Results 1 - 5 of 5
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Intermarriage | Ezra 9:2 | srbaegon | 115520 | ||
Hello ischus, Let me quote from the Expositor's Bible Commentary on the issue of putting away the foreign wives. Though the actions of Ezra and later of Nehemiah may strike some readers as harsh, they were more than racial or cultural measures and were necessary to preserve the spiritual heritage of Israel. Both from the principle and from exceptions to the rule, warnings against intermarriage were clearly concerned not so much about racial miscegenation as about spiritual adulteration. David Bossman ("Ezra's Marriage Reform: Israel Redefined," BTh 9 [1979]: 32-38) argues that Ezra's purification of the people followed a "priestly ideal of separation from all that is unclean." What happened to a Jewish community that was lax concerning intermarriage can be seen from the example of the Elephantine settlement contemporary with Ezra and Nehemiah. Intermarriages took place among both lay leaders and priests. According to Porten (Archives, p. 174), "Some of the pagans who married Jews may have, like the early Samaritans, continued to worship their ancestral god(s) at the same time that they adopted the worship of YHW. Conversely, some of these Jews occasionally expressed devotion to the god(s) of their spouses at the same time that they continued to revere YHW." The Jews at Elephantine worshiped not only Yahweh, but the goddess Anath-Yahweh (cf. Jer 7:16-18; B. Porten, "The Religion of the Jews of Elephantine in Light of the Hermopolis Papyri," JNES 28 [1969]: 116-21). Myers (The World of the Restoration, p. 122) concludes: "It is not accidental that Jewish communities in exile gradually disintegrated--for example, the one at Elephantine.... A pure cult with a pure people conducted in their religious and domestic affairs in a pure language was essential." I don't understand the comparison with Jer 29. In that passage the Lord directs them to marry and have families, but it does not say to marry the Babylonian women. I'm not sure where you were going with that. Steve |
||||||
2 | Intermarriage | Ezra 9:2 | ischus | 115538 | ||
Steve, After Israel returns from exile, the is never another account of them falling into idol worship or polytheism. I am sure that those who took wives were well aware of what they were doing, and were fully commited to Yahweh when they married. Also, Do you have anything to say about the divorce that was "commanded" or the fact that God never has a problem with people marrying Gentiles as long as they remain faithful to him? |
||||||
3 | Intermarriage | Ezra 9:2 | Emmaus | 115542 | ||
ischus, I will say that even in the New Covenant beliervers are warned against being "unequally yoked" to unbelivers and the mixed marriages there are only tolerated because they were contracted before the beliver came to faith. I have no idea of your age or background but the real practical problems of mixed faith marriages are not insignificant nor easily overcome, even in a loving relationship, once the haze of infatuation has lifted and children start arriving. Ask around to those who have been there and are there. I guess if God could command Hosea to marry a whore to make a point, Ezra upon whom "God had his hand" might command divorce to make a point. Moses gave laws on divorce because of the hardness of men's hearts despite God hating divorce. However, you are entitled to your opinion on Ezra. I am trying to find another particular passage that you might find sinmilarly fascinating. Emmaus |
||||||
4 | God gives statutes that are not good? | Ezra 9:2 | Emmaus | 115543 | ||
ischus, What is your take on this verse, does God give statutes that are not good? "I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the LORD." Ezek 2:25-26 Emmaus |
||||||
5 | God gives statutes that are not good? | Ezra 9:2 | Emmaus | 115545 | ||
Incorrect citation. Should be Ezek 20:25-26 | ||||||