CHAPTER 9
. EZRA MOURNS
FOR THE AFFINITY OF THE
PEOPLE WITH STRANGERS.
1, 2. Now when these things were
done—The first days after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem were
occupied in executing the different trusts committed to him. The
nature and design of the office with which the royal authority had
invested him was publicly made known to his own people by the formal
delivery of the contribution and the sacred vessels brought from
Babylon to the priests to be deposited in the temple. Then his
credentials were privately presented to the provincial governors; and
by this prudent, orderly proceeding he put himself in the best
position to avail himself of all the advantages guaranteed him by the
king. On a superficial view everything contributed to gratify his
patriotic feelings in the apparently flourishing state of the church
and country. But a further acquaintance discovered the existence of
great corruptions, which demanded immediate correction. One was
particularly brought under his notice as being the source and origin
of all others; namely, a serious abuse that was practised respecting
the law of marriage.
the princes came to me,
saying—The information they lodged with Ezra was to the effect
that numbers of the people, in violation of the divine law (Deuteronomy 7:2;
Deuteronomy 7:3), had contracted marriages
with Gentile women, and that the guilt of the disorderly practice,
far from being confined to the lower classes, was shared in by
several of the priests and Levites, as well as of the leading men in
the country. This great irregularity would inevitably bring many
evils in its train; it would encourage and increase idolatry, as well
as break down the barriers of distinction which, for important
purposes, God had raised between the Israelites and all other people.
Ezra foresaw these dangerous consequences, but was overwhelmed with a
sense of the difficulty of correcting the evil, when matrimonial
alliances had been formed, families had been reared, affections
engaged, and important interests established.
3. when I heard this thing, I rent
my garment and my mantle, c.—the outer and inner garment, which
was a token not only of great grief, but of dread at the same time of
the divine wrath
plucked off the hair of my
head and of my beard—which was a still more significant sign of
overpowering grief.
4. Then were assembled unto me every
one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, c.—All the
pious people who reverenced God's word and dreaded its threatenings
and judgments joined with Ezra in bewailing the public sin, and
devising the means of redressing it.
I sat astonied until the
evening sacrifice—The intelligence of so gross a violation of
God's law by those who had been carried into captivity on account of
their sins, and who, though restored, were yet unreformed, produced
such a stunning effect on the mind of Ezra that he remained for a
while incapable either of speech or of action. The hour of the
evening sacrifice was the usual time of the people assembling and at
that season, having again rent his hair and garments, he made public
prayer and confession of sin.
. PRAYS TO GOD.
5-15. I fell upon my knees, and
spread out my hands unto the Lord my God—The burden of his
prayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was that
he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold
impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently
experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begun
to show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. But
this only aggravated their sin, that, so soon after their
re-establishment in their native land, they openly violated the
express and repeated precepts which commanded them to extirpate the
Canaanites. Such conduct, he exclaimed, could issue only in drawing
down some great punishment from offended Heaven and ensuring the
destruction of the small remnant of us that is left, unless, by the
help of divine grace, we repent and bring forth the fruits of
repentance in an immediate and thorough reformation.
CHAPTER 9
. EZRA MOURNS FOR THE AFFINITY OF THE PEOPLE WITH STRANGERS.
1, 2. Now when these things were done—The first days after Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem were occupied in executing the different trusts committed to him. The nature and design of the office with which the royal authority had invested him was publicly made known to his own people by the formal delivery of the contribution and the sacred vessels brought from Babylon to the priests to be deposited in the temple. Then his credentials were privately presented to the provincial governors; and by this prudent, orderly proceeding he put himself in the best position to avail himself of all the advantages guaranteed him by the king. On a superficial view everything contributed to gratify his patriotic feelings in the apparently flourishing state of the church and country. But a further acquaintance discovered the existence of great corruptions, which demanded immediate correction. One was particularly brought under his notice as being the source and origin of all others; namely, a serious abuse that was practised respecting the law of marriage.
the princes came to me, saying—The information they lodged with Ezra was to the effect that numbers of the people, in violation of the divine law (Deuteronomy 7:2; Deuteronomy 7:3), had contracted marriages with Gentile women, and that the guilt of the disorderly practice, far from being confined to the lower classes, was shared in by several of the priests and Levites, as well as of the leading men in the country. This great irregularity would inevitably bring many evils in its train; it would encourage and increase idolatry, as well as break down the barriers of distinction which, for important purposes, God had raised between the Israelites and all other people. Ezra foresaw these dangerous consequences, but was overwhelmed with a sense of the difficulty of correcting the evil, when matrimonial alliances had been formed, families had been reared, affections engaged, and important interests established.
3. when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, c.—the outer and inner garment, which was a token not only of great grief, but of dread at the same time of the divine wrath
plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard—which was a still more significant sign of overpowering grief.
4. Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, c.—All the pious people who reverenced God's word and dreaded its threatenings and judgments joined with Ezra in bewailing the public sin, and devising the means of redressing it.
I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice—The intelligence of so gross a violation of God's law by those who had been carried into captivity on account of their sins, and who, though restored, were yet unreformed, produced such a stunning effect on the mind of Ezra that he remained for a while incapable either of speech or of action. The hour of the evening sacrifice was the usual time of the people assembling and at that season, having again rent his hair and garments, he made public prayer and confession of sin.
. PRAYS TO GOD.
5-15. I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God—The burden of his prayer, which was dictated by a deep sense of the emergency, was that he was overwhelmed at the flagrant enormity of this sin, and the bold impiety of continuing in it after having, as a people, so recently experienced the heavy marks of the divine displeasure. God had begun to show returning favor to Israel by the restoration of some. But this only aggravated their sin, that, so soon after their re-establishment in their native land, they openly violated the express and repeated precepts which commanded them to extirpate the Canaanites. Such conduct, he exclaimed, could issue only in drawing down some great punishment from offended Heaven and ensuring the destruction of the small remnant of us that is left, unless, by the help of divine grace, we repent and bring forth the fruits of repentance in an immediate and thorough reformation.