God’s Word for You

Ezra 10:1-4 They wept bitterly

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, July 31, 2025

10:1 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down in front of the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites gathered around him, including men, women and children. 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 wives from the peoples around us. However, there is still hope for Israel in this matter. 3 Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these wives and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. 4 Get up. This matter is in your hands. We are with you, so take courage and do it.”

That they wept together over their sin reminds us, or me at least, of Peter weeping bitterly after the rooster crowed (Matthew 26:75), and even of Judas who was filled with remorse after betraying the Lord (Matthew 27:3). Peter listened to the gospel and was saved, but Judas rejected the gospel, he rejected forgiveness and took matters into his own hands; rather than receiving the Lord’s own compassion, his churning insides that care so passionately for all sinners, Judas didn’t believe in the Lord’s compassionate and churning insides, and instead he caused his own insides to spill out all over a bloody field (Acts 1:18). But here in the same city, centuries before, the people yearned for the Lord’s compassion, and wept bitterly over their sins in remorse and in faith.

Ezra’s example and prayer showed the people that this man of God was afraid, genuinely terrified, of what the Lord’s wrath might do to them all. They had just returned from exile; what worse punishment might God have in mind? An attack from Egypt? A change of government (and policy) in Persia? There were rumors by this time of rising powers in “the islands” (Isaiah 66:19), meaning Greece in the far west—Athens, Macedon, and Sparta that was forming the beginning of the Peloponnesian League with awesome military might. Or there might be plague, or some other unforeseen disaster, such as earthquakes, or massive storms surging up out of the sea that might wipe out a tiny nation like Israel. And the Lord had unseen powers, legions upon legions of angels, which he had used in the past to defend Israel’s people. In his anger he could surely call upon them to destroy the people.

But a voice spoke in Ezra’s ear. It was not a spirit raising the hair on the back of his neck and speaking in a hushed voice (Job 4:15-17). It was not an inner thought from Ezra’s imagination. It was a man, a man named Shecaniah from the family of Elam.

First, this Shecaniah acknowledged the sin of the people and asked whether they could make a covenant with the Lord to remove (divorce) the foreign wives. This man’s father’s name, Jehiel of Elam, appears in the list of men who had taken foreign wives (Ezra 10:26). If this is the same Jehiel, then it’s likely that Shecaniah was ashamed of his father’s sin, or at least he was very concerned about it, and prayed that there was a way, some way, forward so that his father could be forgiven.

This included the children. In ancient Greek society, children remained with their fathers after a divorce. But in the old Babylonian law, from about the time that Israel entered Egypt, a divorced wife could retain custody of her children so long as she remained unmarried until they came of age. And this is what happened when Abraham sent Hagar away; Ishmael went with her (Genesis 21:14).

Second, this Shecaniah urged Ezra himself to act (verse 4). Ezra was their spiritual leader, and they would follow his words, whether commands or simply advice. But Ezra needed to show them the way forward (even though Shecaniah himself had already said what they had to do).

This was faith showing itself. This was repentance already putting trust in the Lord and being willing to do what the Lord commanded through his prophet. Peter teaches us: “God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Everyone who believes the gospel promise of forgiveness through Christ receives it. This is God’s will, and God’s work, giving faith, life, understanding, and the willingness to serve God. Those who believe in Christ have been chosen by God to be his dear children. Just as nobody chooses to be born, so also nobody chooses to become one of God’s children. We are brought to faith by God’s will and his gut-wrenching compassion through the work of the Holy Spirit, to believe in Christ for forgiveness and eternal life. As James says (James 1:18): “Just as he planned, God gave us birth by the word of truth.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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