Day 133: Ezra 7-10

(The previous post covered the completion of the rebuilding of the temple which included the work being prevented because of Hytaspes as well as Darius Hystaspis' decree to restart construction on the temple.)

Ezra 7

(Verses 1-6: the genealogy of Ezra the Scribe.)

1 Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah,

(This Artaxerxes (Great King) was Darius Hystaspis. The rest of this verse concerned Ezra's lineage to Aaron.)

2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub,
3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth,
4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki,
5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest;
6 this Ezra went up from Babylon: and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given; and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of Jehovah his God upon him.

(Ezra was a ready (quick, prompt, skilled) scribe of the Law. We have seen that he wrote the conclusion of the Book of 2 Chronicles as well as this account. However, notice that everything that happened in this book to this point had occurred before Ezra came to Jerusalem. Zerubbabel led the first group of returned exiles. Ezra led the second group.)

(Verses 7-10: Ezra's arrival to Jerusalem and his mission.)

7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinim, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
8 And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.

(Ezra went to Jerusalem about a year after the temple was rebuilt.)

9 For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon; and on the first day of the fifth month came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him.
10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.

(The first month was our April. Ezra prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach it.)

11 Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even the scribe of the words of the commandments of Jehovah, and of his statutes to Israel:

(Darius Hystaspis sent a letter to Ezra. The previous verses were in Hebrew. The following verse through verse 26 was in Syriac.)

12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect and so forth.
13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee.

(Darius Hystaspis made a decree that all the people of Israel in his realm could go with Ezra of their own free will.)

14 Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and his seven counsellors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thy hand,
15 and to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem,
16 and all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, with the freewill-offering of the people, and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem;

(Verses 17-22: provisions for the temple.)

17 therefore thou shalt with all diligence buy with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meal-offerings and their drink-offerings, and shalt offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem.
18 And whatsoever shall seem good to thee and to thy brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do ye after the will of your God.
19 And the vessels that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God, deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem.
20 And whatsoever more shall be needful for the house of thy God, which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure-house.
21 And I, even I Artaxerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that are beyond the River, that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, it be done with all diligence,

(Another decree said that the treasurers beyond the river shall give Ezra what he required of them.)

22 unto a hundred talents of silver, and to a hundred measures of wheat, and to a hundred baths of wine, and to a hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribing how much.
23 Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24 Also we certify you, that touching any of the priests and Levites, the singers, porters, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose tribute, custom, or toll, upon them.

(No tolls, tributes, or customs were to be imposed upon the ministers of the temple.)

25 And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thy hand, appoint magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the River, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye him that knoweth them not.

(Ezra was to set up men who knew the laws in order to teach the laws to those that did not know the laws. Ezra was commissioned to set up a court of Justice.)

26 And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

(Whoever did not do the Law of God would face the judgment.)

27 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of Jehovah which is in Jerusalem;
28 and hath extended lovingkindness unto me before the king, and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened according to the hand of Jehovah my God upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

(Ezra blessed God on behalf of Israel, not Judah. The people were together and the temple was able to facilitate proper worship.)




Ezra 8

(Verses 1-14: a list of families who came to Jerusalem with Ezra.)

1 Now these are the heads of their fathers' houses, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king:

(Again, only those who could prove their genealogy could go to Jerusalem. This entire process could be seen as a type of purification. Israel was beginning again with the best of everything.)

2 Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattush.
3 Of the sons of Shecaniah, of the sons of Parosh, Zechariah; and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males a hundred and fifty.
4 Of the sons of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai the son of Zerahiah; and with him two hundred males.
5 Of the sons of Shecaniah, the son of Jahaziel; and with him three hundred males.
6 And of the sons of Adin, Ebed the son of Jonathan; and with him fifty males.
7 And of the sons of Elam, Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah; and with him seventy males.
8 And of the sons of Shephatiah, Zebadiah the son of Michael; and with him fourscore males.
9 Of the sons of Joab, Obadiah the son of Jehiel; and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
10 And of the sons of Shelomith, the son of Josiphiah; and with him a hundred and threescore males.
11 And of the sons of Bebai, Zechariah the son of Bebai; and with him twenty and eight males.
12 And of the sons of Azgad, Johanan the son of Hakkatan; and with him a hundred and ten males.
13 And of the sons of Adonikam, that were the last; and these are their names: Eliphelet, Jeuel, and Shemaiah; and with them threescore males.
14 And of the sons of Bigvai, Uthai and Zabbud; and with them seventy males.

(These were the names of the leaders of the families. There were 1,754 males that came back with Ezra.)

15 And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there we encamped three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
16 Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, who were teachers.

(Ezra sent for men who were teachers. The words "who were teachers" was also translated as "men of understanding" because the Hebrew word used here meant "to discern, understand, consider." Teachers give understanding, the why.)

17 And I sent them forth unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia; and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and his brethren the Nethinim, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.

(Ezra sent the teachers to Iddo in Casiphia (in Babylon) that they could bring back men to minister to the temple.)

18 And according to the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of discretion, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
19 and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
20 and of the Nethinim, whom David and the princes had given for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim: all of them were mentioned by name.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

(Ezra proclaimed a fast to humble them before God.)

22 For I was ashamed to ask 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 that seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.
24 Then I set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests, even Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
25 and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering for the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel there present, had offered:
26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels a hundred talents; of gold a hundred talents;
27 and twenty bowls of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.

(The twelve men were representative of the twelve tribes of Israel. The treasure that Ezra weighed was twenty-four tons of silver; 7,500 pounds of silver vessels; 7,500 pounds of gold; twenty gold bowls equal in value to 1,000 gold coins; two fine vessels of bright (polished) brass as precious as gold.)

28 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah, and the vessels are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill-offering unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers.
29 Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the princes of the fathers' houses of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah.
30 So the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

(The silver and gold was going to be brought to the temple.)

31 Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.
32 And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
33 And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, the Levite;
34 the whole by number and by weight: and all the weight was written at that time.

(The journey had lasted four and a half months to this point. The number and weight of the silver and gold was recorded to make sure none was lost or stolen.)

35 The children of the captivity, that were come out of exile, offered burnt-offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he-goats for a sin-offering: all this was a burnt-offering unto Jehovah.
36 And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's satraps, and to the governors beyond the River: and they furthered the people and the house of God.




Ezra 9
1 Now when these things were done, the princes drew near unto me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

(The Israelites still did not separate themselves from the people of the land. Ammon and Moab were from Lot.)

2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the peoples of the lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

(They mingled themselves with the daughters and sons of the land, something they were commanded not to do: Deuteronomy 7:1-4.)

3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my robe, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down confounded.

(Ezra heard this and tore his clothes and robe. He also plucked the hair off his head and beard and sat down confounded (to be desolate, be appalled, stun, stupefy). Ezra was so appalled at the sins of his people, so quickly upon being given another chance by God, that he pulled the hair out of his face and cast himself down before the temple.)

4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the trespass of them of the captivity; and I sat confounded until the evening oblation.
5 And at the evening oblation I arose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe rent; and I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto Jehovah my God;

(Ezra fell to his knees and spread out his hands to God.)

6 and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our guiltiness is grown up unto the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

(Ezra confessed the sins of his fathers.)

8 And now for a little moment grace hath been showed from Jehovah our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we are bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended lovingkindness unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the ruins thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

(Ezra recognized God and built his faith by recognizing what God had done.)

10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness:
12 now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such a remnant,
14 shall we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples that do these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?

(Ezra referenced Justice. However, he referenced how the people were on the wrong side of Justice.)

15 O Jehovah, the God of Israel, thou art righteous; for we are left a remnant that is escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our guiltiness; for none can stand before thee because of this.

(God is Righteous. Ezra confessed, on behalf of the people, that they were guilty.)




Ezra 10
1 Now while Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there was gathered together unto him out of Israel a very great assembly of men and women and children; for the people wept very sore.

(Notice the change in narrative, from first person to third person. While Ezra prayed, many people assembled to him convicted by his words to the point of weeping.)

2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing.

(Shechaniah spoke for the congregation. He confessed the sin against God in taking foreign wives.)

3 Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.

(The people wanted to make a covenant with God to "put away" all the foreign wives, according to the Law. The repentance portion of this prayer would be for the people to covenant with God, which was like Marriage. The reason the people had to form a covenant with God was because they broke the Covenant of the Law by marrying unbelievers.

DOCTRINE ALERT: If the people divorced their unbelieving wives, this would have allowed the unbelieving wives to stay in community, which would have prevented Israel from forming a covenant with God. The people had to "put away" their wives: break their Marriage covenants and remove these people from community. Being "put away" and being "divorced" are two different concepts.)

4 Arise; for the matter belongeth unto thee, and we are with thee: be of good courage, and do it.

(Shechaniah told Ezra the people would be with him, to be of good courage, and do it: put away their wives so they could form a covenant with God.)

5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chiefs of the priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word. So they sware.

(Ezra made the chief priest, Levites, and all Israel to swear that they would do according to this word.)

6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water; for he mourned because of the trespass of them of the captivity.
7 And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem;
8 and that whosoever came not within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the assembly of the captivity.
9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within the three days; it was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the broad place before the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain.

(The penalty for not assembling was "putting away": being separated from the community of Israel. The men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves in Jerusalem even though a great rain hindered the ability to gather. This occurred in December about four and a half months after Ezra and the second group arrived in Jerusalem.)

10 And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have trespassed, and have married foreign women, to increase the guilt of Israel.
11 Now therefore make confession unto Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign women.

(Ezra told them how they had trespassed and to confess to God and to separate themselves from the people of the land and the foreign wives. Ezra also told them to do God's "pleasure." This word was also translated into "will." Ezra was telling the people to do God's Will.)

12 Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said concerning us, so must we do.

(All the congregation agreed.)

13 But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without: neither is this a work of one day or two; for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
14 Let now our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all them that are in our cities that have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God be turned from us, until this matter be despatched.

(They concluded that each case ought to be judged by their city on an individual basis.)

15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah stood up against this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.
16 And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of fathers' houses, after their fathers' houses, and all of them by their names, were set apart; and they sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
17 And they made an end with all the men that had married foreign women by the first day of the first month.

(It took two months to make a judgment in each case. The rest of this chapter covered those guilty of Marriage to foreign women. There were eighteen priests who violated Leviticus 21:14.)

18 And among the sons of the priests there were found that had married foreign women: namely, of the sons of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.
19 And they gave their hand that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their guilt.
20 And of the sons of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah.
21 And of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.
22 And of the sons of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.

(There were six Levites...)

23 And of the Levites: Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.

(There was one singer and three porters...)

24 And of the singers: Eliashib. And of the porters: Shallum, and Telem, and Uri.

(There were eighty-six others...)

25 And of Israel: Of the sons of Parosh: Ramiah, and Izziah, and Malchijah, and Mijamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah.
26 And of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Elijah.
27 And of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza.
28 And of the sons of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, Athlai.
29 And of the sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, Jeremoth.
30 And of the sons of Pahath-moab: Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, and Binnui, and Manasseh.
31 And of the sons of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
32 Benjamin, Malluch, Shemariah.
33 Of the sons of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, Shimei.
34 Of the sons of Bani: Maadai, Amram, and Uel,
35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi,
36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu,
38 and Bani, and Binnui, Shimei,
39 and Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah,
40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
41 Azarel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah,
42 Shallum, Amariah, Joseph.
43 Of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Iddo, and Joel, Benaiah.
44 All these had taken foreign wives; and some of them had wives by whom they had children.

(All of these men took foreign wives and some even had children with them. All of these men agreed to put away these wives and children.)

(The Book of Ezra was the tenth of the twelve books that made up the historical section of the Old Testament. This book documented the first and second groups of exiles that returned to Israel. Zerubbabel led the first group which was responsible for rebuilding the temple. Ezra led the second group. Ezra led Israel in their confession and repentance to God for marrying foreign wives. Ezra facilitated Israel's forming of a covenant with God.)

Day 134

2 comments:

  1. During this dispensation, a person could follow the Law and join the community.

    Would agreeing to follow the law and become part of the community have allowed the wives, that chose to do so, to remain married?

    ReplyDelete