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Church Abuse, Part 1

Ezra

27th July 2013

There is more than one way to read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Some believe they were right to behave as they did. I think some of their actions were appalling. This column reflects my opinion.

It had all started from the best of motives. The Jews had been in exile in Babylon for 70 years when Cyrus the king of Persia enabled the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Those amongst God's people whose hearts God had moved returned to Jerusalem to rebuild. We can read about this in Ezra 1:1-5. And God still moves people's hearts to build - or rebuild - churches today (I'm talking communities more than buildings).

Some time later, Ezra joined them:

Ezra 7:1-5
After these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah,
the son of Azariah,
the son of Hilkiah,
the son of Shallum,
the son of Zadok,
the son of Ahitub,
the son of Amariah,
the son of Azariah,
the son of Meraioth,
the son of Zerahiah,
the son of Uzzi,
the son of Bukki,
the son of Abishua,
the son of Phinehas,
the son of Eleazar,
the son of Aaron the chief priest
- this Ezra came up from Babylon.
He was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.
Some of the Israelites, including priests, Levites, musicians, gatekeepers and temple servants, also came up to Jerusalem...

What an impressive genealogy! It went all the way back to Aaron. And Ezra must have been sure he was both called and equipped to go to Jerusalem and make a difference. He was well versed in the Law of Moses, so he wasn't lacking confidence in his own understanding. Furthermore, The king had granted him everything he asked so he had political power, and the hand of the Lord his God was on him. And we read in verse 10:

Ezra 7:10
... Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.

When he arrived in Jerusalem, he rested for three days. Then he delivered to the temple priests the valuables that had been donated by the Persian government, and the people made sacrifices to God. It was a good start. But the first sign of trouble came soon after:

Ezra 9:1-3
After these things had been done, the leaders came to me [Ezra] and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighbouring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness."
When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled.

Desperately concerned, Ezra prayed about the situation and:

Ezra 10:1
While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites - men, women and children - gathered round him. They too wept bitterly.

If a leader makes a big show abot something, he can usually get the support of the majority of the people in his church - even if they don't understand the issues involved.

Ezra 10:2-4
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra, "We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel. Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it."

When a leader perceives a (real or imagined) problem, there's often a zealot somewhere in the church who's willing to persuade him to over-react.

The leaders, including Ezra and Shecaniah, were genuinely upset. They truly believed that some Jews had indeed "been unfaithful to our God" by marrying foreign women and Shecaniah persuaded them to insist that any Jew in such a marriage must divorce his wife. But they were mistaken and I'll now set out are my reasons for saying so.

They were probably basing their thinking on two scriptures:

Exodus 34:15-16
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

Deuteronomy 7:1-4
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations - the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you - and when the LORD your od has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD-s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

But (I believe) these passages from Exodus and Deuteronomy don't forbid inter-racial marriage; they forbid inter-religious marriage (as does 2 Corinthians 6:14). Some of the foreign women that had married Ezra's contemporaries may have worshipped the Lord, not some foreign God. And, anyway, some of these foreign women may not have been from the races proscribed in these passages. Further, these passages do not require anyone already in an inter-racial or inter-religious marriage to get divorced.

Shecaniah didn't realise the distinction between our parentage ad our beliefs. And he didn't fully grasp the heart of God regarding divorce. It's easier for us, because we have some scriptures that he didn't have. Here are two:

Malachi 2:16a
"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel

1 Corinthians 7:12-14
... If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

And, anyway, several Israelite heroes had married foreigners, including:

But Shecaniah insisted that "all these women" must be sent away. That is, their husbands would be forced to divorce them, even though Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Boaz and David had not.

I'm not trying to write about marriage and divorce. The point I'm trying to make is Shecaniah, Ezra and the other leaders forced through a damaging and non-biblical policy because they were arrogant. They had too high an estimation of their own theology, and too great a willingness to force their ideas on others. And some church leaders today make the same mistake.

On the basis of (what I believe to be) faulty understanding of Exodus and Deuteronomy, and ignoring much Israelite history, Shecaniah persuaded Ezra to enforce these divorces, and Ezra agreed.

Ezra 10:7-8
A proclamation was then issued throughout Judah and Jerusalem for all the exiles to assemble in Jerusalem. Anyone who failed to appear within three days would forfeit all his property, in accordance with the decision of the officials and elders, and would himself be expelled from the assembly of the exiles.
Within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin had gathered in Jerusalem. And on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people were sitting in the square before the house of God, greatly distressed by the occasion and because of the rain.

Why do (some of) our leaders think they have the right to summon us together and to punish us if we don't come? Who do they think they are?

Ezra 10:10-12
Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel-s guilt. Now make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around youand from your foreign wives." The whole assembly responded with a loud voice: "You are right! We must do as you say.

And why do we let our leaders persuade us that their faulty understanding of scripture is right, and we must follow their errors?

How much suffering did Shecaniah, Ezra and the other leaders cause? How many Jewish children were left without mothers? How many women were sent away with nowhere to go and made destitute? All because the leaders thought they understood scripture better than they actually did, and because they thought they had the right to punish anyone who disagreed with them, and because the people accepted what they said without checking the scriptures for themselves.

It was OK for Ezra. Demanding racial purity didn't touch him. With that impressive genealogy, he was confident he had had pure Jewish blood. Beware leaders who demand that sacrifices must be made by others but not by themselves.

It seems that, if leaders are "successful", if they manage to build or rebuild a community of God's people, they are in danger of becoming arrogant. They can develop too high a regard for their own theology. They can order people about and insist they come to certain meetings. They can persuade the people of views that are not biblical. They can threaten people who don't do what they want. And they can cause great harm.

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