Ezra’s Program for Reform

MEMORY VERSE: “For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.” —Ezra 8:22

EZRA 7:6; 9:10-15; 10:10-12

EZRA was both a priest and a scribe. He was well versed in the Mosaic Law, and zealous in observing it. He believed the promises of God relative to those who were obedient to the Law; that is, that the Lord would bless and protect them. He also clearly understood, as our memory verse reminds us, that God’s displeasure would be upon those who were disobedient. He knew that this was the reason for their seventy years of captivity in Babylon.

The record states that “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10) He states in our memory verse that he was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers to protect him and his people against their many enemies in the land. He knew that if they were obedient the Lord would protect them, and to ask for outside help would either indicate his own lack of faith, or be an acknowledgment that there was great unfaithfulness among the returned exiles.

One of the requirements of the Law was that the Israelites should not intermarry with the non-Israelites of the land. This had been one of their great sins prior to the captivity, and now again some of them were guilty of this sin. It created a problem which had to be met courageously and solved properly by calling upon the wrong-doers to dissolve their union with the heathen.

This, of course, worked a hardship upon those who had entered into these improper marriages with the heathen. But as the faithful Ezra saw it, this hardship would be as nothing compared with the trouble that could come upon all the Israelites if this reformation was not made. And the people agreed: “Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do.”

Apparently a considerable number of the Israelites were guilty of this sin, and a public demonstration of their repentance and reform was to be made. It was a rainy season, and for all of these to stand in line for several days waiting for those appointed to handle their cases would have been an additional hardship, so the suggestion was made that the rulers who had sinned be the first to appear; others were to follow, we presume, as it was reasonably convenient.—Ezra 10:12-17

It was God’s desire to keep the natural descendants of Abraham a people separated from all others, and devoted to him. He knew that if they were permitted to intermarry with non-Israelites they would soon lose their identity as a people. It has been this regulation of the Law that has kept the Jews a separate people throughout all the centuries. While this law has not been observed by every Israelite, the exceptions have not been sufficient to lead to the absorption of the people as a people by non-Jews.

No such restrictions have been placed upon spiritual Israelites of the Gospel Age. God’s “little flock” to whom he is well pleased to give the spiritual rulership of the messianic kingdom under their Head Christ Jesus, are selected from all races and nations. (Luke 12:32) Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”—Gal. 3:16,27-29

For us, who are following in the footsteps of Jesus, keeping ourselves separate from the people of the land would be to “marry only in the Lord” and keep separate from the world and its spirit. The spirit of the pleasure-mad world is largely one of selfishness. The world has its many idols of silver and gold, etc., but we are not to bow down to any of these. Our minds and hearts are to be fixed on serving the Lord, following in the footsteps of Jesus. We are not to be influenced by worldly schemes and methods. We have covenanted to give our all in serving the Lord, and only by faithfulness to our covenant even unto death may we hope to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.

QUESTIONS

Who was Ezra, and what were his qualifications to serve Israel?

Why was it necessary for Israelites to refrain from inter-marrying with heathen?

Are spiritual Israelites to be a separate people?

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