5 Then Ezra stood and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take an oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath. 6 Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he did not eat bread nor drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. 7 So they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they were to assemble at Jerusalem, 8 and that whoever did not come within three days, in accordance with the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his property would be forfeited, and he himself would be excluded from the assembly of the exiles.
9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the public square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives, adding to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 12 Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “It is our duty to do exactly as you have said! 13 However, there are many people, it is the rainy season, and we are not able to stand in the open. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, because we have done a great wrong in this matter. 14 Please let our leaders represent all the assembly and have all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.
16 But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest selected men who were the heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. 17 And they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.
18 Now among the sons of the priests who had married foreign wives were found of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. 19 They pledged to send away their wives, and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt. 20 Of the sons of Immer, there were Hanani and Zebadiah; 21 and of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah; 22 and of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
23 Of the Levites there were Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is, Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
24 Of the singers there was Eliashib; and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
25 Of Israel, of the sons of Parosh there were Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah; 26 and of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah; 27 and of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza; 28 and of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai; 29 and of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch and Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth; 30 and of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh; 31 and of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, 32 Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah; 33 of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei; 34 of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, 35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, 36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, 37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasu, 38 Bani, Binnui, Shimei, 39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, 40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, 41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, 42 Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. 43 Of the sons of Nebo there were Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. 44 All of these men had married foreign wives, and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
In today's society, a very favorable stance is to have no regrets. Not only do people proudly admit to their wrong doings, but they will justify it by saying it is somehow a good thing. I've even heard Christians say that it was God's will that they, for example, married an unbeliever because... Well, it is never God's will that we sin. God knows that we will still sin, therefore He covers us with His grace and promises that we cannot lose our salvation, but He will allow consequences into our lives.
I've even seen an entire church become a mess, because the majority became legalistic and judgmental. In that case, the pastor really needed to step up and preach a message of God's grace, and a message about not adding to the Bible. We should not diminish the Bible, either. These are God's words, which lovingly direct us to humbly acknowledge that we are sinners in need of a Savior. And after we are Christians, we must humbly realize that we still need a Shepherd!
As soon as we sin or realize that we have sinned, we should feel remorse! Now, a person doesn't have to beat themselves up or hate themselves. And other believers should not shun them, or beat them up, or hate them. If that person confesses, and apologizes to anyone wronged, and makes the necessary changes, then those around them should "forgive" the matter, move on, and continue encouraging and equipping one other.
If a fellow believer decides to really go off the deep end and willfully live a sinful life, then - there are steps that God tells us to take, which are nicely laid out in Matthew 18:15-22. Everything is always to be done with God's love, with gentleness and compassion, treating them as you would want to be treated. And if that person still decides to continue in their sin, we are to treat them as unbelievers. And how are we to treat unbelievers? We are to love them and pray for them.
The trickier sin is when a believer has married an unbeliever. Even trickier, if there are children involved. Notice that the men in this chapter were only separating from these wives, and not divorcing them. I'm assuming that these pagan women and children were so steeped in their own cultures, it would have been difficult for the husbands to remain obedient to the Lord. There are further directions for this situation in 1 Corinthians 712-16.
Once you are married to an unbeliever, now you must somehow find a way to manage this relationship while still being obedient to God's word and nurturing your walk with the Lord. This won't be easy. Somewhere, somehow, there will be compromises made. Of course, there will be, even if both are believers - but in that case - we are talking about things like where to eat, or where to live. BUT, we should never compromise in our faith, and there could be a very huge push back.
Because marriage is a union until death, it is a huge commitment! Therefore, believers should see the importance of marrying another believer. Never rush into marriage. Make sure that the other person is actually a believer, not just someone who says they are, or pretends to be, or is just going through the motions without understanding, because it is just some sort of religious ritual with a checkoff list. Ask yourself, do they exhibit the fruit of the Spirit? Are they growing in their walk with the Lord? Do they love to talk about their relationship with Jesus?
For a marriage to work, it takes a lot of work! So you really want to be on the exact same page as your spouse, both working to make it work. And if both are looking to the Lord to fulfill and complete them, help them, and guide them... then both will be growing in the same direction. Why is this important? If we put our hope in our spouse - they WILL let us down. No one is perfect. Therefore, we should not be in any rush to divorce. In fact, this word "divorce" should never be used as any sort of threat - or method to manipulate - ever! Don't attempt or rush to fix a bad decision with another bad decision.
Listen, if there is abuse of any sort, one must safely get out of that situation, separate, and seek counseling. As soon as possible! And if there are any children, get them out of there with you! Also seek legal advice to make sure you are doing things correctly within the legal system.
We cannot go back to change things, but we can confess and move forward, seeking out and living in God's will, in His strength, guidance and love. It is never God's will that we make mistakes, but even when mistakes are made, by returning to the Lord's side, He can use our past experiences to teach us life-lessons and bring about good.
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