Shallum, Amariah and Joseph - Ezra 10:42

In the book of Ezra, Ezra began to name the male 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; the sons of Pahathmoab; the sons of Harim; the sons of Hashum; the sons of Bani” and “Shelemiah and Nathan, and Adaiah, Azareel, Shelemiah and Shemariah” and in chapter ten and verse forty-two of Ezra, Ezra added “Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph”, where we read,

Shallum, Amariah and Joseph

The verse reads, “Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph”. Ezra began with the word, “Shallum” or “retribution”,“Amariah”which means “Jehovah speaks or Yah(u) has promised”, “and Joseph” or “and Jehovah has added”. Ezra shared how the men of Israel whose names mean, “retribution, Jehovah speaks and Jehovah has added” were included in the list of men who married foreign wives and put them away at the command of Jehovah God through him. 

When we meditate upon Ezra's words in this verse, we discover three more names of the men of Israel who intermarried with foreign woman and subsequently separated from them when God through Ezra told them to do so. God was purifying the nation of Israel, and after returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and reestablish worship, their first step was to cleanse themselves from pagan influences. God wants us to turn from our sinful ways as well, 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 desire to be holy even as He is holy in this world. (See 1 Peter 1:15) 

Next time Ezra added, “the sons of Nebo”, 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".