At least I think it was a mistake. See what you think…

I already observed in my post script to Ezra’s Faith that stories of Bible characters or the saints are descriptive, not proscriptive. We’re not called to take every saint’s experience as normative for all people for all time.

For example, in the early days of my organization, The Navigators, founder Dawson Trotman was drawn to the story of George Mueller’s not ever asking anyone for money. He only asked God. And it worked for George Mueller. Dawson would say (I’m told), “If the subject of money comes up, change the subject.” Today, Navigators joyfully share their vision of relational disciple-making and invite folks to partner with us just as Paul did:

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4.15 – 19, ESV)

Back to Ezra. We observed in Ezra 9 that the returning exiles had once again inter-married with the surrounding nations. A bad thing. What to do? To Ezra, the solution was simple:

Ezra the priest stood up and spoke: “You’ve broken trust. You’ve married foreign wives. You’ve piled guilt on Israel. Now make your confession to GOD, the God of your ancestors, and do what he wants you to do: Separate yourselves from the people of the land and from your foreign wives.” (Ezra 10.10, 11, MSG)

The chapter goes on to describe the process by which this would happen and lists the names of priests who had foreign wives, ending with:

All these had married foreign wives and some had also had children by them. (Ezra 10.44, MSG)

By the way, that’s the last verse in Ezra. The book ends there, and it’s always bothered me. Sure, they shouldn’t have married the foreign women, but they did, and now they’ve been married some time and had children. Do we now send these women and the children back to those pagan cultures? Or do we keep them with us, exposed to the true God and his grace? In short, is it OK to say that for all of his devotion and zeal, Ezra was wrong?

Dr Willie Peterson, professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, first introduced me to that possibility. When I asked about the events of Ezra 10, Willie replied simply, “Ezra was wrong.” Certainly the men married to foreign women could not allow those women to drag them into worship of false gods. But surely, they could try to introduce the women to the true God and raise the children in the faith. Certainly that’s the New Testament standard:

For the rest of you who are in mixed marriages—Christian married to non-Christian—we have no explicit command from the Master. So this is what you must do. If you are a man with a wife who is not a believer but who still wants to live with you, hold on to her. If you are a woman with a husband who is not a believer but he wants to live with you, hold on to him. The unbelieving husband shares to an extent in the holiness of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is likewise touched by the holiness of her husband. Otherwise, your children would be left out; as it is, they also are included in the spiritual purposes of God. On the other hand, if the unbelieving spouse walks out, you’ve got to let him or her go. You don’t have to hold on desperately. God has called us to make the best of it, as peacefully as we can. You never know, wife: The way you handle this might bring your husband not only back to you but to God. You never know, husband: The way you handle this might bring your wife not only back to you but to God. (1 Corinthians 7.12 – 16, MSG)

If you missed the blog on Tony Campolo, please check it out. Tony saw our responsibility to reach out to the poor and love those who are different from us.

The parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the two sons are introduced this way:

By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story… (Luke 15.1 – 3, MSG)

Ezra did not have the benefit of Jesus’ teaching on this subject so it’s easy (and maybe a bit unfair) for us to evaluate Ezra’s actions in hindsight. Ezra was a good man: he studied God’s word and put it into practice faithfully and consistently. But that doesn’t mean ALL his actions are positive examples for us.