Nov
25
Written by:
Route 365
11/25/2010 7:00 AM
Ezra 10
by Jamie Roussie
As Ezra’s story closes, I can't help but think that Israel is about to blow its second chance. It seems certain that this is inevitable for the exiles. God has brought them back into the land, but they’re blowing it again! What will save them from another turn through the punishing cycle of being in the land, driven out of it and then brought back to only fail again?
I see here Ezra's last recorded act of leadership. He calls the exiles to account for inter-marrying with the locals. Ezra’s contrition brings others to him who recognize the problem. Together, they decide on how to deal with it. The nation is called to an assembly and put to an oath to abandon their practices.
The swiftness with which Ezra and the other leaders respond to the problem is startling. I don’t see moral problems dealt with like this today. Given the circumstances, you'd think the exiles would have sufficient external motivation not to stray again from God's standards like their ancestors did. Not only is a great leader like Ezra unable to keep the exiles from straying away from God's standards. The homecoming the exiles were experiencing alone should have been enough to guard their fidelity.
To me, it seems that nothing about human nature has changed since the time of Ezra. Our flawed nature keeps us from achieving the standard God's law demands. Thankfully, God provided the means through Jesus to bring about the necessary change of heart. In his faithfulness to his chosen people, God sent Jesus to break the cycle of exile and return and bring about a true homecoming for his people.
A fellow traveler,
Jamie
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