Jerusalem with wealth in order to make sacrifices there on behalf of Artaxerxes and his sons (Side note: I believe that the “his sons” referred to here and in the letter from Darius is meant to refer to those who took the throne after those kings).  In response to this commission from Artaxerxes, Ezra gathered leaders from among the Israelites in exile to return to Jerusalem with him.  When those who would accompany Ezra gathered, Ezra realized just how much wealth they would be traveling with and was concerned that they might become a target for bandits.  However, he was embarrassed to request armed guards from the king, since he had been bragging to the king about God’s great power.  So, Ezra called on those who would be traveling with him to fast and pray for God’s protection.  Ezra and those who traveled with him put their trust in God for their protection.  Let us follow their example…and perhaps, considering the state of our world today, we should remember to include more fasting with our prayers.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 3-5.

The first thing which struck me about this passage was the enthusiasm of the returned exiles for serving the Lord.  As soon as they had gotten settled into their new homes they gathered in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God and celebrate the Feasts He had mandated for the Israelites.  In fact the way I read the passage, they built a makeshift altar, or perhaps I should say they built an altar that was intended to be temporary, in order to begin making those sacrifices as soon as possible.  The other part of this which strikes me is that they did this “Despite their fear of the people around them,…”  We should share both their enthusiasm for worshiping God and their willingness to defy their fear of those around them in an open and explicit manner.

Later, the passage recounts something about which I am somewhat ambivalent.  When the people who had been living in the land before the exiles returned learned that they were rebuilding the temple, those people asked to be allowed to help them do so.  The returned exiles refused to allow these people to help them.  Which caused those whose assistance was rejected to slander the returned exiles to the King of Persia, who ordered a halt to the rebuilding.  On the one hand, I wonder if things might have gone better if the returned exiles had allowed the surrounding peoples to join in rebuilding the temple.  Perhaps if they had invited the surrounding peoples to join them, and not just in rebuilding the temple, but in full worship of God, Israel would have risen as a power dedicated to God.  On the other hand, perhaps the returned exiles were correct in rejecting this offer of assistance.  Perhaps, if they had accepted the assistance the surrounding peoples would have demanded that they include some of the pagan practices which they had adopted into their worship of God.

Both of these possible interpretations of this passage have lessons for us.  First, we should always welcome the help of those who will faithfully join us in worshiping God.  We should strive to avoid alienating those who genuinely seek to faithfully serve and worship God.  Second, we should be wary of those who offer to aid us in serving God so that they can lead us into accepting practices which God condemns.  We must be cautious of those who refuse to abandon practices which God has clearly spelled out as evil.  Much of the Church today fails to heed the second lesson.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 1-2.

Some years ago I heard a theory that when we look at history, every major world power, every empire which dominated the world provided more freedom for the peoples it ruled over than the one which preceded it.  My initial thought when I heard the theory was that it might be correct.  However, soon after that I was reading this very passage and I looked up some information about Cyrus (and then about the Persian Empire).  What I learned from that research was that the Persian Empire gave more freedom of religion and political autonomy to its subject peoples than any other world empire in history.  I learned that Cyrus, and the kings of Persia who followed him, encouraged the different peoples who were subordinate to him to build and maintain temples to their gods in order for them to pray for his success and health.  Further investigation reveals that Cyrus was apparently convinced that there was a god, or, perhaps many gods, but that he had no conviction as to who that god, or gods, was.  Finally, at least on this, copies of edicts by Cyrus similar to the one recounted here, but about the gods of other peoples, have been found.  Which means that the edict recounted here is likely a paraphrase of the actual edict issued by Cyrus encouraging the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to build the temple and worship God.

All of the above leads to the conclusion that there is no “arc of history” whereby people are becoming better and treating each other better, or whereby each generation experiences greater freedom than the one which came before.  No, as I have written in previous entries, each generation has to decide for themselves if they will serve and worship God.  The Israelites had repeatedly turned from God, so He sent them into exile.  During their exile, they cried out to Him and studied His Law.  God raised up Cyrus and brought the Israelites back to Jerusalem.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 9-10.

When reading today’s passage I have often been bothered by the fact that the writer emphasizes the sin of the people of having married foreign women.  After all, why would it be wrong to bring women into the family of faith?  As I have been writing off and on this spring, that is because that is not quite what the passage is telling us.  In order to understand what is going on here you have to start with what those who brought the problem to Ezra’s attention told him.  They told him that the people of Israel had not kept themselves separate from the detestable practices of the people around them.  One can easily misread what they said to think they were upset with the interaction with the people around them, but a careful reading of the entire passage shows there is more to it than that.  When the Returned Exiles gathered to address the issue, they agreed that those who had married “foreign women” needed to send those wives away, but they said it would take more than a day or two to accomplish this.  Why would it take more than a day or two to settle this if it was just a matter of all the men who had married a woman not of the group of Returned Exiles putting aside their wives?  To me, this says that they had to evaluate whether these wives had continued in the detestable practices of their people or had embraced the worship of God and all that entailed.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezra 6-8.

The first thing I wanted to write about is the way in which the style of writing changes in today’s passage.  Up until this point, and for the beginning of this passage, the writer appears to be an anonymous third party.  However, in chapter 8 the tone changes to that of Ezra writing in the first person.  I would love to know what led to these two approaches being combined into one document.  I mean it seems pretty clear to me that Ezra wrote an account of his travel to Jerusalem and his actions once there and that someone decided to add some background information, but why did they do so?  It is not particularly important, but I am curious.

Having written the above, I want to focus on what is written in verse 21 of chapter 6:

So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel.

It is very easy to miss the significance of this verse.  Repeatedly throughout Ezra and Nehemiah we see passages which talk about the Returned Exiles separating themselves from those living around them.  The passages about that separation read as being very draconic and absolute.  However, we also have passages like this one which help us put those passages about separation into context.  The Returned Exiles had rejected the assistance of their neighbors in building the temple because those neighbors followed unclean practices and had no intention of giving them up.  Later, when they demanded that none of their number marry any of the women from the neighboring peoples it was once again about women who continued in the unclean practices of those neighboring peoples, not about women who chose to fully embrace the worship of God.  Here that is made clear, they ate this first Passover after rebuilding the temple with “all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors.”  Let us also embrace all who separate themselves from the unclean practices of those around us in order to serve the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.