The Problem of Foreign Wives

Click here to read Ezra 9.

Chapter 9 records their first problem with sin:

1. Their enemies had been "quieted".
2. There was peace in the land.
3. No Pagan idols, no golden calves, no "high Places" existed.
4. The Temple was much respected and services duly kept.

Yet all was not well. A problem was brought to the attention of Ezra. "Many marriages had been made with 'foreign' wives." This disobeyed God's command that forbid all intimacy with heathen people. The sin was not just committed by people who were ignorant of the Law, but had been a practice of many priests and Levites who knew better.

Ezra was grief stricken. He rent his cloths, pulled his hair and was filled with great sorrow. He made a great confession to God for the people and pleaded for their forgiveness. He laid it all before the Lord.

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