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Why did Ezra demand that believing Jews divorce their unbelieving Gentile wives?
O Chapter 1.3 (Ezra): The Temple was rebuilt and the people purified from marriages with unbelievers
§U Introduction: The Jews began returning to Judah to rebuild the Temple with the blessing and help of the king of Persia
¶O Cyrus king of Persia called upon the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple (1:1-11)
¶O The Jews gathered themselves together and returned to Judah (2:1-70)
§C Body: The Jews rebuilt the Temple of Jehovah in spite of many obstacles
¶U The Jews laid the foundation of the Temple of Jehovah (3:1 - 3:13)
¶C The enemies of the Jews succeeded in stopping the building of the Temple until there was a new king (4:1 - 4:24)
¶C The Lord opened the door for the building of the Temple to be completed (5:1 - 6:22)
¶O Artaxerxes king of Persia gave Ezra a commission to help rebuild the Temple of Jehovah (7:1 - 7:28a)
¶O The journey of Ezra to Jerusalem with many people and gifts of silver and gold (7:28b - 8:36)
§C Conclusion: Ezra confessed the sins of the people and led them to break their unlawful marriages to unbelieving Gentiles
¶C Ezra confessed the sins of the people in marrying with unbelieving Gentiles, which brought corruption into the true religion of Jehovah (9:1 - 9:15)
¶C Ezra led the men who had taken unbelieving Gentile wives to divorce them (10:1 - 10:44)
For the best understanding of the context of this study, you should read through the detailed studies on Ezra before reading this study.
“And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. And they made an end with all the men that had taken Gentile wives by the first day of the first month. And among the sons of the priests there were found men that had taken Gentile wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren: Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.” (Ezra 10:16b - 10:19)
“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in your midst; but you shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their images of Asherah. For you shall worship no other god: for Jehovah, whose Name is Jealous, is a jealous God: lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice to their gods, and one calls you, and you eat of his sacrifice; and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make your sons go a whoring after their gods.” (Exodus 34:12-16)
Now before you call Ezra and these Jews a pack of evil bigots for divorcing their wives just because they were Gentiles and not Jews, I would like you to place yourselves in their shoes for a few moments:
You live in the days before Jesus walked the earth, and there are no churches, no evangelists, no missionaries, and no pastors as we would recognize them today; and especially there are no “denominations” or different churches that one can go to if you disagree with the pastor on some point.
There is only one spiritual leader: the high priest in Jerusalem. There is only one congregation: the congregation of Israel. There is only one “group” on the face of the Earth that represents the worship of the one true God, Jehovah; and that group is the Jewish people of Israel.
Outside your group is everyone else in the world, and they are VERY religious, for the most part. Temples to demonic gods abound in every street in every Gentile city: Baal, Ashtoreth, Moloch, and thousands of others (perhaps even millions) not mentioned in the Bible.
Anyone who is not a Jew is, for all intents and purposes, a devil-worshiper; or at least, not a worshiper of the one true God Jehovah. So marrying someone who is a devil worshiper means that you have invited Satan into your home and family life. And even an agnostic or an atheist is tantamount to the same thing as a devil worshiper, since their sins are not forgiven yet and (whether they know it or not) are serving Satan, because they have not believed on the one true God Jehovah.
Therefore God, in order to safeguard the spiritual integrity of his people, commanded Israel not to marry anyone who was not a Believer. There were exceptions to this rule for marrying captives of war; but the general rule as stated in Exodus was the rule.
Isn’t this the same thing that was taught by the Apostles? It is indeed:
“And you, being dead in trespasses and sins; in which in time past you walked according to the course of this Age, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conduct in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)
“Little children, let no man deceive you; he that works righteousness is righteous, even as Jesus is righteous. He that continually sins is of the devil: for the devil sins from the beginning. The Son of God was manifested for this purpose, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin: for his Seed remains in him; and he cannot practice sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: whosoever does not do righteous works is not of God; neither he that does not love his Christian brother” (I John 3:7-10)
“Therefore be followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But as for fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becoming saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not good; but rather giving of thanks. For you know this, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man (who is an idolater) has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the children of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them: for at one time you were darkness; but now you are Light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth); testing all things to see what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather rebuke them: for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” (Ephesians 5:1-12)
“Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what agreement has Christ with Belial? Or what part has he that believes with an infidel? And what agreement has the Temple of God with idols? For all of you are a Temple of the Living God. As God has said, “‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God; and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord; ‘and touch not the unclean thing. And I will receive you, and will be a Father to you; and you shall be my sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit; perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)
So what is “the rule”? The Biblical “rule” (if that is the right word) is that Believers (of any Age/Dispensation in the Bible) are forbidden from marrying an unbeliever. Why? Because entering into a covenant of marriage also brings a Believer into close communion with whatever demons that unbeliever brings with them; and unbelievers ALWAYS bring demons with them, since they are foreigners/aliens from the one true God and do not know Him as their Savior and Lord.
God wants his children (of all Dispensations) to be free from the influence and control of demons. Satan is the “god of this world”, and if you are a child “of disobedience”, then you are a child of the devil and subject to his influence and control.
Ezra was simply putting into practice what God had commanded for his people, for their own spiritual good and blessing. The Jewish men of his day had sinned and married Gentile women who did not identify with the faith of Israel, and so were not Believers. It had nothing to do with their skin color or even their race. It had everything to do with their lack of faith in Jehovah, the one true God.
In Ezra’s day, everyone who believed in Jehovah, the God of Israel, identified with Jehovah their God by becoming a Jew/a Jewish convert. So all those outside of Israel were children of the devil, and those inside of Israel (at least theoretically) were children of the one true God, Jehovah.
It is the same today: we are forbidden (2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1) by God from marrying an unbeliever (i.e. a person who is not yet Born again by faith in Jesus Christ). Today, anyone who has not been Born again (John 3:3-5) by faith in Jesus is a child of the devil and is your spiritual enemy if you are a Born again Christian (there is no other kind). Marrying your enemy is a very bad idea, even if they have a smile on their face and they are physically attractive. It will end up destroying you, and you will regret it forever.
The same is also true of allowing a lost person to join your church. You are effectively bringing their demons into your church with them, which at the very least will cause even more sin and heartache than you have already in your church. Lost people must repent and be cleansed of their sins BEFORE they join your church, or their spiritual uncleanness will poison the spiritual Life of your church. Please interview carefully anyone who asks to join your church to ensure to the maximum extent possible that only true born-again believers are members of your church.
The spiritual purity of your church and the spiritual purity of your marriage are the very same issue. God wants spiritual purity and holiness in both places, so that you may serve Him with as little interference from Satan as possible.
But what about if you were saved after you were already married, and your wife/husband wants nothing to do with Jesus or the Bible? Or what if you sinned against God and married an unbeliever after you were saved? The answers are complicated, because life itself is complicated. However, I have a page on my website in which I have dealt with these questions in light of some of the same topics that we just discussed. If you are curious about how to apply the Word of God to your situation or someone else’s situation, then I encourage you to visit this page and read it. It won’t take long, but it is longer than I want to spend here.
Here is the address: https://www.phibible.org/info/DivorceMarriage/Divorce_Remarriage.html