Who was Shechaniah in the Bible?

Schechaniah's voice is heard in behalf of the people. He was a son of Jehiel. His own father is mentioned among those who had taken strange wives (10:26). His words then must have condemned his own father. He said, "We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land." He acknowledged the sin of the people violating the direct commandment of the LORD. But he also had confidence in the mercy of God, that not all was lost on account of their disobedience, "yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing." Yet this hope and mercy could only be realized by self-judgment and by putting away all the wives and such as were born of them. He therefore said, "Let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law." The law demanded the dismissal of these wives and children, for they were unclean, and admission into the congregation of Israel had to be denied to them. How different it is under grace! In 1 Cor. 7:10, etc., we read what grace has done even for an unbelieving husband who is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife who is sanctified by the believing husband, and that their children are not unclean, but holy.

One man, Shechaniah, became a spokesman for all, confessing their guilt in having trespassed against God in taking pagan wives. "Yet now," he said, "there is hope in Israel in spite of this" (v. 2). He asked that a covenant be made with God to put away these foreign wives and children born to them, and to let it be done according to the law (v. 3). He therefore encouraged Ezra to rise and act on this advice, since Ezra was in a place of authority, assuring him that he (Shechaniah) and others would back him up. Ezra then rose and required an oath to be sworn that Israel would clear themselves of their evil compromise by putting away their foreign wives and their children (v. 5).

Shecaniah, the people's spokesman, here shows an energy and disinterestedness which ought to be an example to us. His father, Jehiel, was among the transgressors (v. 26)! It required the power of God, united to the zeal of Phinehas, to cause him to abandon all his own family interests and take up the cause of God single-handedly. Nevertheless this energetic man does not seek to play a role in the work of restoration; he is of no importance in his own eyes. He esteems that the thing rests on Ezra, the "ready scribe in the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of Israel had given". In his eyes, the bearer of the Word, let us say the Word itself, must play the principal role.

Where there is confession of failure there is hope. Shechaniah put it well: "We have trespassed against our God. yet now there is hope in Israel.". I do not think he took it lightly. In fact, his father was among the 'problem cases' (verse 26). He suggests that the confession and prayer should be accompanied by action (v.3), what an encouragement for Ezra (v.4)!

A special responsibility rested upon Ezra in this matter, since as we saw in the early part of Ezra 7, he had prepared his heart to seek, and do, and teach the law of the Lord. This was recognized by Shechaniah, so that he said to him, 'Arise; for this matter belongs to thee'; and he assured him he would have the support of those who feared God in the action that he had to take.

We cannot sufficiently stress how much the blessing of the people of God may depend on one or a few faithful individuals. Ezra 5:1 and 2 present a revival produced by two prophets which moved two leaders, and then the entire people to activity for the Lord. Here, the humiliation of one man, to whom a few individuals then associate themselves, leads to a general humiliation. And once again a single man steps forward to express it: "And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, answered and said to Ezra, We have acted unfaithfully toward our God, and have taken foreign wives of the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel concerning this thing. And now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of [my] lord, and of those who tremble at the commandments of our God; and let it be done according to the law" (vv. 2, 3).

Shecaniah first responded to the appeal (vers. 2-4). We do not hear that he was personally unfaithful but, it would seem, his own father (compare ver. 26). Yet he confesses, We have trespassed, etc., and proposes repentance shown in putting away the evil and its fruit, charging the administration of the judgment on Ezra. On this Ezra acts, swearing all to it from the highest downward, still fasting himself with mourning (vers. 5, 6); and proclamation is made to gather to Jerusalem within three days on pain of forfeiture of goods and cutting off from the congregation. And they did come together (vers. 7-9). Ezra calls on the unfaithful to confess and separate from the peoples as well as the strange wives; and all the congregation answer loudly, but plead the long work in the then untoward circumstances, and propose that it be dispatched in detail by responsible men throughout their cities (vers. 10-14).

Father of Shechaniah, who supported Ezra in the matter of the strange wives. Ezra 10:2.

There were some, however, who saw the necessity of proceeding at once to act in the matter, at whatever cost, knowing, as they must have done, that Jehovah, could not bless them, or prosper them in the land, as long as they were living in open violation of His commandments. "Shechaniah the son of Jehiel," we read, "one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it." (vv. 2-4.)

Several points in this address of Shechaniah may with profit be noticed. First, it is worthy of attention, as noticed in the last chapter, how the Lord uses the faithful zeal of one to arouse others to the sense of their condition. Before the advent of Ezra, the consciences of all seem to have been deadened. Not even Jeshua or Zerubbabel appear to have been troubled because of the prevailing sin. Ezra was alone, and alone he would be, if necessary, in taking the part of God against the transgression of the people. But it needed courage and a single eye, and both these things Ezra, by grace, possessed. And he had God with him in the part he was taking; and now we see the effect. Shechaniah comes forward on behalf of the people, owns their sin, and accepts the necessity of subjection to the Word; and besides him there were those who trembled at the commandment of God (those alluded to in chap. 9:4), who had been drawn to the side of Ezra. In times of evil, the only path of blessing — and even of success, in its divine sense — is the path of fidelity.

It may also be pointed out that Shechaniah owns the authority of the Word. "Let it be done," he says, "according to the law." The restoration of the authority of the law over the ways, if not over the hearts and consciences, of the people was the object of Ezra's mission (Ezra 7:10), and God had now provided him with a helper in Shechaniah. There is, in truth, no other way of reformation amongst God's people.