Ezra 10:6 Commentary and Bible Study

We have seen the great shock for Ezra that intermarriage with pagan wives had taken place among the children of Israel. It was direct obedience to God and idolatry, because they were adopting the idols of their pagan wives, and adopting – and this is what some of them desired – the culture of the pagan nations around them. As a result the purpose of Israel – now, of course Judah, exclusively – had been abandoned: that they were the people of God. There had been the 70 years captivity in Babylon as a punishment for centuries of idolatry. Then, some 80 years prior to this event here, the first contingent had returned from captivity in Babylon to Judah and Jerusalem, but in that time they had lost their purpose, that they were to be the distinctive people of God, prepared for the coming of the Messiah. They had disobeyed God and adopted the idolatrous worship. So it's 458 BC now and here in verse 6, these things have been discovered, and Ezra has mourned and prayed. Now he moves a general proclamation that these cases will be dealt with. There were altogether 136 known cases of marriage of pagan wives, and nothing had been done about it, even though they had law and order in operation. They had princes and judges. They had the power and they used it for other purposes. They exercised discipline, and they dealt with no end of things, but they ignored this particular activity. Possibly they ignored it because some of the chief offenders were none other than the priests. There are even four people are named from the high priestly family (sons and brothers), and many ordinary priests and many Levites, and other temple servants, and some 86 of the general lay population. Now there were in Judah possibly 50,000 men, 60,000 men. It is difficult to know the precise number. 42,000 plus had returned 80 years previously. Some 21,000 of those were male adults, and in the circumstances with the population rise, perhaps there were that many more males now. So you might think that 136 is a relatively small number, and it is. Yes, but this is a most serious offence for Israel. This is one of the worst things they could possibly do, and it was utterly shameful and disgraceful, and it would spread like wildfire, as these things had in the past. This was the reason why they had been in captivity in the first place. So Ezra the priest makes this urgent made in order to bring these offenders to justice. ‘When he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned.’ He took this so very seriously. He felt it so deeply, ‘because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.’ It seems there was already a perceptible discipline or punishment from God. It doesn't actually say this in the text. It does speak of the great rain that was very uncomfortable for them. They were called to a kind of convocation. All the heads of the families of the country came, and assembled in a great broad street which was then outside the temple in Jerusalem. They couldn’t stand there for long, because of the rains and the cold. Well it was winter, and it is cold at that time of year. But this sounds as though it was something much worse, and it’s mentioned again further on in the text, so there's every likelihood that this rain is a form of judgement already, that there was a sort of deluge on the land and swamping of crops and so on – tokens from God of his disfavour, and they mention it, or half mention it. They say that God's anger will be removed from us (verse 14).