| EZRA, A MAN OF THE HEART |
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| But racial purity was not Ezra's worry. Non-Jews like Rahab and Ruth, who converted to Judaism, had long been accepted into Israel. Ezra 6:21 suggests that outsiders who sought the Lord were still welcomed. Ezra's concern was that intermarriage represented a compromised faith that threatened the future existence of Israel. Tossing Away One Last Chance Marriage in those days was more than a personal matter. it created a political and religious alliance between two families. These mixed marriages were tying Israelites to other faiths - for Israel's neighbors worshiped idols, an act God hated. Ezra knew that his God must hold the only place in his people's hearts. They must be a special people with a sense of their unique destiny. The law told them not to intermarry (Exodus 34:15-16; Deuteronomy 7:3-6). (In a related situation Paul instructed Christians not to be "yoked to unbelievers" [2 Corinthians 6:14], though he told Christians already married to non-Christians not to divorce [1 Corinthians 7:12-16].) Ezra's prayer shows that petty technicalities of the law were far from his mind. His concerns involved the heart. He saw his people falling into the same pattern of compromise that had led God to give them up to the Babylonians years before. Had they learned nothing from their long exile? They were tossing away one last, remarkable chance to start over. Life Questions: Ezra saw intermarriage as a compromise in people's faith. Do people today make other compromises that have the same impact on their faith? |
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