7:10 - Ezra was given an incredible opportunity to lead, because he was a man of God who had made it his mission in life to write the words of God's Law on his heart and live that out. He was non-hypocritical in the way he lived his life and because of his integrity, he was given the chance to lead his people.
7:23/25 - It is amazing to see God at work in the heart of Artaxerxes! In verse 23 the pagan king acknowledges God as the ruler of heaven, not just Jerusalem, placing God higher than his own hereditary gods. The king is willing to help the Israelites and do anything within his power (which is alot!) to make sure that YAHWEH is satisfied. Wow - God has really made himself knbown to Artaxerxes. In verse 25, we see the king offer power to Ezra that goes beyond anything a king would normally give to soemone within his realm. Ezra is basically given free reign to ruler and elect officials as God wills. This kind of freedom is unheard of in ancient times.
7:27 - Ezra has every opportunity to start believing that he has done something special - he has worked hard to live true to God's Laws, he has been given great power, he is traveling around with tens of thousands of pounds of precious metals...but his first reaction is to give all the credit to God.
8:21 - Before their great moment of triumph, Ezra once again shows that his heart is in the right place. He leads the people in a time of fasting and prayer before their journey to Jerusalem, so that everyone is spiritually prepared and focused on God. This is a huge event in the histroy of the nation of Israel that demands focus and faith. He sets a great example for Christians who are facing huge decisions.
9:2ff - The next couple of chapters raise some really tough questions for modern Christian readers? Why would God exclude people from His nation? Why are the Jews not allowed to intermarry? Why is this such a big deal. God singled out some specific people groups in Levitcus and Duteronamoy and that His people were not allowed to marry and it has nothing to do with their heritage...it has everything to do with their pervasive idolatry. Turn back to Ezra 6:21 and read what it says. It says that people from outside of Israel who were willing to worship God as the one an only God were allowed to become part of God's people. What this tells us is that the women that the Jewish leaders were marrying, were not followers of God...they were actually still practicing their cultural forms of idolatry. I would absolutely tell my children not to marry women or men who worship false gods - God is no different. The chocking part of this story is that it is the leaders of Israel who are first and foremost the ones intermnarrying with faithless pagans - that does not speak highly of their faith.
10:2ff - The Israelite men make a vow to "put away" the pagan women and children. This is harsh...there is no way around it...these women and children are exiled from the people of God. Any Israelite men who refuse to do so will also be exiled. Again we see the harsh and brutal consequences that come about when the people of God fail to follow His commands. If the Jewish men had not allowed themselves to marry pagan idolatrous women, then they would not have had to kick them out of the community later. We know nothing of what happens to the people who are exiled...we are just left with a bad taste in our mouth.
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