As I’m about to wrap up Ezra 10, this can be a difficult topic. I Googled “Ezra divorce” to help me understand this topic. First, we need to look at some important details in Ezra 10 before going for the divorce. Ezra was a priest and he knew his responsibility. Ezra probably kept remembering what he was told such as how the prophets and priests of Jeremiah’s day, several decades ago, went to judgment. How many negative verses about priests in Jeremiah outweigh the positive. Ezra was seen praying and confessing, weeping, and throwing himself down. Ezra’s contrite spirit before the people was evident and they joined him. It was time for a national repentance. Israel, as a nation, must repent of the interreligious marriages they got themselves into.
The Enduring Word Bible Commentary gives this detail on Ezra’s sorrow:
a. While Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing: The power of Ezra’s confession was not merely in the words recorded in Ezra 9:6-15. It was in the depth of heart that prompted the prayer, here shown by weeping, and bowing down before the house of God. He prayed this prayer and humbled himself on behalf of the people publicly, before a very large assembly of men, women, and children.
i. Bowing down before the house of God: The Hebrew grammar “implies that Ezra kept on ‘throwing himself down’ on the ground.” (Yamauchi)
b. For the people wept very bitterly: This shows that the people were also struck by the conviction of sin and the need to confess and repent. They sorrowed over the sin of the covenant community just as Ezra had done.
i. “They could not wash their hands in innocency, they, therefore, washed them in tears; they knew that as the sins of the old world, so of this little world, needeth a deluge.” (Trapp)
ii. Through the centuries, one mark of a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit among the people of God is that they are convicted of their sin and feel compelled to confess it and to put it away. The old Puritan John Trapp thought of confession as a purging of sin. “This is the soul’s vomit, which is the hardest kind of physic [medicine], but healthsomest. This the devil knows…and, therefore, he holds the lips close, that the heart may not disburden itself by so wholesome evacuation.” (Trapp)
iii. “Confession of sins is a neglected doctrine. It only comes into its rightful place in times of revival, when the Holy Spirit comes in doubly-convicting power and makes it impossible for the erring believer to have any peace of mind until the wrong is confessed whenever necessary.” (Orr)
iv. In his book The Second Evangelical Awakening, Dr. J. Edwin Orr quoted the observations of a high-ranking army officer upon the work of the Spirit in his Scottish town: “Those of you who are at ease have little conception of how terrifying a sight it is when the Holy Spirit is pleased to open a man’s eyes to see the real state of heart…. Men who were thought to be, and who thought themselves to be good, religious people…have been led to search into the foundation upon which they were resting, and have found all rotten, that they were self-satisfied, resting on their own goodness, and not upon Christ. Many turned from open sin to lives of holiness, some weeping for joy for sins forgiven.”
v. William Newton Blair, the author of a book describing the great Korean revival, declares: “We may have our theories of the desirability or undesirability of public confession of sin. I have had mine, but I know that when the Spirit of God falls upon guilty souls, there will be confession, and no power on earth can stop it.” (Cited in Orr)
vi. The Bible has much to say about the confession of sin, and we can surmise some general guidelines about it:
· Confession should be made to the one sinned against.
· Confession publicly of specific sins should be made within the circle of people affected by those sins.
· Confession of general spiritual need, while being discrete about the specific sin, is appropriate when the circle of the people affected by the sin is either personal or very small.
· Confession should be appropriately specific.
· Confession should be thorough.
The man named Shekaniah
We have a character named Shekaniah, son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam. Who this Elam is, I can’t be certain. Take note that the name of Shekaniah isn’t mentioned among the list of offenders who had married pagan women. Why was Shekaniah the spokesperson for them? I can’t be certain of his reason.
I’d share this insight from the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible by Robert Jamieson:
Yet ow there is hope in Israel concerning this thing–This hope, however, depended on timely measures of reformation, and therefore, instead of surrendering themselves to despair or despondency, he counseled them to amend their error without delay, relying on God’s mercy for the past. Though the proposal may seem harsh and cruel, yet in the peculiar circumstnaces of the Jews it was just as well as necessary; and he urged the duty of seeing it executed on Ezra, as the only person competent to carry it to effect, being possessed of skill and address for so delicate and difficult a work, and invested by God and under Him by the Persian king (Ezra 7:23-28), with the requisite authority to enforce it.
The covenant was to send away the pagan women. As Deuteronomy 7:2-3 says, the Israelites weren’t to make covenants with pagan nations. However, we need to take note that in Judges. the Israelites that married pagan women, were also unbelievers. It was a no-brainer that Ahab would marry the wicked Jezebel. This apparently was also a move to get rid of apostates from God’s nation. In fact, not all of Israel are of Israel. Today, Israel is so full of unbelievers and they too, won’t inherit God’s Israel. Only believing Jews and believing Gentiles are of Israel’s promise. Shekaniah goes forward to call the people unto repentance.
Ezra’s call for repentance implemented
Ezra shows how a responsible pastor should act. Ezra took the leading priests and Levities and all of Israel under oath. It was time to take that oath.
Another interesting name is Johanan, the son of Eliashib. A note from the KJV Study Bible also gives this note:
The mention of Johanan does not prove that Ezra arrived after Nehemiah. The name was a common one, and he maqy not have been the grandson of Eliashib, but may have been another son of Eliashib and a brother of Joiada. Eliashib in verse 6 may not be the same one as Nehemiah 12:22-23. If Eliashib was the high priest, he could have been a son of Johanan (v. 6) and also a grandson of the same name, the one mentioned in Nehemiah 12:22-23.
While Ezra was withdrawn before the temple or house of God, he went into the room of Jehonan. It was there that he ate no food and drank no water. This was because Ezra was on a hunger strike because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles. If the pastor discovers that his church is full of fake converts, it’s understandable if a pastor undergoes a hunger strike.
A proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem, and all the exiles assembled in Jerusalem. This also means excommunication since God always needs to clean up His church. It was to be done in three days. Since only the territories of Judah and Benjamin were involved (and these two formed the Southern Kingdom, which fell to Babylon), the greatest distance would be no more than 40-50 miles. On the 20th day of the ninth lunar month (December-January), this would be the time of the heaviest rains and coldest weather, especially in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is over 2,500 feet in elevation. This reminds me if Jesus was born in December, the shepherds tending sheep would wear very thick clothing.
For a little bit of trivia from Never Thirsty about December in Jerusalem:
December Weather For Bethlehem Is Mild
Several weather services report that temperatures in Jerusalem in the month of December are mild. Snow is rare. For example, the Weather Channel reports the average temperatures in Jerusalem in the month of December varies between a maximum of 14°C (57.2°F) and a minimum of 8.4°C (47.12°F).[1]
Also, the WeatherBase reports that the average December temperature in the city of Jerusalem is 49° F (9° C). The average high temperature in December is 57.2° F (14° C) and the average low is 47.12° F (8.4° C). The highest recorded temperature in December is 78.8° F (26° C) and the lowest recorded temperature is 32.4° F (0.2° C). The average number of days below 32° F (0° C) in December is one. These are the statistics from 2010 to 2021.[2]
These temperatures compare favorably to those of the southern states of the United States in the month of December. They are very similar to those of Tucson, Arizona in the month of December. This means that snow is rare. A man or woman wearing a warm coat could easily be outside with sheep. These temperatures are also the temperatures for Bethlehem since it is about six miles from Jerusalem.
Ezra reminded them of their unfaithfulness. The marriage to foreign women wasn’t because they were foreign. Rather, it was all about their abominable practices. Ezra 9 mentions the types of foreign women. The Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites have been especially named. The problem lay in the detestable practices. It was time to separate them from the corrupting pagan influence. Why dd Ezra call for divorce? Wasn’t it too harsh? Doesn’t God hate divorce? I’d like to say that just because Ezra is recorded as a hero, doesn’t mean he was sinless. The Bible speaks of David’s polygynous lifestyle but doesn’t paint it in a positive light. David’s three older sons Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah were from different mothers. Although not directly stated, it can be seen that these sons rebelled as a result of David having multiple wives–a frequent source of problems. Jacob’s having four wives was a frequent source of trouble for the man.
This was an excruciating decision. Some even had children by these heathen women. The late J. Vernon McGee called it a bitter pill to swallow. There was a great wrenching of the heart since it required separation from their loved ones. It was a time of rain and people wanted to scatter. Ezra wanted things to be done in an orderly way. Ezra would later have the officials stand in the whole assembly. It was time for those who have had unequal yokes to come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of God over this matter was turned away from them. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzieiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, with the support of Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite. I emphasized Levite because even the Levitical office got corrupted, along with the priesthood.
The returned exiles did so. EBY the first day of the first month (March to April), was the new year and it was time for New Year’s resolutions to be made. People must not wait until the new year to make resolutions. However, the new year is often associated with a review. It was time to put away their unbelieving wives and a guilty offering was given. Questioning was done in the process. A few days after the New Year, it was time to have this. I’d like to share this insight from the Enduring Word Bible Commentary:
a. They sat down on the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter: Though Ezra was wisely willing to accept the delay because of necessity, he also held the assembly accountable to do what they agreed to do in the months after the great assembly.
b. They finished questioning all the men who had taken pagan wives: The whole process took many weeks because so many men had taken pagan wives. The questioning was necessary because they needed to examine if one of these wives had genuinely decided to serve the Lord God and to forsake her native religions.
i. If the pagan wife had decided to keep her primary allegiance with her former people and their idols, she could not live among the covenant community and had to be divorced.
ii. To the end of the chapter, there is a list showing that only about 114 of these pagan wives refused to embrace the God of Israel and had to be divorced. Yamauchi calculates that it was less than one-half of one percent of the people who were guilty of this pagan intermarriage and who had to divorce their wives. Though it was such a small percentage, it still had to be dealt with strongly – and it was. It also shows that most of the foreign wives joined the people of God in their hearts as well as their homes.
iii. In the New Testament believers are also instructed to marry within the faith. Marriages to unbelievers are condemned (2 Corinthians 6:14) and widows (as one example of the unmarried) are directly commanded to marry within the faith (1 Corinthians 7:39). However, Paul specifically commanded that if a believer is married to an unbeliever, they are to remain in the marriage, if at all possible, both for the opportunity of a witness to the unbelieving spouse and for the benefit it brings to the children (1 Corinthians 7:12-17).
The late Robert C. Sproul Sr. also provides this insight:
Ezra confessed the sins of the returned Jewish exiles when he learned many of them had intermarried with pagan peoples and were presumably practicing their abominations (Ezra 9). He then took further action, as we see in today’s passage.
Seeing Ezra’s deep sorrow, one of the men, Shecaniah, acknowledged the sin and proposed that the Jews divorce their pagan wives and disown the children born to these unions. Ezra approved of this, and he had the Jewish men take an oath to follow through (10:1–5).
This raises a dilemma, since it seems at first glance contrary to other biblical instructions regarding marriage to unbelievers (1 Cor. 7:12–16). So, what should we think of the community’s solution? First, let us note that this is a narrative portion of Scripture, and the actions of people in biblical narratives are not always praiseworthy. The community may have erred in these divorces (Ezra 10:6–17). Given Ezra’s positive portrayal, however, it seems more likely that the divorces were right. If so, why was divorcing unbelievers allowable in that day when Paul would later advise otherwise (1 Cor. 7:12–16)?
Considering the era in which these divorces occurred will help us. The only special revelation Ezra and the postexilic community had was the Old Testament, particularly the Mosaic law. While the law warns the Jews not to marry pagans, it does not explain what to do if such marriages occurred (Ezra 10:1–3; see Deut. 24:1–4). However, the law does address the conduct of non-Jews (in this case, the pagan spouses and children) in the promised land. That is, foreigners were not required to adopt the entire Mosaic law, but they had to refrain from its capital crimes. For example, divination and child sacrifice required capital punishment under the Mosaic law for pagans and Israelites alike. For such impenitent sins and others, the pagans were to be executed or driven from the land (Lev. 18; Deut. 13; 18:9–14).
The text doesn’t explain the entire situation, but perhaps the pagan wives and children refused to abide by the Mosaic laws that still applied even to them. If this was the case, the Jews would be in a predicament. They could not inflict capital punishment or exile their wives and children from Canaan as the law required. They could, however, try to obey the law by divorcing themselves from their pagan wives. While we do not know entirely, Ezra’s and Shecaniah’s hearts seemed to be set on following the Mosaic law inasmuch as they were able in their day.
This was more of a question of belief over race. One can say that some of the foreign women they married were no longer pagan women. In the record of the Old Testament, Rahab was a Canaanite and Ruth was a Moabite. Unfortunately, many of the Canaanites and Moabites remained hostile against the worship of Yahweh and served their own gods. If the Gentile woman converted to the worship of Yahweh (I dislike the term Judaism, since it’s often associated with the Pharisees), she was to be accepted. If not, she was to be divorced. I wondered why only 114 were recorded to have refused to embrace Yahweh. Even if it’s a small number, it should be treated like cancer. A cancerous tumor, no matter how small, has to be removed as soon as possible. I was shocked to learn that Pastor Jojo Chua of Living World IT Park had a kidney cancer diagnosis in 2011. I remember when Pastor Kent P. Jesalva of Cebu Bible Baptist Church had breast cancer more than a decade ago. A little cancer can harm the whole body. Both Chua and Jesalva both had their cancers treated and removed ASAP. When I had a cataract on my left eye, it had to be removed and my body dealt with (four weeks of maintenance), before I could resume my normal physical activities. Sin, whether it’s in the majority or minority, must be dealt with. It’s not about the numbers, it’s all about whether or not the action is right or wrong. That little sin must be dealt with lest the majority in the right, become the majority in the wrong.
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