Action Ezra 10

Ezra 10:10 "And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. v11 Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives."

Israel had been told not to intermingle with the people of Canaan, yet they did to the point of marrying them and having children. The problem is the people of Canaan worshipped idols. It seems to always be the case that when a wife who worships idols is involved, that the husband is swayed toward that worship. Even Solomon built some places for his wives that were not pleasing to God.

Isaiah 1:4 "Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward."

It was a day of much rain and the people sat in the streets. See 1 Samuel 12:18 . They decided the matter would take a long time to resolve so they appointed a time that the leaders would get together and speak for the people.

v19 "And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass."

I know it was tough to do that. The fact is, the LORD told them not to marry the locals before they did it. I suppose some of the wives may have come from Babylon as well. Israel was picked by the LORD to be special. They were worshippers of only one God and were given a special place to live. The LORD expected them to follow the law.

So a list is given in the last part of this chapter. We will now go on to Nehemiah. He too had a great part in building the wall of Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 2:5 "Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?"

Strange wives are put away.