| “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands … for they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons … and when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle … and sat down astonied (surprised)” (Ezra 9:1-3). |
| “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). |
| We see from the first verse today that there was a big problem in Ezra’s time with the people of Israel mixing with people who lived around them — people who worshiped idols, and did not know the true God. The men of Israel had intermarried with heathen women, and even had children by them. They were strictly forbidden to do this, by the law of Moses, yet they had disobeyed, and dishonored the Lord. More than this, some of those who married these heathen women were leaders in Israel — princes, rulers, priests, and Levites. |
| As a faithful man, Ezra was very concerned about this, but before doing anything about it, He sat down in the Lord’s presence, and prayed. This is a good way to act when we see something happen that dishonors the Lord, and it is touching to read Ezra’s prayer in this same chapter, for he takes his place as part of the failure. He does not pray as if he were faithful, and the people were guilty. Rather, he says “we have forsaken Thy commandments” (Ezra 9:10), and “we are before Thee in our trespasses” (Ezra 9:15). |
| He prayed to the Lord, and as a result, the people came to him and confessed that they had done wrong. They wanted to make it right, and Ezra helped them to do what was right before the Lord. |
| The Lord gives us the same kind of instruction today, as we read in the book of 2nd Corinthians. We are not to be yoked together with an unbeliever, whether in marriage, or in business, or in any other way. We should always be ready to help those who are not saved, and to share the gospel with them, but we should not be together with them. They may be very nice people on the surface, but they will never want to enjoy the things of Christ. They will always want the things of this world, and it will make trouble for us eventually. |
| Each one of us needs to remember this. In my lifetime I have known several Christians who have married unbelievers, and while it might have seemed to work for a while, eventually it caused trouble. We are never wiser than the Word of God. Let us obey it and have a happy Christian life. |
