Employed About This Matter - Ezra 10:15

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us”, and in chapter ten and verse fifteen of Ezra, Ezra shared about those who were, “employed about this matter”, where we read,

Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: 

and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.

The verse reads, “Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter:”Ezra began with the words, “only Jonathan” or “solely Jonathan whose name means Jehovah has given” “the son of Asahel” or “the male offspring and progeny belonging to Asahel whose name means God-made” “and Jahaziah” which means “and Jahazian whose name means Jehovah views” “the son of Tikvah” or “the male offspring and progeny belonging to Tikvah whose name means hope” “were employed about this matter” which means “stood, remained and endured concerning the matter of separating from their pagan foreign wives”. Ezra shared how “Jonathan and Jahaziah”were called upon to solve the situation with the putting away of the pagan wives. 

The verse goes on to say, “and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.” Ezra continued with the words, “and Meshullam” whose name means “friend” “and Shabbethai” whose name means “sabbatical” “the Levite” which means “the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and were specially set aside by God for His service” “helped them” or “gave aid to “Jonathan and Johaziah”. Ezra shared how “Meshullam and Shabbethai” assisted “Jonathan and Jahaziah” with the putting away the foreign female spouses belonging to the men of Israel. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra how solely “Jonathan and Jahaziah” assisted in the separating of the pagan wives from the men of Israel, and “Meshullam and Shabbethai” “helped” them perform this act. God often uses people to “help” one another in their personal relationship with Him, and when we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a passion to be a part of His Kingdom work to reach other people to be in a relationship with Him. 

Next time Ezra says, “the children of the captivity did so”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".