Good morning, everyone!
Today I read Ezra 8-10.
Today's reading details the people who accompanied Ezra to Jerusalem. Then it details the Levites who came after he sent for them.
Ezra entreated God for protection and He protected them from their enemies on their way to Jerusalem.
On the fourth day of their stay in Jerusalem, they placed the silver, gold, and utensils in the Temple.
Then, Ezra was grieved because of the number of Israelites who had intermarried with other nations. Remember, this was a big deal because the other nations did not serve God, and often enticed the people away from Him.
There's a reason Christians are exhorted not to marry those who do not serve God.
So, Ezra is grieved and prays and calls a meeting. The people hear him out and agree that they should put away their foreign wives, and be reconciled with God.
There were 115 men who had married foreign wives, and all put away their wives. Some of them had children and put them away also.
Now, I confess, I don't understand this completely.
They weren't supposed to marry the foreign wives in the first place. Thus, when they repented, they had to remove themselves from them completely, so they would not continue to sin.
I understand that.
Solomon married foreign wives, and in the end, those wives and their gods influenced Solomon away from God, and gave him bad counsel.
So, I can understand the reasons. And they sent them back to their homelands and families. And most of the cultures the Israelites encountered at that time weren't strict about divorce or remarrying, so I'm sure the women had no trouble.
It's just one of those things that still confuses me a bit.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Nehemiah 1-3.
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