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." – Ezra 9:2

 Today's Scripture Reading (September 27, 2020): Ezra 9

When I was a teenager, I went into business with a friend. The idea was that we would contract ourselves out to shovel walks for people in the neighborhood. People would hire us for the winter, and we would just show up when it snowed to shovel the walks. At the time, I thought it was a good idea. The problem ended up being my partner. When the snow came, he disappeared, leaving me to deal with both the snow and irate customers I couldn't get to on my own. The deal was one of the worst decisions I had made in my young life. And it cost me my developing reputation.

The Apostle Paul writes about our interpersonal relationships. "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness" (2 Corinthians 6:14)? Paul's words have often been applied to the concept of marriage, but the intent of Paul's words applies to any relationship in which we are contracting to do something together. And the problem is that when we covenant to do something with others, we open ourselves up to their shortcomings. And what they believe and do quickly influences how people see and react to us, and often compromises our beliefs and actions.

Ezra looks out over Israel and realizes that the people, including the leaders of Israel, were compromised. Intermarriage was far from the only problem, but as intermarriage became common among the people, no areas of their lives would be left untouched by the worship of other gods. In every household, in every business, every government office, and every aspect of social life, there was a discussion going on that was pulling people away from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and toward the pagan gods worshipped by the people of the land. The people had begun to depend on their alliances with other nations and people instead of relying on the God who had moved so powerfully in their history.

Does Ezra argue that all alliances are evil? I don't think we need to take it that far. Associations can be useful under certain circumstances. But first, we must be secure in who we are, recognizing that our allegiance to God is our primary alliance, and that, in the end, we are far better off walking alone with God than we are walking with our earthly partnerships and without God.

Ezra recognized that the nation's leaders had led the country into sin through their own intermarriages. He knew that the only path back would depend on the drastic actions taken by precisely those compromised leaders.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezra 10