And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, Ye have acted unfaithfully, and have taken foreign wives, to increase the trespass of Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And now make confession to Jehovah the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives.
Ezra stands before the gathered people and names their sin out loud: they have married foreign wives. His remedy has two halves — confession made to God, and separation carried out in practice.
Commentators read these marriages as apostasy — a turning away from God — and as a surrender of the very thing that made Israel Israel.
And Ezra stands up again, and now plainly charges them with their sin. "You have transgressed," he says, "and have taken foreign wives." For an Israelite this was the great mark of apostasy, as far as the people were concerned. It was apostasy from God in taking a foreign god, and apostasy from the people in taking foreign wives. It was a complete giving up of their holy place of separateness to the Lord.
Ezra's wording shifts here, and the shift has a purpose.
Ezra speaks to them. He no longer says, as in Ezra 9:7, "We have been in great guilt." Now he says, "You have broken faith and married foreign women… separate yourselves" (vv. 10, 11). It is now a matter of reaching the conscience of those who have sinned.
Ezra's first word is not about the wives at all. It is about God, and what confessing to God commits a person to.
Ezra rose and addressed them. First, he charged them with their sin (v. 10). Then he urged them to confess to the Lord God of their fathers, and to do His will (v. 11). So his first thought was about what was due to the Lord. But if they confessed to Him, they must submit themselves to His will.
Confession and separation are joined in the verse because either one on its own can be counterfeit.
These two things appear in verse 11. It is sadly possible to confess wrongdoing and yet continue in it in more subtle and unseen ways. It is also possible to realise that wrongdoing of a certain sort is not profitable and to give it up, but without any confession of wrong in the matter. But when the conviction of sin is genuine, there is first confession of the sin, and then a forsaking of it, as Proverbs 28:13 plainly shows.
The verse names the peoples of the land first and the foreign wives second — the reverse of what the story would lead you to expect.
The order of the separation is most instructive — "from the peoples of the land, and from the foreign wives." Since marrying the foreign wives had been the sin, you might think the wives would be mentioned first. But what had led to these marriages? Association with the people of the land. This was the root of the mischief, and Ezra deals with it first. So in every departure from God, nothing is gained until you reach the root, and restoration is impossible.
Breaking these marriages meant breaking real families.
We know what this must have been. The wives would appeal to their husbands' love, and the poor children would be on their knees asking why their fathers should disown them. It was a time of agony for many a father and mother in Israel who had been found out in their sin. But the truth is that there is no real repentance without deep grief and pain.
Real repentance also takes time, and God allows for that.
Sometimes material difficulties stand in the way of immediate cleansing. This could not be "a work for one day or two." The evil was widespread, and as everyone confessed, "there are many of us who have transgressed in this thing." In this way God makes them understand that it is harder to repair evil than to commit it. But He is full of patience and mercy, and He takes account of the heart's decision. He knows that the guilty ones are not looking for loopholes and that they truly want to obey.
Ruin in the wider picture never lowers the standard for faithful people.
The apostasy of Israel and then of Judah led to the world-power of the Gentiles. It did not cancel God's will for faithful men, and still less does the ruin of Christendom cancel it for the Christian now… Separation to God now is not merely outward and of the flesh. It is in the Spirit's power, as taught in the word… We are called to do His will in obedience to His word, and this is binding, whatever the cost. The danger is using the state of ruin as an excuse for slackness.
- Confess — Ezra's first demand looks Godward. Own the sin to the Lord before doing anything about it.
- Submit — confessing to God commits you to do His will, not just to feel sorry.
- Sever the root — the verse names the peoples of the land before the wives. Mixing with them came first, and nothing changes until that root is cut.
- Count the cost — real repentance here meant grief and pain, and the writers do not soften it.
- Keep going — repairing evil takes longer than committing it, and God is patient with hearts set on obeying, not on finding loopholes.
And the whole congregation answered and said with a loud voice, Yes, it is for us to do according to thy words.
The Jews who had come back from exile sit in the open square in heavy rain while Ezra names their sin. Why does a guilty crowd agree so fast to something so costly, and what does that yes commit them to?
They were answering a demand with two halves: confession, and then separation. One commentator shows why confession alone was not enough:
Too often the soul deceives itself even by confession — confession without judging the sin. Ezra knew the word and the ways of God far too well to allow this. So there must be self-judgment and separation from the evil, as well as confession of it. The order of the separation is also most instructive — "from the people of the land, and from the foreign wives." Marrying the foreign wives had been the sin. So you might expect the wives to be named first. But what had led to these marriages? Association with the people of the land. This was the root of the trouble, and so Ezra deals with it first. So it is in every turning away from God: until you find the root, nothing is gained and restoration is impossible.
A crowd caught in wrongdoing usually argues back. This one did not. One writer traces that to what happened before Ezra stood up to speak:
Ezra then spoke briefly and to the point... Perhaps it was Ezra's prayer and self-judgment that kept the people from resisting this order. Those who have sunk into evil are usually stubborn enough to resist any correction. But God was working, as He always does in response to faith and self-judgment.
A second pressure was already on them: God's anger over the matter had become real to them:
The power of God was still clearly with His servant. The people agreed to his demands. They had been made to feel that "the fierce wrath of their God" was on them because of their sins. They answered, "It is so; we must do as you have said."
Grief over sin is not the same as clearing the sin away. But skipping the grief ruins the clearing away:
Humbling comes first — for the individual, and then for the people together. But neither the individual nor the people of God may stay there. Action must follow that humbling. "Arise," Shecaniah says to Ezra, "for this matter is your responsibility, and we will be with you: be of good courage, and do it" (v. 4). Humbling is not yet separation from evil. It is the path to that separation and prepares it. But when the aim is to repair ruin, activity without humbling can only lead to further ruin, however zealous it is. The flesh was never judged in that humbling, so it throws off all restraint when separation from evil is required.
Their word is not "we may" but "we must." One writer reads the whole episode as a standing answer to anyone who thinks a damaged situation lowers the standard:
Israel fell away from God, and then Judah, and this brought the Gentiles to world power. That did not cancel God's will for faithful men. Still less does the ruin of Christendom cancel it for the Christian now... We are called to do His will in obedience to His word; and we must do it, whatever the cost. The danger is in using a state of ruin as an excuse for slackness. A true heart would feel it a louder call to watch and pray.
Right after this loud yes, the people ask for time. The rain is heavy and the cases are many:
On top of their sorrow over the faults they had committed came the bad season, "a time of pouring rain, and it was not possible to stand outside" (v. 13). Sometimes practical difficulties stand in the way of immediate cleansing. This could not be "a work for one day or two." The evil was widespread and, as everyone confessed, "we are many who have transgressed in this thing." In this way God makes them understand that it is harder to repair the evil done than to commit it. But He is full of patience and mercy, and He takes account of the heart's decision. He knows that the guilty ones are not looking for loopholes and that they truly want to obey.
Verse 15 names four men, and commentators differ over whether they were appointed to the work or were objecting to it. Those who read it as objection still see the target as the timetable, not the decision:
In verse 15 we read of those "who were employed about this matter." But the translation of this sentence is more than doubtful. It has been rendered "they stood up against this." If there was opposition it was not opposition to the separation decree. They probably opposed the method that had been suggested; they may have demanded immediate action.
- Root. Ezra calls the marriages sin, then points further back — to mixing with the peoples of the land. Until you find the root, nothing is gained.
- Humbling. Sorrow comes before action; zeal that skips self-judgment only produces more ruin.
- Answer. Ezra prayed and judged himself first, and the crowd never argued back. God works where faith goes first.
- Cost. Their word is "must," not "may." A ruined situation is no excuse for slackness; it is a louder call to watch and pray.
- Patience. God accepts a decision of the heart that takes months to carry out. He knows the difference between delay and a loophole.