01/18/2023 – Day 325 – Ezra 6:10 – An open question left from last cycle – 04/07/2021…
This is an open question that we have not pondered and discussed yet, at least I haven’t.:
So, why the difference between these two: between Ezra’s time and Paul’s time in the early Christian church , one saying you must separate, even if you have kids, and in Paul’s day, the believing spouse is commanded not to divorce them, as long as the non-believing spouse is willing to stay.?
The answer we know is God is sovereign but it still can be pondered as to the situation in each case. Perhaps, in the case of Ezra times, it was a threat to the very survival of the Jewish family, thereby the community. In Paul’s day, the diaspora was dead ahead in A.D. 70 with the complete destruction of Jerusalem and the surviving tribes of Judah and Benjamin. So, you might have a strange situation where a Jewish man would not marry a Christian woman within the diaspora post A.D. 70.
I also think that the Jews in the post – diaspora, had been humbled, so they had a natural resolve to support the community and one another. Prior to the diaspora, the people were arrogant, thinking that as the “chosen people”, they were impregnable. So, what is the big deal about foreign wives? Enough faith to “talk the talk” , but not nearly enough to live the faith , walking with the Lord. I think that mirrors the attitude today in the U.S. We are spoiled and weak, living off the strength of our forefathers, as flawed as they were. (“The best of men are men at best”)
Look at 8:22: It is commendable I believe that the remnant community were ashamed to ask the Persian King for protection from enemies in their return to Jerusalem, given that they had told Him before: “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to Him.” So, they went into prayer and walked their talk by foregoing the King’s protection. That is a real step out in faith!
Not that anyone is paying much attention, but the Messianic Jewish community is proliferating in our day. It stands to reason, for like the rapid growth of the Iranian church, they are starting from a relative -0-. We are the one remnant Church of Jesus Christ that will never be defeated, even as the “world” crumbles in end times.
No matter, wherever we are in history, fight where we are to His glory! If we take that stand as a vastly outnumbered minority in faith like the returning nation of Israel, does not that honor Him all the more?
Soli Deo Gloria indeed!