INTRODUCTION:
1. One will never understand this unless you remember that Israel was both GOD’s chosen people AND they were a Nation!
2. One will never understand this unless you understand that there are THREE KINDS OF LAWS in the Old Testament…
– Civil (How to operate a Nation). These laws are no longer in effect because GOD’s people are no longer a Nation, we are citizens of a Nation.
– Ceremonial (How to worship GOD). These laws are no longer in effect because while these laws pertain to worshiping GOD prior to the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the Church worships differently following the coming of Jesus the Messiah.
– Moral – (The Ten Commandments). Since nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament, and the Sabbath has been replaced by the LORD’s Day, the Church must keep the Ten Commandments replacing the Sabbath with the LORD’s Day.
3. Therefore, Israel had laws that pertain to the governance of a Nation! The prohibition against marrying non-believers pertain directly to Israel in the Old Testament, BUT… BUT… BUT… the very same prohibition against marrying unbelievers is imposed on GOD’s people in the New Testament…
2nd Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
4. The Old Testament law given to Israel as a Nation commanded GOD’s people to put away their unbelieving wives.
Ezra 10:10-11 (10) “And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.
(11) Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”
5. In the New Testament, GOD’s people are allowed to remain married to an unbeliever IF the unbeliever is willing to live peaceably with them.
1st Corinthians 7:12-13 (12) “To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. (13) If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.”
Theological Note: When Paul writes, “I, not the Lord” he is not saying that this is only his opinion, he is simply saying that he is not quoting Jesus.
Paul clearly says that the things he writes are the Word of God!
1st Corinthians 14:37 “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.”
Peter clearly says that Paul’s writings are the Word of God!
2nd Peter 3:15-16 (15) “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, (16) as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”
EXPOSITION: EZRA 10
10:1-2 Godly Christians are greatly grieved by sin in the life of GOD’s people!
(1) “While Ezra prayed and made confession, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly. (2) And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra:
“We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.”
10:3-5 The way to get victory over sin is to confess and forsake it!
(3) “Therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. (4) Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.” (5) Then Ezra arose and made the leading priests and Levites, and all Israel take oath that they would do as had been said. So, they took the oath.”
10:6-9 Since Israel was a Nation, the leaders of the Nation could command the people of GOD to confess and forsake their sin!
(6) Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib, where he spent the night, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for he was mourning over the faithlessness of the exiles. (7) And a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem, (8) and that if anyone did not come within three days, by order of the officials and the elders all his property should be forfeited, and he himself banned from the congregation of the exiles. (9) Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.”
10:10 The first step in repentance is to identify the sin!
“And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel.”
10:11-12 The second step in repentance is to actually forsake the sin!
(11) Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” (12) Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “It is so; we must do as you have said.”
10:13-14 When a whole Nation is caught up in sin, the whole Nation needs to be called to repentance!
(13) But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. (14) Let our officials stand for the whole assembly.
Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”
10:15 The desire for repentance and renewal will never be unanimous!
(15) “Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.”
10:16-44 While the sins of a Nation may be very widespread, individuals are still responsible for their sins and GOD knows who they are and what they have done!
** 112 by name!
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