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NASB | Ezra 10:3 "So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ezra 10:3 "Therefore let us now make a covenant with our God to send away all the [foreign] wives and their children, in accordance with the advice of my lord and of those who tremble [in reverent obedience] at the commandment of our God; and let it be done in accordance with the Law. |
Bible Question:
I am a little stunned by the end of Ezra -- it is so concerned with racial purity. I wonder what happened to all of the wives and children? ... and I think of the grief that divorce causes children: to turn to divorce as a societial solution would have such devistating effects for the next generation... Are we to see holiness in this covenant? JRM |
Bible Answer: I can only cite the following passages to make a point: Josh 10:20 It came about when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished slaying them with a very great slaughter, until they were destroyed, and the survivors who remained of them had entered the fortified cities, Josh 10:28 Now Joshua captured Makkedah on that day, and struck it and its king with the edge of the sword; he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Thus he did to the king of Makkedah just as he had done to the king of Jericho. Josh 10:35 They captured it on that day and struck it with the edge of the sword; and he utterly destroyed that day every person who was in it, according to all that he had done to Lachish. Josh 10:37 They captured it and struck it and its king and all its cities and all the persons who were in it with the edge of the sword. He left no survivor, according to all that he had done to Eglon. And he utterly destroyed it and every person who was in it. Josh 10:39 He captured it and its king and all its cities, and they struck them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor. Just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libnah and its king. Josh 10:40 Thus Joshua struck all the land, the hill country and the Negev and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. I must admit I knew that the Lord commanded Joshua and his army to do this, this is destroy whole cities but I'd forgotten just how many times Joshua obeyed. It's a little scary to think about falling into the hands of such a God unprepared. We can only conclude that our God is spiritual and we as human beings tend to be addicted to this physical life. We're encouraged to give up that addiction and look forward to the next life hereafter. But I'll agree with you it's tough to do. Just pray that we can mature and finally trust God completely. You know of course that God did all this destruction through Joshua for the same reason as shown in 1 Ki 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter-Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. God bless. --Rowdy |