Let our officials stand for the whole assembly. Let all in our cities who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, and with them the elders and judges of every city, until the fierce wrath of our God over this matter is turned away from us.”
The people have just agreed with Ezra that the foreign marriages must end. Now they ask for a timetable instead of a same-day purge, and that raises a hard question: when a wrong is too tangled to fix in a day, is a schedule faith or evasion?
Why the People Did Not Resist
This crowd did not fight the order. One writer traces that to what Ezra had already done to himself.
Leslie M. GrantPerhaps it was Ezra's prayer and self-judgment that kept the people from resisting this order. Normally, those who have sunk into evil are stubborn enough to resist any correction. But God was working, as He always does in response to faith and self-judgment.
The Motive Behind the Plan
The people name the goal of the whole process: God's fierce anger turned away. One writer explains why that was pressing on them.
Edward DennettThe power of God was clearly still 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.
Undoing Sin Costs More Than Doing It
They ask for set times because the wrong cannot be undone in a day. One writer reads this as God's own lesson to them, and reads their plea as honest.
H. L. RossierSometimes practical difficulties stand in the way of immediate cleansing. This could not be "a work for one day or two", because the evil was widespread and, as everyone admitted, "they were many that had 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.
Patience Toward the Guilty
Someone in that crowd with clean hands could have said that rain is no excuse to leave sin in place. The same writer answers that.
H. L. RossierMay we as well, in difficult circumstances, exercise the patience of Ezra, the patience of God, toward our brothers, lest they be discouraged. Those who were "a remnant that had escaped", and who had taken no part in this sin, might have thought that separation from evil had to happen at once, despite the "pouring rain". Brotherly love does not reason like that.
Difficulty Sets the Timetable, Not the Verdict
The proposal admits the case is hard. It never suggests dropping it. One writer draws that line clearly.
Michael HardtWell, the matter before Ezra certainly was complex. It could not be 'sorted out' in a day. It took thorough examination (v. 16) three months. So the complexity meant that the matter would take time to resolve, not that it should not be addressed in the first place.
Commentators differ on the length: one counts the work as two months, another as three.
Elders and Judges: One Case at a Time
The plan brings in the elders and judges of each city, instead of one mass decision. What followed shows why that mattered.
H. L. RossierEzra and the heads of the families — men who knew the Word well, wise and respected by the people — "sat down… to examine the matter". The evil was obvious. The question was not whether it existed. Each case deserved its own discernment and judgment according to God… They gave judgment in love. They spared no one and favoured no one, beginning with the priests.
The Proposal Was Received
Ezra did not override the people's plan. He accepted it and organised the work.
Edward DennettThe plea and counsel of the people were accepted, and next we have the names of those who were put to work on the matter… So in two months the work was completed.
Summary
- Until — the goal. They set the finish line at God's anger turned away. They felt His fierce wrath on them for their sin.
- Until — the honesty. Asking for set times was no loophole. God was teaching them that repairing evil costs more than committing it.
- Until — the patience. Love does not demand instant separation from those who genuinely want to obey but cannot finish in a day.
- Until — the method. Elders and judges in every city meant each case got its own hearing. They spared no one, starting with the priests.
- Until — the finish. Difficulty set the timetable, not the verdict. Ezra accepted the plan, organised it, and saw it through.