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22 10 Raging Bull In addition, Ezra is appointed to bring treasures
of silver and gold to the temple. The text says that Ezra brings with him a copy of the
Mosaic Torah in order to regulate and unify Jewish life in the Restoration community,
and together Ezra and Nehemiah bring about a revival. Ezra's reforms are aimed at strengthening
the religious identity of the Judahites. He wants to revitalize morale and he also wants
to prevent the decline of Mosaic standards and to prevent the decline of biblical monotheism.
His two most important acts are the dissolution of foreign marriages (this is a first) and
his renewal of the covenant. I'll say a little bit first about the dissolution of foreign
marriages. Ezra is said to have been distressed when he arrived to discover that many of the
returned exiles had married with, we think, non-Israelite women. It's not clear. Sometimes
"peoples of the land" might refer to Judeans who had remained behind but who themselves
had perhaps become lax, in Ezra's eyes, in their observance of Mosaic standards. But
they had married women who seemed to follow pagan practices perhaps. Chapters 9 and 10
describe his efforts to reverse this trend. He begs God to forgive the people for this
violation of his law, and then at a great assembly, he calls upon all the people to
divorce their foreign spouses. Now, this isn't in fact Pentateuchal law plainly read. The
prohibition of marriage with any foreigner is a great innovation on Ezra's part, and
it's one that, as we shall see, was not universally accepted at all. The high incidence of intermarriage
is perhaps indicated by the fact that it took several months to identify all those who had
intermarried and to send away their spouses and their children. Even priests were among
those who didn't view intermarriage per se as a violation of the covenant. In the next
two lectures we'll see other perspectives on this question of integration of foreign
groups within the community. So I raise it as an issue now: we're going to see many different
attitudes as we move through the last section of the Bible. The text of Ezra's prayer before
God is a fascinating presentation of Ezra's interpretation of Israel's history and prior
texts, and again, constitutes yet another response to the calamity that had befallen
the nation; but [it] also constitutes another example of inner-biblical interpretation:
later levels, or layers within the biblical text turning to older traditions and interpreting
them, or reinterpreting them. So listen to how Ezra understands biblical tradition and
listen to how he interprets Israel's history. This is from Ezra 9, he's praying to God before
the assembled people. [Vv. 7-12] From the time of our fathers to this very
day we have been deep in guilt. Because of our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests
have been handed over to foreign kings, to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to
humiliation, as is now the case. But now, for a short while, there has been a reprieve
from the Lord our God, who has granted us a surviving remnant...
remember the prophetic idea of a remnant that would survive?
...and given us a stake in His Holy place; our God has restored the luster to our eyes
and furnished us with a little sustenance in our bondageů Now, what can we say in the
face of this, O our God, for we have forsaken Your commandments, which You gave us through
Your servants, the prophets when You said,
here he's quoting the Bible; 'The land that you are about to possess is
a land unclean through the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, through their abhorrent
practices with which they, in their impurity, have filled it from one end to the other.
Now then, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or let their daughters marry
your sons; do nothing for their well being or advantage, then you will be strong and
enjoy the bounty of the land and bequeath it to your children forever.'
So he's quoting earlier tradition. After all that has happened to us because
of our evil deeds and our deep guilt--though You, our God, have been forbearing, [punishing
us] less than our iniquity [deserves] in that You have granted us such a remnant as this--
shall we once again violate Your commandments by intermarrying with these people who follow
such abhorrent practices? Will You not rage against us till we are destroyed without remnant
or survivor?