In the book of Ezra, Ezra said, “O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken your commandments, which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which you go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness....”, and in chapter nine and verse twelve of Ezra, Ezra said, “give not your daughters unto their sons”, where we read,
Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
The verse reads, “Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever:” Ezra began with the words, “now therefore give not your daughters” which means “at this time, then, wherefore and on this account do not bestow, devote, consecrate or commit your, the people of Israel's, female offspring and progeny” “unto their sons” or “to their, the foreign people's, male offspring and progeny”,“neither take their daughters” which means “no and not in any way bear up, sustain, endure or accept their, the foreign people's, female offspring and progeny” “unto your sons” or “to your, the people of Israel's, male offspring and progeny”,“nor seek their peace” that means “no and not in any way search for, require and demand their, the foreign people's, completeness, soundness and welfare” “or their wealth for ever” or “no and not in any way their, the foreign people's, good, pleasantness, agreeableness or excellence even and up to long duration, futurity, everlasting, perpetually and evermore”. Ezra shared how he instructed the people of Israel not to intermarry among the foreign people, nor were they to search for their tranquility, completeness or excellence perpetually.
The verse goes on to say, “that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.” Ezra continued with the words, “that you may be strong” which means “so you, people of Israel, might exist as powerful, mighty and prevailing”, “and eat the good” which means “and consume and devour goodness, prosperity, beauty and joy” “of the land” or “belonging to the country, territory, region and district”, “and leave it” which means “and seize, dispossess, occupy and inherit the land” “for an inheritance” or “as a possession” “to your children for ever” which means “toward your, the people of Israel's, offspring and progeny to long duration, futurity, everlasting, perpetually and evermore”. Ezra said the result of not intermarrying with the foreign people's sons and daughters nor searching for the tranquility and goodness of the foreigners would be that Israel would exist as mighty, would consume the goodness from the country and leave behind a possession for their offspring unto perpetuity.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how Ezra instructed the people of Israel to respond to his prayer by not allowing their children to marry the offspring of the foreign nations. They were not to search for the “peace” of their foreign nations, nor were they to seek after their “wealth”. God's promise to Israel when they obeyed these words was that they would be powerful, partake of the goodness of the land and be able to “leave” a possession for their offspring. God wanted the people of Israel to be separate and set apart from the foreign nations even as He wants us to separated from the influence of the world. God loves us, and He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and separate us from the wickedness and evil in the world so we may gain His “inheritance” for all eternity.
Next time Ezra says, “after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds”, 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".
No comments:
Post a Comment