They pledged themselves to put away their wives, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock for their guilt.
The last chapter of Ezra lists the men who had married women from the surrounding nations, and the first names on it are priests. This verse records what they did: a promise sealed by hand, a ram brought for their guilt, and their names kept on record. (Older translations call the ram a "trespass offering".)
Guilt Found at the Top
The men in this verse were not ordinary offenders. They were priests, and some were descendants of Jeshua, a leader in building God's house.
Edward DennettFirst come the names of the priests who had fallen into sin. The sons of Jeshua seem to have been held the more guilty, and with reason. In the grace of God, Jeshua had stood with Zerubbabel as a leader of God's people in building His house. It shows that they had lost all sense of what their sin really was. "A priest's lips should guard knowledge, and the people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts." But here the priests had corrupted the people by their evil ways. Note too that only Jeshua's relatives are said to have given their hand and offered the ram.
The Pledge and Its Cost
This was not the first line they had drawn against the people around them. But this one ran through their own homes.
J. N. DarbyThey flatly refused any share in the work to the people of the land who wanted to join them in building the temple. Last of all, they have to send away their own wives, several of whom had borne them children. They have to separate themselves, at whatever cost, from everything that was not Israel. This is what marks out faithfulness in a position like theirs.
Why a Ram
The word "trespass" has a particular sense. It names a sin that cheats someone of what is due to them.
C. E. StuartA wife who was unfaithful to her husband committed a trespass... And those of the returned remnant who married foreign wives were guilty of trespass for that reason. In all these cases we can trace the mark of the sin that called for a trespass offering. God, or man, was cheated in one way or another of what was due to them.
Their office did not shield them. It made the offering count for more.
H. L. RossierThey passed judgment in love. They spared no one and favoured no one, and they began with the priests. Their position made them more guilty than their brothers, and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock. Having admitted their sin, they could bring no other sacrifice than this one. But because of their office, it mattered that their offering showed their humbling in the open.
A Sin God Could Not Simply Overlook
The trespass offering was for wrongs the law could not wave away. Set beside others who trespassed and were dealt with in judgment, this remnant's sacrifice stands out as mercy.
The Christian's FriendThese are instances of trespasses which God could not pass over, and for most of which the law could provide no sacrifice. The returned remnant did, it is true, offer a trespass-offering for their failure in the matter of the strange wives.
What the Ram Points To
One writer draws a line from the ram to Christ, and then to how we treat our own sin.
Leslie M. GrantWhen they gave their promise to send away their foreign wives, they presented a ram as a trespass offering. Whenever we have been guilty of any sin, we must remember that Christ is "the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2). If we think hard about the agony He suffered because of our sins, are we likely to drift back into sin again? So self-judgment should be real, and full.
"Propitiation" means the sacrifice that satisfies God over sin.
A List That Ends in Restoration
The book closes with a list of offenders, which looks like a bleak finish.
Michael HardtIt was sad indeed that there had been such failure among the remnant, the few who had returned to the place of God's choice! But we should not miss what else this list holds. These are the names of men who offered a ram for their trespass and gave their hand to put right what was wrong. In other words, the book of Ezra ends with a list of people who have been restored!
That the names were written down at all carries its own weight.
Edward DennettNothing escapes the eye of God. He weighs and records all our actions. One day He will bring them out again, either to magnify His grace or, in the case of unbelievers, as the ground of righteous judgment.
Summary
- Recorded — nothing escapes God's eye. He weighs and writes down every action, and one day He will bring it out again, either to magnify His grace or as ground for judgment.
- Owned — they named the guilt instead of softening it. Judgment fell without favour, starting with the priests, whose office made them more guilty than the rest.
- Costly — the pledge meant parting from wives who had borne them children. That is what faithfulness looked like in their position.
- Covered — a trespass cheats God or man of what is due, and these men could bring no other sacrifice. The ram points on to Christ, the propitiation for our sins, so self-judgment should be real and full.
- Restored — the closing list is not a roll of shame. The book ends with the names of people who put right what was wrong.