Ezra 9: No Foreign Chicks

Ezra 9:6 "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens."

Israel's remnant that has returned is small. The "pickings" are a little "slimmer" when it comes to choosing a wife. Maybe the pool to draw from is a little shallower in the women department. Solution? Go hook up with a pagan chick!

Ezra finds out about the Israelites intermarrying with the neighboring HACPHAJ. He of course is not pleased with it. And it wasn't just the low men on the Asherah pole, the leaders and the priests even did this.

Ezra knows his history. He's read Exodus 34. But not only that, he understands it. He saw that even though God was setting Israel apart, they were doing their best not to be who God intended them to be, which is what got them into the mess of being conquered and crushed scattered to begin with. Now God has seen fit to end this punishment, and in the sight of the kings of Persia...undoubtedly the most powerful people ever up that point...return Israel to their homeland. And this is how Israel acts.

Imagine Ezra's fear and agony. He is someone, being a teacher, who has done his research. He's seen God's blessing and mercy in the midst of sin, and he's seen God's justice and holiness work through punishments taken out on Israel. He expects God will do the same. But I am also sure he is aware of what happens when hearts are made humble before the LORD, as with Manasseh. What is God going to do now that Israel seems bent on rejecting God's teachings?