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Sometimes when working on a project, the small household hammer just isn’t enough, it just won’t drive the nail or finish the job. Sometimes you have to get out the big hammer…

A few weeks ago I was reading through Ezra/Nehemiah and came across a pretty drastic event…you might call it a “big hammer” situation. Picture 70 years apart from the promised land, and finally able to return, finally able to reunite with your people and rebuild your country. This is the Israelites in Ezra.

Ezra realizes that a lot of why Israel was put into exile was due to intermarriage and that they were following down the same path yet again…here are his words:

Ezra 9
5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God 6 and prayed:
“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

8 “But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not deserted us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

10 “But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’

You can say a lot of untrue things about Elohim (God Almighty) but one true statement is that He is a jealous God and rightfully so. He will not tolerate worship of the created, of the false, of the devil. He made creation to display His glory, and anything short of that is not tolerated by His followers. So what do they do…here are his words:

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 around him. They too wept bitterly. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.”

I have to admit, that is still hard to understand for me. I mean I can see the big picture, I can see how they sinned and they were going down the same path yet again that their forefathers went down that sent them into exile but it’s hard to get past that these are real women and real children that God calls them to “send away”.

Sometimes to follow Christ means you need a very big hammer, you have to make the hard and sometimes drastic decisions. I pray today that we won’t be afraid when we face such decisions, but will seek God, lean on Him, and know that He holds the whole world in His hands. I pray that we use the right hammer for the job at hand because swinging it when it isn’t needed can be even more devastating.

(JP)