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 in chapter thirteen and verse twenty-five of Nehemiah, Nehemiah said, “and I contended with them” where we read,
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.
The verse reads, “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, ...” Nehemiah began with the words, “and I contended with them” which means “and I, Nehemiah, physically strove and made a complaint with the Jewish men who married foreign women”, “and cursed them” or “and trifled, dishonored and made despicable the Jewish men who married foreign women”, “and smote certain of them” which means “and struck, hit, scourged and beat a particular number of the Jewish men who married foreign women”, “and plucked off their hair” or “and scoured, made bald and peeled their, the Jewish men who married foreign women's, physical hair on their heads”, “and made them swear” which means “and adjured and charged them, the Jewish men who married foreign women, to take an oath” “by God” or “through the Supreme Deity”, “saying” which means “uttering, declaring and proclaiming” the following words. Nehemiah shared how he strove, dishonored and beat the Jewish men who married foreign women women, and he caused them to take an oath through the Supreme Deity Jehovah that they would do the following.
The verse continues, “... You shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.” Nehemiah added the words, “you shall not give your daughters” or “you, Jewish men who married foreign women, will in no way or manner bestow and assign your, the Jewish men's, female offspring and progeny” “unto their sons” which means “to their, the foreigners', male progeny and offspring”, “nor take their daughters” or “no and not in any way obtain or accept their, the foreign men's, female progeny and offspring” “unto your sons” which means “to your, the Jewish men's, male offspring and progeny” “or for yourselves” or “on behalf of your own selves”. Nehemiah caused the Jewish men to take an oath that they would in no way allow their female offspring to marry the foreigners' male offspring, allow their male offspring to marry the foreigners' female offspring or marry the foreigners themselves.
When we consider the words in this verse, we learn how Nehemiah caused the Jewish men to swear that they would keep their “children” from marrying foreigners, and the Jewish men were not to marry them either. In other words, they were to separate themselves from these worldly people. God wants the same for anyone who yields their life to His Son Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead three days later. (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18) When we receive Jesus as our personal “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and keep us by His Holy Spirit separated from intimate relationships with those who are unbelievers in this world.
Next time Nehemiah asked, “did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?”, 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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