Father Knows Best

TV sitcoms come in all shapes and sizes. All sorts of characters. All sorts of families. All sorts of situations. But there’s one character you’ll find no matter what network you’re watching. The incompetent dad. You know who I’m talking about. From Homer of “The Simpsons” to Phil Dunphy of “Modern Family.” Dad isn’t the authority but the butt of the joke. Now it wasn’t always that way. Back in a previous millennium, we had a parade of great dads on the Philco. Ward Cleaver of “Leave It to Beaver.” Andy Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show.” We even had Jim Anderson on “Father Knows Best.” Week after week, these dads would lovingly come to aid of their families and rescue them in just 30 minutes.

In Ezra 9:10-15, the leader of the Jewish people goes to their heavenly Dad to save their bacon (okay, maybe “bacon” isn’t exactly the most kosher image but you get the idea). The Israelites are in trouble. BIG trouble. They’ve broken one of God’s big family rules. Don’t date and marry someone who doesn’t worship God. It eventually leads to all sorts of problems including idolatry. Don’t confuse hooking up with a local pagan hottie with evangelism. Ezra has just led a second Jewish resettlement campaign from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Seventy years of exile are basically in the rearview mirror. But before they’ve even unpacked their luggage, folks hopping in the sack with non-Jews (Ez 9:1-2). As their leader, Ezra goes to the only One who can help (Ez 9:5-9). God. Yahweh. That’s because our heavenly Father knows best.

As a loving leader accountable for God’s people, Ezra humbles himself before the LORD on their behalf. It’s not “their iniquities” but “our iniquities.” It’s not “their guilt” but “our guilt” (Ez 9:6-7). He goes on to praise God for His overwhelming goodness as the only reason they have been allowed to return to the Promised Land (Ez 9:8-9). But something horrible has happened once they hit the homeland. “For we have forsaken your commandments” (v10). This isn’t exactly breaking news in the throne room of heaven. God is perfectly aware that His people have the hots for the locals. He knows exactly what’s going on. But Ezra knows that confession and repentance are a huge part of the healing. He doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t blame shift. He admits. He confesses. He repents.

At this point, the Big E gets specific. He says out loud what’s going down. They’re not just breaking any commandment. They’re breaking a very old commandment. This is a law “which You commanded by your servants the prophets” (v11). God had used not just one handpicked spokesman but a series of them to make sure He got His divine point across. Apparently He reminded them a lot because they broke it a lot. Back in Moses’ day, the LORD had specific instructions for dating and marriage for His people before they unpacked their bags in the Promised Land. As Ezra prays, he recalls those commands without quoting them specifically (Ex 34:11-16; Dt 7:1-6). First God makes it clear that while this is a land dripping with milk and honey, it’s also “a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness” (v11). He’s not saying the local residents need a housekeeper. He’s talking about the nauseating practices of their false religions. Prostitutes. Porn. Child sacrifice. It’s some sick stuff. 

Because of that, God warns His chosen people not to get romantically involved with this disgusting dumpster fire. “Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity” (v12). These Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites aren’t supposed to be a target rich environment for dating. And it doesn’t mean  these local folks can’t kick their idols to the curb and bow before the God of Israel. Earlier, Ezra writes about the big Passover feast “was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and also by every one who had joined them and separated himself from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the LORD, the God of Israel” (Ez 6:21). But remember, dating is NOT a means of evangelism. Our heavenly Father knows best.

The reason God gives this critical command is that He knows exactly what will happen. He’s not some cosmic killjoy trying to keep His people from having a good time. It’s for their own good. If they avoid hooking up with the local pagans, “you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever” (v12). Intermarriage with folks of false religions will weaken society. It will compromise a culture focused on God. And it will ultimately ruin what is left for the next generation and the generations to come. The omniscient LORD sees perfectly what will go down once the people head down this pagan path. This command is for their own good. He’s actually protecting them from themselves. Our heavenly Father knows best.

So how do you see God and His commands? Is some supernatural wet blanket that doesn’t want you to have any fun? Or is a loving parent who sees the land mines in your life and is guiding you around them? I may not realize it but God’s commands protect me from myself. They protects me from my own destructive choices. What looks like a hoot is actually harmful. And even crazier, obedience to His law brings me the greatest joy. Yup, our heavenly Father knows best.

Meanwhile Ezra continues to pray for himself and the people. He knows that God should have really dropped the hammer on them for what they’ve done (v13). He’s talking about the sin and rebellion that led to their exile in Babylon. Yahweh would have been in the right to wipe the Israelites off the face of the planet for what they’ve done. But He didn’t. He’s allowed a remnant of the original nation to return. And now what have they done in return? “We break Your commandments again, and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would You not be angry with us until You consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?” (v14). After this latest epic fail, who would blame God if He nuked His people once and for all? After all, our heavenly Father knows best.

The Big E praises God as the only One in the universe who always does what is right. “O LORD, the God of Israel, You are just” (v15). He knows he’s praying to One who knows what to do. He trusts in God’s goodness. He trusts in God’s justice. Because God is just, He must punish sin. But here’s the crazy thing. He won’t just be just, He’ll do the justifying! A few hundred years later, the Apostle Paul writes to his Roman friends about how “He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26). Ezra places the fate of the Israelites in the hands of the very same good God who will justify those who trust in the grace of Christ.

Our heavenly Father knows best.