But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; we cannot stand in the open. Nor is this a task for one day or for two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter.
The people agreed with Ezra at once, then named three obstacles: their numbers, the winter rain, and a sin too deep to settle in a day or two. Their answer raises a hard question: is asking for more time repentance, or is it an excuse?
Agreement Comes First
They had accepted Ezra's charge outright, and only then described what stood in the way.
Edward DennettThe 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, "As you have said, so we must do." They only pleaded that they could not do the work there and then.
They sat outdoors, shaking from two causes at once — the matter itself, and the weather:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWe see them sitting in the open square in front of the house of the LORD. They were a trembling, frightened company, because of this matter and also the great rain. The cold, rainy season had started.
Obstacles God Allows
The rain was a real obstacle. The deeper one was how far the sin had spread.
H. L. RossierSometimes material difficulties oppose immediate purification. This could not be "a task for one day or for two", for the evil was widespread, and, as everyone confessed, many of them had transgressed in this matter. In this way God makes them understand that repairing the evil done is harder than committing it. But He is full of patience and mercy, and He takes account of what the heart has decided. He knows the guilty ones are not looking for loopholes, and that they really want to obey.
What the Work Would Cost
Behind the words "we have greatly transgressed in this matter" lay homes that were about to break up. Commentators do not soften this.
William KellyWe know how the wives would appeal to their husbands' love, and how the poor children would be on their knees to ask why their fathers should disown them. We know what a scene of grief and pleading this must have been. It was a time of agony for many a father and mother in Israel caught in this sin. But the truth is that there is no real repentance without deep grief and pain.
Kelly adds that the pain runs deepest when God's own people have brought His name into contempt, and have done so for years. Then no step of repentance comes "without its costing much to the heart on every side."
Patience With Those Who Failed
Some in the crowd had kept themselves clean. They could have demanded action on the spot, rain or no rain.
H. L. RossierIn difficult circumstances, may we also show the patience of Ezra, the patience of God, toward our brothers, so that we do not discourage them. Some had escaped and had taken no part in this wrongdoing. To them it might have seemed that they had to separate from the evil at once, despite the pouring rain. Love between brothers does not calculate in this way. It knows that these words, "we have greatly transgressed in this matter", are not empty words.
Delay That Ends in Completion
The outcome shows what kind of delay this was.
Edward DennettThe plea and counsel of the people were accepted... By the first day of the first month they had finished with all the men who had married foreign wives. So in two months the work was completed.
That is the line between asking for time and using ruin as an excuse. The same danger stands today:
The Bible TreasuryWe are called to do His will in obedience to His word; and this urgently, whatever the cost. The danger is from claiming laxity because of a state of ruin. A true heart would feel it a louder call to watch and pray.
Summary
- Conviction first. The people said yes to Ezra before they mentioned the rain. Their ask for time followed obedience; it did not replace it.
- Time is honest. God was teaching them that evil takes longer to repair than to commit. He also reads the heart: does it want to obey, or to find a loophole?
- Time costs. Wives and children would plead; there is no real repentance without deep grief and pain.
- Time needs love. Those who had stayed clean could have demanded instant action. Love between brothers does not calculate that way.
- Time ends. Two months later the work was finished. A real delay ends in obedience. A false one uses ruin as a cover for going slack.