Ezra 10:1 Tossing Away One Last Chance

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites- men, women and children- gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. Then Shecaniah said to Ezra, "We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel."

Ezra's party got to Jerusalem 80 years after the first exiles had returned. Yet within four months the Jewish leaders were asking this latecomer for advice on the most sensitive matters. They told Ezra that Israelites were marrying their idolatrous neighbors. At the news, Ezra completely lost his composure, tore his clothes and sat down stunned. (9:3) His grief-filled prayer of repentance inspired a large crowd to join him in bitter weeping. Then and there they resolved to break up the marriages. The women and children were to be sent away. Ezra, a practical man even in his emotional condition, put the machinery into operation and saw it done.

Why did Ezra react so negatively to these marriages? How could he allow children to be sent away from their fathers, families splits? Some people see proof that he was racially oriented, bound to exclude non-Jews from Israel. But, racial purity was not Ezra's worry. Non-Jews like Rahab and Ruth, who had converted to Judaism, had long been accepted into Israel. Ezra 6:21 suggests that outsiders who sought the Lord were still welcomed. Ezra's concern was that intermarriage represented a compromised faith that threatened the future existence of Israel.

Marriage in those days was more than a personal matter. It created a political and religious alliance between two families. These mixed marriages were tying Israelites to other faiths- for Israel's neighbors worshiped idols, an act God hated. Ezra knew that his God must hold the only place in his people's hearts. They must be a special people with a sense of their unique destiny. The law told them not to intermarry (Exodus 34:15-16, Deuteronomy 7:3-6). However, Ezra's prayer shows that petty technicalities of the law were far from his mind. His concerns involved the heart. He saw his people falling into the same pattern of compromise that he led God to give them up to the Babylonians years before. Had they learned nothing from their long exile? They were tossing away one last remarkable chance to start over.

Life Question: Ezra saw intermarriage as a compromise in people's faith. Do you think that this is still a relevant fear in today's society?

I've often thought how I would react if one of my kids ended up dating/ marrying someone outside the Christian faith. It certainly wouldn't appear to be very Christ-like to shun a member of your family or their significant other because they may not share the same faith as yours, but at the same time it would be awfully difficult to see someone whom I love get themselves into a situation that might jeopardize their relationship with Christ. I suppose the correct response would simply be a genuine prayer to Christ that my kids will choose the correct paths in life.

Ezra 3: Home at Last

No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.

1 Chronicles opens with the most complete genealogical record in the Bible, then adds many incidents from the life of David (often the same as those in 2 Samuel). Likewise- and often paralleling the books of Kings, 2 Chronicles records the history of the rulers of Judah, emphasizing the good kings yet ending with the fall of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.

For more than half a century Jewish exiles, among them the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, have lived as captives in Babylon. Some Jews, like Daniel, prosper in the foreign land; still, no true Israelite ever feels at total peace there. Always a longing gnaws inside, a longing for home and for the temple of God. Some of the psalms poignantly express this longing: "May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy" (Psalm 137:6).

In keeping with their policy of religious tolerance, the Persian rulers who conquered Babylon granted permission for the first wave of Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem. The Book of Ezra tells their story. The sight that greets the returning exiles in Jerusalem saddens their hearts. City walls have been torn down, few buildings are left intact and the temple of God is a mound of rubble.

As chapter 3 relates, the settlers go to work at once, setting temple reconstruction as their highest priority. They possess both energy and resources, since the Persians have even given back the pilfered silver and gold temple articles. When the Jews lay the foundation, they spontaneously shout in praise and celebration.

Yet the shouts of joy mingle with loud cries of sorrow. The older returnees, those who remember Solomon's temple in all its splendor, weep at the difference between what once was and what now is. After all, they had to obtain permission from a foreign government just to rebuild, and they have regained only a tiny portion of their former territory. They have fallen far from the glory days of David and Solomon.

Life Question: Have you ever lost anything in life, only to regain it at a much later date but realize that it just wasn't the same?

I've tried to rekindle a friendship of mine from years ago. I was the best of friends with a buddy who was my best man in my first marriage, but for a number of reasons, our friendship deteriorated during my divorce. A few years ago, we contacted one another and have met up a few times now. But, at least to date, we're not nearly as close as we were during college. I guess the lesson here is that- unlike a tangible object (like money or some other worldly possession) friendships and relationships should never be taken for granted. I'm guessing the Israelites had a similar feeling when they finally were able to escape the clutches of the Babylonians and return to Jerusalem...their relationship with God probably just didn't feel the same way as it did during the time of David and Solomon's reign.

2 Kings 25: The Bitter End

He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.

For a very long time, the kingdom of Judah had been sliding downhill. Good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah managed to stop the decline temporarily, but as soon as they passed from the scene, immorality and idolatry surged back. Prophets warned again and again of God's judgment, but few heeded them.

Fittingly, Judah endured its bitter end under the weak leadership of Zedekiah, a puppet king put on the throne by Judah's captor, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah personified all that was wrong with Judah. He took an oath of loyalty to Babylon, then spent his eleven-year reign cheating on it.

The great prophet Jeremiah lived during this same time, offering a strong counterpoint to Zedekiah's weakness. Zedekiah could never make up his mind whether to treat Jeremiah as a prophet of truth or as a trouble-making traitor. When Jeremiah warned against Zedekiah's policies, the king had him beaten and imprisoned. At the same time, he kept bringing Jeremiah in for secret consultations, usually ignoring his advice.

Judah paid cruelly for Zedekiah's poor leadership (24:18-20). Responding to his rebellion, the Babylonians put Jerusalem under an eighteen-month siege, then utterly wrecked the city. They treated Zedekiah as a traitor, executing his sons while he watched, then putting out his eyes so that their deaths would be his last visual memory. Judah's final king was led off to Babylon, blind and in chains. Survivors too were taken away in what became known as the Babylonian captivity, a tragic moment in Jewish history.

Life Questions: Under pressure, are you confident or indecisive? What do you need to gain confidence?

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I'd like to think that I'm fairly confident when met with adversity/ personal challenges. I know that it is something that you tend to improve upon the older you get. I can remember many instances while in high school and college where inaction drove me towards failure and poor decision making. Teaching my kids to exude confidence in everything that they do is a personal goal of mine. Christ certainly provided us with the finest example of showing confidence and trust in his Father while he was being led away to Calvary.

2 Kings 17: A Lost Kingdom

But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God.

By this time in Israel’s history, many impressive prophets have tried their hands at convincing Israel to change its ways. But neither the miracles of Elijah and Elisha nor the impassioned pleas of Hosea and Amos have had much effect. When troubles come, the nation frantically signs up military allies and turns to its neighbors’ gods for help. The Israelites never turn wholeheartedly back to God.

The Day of Judgment so harrowingly foretold by the prophets is recorded here in the flat, matter-of-fact language of history. This chapter gives a postmortem on the northern kingdom of Israel, a kingdom that has disappeared from the map. Israel meets its end when its kings, against all the prophets’ advice, seek to purchase political protection first from Assyria and then from Egypt. Discovering the double cross, Assyria dispatches an invasion force.

In earlier wars Assyrian conquerors followed a policy of genocide, exterminating their enemies and destroying their land and property. Later, they adopt a technique of deporting their victims and replacing them with foreigners from other conquered territories. After such radical disruption, these conquered peoples can hardly regroup and rise up as a new threat.

In keeping with that deportation policy, after its invasion of the northern kingdom, Assyria proceeds to expel 27,290 captives from the land, dispersing the “ten lost tribes of Israel” and replacing them with other conquered people groups. (This act leads to the origin of the Samaritans, a group that makes an appearance in the New Testament and, in fact, can still be found in modern Israel. These people of mixed races combine their own religions with some reverence for the true God.

After 2 Kings 17, the Bible’s attention turns toward Judah, the southern kingdom comprising the two surviving tribes of Israelites. Second Kings diagnoses idolatry as the chief sickness in the northern kingdom and points to it as the reason for Assyria’s invasion. Unfortunately, idolatry has already gained a foothold in the southern kingdom as well.

Life Question: God allowed the Assyrians, a much crueler people, to conquer Israel and take the whole nation into exile probably because Israel was judged by a higher standard, on the basis of the great advantages God had given his people. Even Christ would say many years later that “From the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) Do you ever feel that, as a Christian, you are held to a higher standard than others?

Yes, and more often than not I’m afraid I fall short of Christ’s expectations. We are called to represent his teachings in every word and deed of our lives. Christ didn’t get caught up in the world’s cynicism towards his Father, and he certainly didn’t care who he offended by spending time with people whom he felt needed to hear his message. Labels, barriers, and fences didn’t concern him.

2 Kings 10: Beware the Idols

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The Lord said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation."

You cannot read very far in the Old Testament without encountering idols, for idolatry ranks as perhaps the most common topic in the Bible. A nagging question haunts these pages: Why did the Israelites keep deserting the God who had delivered them from Egypt for the sake of carved tree trunks and bronze statues? What was the big attraction?

Like peasants gawking at big-city life, the Israelites moved from 40 years of desert wanderings into a land of cities and more advanced technology. They had been landless nomads and shepherds. And so, many of the Israelites likewise drifted carelessly from god to god, adopting the religion of whatever group seemed to be having the most success with its agriculture. Similarly, when a mighty army threatened their borders, they smuggled in a few of that army’s favorite idols, hedging their bets in case their own religion did not bring them military success. Idols became a phantom source of power, an alternative place to invest faith and hope.

And yet, no attitude could be further from that demanded by the true God. He had chosen the Israelites as a kingdom of priests, a treasured possession set apart for himself. As Lord of the universe, he wanted not a casual faith, but total allegiance. He was not a good-luck charm.

Idolatry made such inroads into Israel and Judah that God had to tear apart both kingdoms in order to root it out. Second Kings clearly blames idolatry as the chief sin leading to both nations’ collapse. History records that the punishment ultimately worked. After the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, never again did the Israelites dabble in idolatry.

Life Question:
Idolatry need not involve images of wood or stone; it’s possible to worship such things as money, another person, or fame. What are some “idols” you might be tempted to worship?

Keeping up with the Jones’ is a problem that I would imagine most folks in life struggle with. How much “stuff” is enough? How much fame does one need to be content in life? How many talents should one have? I’ve struggled with these issues my entire life. Jesus’ simple words of leave everything behind and follow me clearly shows us all the correct path, but my own stubbornness roadblocks his message.

2 Kings 5: A Proud General and an Eccentric Prophet

Israel is reeling- internally, from the corruption of King Ahab’s reign, and externally, from attacks by the neighboring state of Aram (the area known today as Syria). Shouldn’t Elisha, God’s current prophet in Israel, help his countrymen? Instead, chapter 5 tells of Elisha’s assistance to a high-ranking enemy general. Naaman’s pilgrimage shows how far Elisha’s fame has spread. A pagan king, hearing of Elisha, agrees to seek help from God’s prophet in Israel in order to get his general’s health restored.

Elisha’s brusque treatment of powerful people, such as the general Naaman, mentioned here, and of the king of Israel elsewhere, contrasts sharply with his tenderness toward the poor and oppressed. The bizarre procedure he prescribes as a medical treatment, along with his refusal to take payment, offends Naaman’s pride. Elisha, however, leaves no doubt that healing comes through God, not through magical powers or a shaman’s secret techniques. God requires obedience and humility- even from five-star generals with piles of gold.

In this incident, and also in another (8:7-15), Elisha serves the kingdom of Aram, an enemy of Israel. Jesus later refers to this story at the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4:27), underscoring Elisha’s point: Don’t try to “box in” God, who must be obeyed on his own terms, not manipulated.

Life Question: One writer, Harold Myra, has defined the Christian life as “living by God’s surprises.” Has God ever surprised you?

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Pretty much each day of my life. I'm in constant awe of His grace knowing so well that I'm a sinner who probably takes life's gifts for granted way too often. Getting ready for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I truly plan to cherish the time with my kids- the greatest gift that Christ has given me here on earth. The "surprises" that come from these three children make me laugh and cry pretty much every day of my life.

2 Kings 2: Replacing a Legend

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied..
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When a prophet like Elijah leaves the scene, who will dare to take his place? As the time came to choose a successor, Elijah looked to find someone out of a different mold. He settled on his most faithful companion, a farmer named Elisha.

The slight variance in the two men's names expresses their difference in style. Elijah, whose name meant "The Lord is my God," dueled a king and the priests of Baal in dramatic confrontations of power. He lived apart from the people and preached judgment and the need for repentance. Elisha ("God is salvation") shifted the emphasis. He lived among people, preferring the poor and outcast, and stressed life, hope and God's grace. All social classes had access to Elisha, from lowly widows to foreign kings. His colorful life included work as a spy, a miracle worker, an adviser to the king, a leader of a school of prophets and an anointer of revolutionaries.

Elisha's exploits fall roughly into two categories, and the Bible seems to group them that way. One set of stories concerns people with evident needs. Elisha showed a deep sensitivity for the suffering and distressed, and sometimes helped them in miraculous ways: providing food, healing diseases, even raising a young boy from the dead. He dealt far more gently with the poor and downtrodden than with kings and generals. Another group of stories relates to the nation. Israel was reeling from the corruption brought in during King Ahab's reign. Politically, Israel was at the mercy of the neighboring state of Aram (the area known today as Syria), which launched periodic raids across the border.

Sometimes Elisha helped out Israel's army, using his special insight to detect bands of raiders. Twice, miracles he predicted allowed Israel's army to break out of an impossible situation and rout the enemy. Yet, he refused to become a "court prophet" serving the king's whims. On at least one occasion, he blatantly insulted a king of Israel (3:13-14). Another time, he anointed a general to overthrow the king in an outright revolution.

Both Elijah and Elisha used words and dramatic events to convey their messages. Everyone knew their power, especially the kings who sometimes sought them out for advice and other times tried to kill them. In a great irony, the kings and political leaders- who thought themselves the center of history at the time- all faded away. Meanwhile the stories and words of Israel's prophets live on, expressing a message as forceful today as ever.

Life Question: Prophets who followed Elijah and Elisha relied less on spectacular displays and more on the power of verbal messages from God. Which, in your mind, best captures the attention of people?

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We've touched on this before in an earlier post...spectacular displays of miracles/ supernatural events do not necessarily equate to a binding faith in God. When I listen to someone preach the Gospel message with passion and conviction, (Mike Castelli comes to mind) for me, that refocuses my attention back to Christ just as much as any other event that may occur. Faith begins in your heart, and Elisha's parting of the Jordan River shouldn't have to occur to strengthen your faith.