One of the hallmarks of Jesus’ ministry was His reproach of the religious leaders in His day. The Sadducees and Pharisees were his frequent adversaries. Modern believers know these groups by name, though they may not know the difference between them. That exploration is for another message.
Suffice it to say that BOTH religious groups vehemently defended the Word of God–albeit incorrectly. Both interpreted the Torah differently, yet they each held incredible societal influence. Though their understanding was erroneous, at least they tried, right?
Compare their zeal to that of the Old Testament Israelites. Generations did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Various minor prophets predicted and lamented the oncoming wrath to no avail. Their indifference or blasphemies resulted in their exile across the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires. Compared to the generations of lax observance, one might think a stricter overreaction in Jesus’ day would be a welcome reprieve.
For over 1,000 years, the Israelites struggled to adhere to God’s rules, but NOW (...err… around 0 CE), the Jews are too observant. How? And why? It’s important to revisit the cultural context.
As the Jews tried to rebuild Israel, there were three post-exilic prophets–Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Their messages had a strong influence on the fledgling Jewish community. Haggai’s words implored the imperiled Israelites to “Give careful thought to your ways.” (Haggai 1:7, NIV) in how they rebuilt the temple. God promised the high priest, Joshua–through Zechariah–a heavenly standing “If [he would] walk in my ways and keep my requirements.” (Zechariah 3:7, NIV) Zechariah also contains admonitions of the Israelites’ intentions during fasting (7:5), warns how obstinance resulted in wrath (7:14), and condemns the selfishness of wayward leaders (11:6). When paired with Malachi’s question-and-answer revelation of poor faith and stewardship, the apocalyptic prophecies in the rest of Zechariah certainly loomed large in their minds. For a community surrounded by enemies (Nehemiah 4 & 6) and familiar with the brink of destruction (Esther 3), faithful obedience was literally life and death. These Israelites were constantly surviving miraculously as the overwhelmed underdogs. There was no other explanation for their salvation beyond God. In their weakness, God’s power was made perfect. (ref. 2 Corinthians 12:9). The fear of the Lord was their regular hope.
This zeal, however, manifested itself in cruel ways. The first recorded example comes from Ezra 9 and 10. Ezra was a well-taught descendent of the priestly line of Aaron, Moses’ brother (Ezra 7:6, 7:10). Though the temple had been rebuilt, Ezra led the people into more serious observance through public Scripture reading and restoration of ritual sacrifices (Nehemiah 8). This culminates in Ezra chapters 9 and 10, where Ezra leads the other priests in public mourning for the ways in which the Jews had intermarried with surrounding nations. By mingling the “holy race,” as some leaders claimed in Ezra 9:2, many were accused of leading the people astray. With Zechariah’s warnings fresh in their mind, fear swept through. The reaction was swift and severe.
Every man who had returned to Israel had three days' notice to assemble in Jerusalem, or he would forfeit his property. (Ezra 10:8) As one mass congregation, Ezra commanded them to separate themselves from their foreign wives (10:11), and their intercultural children (10:44). Few could refute Ezra’s renowned and studied understanding of Scripture. So, his command stood, dividing families in the process.
If we callously read the Bible with an implicit endorsement from God, then the casual observer may feel indifferent about this or may applaud the Israelites' desire to “purify” themselves to the Lord. After all, believers are called to forsake their own families for their faith, if necessary (see Luke 14:26). However, biblical records are not a categorical endorsement from God. In fact, much of it contains the history of those opposing God’s will. God does not give Ezra, or anyone else, this instruction. So, we must look at this event for what it is: systematic racism that destroyed families and lives under the name of God.
This–I contend–is the first written example of Israel’s extreme overcorrection toward piety over peace and manipulation over mercy.
Ezra’s edict ignores the intention of the originating law. Found in Exodus 34:16, God warns, “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.” (Exodus 34:16, NIV) God’s desire is not to preserve the “holy race,” as Ezra’s fellow leaders desired. God’s desire was to protect their faith.
These families had been exiled from Jerusalem for 70-120 years. Much of the population had been decimated; who else would they marry?
These families braved a dangerous journey (Ezra 8:21) to resettle in a destroyed nation. They contributed offerings and labor to rebuild the temple and city walls.
Nothing suggests that these now-divided families worshipped idols. Their acts of faith in returning to Jerusalem suggest the opposite. Only a strict interpretation of Scripture, without context, mandated this severe sacrifice.
The leaders ignored God’s word through Moses to “not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21, NIV)
They ignored God’s word through Isaiah to “Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’” (Isaiah 56:3, NIV)
They ignored God’s word through the then-living Zechariah against the oppression of the foreigner. (Zechariah 7:10)
The religious leaders used the fear of death and wrath to coerce obedience. They did not lean on God’s words of love, mercy, and justice–they chose segregation and power cloaked in the name of ”faith.” They did not care how few rights women and children had. This overreaction set the stage for Jesus to arrive with the ultimate message of love–not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. (see: Galatians 3:28)
Now, there were two leaders who disagreed with Ezra’s command (Ezra 10:15). Like Joshua and Caleb before them, they could not convince the crowd to make the right choice, and the larger population paid the price.
Are we not living in similar times? Politically, religiously? Fear of loss–whether profession, finances, freedoms, or life–drives us to rallies and ballot boxes. Fear of damnation puts excessive pressure of holiness on believers. I applaud holiness as a means for spiritual growth but not as a weapon for group obedience.
Christians have to tread the tension between love and fear carefully. We are called to love our enemies so that they may believe. We are called to fear the Lord’s awesome power. When we start judging other’s specks of sin in their eyes, the logs in our own grow.
The Pharisees and Sadducees got it wrong and led the people in condemnation for 400 years. We must heed the warnings Jesus gave those leaders and instead seek the justice, mercy, and humility that God calls us to. Let’s leave the judgment in God’s hands.
44 - When did Israel begin to care more about laws than God?