The Sons of Harim - Ezra 10:21

In the book of Ezra, Ezra began to name the offspring of the children of Israel who put away their strange wives by listing, “the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah”, and in chapter ten and verse twenty-one of Ezra, Ezra added “the sons of Harim”, where we read,

And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.

The verse reads, “And of the sons of Harim;” Ezra began with the words, “and of the sons” or “and pertaining to the male offspring and progeny” “of Harim” or “belonging to Harim whose name means dedicated”. Ezra included the male offspring belonging to “Harim” in the group of men who married pagan wives. 

The verse goes on to say, “Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah.” Ezra continued with the word, “Maaseiah” whose name means “work of Jehovah”, “and Elijah” or “and Elijah whose name means my God is Jehovah”, “and Shemaiah” which means “heard by Jehovah”, “and Jehiel” whose name means “God lives”, “and Uzziah” whose name means “my strength is Jehovah”. Ezra added “Maaseiah, Elijah, Shemaiah, Jehiel, and Uzziah” to the list of men who intermarried with the foreign people and separated from them.

When we think through Ezra's words in this verse, we discover more of the men of Israel who married pagan wives and separated from them after being convicted of their sin. “The sons of Harim” named “Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah” were among the men who married pagan women but separated from them after Ezra called them to do so. God, through His Holy Spirit, will convict us of our sins, and when we receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a willingness to repent and be altered in any area He reveals needs to be changed. 

Next time Ezra shares about, “the sons of Pashur”, 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".