Ezra 10:1 – 44 Shecaniah’s Encouragement
“While Ezra prayed and confessed, weeping and falling facedown before the house of God, a very large assembly of Israelites—men, women, and children—gathered around him, and the people wept bitterly as well.
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel. So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we will support you. Be strong and take action!” So Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said. And they took the oath.
The People’s Confession of Sin
Then Ezra withdrew from before the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. And while he stayed there, he ate no food and drank no water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
And a proclamation was issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the exiles should gather at Jerusalem. Whoever failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, according to the counsel of the leaders and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.
So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel. Now, therefore, make a confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do His will. Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.”
And the whole assembly responded in a loud voice: “Truly we must do as you say! But there are many people here, and it is the rainy season. We are not able to stay out in the open. Nor is this the work of one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter. Let our leaders represent the whole assembly. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a foreign woman come at an appointed time, together with the elders and judges of each town, until the fierce anger of our God in this matter is turned away from us.”
(Only Jonathan son of Asahel and Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, supported by Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite, opposed this plan.)
So the exiles did as proposed. Ezra the priest selected men who were family heads, each of them identified by name, to represent their families. On the first day of the tenth month they launched the investigation, and by the first day of the first month they had dealt with all the men who had married foreign women.
Those Guilty of Intermarriage
Among the descendants of the priests who had married foreign women were found these descendants of Jeshua son of Jozadak and his brothers: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.
From the descendants of Immer: Hanani and Zebadiah. From the descendants of Harim: Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah. From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
Among the Levites: Jozabad, Shimei, Kelaiah (that is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
From the singers: Eliashib. From the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
And among the other Israelites, from the descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah. From the descendants of Elam: Mattaniah, Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Elijah.
From the descendants of Zattu: Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza. From the descendants of Bebai: Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. From the descendants of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Jeremoth. From the descendants of Pahath-moab: Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh. From the descendants of Harim: Eliezer, Isshijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. From the descendants of Hashum: Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. From the descendants of Bani: Maadai, Amram, Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluhi, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasu. From the descendants of Binnuid :
Shimei, Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. From the descendants of Nebo: Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah. All these men had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives.
While Ezra was praying, weeping, and falling on his face, those who were still righteous gathered around him, praying and weeping and falling on their faces also. After these prayers, a man named Shecaniah encouraged Ezra. “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel. So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Get up, for this matter is your responsibility, and we will support you. Be strong and take action!”
Was Shecaniah one of the men who had married local women? Quite possibly. On the other hand, Shecaniah was one of those praying with Ezra. At any rate, Ezra took courage and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel to take an oath to put away the foreign women and their children. But how was this to be accomplished?
In the beginning, Ezra called a big meeting to take place in the temple square. But it was raining heavily, people were shivering, and the problem turned out to be far bigger than Ezra had realized. The leaders decided that they would analyze their local situations and then report to Ezra. So many men had intermarried that it took two full months to conclude these investigations. Much of the remainder of the chapter is taken up with the names of those who had trespassed God’s commands. Sadly, this list includes the names of priests, Levites, temple singers, and temple gate keepers – the very people who should have been setting a good example ironically set a bad one.
APPLICATION: Whistle blowers never have an easy time of it; neither do those responsible for ensuring that rules are followed. Consider Ezra: It’s quite likely that King Artaxerxes had greater respect for Ezra than the Jews did, especially when it came time for those men to give up their foreign wives and children. Traditionally, children took the nationality of their mothers; therefore, those children might not be considered as being Jews.
One of the tragic parts of this story is those women and their families. How did those women and children feel when the Jewish men were repudiating them? Certainly, having a family torn apart would scarcely encourage those women to worship the God of Israel. And who would provide for these women and children afterwards? It’s quite possible that when these women tried to return to their own families, their families might have rejected them on the grounds that they should never have engaged in that marriage in the first place. In those days and in that culture, women without husbands had little or no protection. How many of these women starved or became prostitutes to feed their children and themselves?
It’s barely possible that only the women were put away but that the children were cared for. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states: “No mention being made of the children being put away, as Shechaniah proposed, Ezra 10:3, it may be concluded they were not, but were taken care of, to be educated in the true religion, and entered proselytes at a proper time; and the rather, (sic) as Ezra gave no orders about their putting away, Ezra 10:11.”
The dilemma surrounding the foreign wives and their children illustrates that when we transgress God’s commandments, we create unending messes for ourselves and others. May God help all of us so that we follow His commands faithfully!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You forloving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to study Your commands and to follow them, so that we do not create messes for ourselves and others. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
TODAY;S TEACHING IS DEDICATED TO MY BELOVED BROTHER RUSSELL BJORLING, WHO SPENT MUCH OF HIS LIFE TEACHING IN SMALL GROUPS AND ONLINE BIBLE STUDIES. SADLY, RUS DIED ON NOVEMBER 17, 2021, TWO WEEKS BEFORE HIS 71ST BIRTHDAY. “THE MEMORY OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS A BLESSING.” PROVERBS 10:7
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