Here We Go Again

It’s incredibly frustrating when you see folks making the same mistakes over and over again. How about when you see them making the same mistakes their parents made? And grandparents made? And great grandparents made? History has the habit of repeating itself. Over and over and over again. You’ve heard the expression, “Those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it.” That’s the situation Ezra and the Israelites face here in Ezra 9:1-5. After 70-plus years of slavery in Babylon, God’s people are resettling the Promised Land once again under the leadership of men like Zerubbabel and Ezra. But before you can blink your eyes, the Israelites are up to the same garbage that got them hauled off into captivity in the first place. Blatant disobedience to God. Hooking up with local hotties. Worshiping false gods. Here we go again.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Ezra has just hit town with a total traveling party somewhere between 7,000-8,000 people. That’s the number you get when you total the number of men listed in Ezra 8:2-20 (more than 1,500) and the best guess at the women, children, and elderly that would have come with them. They’ve traveling as a large caravan from Babylon to Jerusalem for almost four months. Despite carrying millions of dollars worth of silver and gold for the temple (Ez 8:26-27), God protected them through some of the most dangerous deserts in the ancient Near East (Ez 8:31). The returning exiles kick back for three days after their grueling road trip before delivering all of the holy hardware to the folks at the temple (Ez 8:33-34). They thank God by offering up burnt offerings of all sorts of livestock (Ez 8:35). There were just a couple more things on the arrival list. First, deliver all of the various royal documents to local governing officials and Persian bureaucrats (Ez 8:36). Second, help anyone needing immediate assistance whether they were part of the general population or workers at the temple.

It was at this point that some of the leaders broke the bad news to Ezra. “After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, ‘The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations’” (v1). The Big E hadn’t even had a chance to kick off his sandals when it hit the fan. This is going to be bad. REALLY bad. The corruption ran throughout the entire population. From top to bottom. Listing the people, the priests, and the Levites lets us know this is systemic sin. You would think leaders like the priests and Levites would set the standard for holy behavior among God’s people. Instead they’ve led the way INTO sin! “And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost” (v2). The leaders led…but in the wrong way!! They were actually the worst of all. Never underestimate the power of leadership, especially BAD leadership. 

Once again, the “people of the lands” are problem. Earlier they had caused all sorts of problems for Zerubbabel when his crew arrived a few decades before (Ez 4:4). The local people groups did everything they could to sabotage the rebuilding of the temple, eventually delaying the project for 16 years (Ez 4:5). Ezra runs down the roster of the local tribes that are causing problems. “The Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites” (v1). These are infamous names for God’s people. Many have been a pain in the Hebrew backside for thousands of years. More on that in a minute.

Israelite leaders report to Ezra that there’s all sorts of dating and intermarriage going on between God’s people and the local yokels. “For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands” (v2). Let’s make sure we know what is NOT going on here. God is NOT warning against intermarriage between races. This is not some racist scene out of the Jim Crow American South. The LORD isn’t about separating people but bringing them together. Solomon’s wife clearly had very dark skin (SoS 1:5-6). The Gospel spread like wildfire after Jesus’ resurrection throughout the Mediterranean rim. Paul made it clear that Christ has torn down every ethnic, racial, cultural, and societal barrier (Gal 3:28; Col 3:1). Before you make Ezra the grand dragon of the local KKK chapter, let’s make sure you know this has NOTHING to do with race. 

What has Ezra so freaked out is that all of these folks have chosen sex and companionship over devotion to God. When we make dating and marriage a priority over our relationship with Jesus, we’re on a VERY slippery slope. Craig Groeschel goes makes the point by telling the followers of Christ to look for their “two.” When we make Jesus the Lord of our lives, He’s our “One.” Everyone else can rise to no higher than number two in the polls. Clearly this order was WAY out of whack for the people, priests, and Levites. They didn’t must date and intermarry with people who didn’t worship God, they soon found themselves bowing to idols as well. Intermarriage with unbelievers results in pagan worship. That’s at the core of Paul’s warning against being joined to others (2Cor 6:14). Any sort of serious intentional partnership such as marriage to someone of another faith will compromise your worship of God. 

It’s not like these local people groups couldn’t turn away from their gods and worship the God of Israel. Earlier Ezra describes how not only the people of Israel celebrated Passover and were joined 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). This isn’t about racial discrimination. This is NOT about ethnic purity. This is about worshiping the same God.

Ezra didn’t have to see the end result to know where this was headed. He was fully aware of history. Way back when Moses was leading God’s people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land that very first time, Yahweh warned the Hebrews of what would happen. “Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and  you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods” (Ex 34:11-16). Just in case you’re wondering, whoring is not good. We see almost the same list of other people in Ezra. Just call them the usual suspects. Here we go again.

Despite God’s warning through Moses, the Israelites began hooking up with local pagan hotties and before you know it they were worshiping idols with their new wives (Num 25:1-3). Yahweh warns them a second time to stop fooling around with people who don’t worship and follow the God of Israel (Dt 7:1-2). “You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me to serve other gods” (Dt 7:3). It happened before and it’s happening again. 

In many ways, it was sort of stuff that led to God sending them into Babylonian captivity in the first place. That all started when the great King Solomon hopped into the sack with every beautiful woman he saw, no matter who she worshipped (1Ki 11:1-13). He turned his palace into the Playboy Mansion of Jerusalem. Even more disgusting than his shameful sexual escapades was the fact that Solomon lost his passion to serve and follow the LORD. Instead he ordered the construction of altars to the various idols for each of his honeys. And sadly, it won’t be the last time. In the coming years, both Nehemiah and Malachi will deal with the very same garbage (Neh 13:23-27; Mal 2:10-16). Yup, here we go again.

While we can’t be exactly sure what happened when “the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the land” (v2), Scripture gives us a few clues. Back during Moses’ day, local idolatry included child sacrifice. “They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Dt 12:31). I’m not an expert in family ministries, but this sure seems to be the wrong way to go when it comes to children’s church. Remember, God made a promise to Abraham to bless the world through His offspring (Gen 22:17-18). I’m pretty sure He wasn’t talking about burning them in the fire as child sacrifices. 

The people’s rampant unfaithfulness absolutely ripped apart Ezra’s heart. Twice he uses the word “faithlessness” (v2, 4).This is the Hebrew term ma’al, which describes a conscious unfaithful or treacherous act, a breach of trust, or infidelity. The people have failed to trust in the ultimate goodness of God to provide what they need. They’ve taken it upon themselves to get what they want. This is the sin of Eden all over again (Gen 3:1-7). The local ladies are forbidden fruit. Instead of letting the LORD provide something or someone better, they listened to their libido instead. Here we go again.

With his heart torn in two, Ezra shows his frustration in a very public fashion. “As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled” (v3). These are customary responses by an exasperated leader back in the day. And I’m sure it also hurt like the dickens. Twice the Big E describes his reaction as being “appalled” (Heb. shamem). It’s being stunned, stupefied, and devastated. Think of Col. Kurtz’ infamous words from “Apocalypse Now.” “The horror.” After all that they had been through together. After a lifetime of exile in Babylon. After a 1,000 mile expedition through the desert. After being an eyewitness to the very hand of God to make this all happen. After all of that, they turn their backs on the One who has been so good to bring them home only to start shacking up with local ladies who don’t know Yahweh. At the end of the day, he pleads with God over the gut-wrenching sin right in front of his eyes. The horror. Here we go again. 

Ezra has every reason to be shocked and outraged. It’s happened before. And it will happen again. But one day, One will come who is completely faithful. A little less than 500 years later, God will personally take on human flesh and do what we could never do for ourselves. He’ll live the perfect life that we failed to live. He’ll died the death for our sin that we should have died. He’ll rise to a spectacular new life that we don’t deserve. Christ Jesus will exhibit a trust in His Father that will never waver or wobble. I can’t say that about my faith. I place my trust in Who He is and what He’s done on my behalf. He’s faithful even when I’m not (2Tim 2:13). As a matter of fact, Jesus is the perfect Husband. His care and sacrificial love for His bride is the example for hubbies everywhere (Eph 5:23, 25-32). The faithlessness of the Israelites points us to the One who is perfectly faithful. One day, Ezra’s prayer will ultimately be answered in the form of a Rabbi/Carpenter from Galilee. Until then, here we go again.