In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab. And their children spoke half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people. And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin”, and in chapter thirteen and verse twenty-seven of Nehemiah, Nehemiah asked, “shall we then hearken unto you to do all this evil?” where we read,
Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil,
to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?
The verse reads, “Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “shall we then hearken unto you” which means “are we, Nehemiah and the people of Judah, therefore, wherefore and on this account to listen, give heed, pay attention to and obey you, men of Judah who intermarried with foreign women” “to do all this great evil” or “to perform and produce the whole and every portion of this abundant and massive bad, disagreeableness, malignancy and unpleasantness”. Nehemiah asked whether he and the other people of Judah should listen and take heed to the men who married foreign women like Solomon did and suffered for doing so.
The verse goes on to say, “... to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?” Nehemiah continued with the words, “to transgress against our God” or “to act unfaithfully, treacherously and covertly in opposition to our, Nehemiah and the people of Israel's, Supreme Deity” “in marrying strange wives” which means “in being wedded to foreign and alien female spouses”? Nehemiah continued to ask whether he and the people of Judah were to act treacherously in opposition to their Supreme Deity by intermarrying with foreign women.
When we think through the words in this verse, we discover how Nehemiah questioned the Jewish men who married foreign women whether he and the other people of Judah should listen to and obey them because of the difficulties Solomon experienced because he married foreign women. Nehemiah knew intermarrying with foreign people violated God's instruction, (See Deuteronomy 7:2-4) and if he and the other men of Judah followed the path of the men of Judah who married foreign women, they would sin against God as well. God gave us His laws, direction, instruction and ways because He knows what is best for us. When He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and resurrected Him from the dead after three days, He made access to a personal relationship with Him when we put our faith and trust in Him. When we submit to Jesus, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit in us to guide us into all truth and empower us to live according to that truth so we do not sin against Him. (See John 16:13; Acts 1:8)
Next time Nehemiah shares about the son in law of Sanballat, “I chased him from me”, 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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