Ezra 7-10 focuses on how the priest of Israel took non-Jewish women to be their wives and the wives of their sons. It seems like a strange thing to devote 4 whole chapters of the Bible to. It seems awfully racists and close-minded. What's wrong with interracial marriages? Is God prejudice?
Clearly the answer to that question is no. It's not the interracial part that God frowns upon, but He does not want us to be "yoked to unbelievers". Jesus says it. The problem with a Jew not marrying a Jew is not that Jew's are better - no! It's that a non-Jew doesn't have the covenant with God. That was the problem. A believer needs a believer as a spouse. Look at Solomon. All his many foreign wives were what distracted him from God. Song of Solomon is not written to one of the foreign wives, but to a Jewish bride. I think it's intentional...
What's interesting in Ezra is how quickly every repents. For once, Israel recognizes their mistake and repents. They mourn and feel terribly guilty. They make offerings and fast. They recognize that God could punish them more, but He is punishing them less than their sins deserve (9:13). Isn't that true for all of us? God punishes me way less than my sins deserve. Why do I never fall and rip my clothes in anguish because of the iniquities in my life?
I think these chapters of Ezra are a call to take our sins much more seriously. We have to respond according to the grievousness of our actions. Yes, Jesus has paid the price and we are forgiven. However, we still messed up and need to ask for that forgiveness. God forgave these people because they humbled themselves. We must always do the same.
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