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; Harim and Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah; Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer; Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the porters; Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; and of the sons of Elam; and of the sons of Zattu; of the sons also of Bebai; the sons of Bani” and “the sons of Pahathmoab”, and in chapter ten and verse thirty-one of Ezra, Ezra added “the sons of Harim”, where we read,
And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,
The verse reads, “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” which means “belonging to Harim whose name means dedicated”. Ezra shared how the male offspring of “Harim” were also among the men of Israel who married foreign women and became separated from them.
The verse continues, “Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon,” Ezra added the word, “Eliezer” whose name means “God is help”, “Ishijah” or “Jehovah will lend”, “Malchiah” which means “my king is Jehovah”, “Shemaiah” or “heard by Jehovah”, “Shimeon” which means “heard”. Ezra shared how the men of Israel whose names mean, “God is help, Jehovah will lend, my king is Jehovah, heard by Jehovah and heard” were among the men who married pagan women and subsequently put them away.
When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we discover through Ezra more of the names of the men of Israel who intermarried with the foreign women. They heard God's directive through Ezra to separate from their wives, and they obeyed. God calls upon us to receive His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind as our personal “Savior and Lord”, and when we do, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a passion to obey His Holy Spirit as He guides us into all truth and empowers us to live according to the truth we learn.
Next time Ezra mentions, “Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah”, 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".
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