Ezra 10:13

Ezra 10:13 says, But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.  When told that they needed to put away their foreign wives they replied that here were a lot of people that this would involve and then added that it was a time of much rain, so the people couldn’t stand, so this couldn’t be done quickly.  When we know that we are doing something against God’s will, we must correct it, no matter how many people might be doing the same thing, and the weather should never stop us from doing so. 

Verse fourteen adds, Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.  It was decided to allow the elders of the various cities to be put in charge of handling the cases of the people in their cities who were guilty of marrying foreign wives.  This was to be done to avoid the fierce wrath of God.  We cannot correct everyone who is living in defiance of God’s word, but we can start in our own life and then reach out to those who are closest to us who might be doing the same thing, not to judge them, but to call them to obedience to God.  

Verse fifteen continues, Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them.  We are told of four men who were employed to do this, but they were not the only ones according to the previous verse, so I believe they must have been the ones in charge in Jerusalem.  I could not find a definitive answer to this.  

Verse sixteen states, And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.  Those who had returned from captivity did as Ezra had instructed and began to separate the men of Israel from their foreign wives.  They started to do this on the first day of the tenth month.  No matter how large the task of removing unacceptable practices from the church, we must start at some point in time to do so, no matter how large the task might be.  

Verse seventeen adds, And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.  It took three months to accomplish this, but it was done.  It may take us a while to remove practices that go against God’s word from the church, or even from our lives individually, but we must continue to work on doing so, even if we are never totally successful as they were then.  

Verse eighteen continues, And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah.  Even some of the priests had married foreign wives.  Just because someone is a preacher today doesn’t mean that they cannot be guilty of disobeying God, but if they are, they need to confess and ask God’s forgiveness, and if they do, He will forgive them.  

Verse nineteen concludes, And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass.  They promised to put away their foreign wives and offered a ram as a trespass offering.  There is only one sacrifice that will restore us to a right relationship with God, and that is the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us on the cross, but we must offer our life as a sacrifice to Him in order to benefit from His sacrifice.