The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were at one point a unified book, and they address the same issue (the return of the Chosen People to the Promised Land after release from their exile in Babylon).
So they will both be addressed in a single post.
After the roughly seventy year exile from Jerusalem in Babylon, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issues a decree allowing the Jews (as they are now referring to themselves, although technically they are the Judeans, Benjaminites, and portions of the Levites who comprised the Southern Kingdom at the fall of King Jechonia and the deportation to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar) to return to their old town.
And they do, but the place is a mess.
So the first order of business is to fix the altar, then the temple, and then the walls around the city.
Which is delayed a couple of times, with the locals griping to the Persian kings back east that the Jews are pulling a fast one and are instead rebelling and seeking their independence.
So after a brief hiatus stopping reconstruction, Ezra asks King Darius to review the old real property records and royal orders, and Cyrus' decree is found confirming the freedom of the Jews and their authorization to proceed with rebuilding the temple and the city.
And, although it appears somewhat inconsistent with the line of David and the roots of Jesse, one of the "old-time religion" aspects is the prohibition of marriages to foreigners, in order that the "holy seed not mingle with the people".
Huh?
What part of Canaanite and Moabite blood is a problem?
I mean, seriously.
What about Tamar? See In the beginning.
What about Rahab? See Bloodbath in the Promised Land.
What about Ruth? See Doing the right thing.
Like it or not, foreign blood is in the gene pool.
And didn't all that occur through divine intention, if not intervention?
Sometimes I wonder when I read some of this whether it's really divine inspiration or instead the author (or subsequent revisionists) taking liberties with the circumstances.
Difficult for my little pea-sized brain to embrace a faith expressly advocating exclusion and intolerance of certain humans based on their ethnicity and origins.
Perhaps the apparent inconsistencies are there for a reason.
Maybe that's what the divine wants.
Forcing those who seek God to think about the entire story (not simply parts of it in isolation, but as a whole with an appreciation of its context and history) and take the issues which arise on a recurring basis seriously.
As opposed to simply accepting portions of what is written as dogma and stopping without understanding.
I fear there's a great deal of the latter out-and-about these days.
In any event, and although I'm pretty sure it isn't a "pick-and-choose" proposition, I personally like the book of Ruth much better.
But you already know that.
So they will both be addressed in a single post.
After the roughly seventy year exile from Jerusalem in Babylon, the Persian king Cyrus the Great issues a decree allowing the Jews (as they are now referring to themselves, although technically they are the Judeans, Benjaminites, and portions of the Levites who comprised the Southern Kingdom at the fall of King Jechonia and the deportation to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar) to return to their old town.
 |
| On the road again |
And they do, but the place is a mess.
So the first order of business is to fix the altar, then the temple, and then the walls around the city.
Which is delayed a couple of times, with the locals griping to the Persian kings back east that the Jews are pulling a fast one and are instead rebelling and seeking their independence.
So after a brief hiatus stopping reconstruction, Ezra asks King Darius to review the old real property records and royal orders, and Cyrus' decree is found confirming the freedom of the Jews and their authorization to proceed with rebuilding the temple and the city.
And, although it appears somewhat inconsistent with the line of David and the roots of Jesse, one of the "old-time religion" aspects is the prohibition of marriages to foreigners, in order that the "holy seed not mingle with the people".
 |
| Ezra preaching the law as he understands it: NO FOREIGNERS! |
Huh?
What part of Canaanite and Moabite blood is a problem?
I mean, seriously.
What about Tamar? See In the beginning.
What about Rahab? See Bloodbath in the Promised Land.
What about Ruth? See Doing the right thing.
Like it or not, foreign blood is in the gene pool.
And didn't all that occur through divine intention, if not intervention?
 |
| The stump of Jesse (with its Canaanite and Moabite roots) |
Sometimes I wonder when I read some of this whether it's really divine inspiration or instead the author (or subsequent revisionists) taking liberties with the circumstances.
Difficult for my little pea-sized brain to embrace a faith expressly advocating exclusion and intolerance of certain humans based on their ethnicity and origins.
Perhaps the apparent inconsistencies are there for a reason.
Maybe that's what the divine wants.
Forcing those who seek God to think about the entire story (not simply parts of it in isolation, but as a whole with an appreciation of its context and history) and take the issues which arise on a recurring basis seriously.
As opposed to simply accepting portions of what is written as dogma and stopping without understanding.
I fear there's a great deal of the latter out-and-about these days.
In any event, and although I'm pretty sure it isn't a "pick-and-choose" proposition, I personally like the book of Ruth much better.
But you already know that.
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