It's been so long since I wrote for my blog that the look and feel of the composing screen has completely changed. I guess I can take that as one more commentary on the speed of change in technology. And since I'm writing about books that were written some 2500 years ago, I wonder if the speed of technology change was even a concept in those ancient days.
A few thoughts about the book of Ezra.
The books in the Bible that deal with the period of the Exile are kind of neat because of the way they tie in with other documented history. That is, dates expressed by saying that something happened in the second year of so-and-so's reign can be cross-checked with detailed records maintained by the royal courts of the Babylonians or Persians. The earlier in Israel's history, the larger the margin for error in the exact dates; but by the time of the Exile, the dates can be tracked accurately within a matter of months or days.
And what's even more compelling is that with these verified dates and events, we have a sense of how God's people--primarily the Israelites or the Jews, but also other great nations--played out a part in God's plan for the world in a real geopolitical stage. Reading the biblical account gives the perspective of God's manifest destiny for His people.
Of course, I have a terrible time keeping track of the kings of Israel and Judah, and even more trouble keeping track of the kings of Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece and other nations that ruled over Israel. I always have to have a commentary with the names and dates of these kings' reigns.
The book of Ezra describes the return of the Israelites from Exile. The narrative is a little hard to follow. If you didn't have a good commentary, for example, you would probably miss the fact that the events in 4:6-23 actually predate the main story of the difficulties in rebuilding the temple.
To me, the most interesting drama in Ezra is the issue of foreign wives. Ezra the priest came back to Jerusalem in 458 BC. Jerusalem had been sacked in 586, and most of the population, including the intellectual and religious leaders, had been deported to Babylonia. Not everyone left Jerusalem, however, and some continued to live there during the Exile. Also, there were different waves of Jews who were allowed to return. In Ezra 9, some of the leaders report that "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices....They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the people around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness."
Although today's world might approve of this "melting pot" and mixing of ethnicities, this was anathema to Ezra. God had been very clear to His people that they should keep themselves away from entanglements with non-Jews. Intermarriage was expressly forbidden because it was a surefire way for a Jew to start warming up to other religious practices, and abandoning Yahweh.
So Ezra, after duly agonizing over the situation, conferred with the elders and they all agreed the only thing to do would be to "put away" the foreign wives and their children. The text doesn't detail what was involved, but it does list the men who had taken foreign wives and were obliged to put them away. Presumably, they divorced their wives but somehow made provision for them and their children. One would hope so.
What's remarkable about this incident is the fortitude Ezra showed in leading the people to take such a breathtakingly bold move. We today can barely even imagine this: A religious leader taking a stand that dozens of community leaders, including religious leaders, had sinned grievously by taking foreign wives, and then insisting that they actually tear apart families to fix the problem.
Just try to translate that kind of a scenario into today.
Part of me wishes we had leaders with the backbone of Ezra. But I have to admit, I'm secretly glad that we don't have leaders that gutsy. I shudder to think of how a massive condemnation of compromised morality would play out.
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