When These Things Were Done - Ezra 9:1

In the book of Ezra, Ezra said the exiled people of Israel, “delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God”, and in chapter nine and verse one of Ezra, Ezra shared what happened, “when these things were done” where we read,

Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

The verse reads, “Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, ...” Ezra began with the words, “now when these things were done” which means “at the time and moment the presenting of the sacrifices and the decrees of the king being delivered to his officials was performed, accomplished and complete”, “the princes came to me” or “the rulers, leaders, chieftains and officials approached and drew near to me, Ezra”,  “saying” which means “uttering, declaring and proclaiming” the following words. Ezra shared how the leaders and rulers approached Ezra after the burnt sacrifices were offered and the decrees of the king were presented and said the following words. 

The verse continues, “... the people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, ...” Ezra added the words, “the people of Israel” which means “the human beings belonging to Israel whose name means God prevails and is the name of the descendants and the nation of the descendants of Jacob”, “and the priests” which means “and the spiritual spokesmen and leaders”, “and the Levites” or “and the descendants of Levi whose name means joined to and were specially set aside by God for His service”, “have not separated themselves” which means “have in no way or manner severed, divided and set apart their own selves” “from the people of the lands” or “separate and apart from the human beings belonging to the country, district, territory and nations”, “doing according to their abominations” which means “performing disgusting, abominable and abhorrent acts in keeping with their sinful ways”. Ezra shared how the “people” within the nation of “Israel” as well as the spiritual leaders and the descendants of Levi did not set themselves apart from the abhorrent acts of the “people” within the country and territory.

Finally the verse says, “even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.” Ezra concluded this verse with the words, “even of the Canaanites” or “pertaining to the Canaanites whose name means zealous”, “the Hittites” who were the “descendants of Heth”, “the Perizzites” whose name means “belonging to a village and were people who inhabited southern Canaan prior to the conquest”, “the Jebusites” which refers to “the descendants of Jebus who was the third son of Canaan who lived in or around the site of Jebus and was the early name for Jerusalem”, “the Ammonites” or “the people whose name means tribal and referred to the descendants of Ammon and inhabited Ammon”, “the Moabites” which means “from father and inhabited the land of Moab”, “the Egyptians” or “the people whose name means double straits and inhabited the land of Egypt”, “and the Amorites” which refers to “and the people whose name means a sayer and was one of the people groups of east Canaan and beyond the Jordan who were dispossessed by the Israelite incursion from Egypt”. Ezra ended this verse by referring to the “Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and the Amorites” who were among the people who were not only foreign to the people of Israel, but also committed abhorrent acts which influenced them.

When we consider the words in this verse, we learn through Ezra who influenced the people of Israel toward evil. This behavior was against Jehovah God and was sinful, and we shall see how Ezra addresses this problem. God knows we “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (See Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (See Romans 6:23) For this reason God sent His Son into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind, and when we yield to Him as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and cleanse us from all influences of iniquity that arise in our lives. 

Next time Ezra said, “they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons”, 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".