Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May
9, 2013
Introduction
Next week – No study (July 4). The
following week we will be showing the new Greg Laurie film. Play “Hope
For Hurting Hearts” trailer
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
The nation of Judah has been in the process of restoration.
After seventy years in Babylon, they’ve begun to make their way back.
There are three main characters involved in the restoration.
Zerubbabel would be the man responsible for
rebuilding the Temple. It was finished
in 515 BC.
Nehemiah would be the man responsible for rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls in
444 BC.
Ezra was the man behind the restoration of the spiritual life of the
nation.
He shows up in our text in 457 BC.
Ezra was a priest, a direct descendent of the line of Aaron. He could have
functioned as a high priest. Yet he is known more as a “scribe”, as a teacher
of God’s Word.
Ezra is often called the “father of
Judaism” and ancient rabbis said that if Moses had not received the law of God,
Ezra would have.
Jewish tradition has it that he was
the one responsible for pulling together the books of the Old Testament, settling
the “canon” of the Old Testament.
He was the author of the books of 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Some have suggested he may have written Esther as well.
In our daily Bible Reading, we’ve been making our way through the longest
chapter of the Bible, Psalm 119. Psalm
119 is all about how wonderful God’s Word is.
Guess who we think the author was? Ezra.
After making the trip from Babylon to Jerusalem, Ezra will have been in
Jerusalem for 4 ˝ months when he realizes that there’s been a serious problem
with the people of Jerusalem. (10:9; 8:31).
(Ezr 8:31 NKJV) —31 Then we
departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month,
to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us
from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.
(Ezr 10:9 NKJV) —9 So all
the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days. It was
the ninth month, on the twentieth of the month; and all the people sat in the
open square of the house of God, trembling because of this matter and
because of heavy rain.
9:1-4 Mixed Marriages
:1 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people
of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from
the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites,
the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
:2 For they have taken some of their daughters as
wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with
the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers
has been foremost in this trespass.”
:2 the holy seed is mixed
Lesson
Mixed marriages
No marriage is easy. You’re mixing
two completely different kinds of people – men and women.
Here we’re talking about another kind of “mixed marriage”. This was not strictly an issue of interracial
marriage. The Canaanites were a Semitic
people like the Jews.
Yet for the Jews, the “seed” needed to stay pure because it was through the
“seed” of the Jews that the Messiah will come.
Here it has more to do with what “god” you follow.
God had warned the people:
(Dt 7:3–4 NKJV)
—3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your
daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they
will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger
of the Lord will be aroused
against you and destroy you suddenly.
This is one of the not-so-obvious reasons why the people
had been in captivity. They had gone
after other gods, and some of it started by the intermarrying with people that
worshipped other gods.
Christians have a similar rule:
(2 Co 6:14–18
NKJV) —14 Do not be unequally yoked together
with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And
what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer
with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I
will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be
their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come
out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do
not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be
a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and
daughters, Says the Lord
Almighty.”
This doesn’t mean that we aren’t to have friendships with
unbelievers.
God wants us to be a light in the world.
But in a strong, close, binding relationship like
marriage, God wants two people to be of the same mind, worshipping the same
God.
(Am
3:3 NKJV) Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
The world likes to use the word “tolerance” to bully us into accepting
things that just aren’t right.
It’s good to be “tolerant”, loving, and patient with others.
But when something comes between you and God, and is trying to separate you
from God, then you are forced to make a choice:
Will you follow God or give in to that other person?
Your marriage should not be the thing causing you to walk
away from God.
The important thing is to not go into a marriage in the
first place unless you are both following God.
:2 the leaders and rulers has been
foremost
The rulers had been at the head of committing this sin.
The more you grow as a leader, the more important it is that you are
setting the right example.
The sad thing here is that the leaders were at the front of the line doing
the wrong things.
:3 So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment
and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat
down astonished.
:3 I tore my garment and my robe
Lesson
Grief over sin
It wasn’t Ezra’s sin. Yet he was grieved.
He wasn’t the one who had sinned, yet notice how he’ll use the pronouns “we”
as if he was part of the sin.
I think this shows that Ezra loves these people.
The Bible says that love …
(1
Co 13:6 NKJV) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
What do you do when people are caught in sin?
Do you laugh? Do you applaud? Do you get mad?
I think the Lord would rather that we grieve.
How are you responding to the Supreme Court overturning Prop 8?
Are you angry? I certainly
understand the anger.
Yet I think we ought to be acting a little more like Ezra and be grieving
over the continual backsliding of our once godly nation.
Our nation, like any nation, has never been perfect. People will be quick to point out the flaws
in our nation from its beginning. But
it’s never been this far from God.
Don’t be quick to get angry at our leaders as much as
grieve over the mess our entire nation is in.
The latest polls seem to indicate that the majority of our nation feels
sympathetic for the poor, oppressed homosexual community.
Are you grieving?
:4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled
to me, because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive,
and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.
:4 trembled at the words of the God of
Israel
trembled – chared
– trembling, fearful, afraid
These were the people that were serious about following the Lord.
Lesson
The Foundation
With all the confusing moral issues happening in our world today, it’s easy
to get upside down as to what’s right and what’s wrong.
In our nation, we have decided that morality is something we vote on.
We think that as long as the majority of Americans think that something is
right, then it’s right.
We “tremble” at the opinion polls.
We care far too much about what other people think.
What we ought to “tremble” about is what God thinks.
We ought to tremble at His Word.
Look at what happens when we “tremble” at God’s Word –
(Is 66:1–2 NKJV)
—1 Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is
the house that you will build Me? And
where is the place of My rest? 2 For all those things My hand has
made, And all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: On him who is
poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My
word.
God pays special attention to those who care about what He
says.
God’s Word ought to be our “foundation” for how we conduct our lives.
(Mt 7:24–27 NKJV)
—24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I
will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the
rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and
it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these
sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its
fall.”
The foundation we need to build our lives upon is not the
opinions of the world, but the Word of God.
9:5-15 Ezra’s Confession
:5 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my
fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread
out my hands to the Lord my God.
:5 At the evening sacrifice
About 3:00pm. This was also known as
an hour of prayer.
:6 And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my
face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our
heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.
:7 Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very
guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been
delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity,
to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.
:7 for our iniquities we… have been
delivered
Lesson
Consequences
They remember very well what trouble their ancestors’ sins had gotten them
into.
It was their ancestors’ sins that had resulted in the Babylonians
captivity.
People who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.
Look at what Paul wrote to the Romans 2,000 years ago. Nothing is new.
(Ro 1:18–32 NKJV)
—18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has
shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because,
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were
darkened.
Here is the primary sin – rejecting God.
Watch what the consequences are.
22 Professing
to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor
their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and
served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this
reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the
natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned
in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and
receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even
as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being
filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they
are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who,
knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are
deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice
them.
We as a nation are guilty of rejecting/forgetting God. We are simply reaping the consequences of
those actions. Note that homosexuality
is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s much
more to come.
:8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to
escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our
eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.
:8 to give us a peg in His holy place
Ezra is saying that God had given them something to hang their hat on. The “peg” is the Temple they’ve been able to
rebuild.
(Ezr 9:8 NLT) He has
given us security in this holy place.
:9 For we were slaves. Yet our God did not
forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the
kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its
ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
:9 mercy to us in the sight of the kings
of Persia
On Sunday we looked at some of the spiritual battles taking place behind
the scenes (Dan. 10). God’s angels and
the people’s prayers had brought a breakthrough in the evil schemes of Satan.
:10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after
this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,
:11 which You commanded by Your servants the
prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean
land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations
which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity.
:12 Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor
take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity,
that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an
inheritance to your children forever.’
:10 we have forsaken Your commandments
Despite God’s mercy in bringing the people back into the land and giving
them mercy before the kings of Persia, the people have gone on to turn their
back on God’s commands.
In particular, they have turned their backs on God’s commands not to
intermarry with people who aren’t following God.
The land of Canaan was originally an “unclean” land, and God had originally
commanded Israel not to intermarry with the Canaanites.
:13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our
great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve,
and have given us such deliverance as this,
:14 should we again break Your commandments, and
join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You had consumed us,
so that there would be no remnant or survivor?
:15 O Lord
God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it
is this day. Here we are before You, in our
guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”
:13 less than our iniquities deserve
Lesson
God’s mercy
This is the truth. God hasn’t given
us all that we deserve.
(Ps 103:10 NKJV) He has not
dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us
according to our iniquities.
It’s a good reality check for us to realize that we deserve a lot more than
we ever get.
:14 should we again break Your
commandments
Here, despite all the mercy that God has shown on the nation, they are
going back into sin, the same sins that had brought them trouble in the first
place.
That’s just like us.
We get into trouble for certain sins, yet when the heat is off, we end up
going back into our mess.
10:1-8 The Assembly
:1 Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and
bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and
children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly.
It sounds as if people are quite moved by Ezra’s prayers.
:2 And Shechaniah the
son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke
up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan
wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of
this.
:3 Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our
God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according
to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our
God; and let it be done according to the law.
:3 put away all these wives
They propose to have everyone divorce their pagan wives.
Lesson
Unbelievers and divorce
Is this precedence for divorcing to an unbeliever?
Not particularly
We need to be careful before
marriage not to be unequally yoked.
(2 Co 6:14 NKJV) Do not be
unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
But after marriage, you need to stay together as much as you can unless
they are the one that decides to leave.
(1 Co 7:10–16
NKJV) —10 Now to the married I command, yet
not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. 11 But even
if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her
husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. 12 But to the
rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and
she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. 13 And a
woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is
willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.
It’s pretty clear.
If your unbelieving spouse doesn’t want a divorce, you are not to
divorce them just because they are an unbeliever.
14 For the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be
unclean, but now they are holy.
There is a sense in which the unbelieving spouse is
affected by your presence. It doesn’t
mean they will go to heaven, but it does mean they are exposed to the truth.
15 But if the
unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage
in such cases. But God has called us to peace.
If the unbeliever wants to leave, then they can
leave. Some see this verse as approval
for the concept of “abandonment” – that’s it’s okay to
pursue a divorce if your spouse has left you.
I don’t have a problem with this.
16 For how do
you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you
know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?
The idea is that if you just do a knee-jerk response and
divorce your spouse, you may be ruining their chance to accept the Lord.
:4 Arise, for this matter is your responsibility.
We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.”
:5 Then Ezra arose, and made the leaders of the
priests, the Levites, and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according
to this word. So they swore an oath.
They all promise to deal with this serious issue.
:6 Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God,
and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib; and when he came there, he ate no bread
and drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the
captivity.
:7 And they issued a proclamation throughout Judah
and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity, that they must gather at
Jerusalem,
:8 and that whoever would not come within three
days, according to the instructions of the leaders and elders, all his property
would be confiscated, and he himself would be separated from the assembly of
those from the captivity.
:8 within three days…all his property
would be confiscated
They told the people to show up or else.
Lesson
Deal quickly with sin
A measure of telling whether a person is sincere in their repentance is how
quickly they will act on it.
(2 Co 7:11 NKJV) For
observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly
manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of
yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement
desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you
proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
diligence – spoude – haste, with haste; earnestness, diligence
I think that as Christians we need to be careful how we look at this
passage.
For us, the lesson is not about being quick to divorce. For us, the lesson is being quick to deal
with our sin.
10:9-17 Agree to separate
:9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered
at Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth
of the month; and all the people sat in the open square of the house of God,
trembling because of this matter and because of heavy rain.
:9 all the people sat …trembling
It is Dec. 8, 457 BC.
Jerusalem can get quite cold. It
snows in Jerusalem sometimes.
The people are trembling for two reasons:
Their fear of God. The cold rain.
They didn’t cancel the meeting due to rain.
They will deal with the discomfort of the cold rain, but just something to
think about – how easy is it to keep you from doing the right thing?
I know on Thursday night I’m preaching to the choir, but
let me ask, “What does it take to keep you from church?” What does it take to keep you from reading
your Bible? What does it take to keep
you from praying?
Even lions didn’t keep Daniel from praying.
:10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to
them, “You have transgressed and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of
Israel.
:11 Now therefore, make confession to the Lord
God of your fathers, and do His will; separate yourselves from the peoples of
the land, and from the pagan wives.”
:11 separate yourselves
Lesson
Be different
I have to admit that I find it amusing that a commercial is telling you to
be different, to be “yourself”, to be “one of a kind”, and by the end of the
commercial everybody is wearing a red t-shirt and drinking Dr. Pepper.
The world wants to tell us what it means to be different,
as long as we do what the world says and all end up being the same.
This idea of being “separate” is at the root of what it means to be “holy”.
God’s idea of being different is to live a life of holiness, separating
ourselves from the pollution of the world.
Being separate doesn’t mean you’re “alone”.
You are actually in quite good company when you choose to be pure and
“separate”. Look at who else is “holy”.
(1 Pe 1:13–16 NKJV) —13 Therefore
gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon
the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as
obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in
your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, 16 because it
is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
God is different.
God is holy.
:12 Then all the assembly answered and said with a
loud voice, “Yes! As you have said, so we must do.
They agree to do it.
:13 But there are many people; it is
the season for heavy rain, and we are not able to stand outside. Nor is this
the work of one or two days, for there are many of us who have
transgressed in this matter.
A lot of people had done this. This
is going to take time to fix.
:14 Please, let the leaders of our entire assembly stand; and let all those
in our cities who have taken pagan wives come at appointed times, together with
the elders and judges of their cities, until the fierce wrath of our God is
turned away from us in this matter.”
They decide to set up a system of processing this so the people can go home
and get out of the rain.
:15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel
and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah
opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai
the Levite gave them support.
These four fellows were the only leaders that opposed what Ezra was saying.
Of these four names, there is a “Meshullam”
listed among those who were guilty of this sin (in vs. 29)
(Ezr 10:29 NKJV) of the
sons of Bani: Meshullam, Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Ramoth;
The rest didn’t object because they were guilty of this sin.
:16 Then the descendants of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain heads of the
fathers’ households, were set apart by the fathers’ households,
each of them by name; and they sat down on the first day of the tenth month to
examine the matter.
:17 By the first day of the first month they
finished questioning all the men who had taken pagan wives.
They started the investigations on the “tenth month” (vs. 16) and were
finished by the “first month”. It took
three months to straighten things out.
10:18-44 The Guilty
:18 And among the sons of the priests who had taken pagan wives the
following were found of the sons of Jeshua the
son of Jozadak, and his brothers: Maaseiah,
Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah.
:18 the sons of the priests
Lesson
Take the lead
The first ones to straighten things out are the priests.
They’re also the first ones listed.
These four were sons of the high priest Jeshua.
As members of Jesus’ church, we are all priests, and cleansing starts in
the church.
(1 Pe 4:17 NKJV) For the
time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey
the gospel of God?
Sometimes it’s hard to see what you’re doing because you can’t see right,
you’ve got something in your eyes…
We need to take the “plank” out of our own eye first.
(Mt 7:1–5 NKJV)
—1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge,
you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to
you. 3 And why do
you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in
your own eye? 4
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from
your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite!
First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to
remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
We may get mad at the things going on in the world, but we
ought to pay attention to our own selves first.
:19 And they gave their promise that they would
put away their wives; and being guilty, they presented a ram of
the flock as their trespass offering.
:20 Also of the sons of Immer:
Hanani and Zebadiah;
There are lots of names …
:21 of the sons of Harim: Maaseiah,
Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah;
:22 of the sons of Pashhur:
Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad, and Elasah.
:23 Also of the Levites: Jozabad,
Shimei, Kelaiah (the same is Kelita), Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer.
:24 Also of the singers: Eliashib;
and of the gatekeepers: Shallum, Telem, and Uri.
:25 And others of Israel: of the
sons of Parosh: Ramiah, Jeziah, Malchiah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and
Benaiah;
:26 of the sons of Elam: Mattaniah,
Zechariah, Jehiel, Abdi, Jeremoth, and Eliah;
:27 of the sons of Zattu: Elioenai,
Eliashib, Mattaniah, Jeremoth, Zabad, and Aziza;
:28 of the sons of Bebai:
Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai;
:29 of the sons of Bani: Meshullam,
Malluch, Adaiah, Jashub, Sheal, and Ramoth;
:30 of the sons of Pahath-Moab:
Adna, Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezalel, Binnui, and Manasseh;
:31 of the sons of Harim: Eliezer,
Ishijah, Malchijah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
:32 Benjamin, Malluch, and
Shemariah;
:33 of the sons of Hashum:
Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei;
:34 of the sons of Bani: Maadai,
Amram, Uel,
:35 Benaiah, Bedeiah, Cheluh,
:36 Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib,
:37 Mattaniah, Mattenai, Jaasai,
:38 Bani, Binnui, Shimei,
:39 Shelemiah, Nathan, Adaiah,
:40 Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai,
:41 Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah,
:42 Shallum, Amariah, and
Joseph;
:43 of the sons of Nebo: Jeiel,
Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jaddai, Joel, and Benaiah.
:44 All these had taken pagan wives, and some
of them had wives by whom they had children.
:44 All these had taken pagan wives
The names of 113 individuals are listed in these verses (17 priests, 10
Levites, and 86 others).
How would you like to have had your name recorded in the Scripture for all time
as one of the people who had blown it?
The presence of children in some
families made the separations more difficult but did not stop the divorces.
Lesson
Keep your guard up
This sin was one that was partially responsible for the Babylonian captivity.
And now they’re having to deal with it again.
And it’s still not over.
The same sin returned 12 years later (Neh. 10:30)
It will return once more 30 years later (Neh. 13:23).
If God has given you victory over a particularly difficult sin, praise God.
Just don’t let down your guard.
(1 Pe 5:8 NKJV) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
If God has delivered you from a particular sin, don’t
think that you’ll never ever do that sin again.