And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.
The wording for the date joins the word meaning first to a time expression to denote the first day of the first month. By that day the clearing of Israel from marriages with foreign wives was finished, after two full months of work that had begun on the first day of the tenth month.
Before the work began all had assembled at Jerusalem on the twentieth day of the ninth month, trembling over the matter and because of the great rain. There they were charged that they had transgressed by taking foreign wives to increase the trespass of Israel, and that they must confess to the Lord God of their fathers and do His pleasure by separating from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives. The people agreed to do as they had been told.
The task required so long because those who had transgressed were many, because it was a time of much rain so they could not stand outside, and because it was not a work of one day or two. Each case was therefore examined in portions at appointed times, with a decision made on what should be done, until all had cleared themselves. A committee examined each case and decided its outcome, and the whole examination occupied two full months.
That setting makes the event a practical separation from forbidden alliances and heathen practices before the people could be taught the law. Preparation to understand God's law thus required a change in conduct and a determination to obey, with confession of wrongdoing preceding instruction. The separation brought the people into a spiritual condition in which they could recognize the importance of rebuilding Jerusalem.
The outcome stands as God's clear counsel about marriage, to be carefully and prayerfully consulted and cheerfully obeyed. Marriage must be only in the Lord and not with strange wives, giving both important instruction and timely warning. Studying the duties of marriage before entering it escapes bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, frequent disappointment in that honorable estate, and repentance at once too soon and too late.
The wording for the date joins the word meaning first to a time expression to denote the first day of the first month. By that day the clearing of Israel from marriages with foreign wives was finished, after two full months of work that had begun on the first day of the tenth month.
Before the work began all had assembled at Jerusalem on the twentieth day of the ninth month, trembling over the matter and because of the great rain. There they were charged that they had transgressed by taking foreign wives to increase the trespass of Israel, and that they must confess to the Lord God of their fathers and do His pleasure by separating from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives. The people agreed to do as they had been told.
The task required so long because those who had transgressed were many, because it was a time of much rain so they could not stand outside, and because it was not a work of one day or two. Each case was therefore examined in portions at appointed times, with a decision made on what should be done, until all had cleared themselves. A committee examined each case and decided its outcome, and the whole examination occupied two full months.
That setting makes the event a practical separation from forbidden alliances and heathen practices before the people could be taught the law. Preparation to understand God's law thus required a change in conduct and a determination to obey, with confession of wrongdoing preceding instruction. The separation brought the people into a spiritual condition in which they could recognize the importance of rebuilding Jerusalem.
The outcome stands as God's clear counsel about marriage, to be carefully and prayerfully consulted and cheerfully obeyed. Marriage must be only in the Lord and not with strange wives, giving both important instruction and timely warning. Studying the duties of marriage before entering it escapes bitter anguish of heart, painful regret for long years, frequent disappointment in that honorable estate, and repentance at once too soon and too late.