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, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah; Joseph and of the sons of Nebo”, and in chapter ten and verse forty-four of Ezra, Ezra said, “all these had taken strange wives” where we read,
All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.
The verse reads, “All these had taken strange wives:”. Ezra began with the words, “all these” or “each, every, the whole and everyone of the men of Israel who were listed” “had taken strange wives” which means “received and married unknown, alien and foreign female spouses”. Ezra shared how every one of the men listed by him intermarried with foreign women.
The verse goes on to say, “and some of them had wives by whom they had children.” The verse continues, “and some of them had wives” or “and a number or few of the men of Israel possessed female spouses” “by whom they had children”which means “through which they, the men of Israel, possessed offspring and progeny”. Ezra said a number of the men of Israel who intermarried with foreign women had “children” by them.
When we consider the words in this verse, we see how Ezra affirmed once again that the men of Israel he listed intermarried with foreign women, and a number of them possessed offspring by those women. This final verse of the book of Ezra should remind us that God is aware of our sin and wrong doing, and when we humble ourselves, repent of our sins and 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 desire and passion to be obedient to Him any time He reveals wrong-doing within us.
Next time we being the book of Nehemiah,, 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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