Ezra 9:14
Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
Ezra spoke these words as part of his prayer to God at the time of the evening sacrifice, kneeling with torn garment and mantle and hands spread toward heaven in shame, blushing, grief and righteous indignation. He prayed after learning that Israel, including priests, Levites, princes and rulers, had intermarried with the surrounding heathen peoples and mingled the holy seed. In that prayer he humbled himself before God, confessing his own sins and the sins of his people and pleading for pardon as if he himself were the offender, while patiently laboring, praying and suffering for their reform.
Israel's apostasy that brought the Babylonian captivity was largely traceable to mingling with heathen nations, and God's command to remain separate had been given as a safeguard against apostasy that, if obeyed, would have spared many sad and humiliating experiences. Since the days of the fathers Israel had been in great trespass, for which they with their kings and priests had been delivered to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to spoil and to confusion of face. The warning here stands against God's recent goodness in punishing less than iniquities deserved and showing grace for a little while to leave an escaped remnant. That grace gave a foothold in the native land, a nail in His holy place, enlightened eyes and reviving in bondage, for He had not forsaken His people but extended mercy in the sight of the kings of Persia to set up the house of God, repair its ruins, and give a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
To again break the commandments given through the prophets by joining in close affinity and alliance with peoples practicing detestable things would after such deliverance be ingratitude and forsaking of God. Such renewed disobedience would justly provoke God's righteous anger until He consumed His people so that there should be no remnant nor escape. The God of Israel is righteous, and guilty trespassers who remain escaped cannot stand before Him, leaving no grounds to presume on further mercy. The verse therefore teaches that God's people must not seek support or form religious ties with those who do not serve Him.
The reform Ezra sought was hindered most not by the open hostility of the heathen but by the secret opposition of pretended friends. Those opponents lent their influence to the service of evil and furnished God's enemies with material for warfare against His people. Their evil passions and rebellious wills were ever at war with the plain requirements of God.