After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, "The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. – Ezra 9:1

Today's Scripture Reading (November 8, 2023): Ezra 9

Abraham and Sarah had been promised a son, but time passed, and no child was born to the couple. They longed to be parents, but for some reason, God seemed to be saying no to the request. So, Sarah came up with an idea. She tells Abraham to sleep with her maidservant, Hagar. Then, any child born out of that union would belong to Abraham and Sarah because Hagar belonged to Sarah. It was a culturally appropriate solution to the problem that Abraham and Sarah were experiencing. And so, Abraham slept with Sarah's maidservant.

I sometimes wonder if the real reason for Sarah's suggestion is that she was hoping that Hagar would also not get pregnant, maybe absolving Sarah of some of the guilt. She possibly hoped to be able to tell Abraham, "See, a lack of a child is not my fault. You can't make Hagar pregnant either." But Hagar did get pregnant and gave birth to a son whom Abraham called Ishmael. However, instead of claiming Ishmael as her own, Sarah became jealous of Hagar and the child, and she wanted the mother and son to be sent away.

I would have loved to have heard the conversation between God and Abraham after the birth of Ishmael. I can imagine God saying to Abraham, now a proud father, something like, "Nice try, Abraham, but that wasn't what I meant. I wasn't saying that you would have a child through some kind of surrogate for Sarah, but that you would have a child with Sarah. Sarah will get pregnant. You have to trust me that this is true." And, late in her life, Sarah did get pregnant. But the pregnancy happened in God's timing.

The people have returned to Israel, but they have started to intermarry. It is an issue we probably don't fully understand in our contemporary society. However, intermarriage brought different belief structures into the family unit. It had the potential of leading Israel away from God one more time, just as they had spiritually wandered before the exile, now as they were returning to the land that God had promised to Abraham.

But there was also a level of security involved in intermarriage. Giving your daughters to the sons of the people who already lived in the Promised Land and accepting their daughters for your sons was one way to achieve peace in the region. It made logical sense and was a culturally acceptable path to peace and security in the area. It just wasn't God's plan. And it had the potential to water down the faith, an action that had been true with the many wives of King Solomon. His many wives led him into sin against God and resulted in the division of the nation. Ezra is adamant that this cannot happen again. The marriages were dangerous, and if the country wanted absolute security, it was only available by depending on God, not intermarriage to the many "ites" of the land.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezra 10