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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and such as are born of them According to the counts of my lord and of those that tremble at the commandment of our god And let it be done according to the law wise for this matter belongeth unto thee We also will be with thee be of good courage and to do it Then it was Ezra and made the chief priest the Levites and all Israel is fair that they should to do according to this word And they sphere then as it was up from before the house of God and went to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashe and when he came to the he did eat no bread not in quarter for him on because of the transgression of them that had been carried away and They made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity that they should gather themselves together on to Jerusalem And that whatsoever would not come Within three days according to the council of the princes and the elders all his substance should be Forfeited and himself separate from the congregation of those that had been carried away Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gather themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days It was the ninth month on the 20th day of the month and all the people said in the street of the house of God Stumbling because of his this matter and for the great way and as of the priest stood up and said unto them He have transgressed and have taken strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers and do his pleasure and Separate yourself from the people of the land and from the strange wives Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice as though has said so must we do But the people are many and it is a time of much rain, and we're not able to stand without neither in this Neither is this a work of one day or two for we are many that have transgressed in the thing Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come At appointed times and with them the elders of every city and the judges that of unto the fierce wrath of our God For this matter be turned from us only Jonathan the son of Ashakheel and Jahaziah the son of Tigua were employed about this matter and Mishulam and Sabittai the Levite helped them and the children of the captivity did so and ever pleased with certain sheaf of the fathers after the house of the fathers and all of them by the names were separated and Set down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month and Among the sons of the priests they were found that had taken strange wives namely of the son of Jerusalem the son of Josiah and his brother Mysia and Eliezer and Jadip and Gidalia And they gave their hands that they would put away the wives and being guilty They offered a ram of the flock for the trespass and of the sons of Emma Hanani and Zebediah and of the sons of Hari Mysia and Elia and Shemaiah and Jihl and Uzziah and of the sons of Peshaw Elunai, Mysia, Ishmael, Nathaniel, Josabbat and Eliezer Also the Levite, Josabbat and Zimeh and Kiliya the son the same is Kiritah Kritah, Kiah, Judah and Eliezer Of the singers also, Eliyashib and of the Poetas, Shalom and Telem and Uri Moreover of Israel of the sons of Parash, Zamiya and Jeziah and Machiah and Miamin and Eliezer and Machiah and Benaiah and of the sons of Elah Mataniya, Zihariah and Yichir and Abdi and Jizumot and Elia and of the sons of Jethum Elunai, Eliyashib, Mataniya and Jizumot and Zabbat and Azir Of the sons of Bivai, Jehonan, Hanania, Zabah and Atari And of the sons of Beni, Meshulam, Maluch and Adiab Yeshup and Sheyar and Remeth and of the sons of Patamuab, Adna and Helai Benaiah, Maisiah, Mataniya, Bezileel and Benui and Manasseh And of the sons of Harim, Eliezer, Yichir, Machiah, Shemaiah and Shemion Benjamin, Maluch and Shemaiah Of the sons of Hashum, Martinaah, Matada, Zabbat, Eliphelet, Jerimaih, Manasseh and Shemil Of the sons of Beni, Medah, Amram and Uil Benaiah, Bediah, Shelyu, Vaniah, Miremot and Eliyashib Mataniya, Matenai and Iaso And Bani and Benui, Shemi And Shelimia, Nathan and Adia Mahaneh, Ebai, Shashai and Shareh Azrael, Shelimia and Shemaiah Shalom, Amaiah and Joseph And of the sons of Nebu, Jeel, Matitya, Zebat, Zeviah, Jadau and Jewel, Benaiah All these had taken strange wives and some of them had wives by whom they had children Let us pray We thank our Father for your words, thank you for the Bible and for everyone who is here We ask you to bless the service, we ask you to give us understanding for this chapter And we also ask you to support the preacher in Jesus' name, Amen Amen Alright, we're here in Ezra chapter 10 And to fully understand this chapter we have to understand how Ezra chapter 9 ended And in Ezra chapter 9 we see that saved people married unsaved people And of course this is something that God said, hey this is one of the things I'm going to give you the land, make sure you don't marry the unsaved people And that's exactly what they did And so in Ezra chapter 10 you're seeing a very difficult situation that they're in They're trying to figure out how do we fix this situation And I'll just say that this is a very debated chapter And what you need to realize is that the Bible does not tell us if what they did in Ezra 10 was correct Sometimes in the Bible what you'll see is the Bible mentions what people did It doesn't mean what they did was correct I mean Abraham had a child with Hagar, was that correct? No, but the Bible's recording what Abraham actually did And all throughout the Bible you'll see that God will record people that are good people That make mistakes, that do foolish things And it doesn't necessarily explicitly say when they do the action this was wrong But you can tell whether or not it's right or wrong Now, I'm going to give you my opinion on point number 3 Of what I think they should have done Whether what they did was correct or not But point number 1 is just realize there is a predicament for God's people A predicament for God's people Basically a rock and a hard place There is no good answer Right, you could say well this is the answer but there is no good answer Okay It says here in verse number 1 Now when Ezra had prayed and when he had confessed weeping and casting himself down before the house of God There assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children For the people wept very sore And so realize here that the godliest people that love God the most are gathered together weeping about this And all of them are trying to figure out what do we do I mean if it was as easy as 2 plus 3 equals 5 Plenty of people would say hey this is what the Bible says just do this It's not that easy because Ezra who probably loves God more than any of us And all the people that are very zealous are gathered there and they're like you know what are we going to do Right we don't know what to do They beg God for mercy they say they're sorry but they don't know what to do Verse number 2 And Shechemiah the son of Jehiel one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra We have trespassed against our God and have taken strange wives of the people of the land Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing Now see the problem with marrying unsaved people is they're afraid they're going to get kicked out of the land For good reason Because God explicitly said you go back to the land do not marry the unsaved people and allow these false idols that come in So immediately they're thinking well we broke what God said we're going to be kicked out of the land And so now it's like well what do we do Right I mean that's a tough situation because they just stay married to those people You're going to have the idols in the land you're going to be kicked out of the land in like 20 years Right and the other option that we see that what they do is the hope is we'll just divorce them and get rid of them Neither one of those is a good option Right I mean it's a tough situation So Shechemiah says and look my opinion is that Shechemiah is actually a good person I don't think he's a bad person I think he's someone who loves God they obviously trust him All of them are like what do we do in this situation and Shechemiah's decision is this He says there's hope in Israel concerning this thing Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and such as are born of them according to the counsel of my Lord And of those that tremble at the commandment of our God and let it be done according to the law Arise for this matter belongeth unto thee we also will be with thee be of good courage and do it So what Shechemiah says is have those men divorce those women and just forsake their wives and kids That's what he says Okay go to Malachi 2 Malachi 2 Sometimes in life you can put yourselves in situations where there's no good solution Where literally both sides you know what you're going to sin or do wrong or do something I mean neither way is there a good answer I mean sometimes that's just the way it is in life And it's not by accident it's because they made the decision to marry unsafe people So now we got a predicament where there is no good answer I mean get kicked out of the land or divorce these women I mean neither one's a good answer Right let's just see very quickly what does the Bible say about divorce Malachi 2 verse 16 For the Lord the God of Israel saith that he hateth putting away Now putting away is basically a makalumong way to say divorce or you know put away your spouse get rid of them The Bible says God hates putting away God hates divorce I mean that's just pretty clear in the Old Testament God hates divorce Right no question about it I mean does God want them to divorce these women well God hates divorce I mean that's obviously not a good answer When God hates getting divorced Now turn your Bible to Matthew 1 Matthew 1 Matthew 1 Matthew chapter 1 Now let me just take a couple minutes to explain this because You know it's a bit tricky here in the Philippines because Around the world there are two countries in the world where you're not allowed to get a divorce One of them is Vatican City which I still refuse to call a country I mean Vatican City is made up of priests that work for the church They're not getting married anyway so like it doesn't even count right And then you got the Philippines This is the only country in the world where you're not allowed to get a divorce Now in America you have an annulment and you have a divorce Although what annulment is here is actually pretty similar To what a divorce is in the US In America the only one who gets annulments are celebrities who got married in Vegas when they were drunk And then all of a sudden the next day they say wait a minute I didn't even know what I was doing That's what an annulment pretty much is in the US You wouldn't get an annulment after a couple years of marriage You'd get a divorce in the US So an annulment here is very similar to what a divorce would be in the US But notice what it says in Matthew 1 verse 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph Before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Ghost Now people are very confused about this verse Because they're like were Mary and Joseph engaged You know why is it they had not physically come together Well they weren't engaged because it says espoused Look at the word spouse in espoused It's a way to say that they were married Right you know you wouldn't say espoused in our modern day English But that's saying that they were married Mary and Joseph were married But it says before they came together Now here's the thing The reason why it states before they came together Is you would assume if they're married they would have come together And that's why it's specifically stating they had not come together even though that they were married You say well why would that be Marriage around the world is done very differently in different cultures And it's not as easy as just looking at a certain thing You have to realize different cultures do things differently I mean think about in the Bible Where Jacob all of a sudden you know Wakes up with the wrong woman And all of a sudden he's married to Leah Now that would not happen in the US or here Because you do the paperwork to get married to Rachel If you wake up the next day and it's a different woman Well you accidentally committed adultery You didn't get married to that person But apparently in that culture it's done a little bit differently Right? I mean that's the only way to look at it Right? And in general you know the way you can look at this To help you understand although it's different in different countries Is there's the legal aspect of marriage The paperwork and all of that stuff And then actually coming together as husband and wife And so basically what it's saying is They had done all of the legal paperwork That they were officially married Okay But they had not yet come together Now in the United States When you are officially married It's exactly when you say I do If you stop before you say I do Then you're not married And that's the end of the wedding You never got married to them But literally when the preacher has you say I do That is when you legally get married And after the wedding he turns in the paperwork That makes it official because you made those vows before God And generally in America right after that Husband and wife come together However it's not like that in every culture And throughout all time periods In many cultures what would take place Is you do the paperwork You legally say you do But then the husband's like okay Over these next 12 months I'm going to work 100 hours a week 80 hours a week And just hate my life to save up money To prepare our family And so that's probably what Joseph's doing They've already decided And you know here's the thing In our modern day travel is a lot easier Than back during these days And so basically they said hey we want to get married Let's do the paperwork while we're together Because realize this if you read this story I mean Mary has not even gotten the news to Joseph That she is with Child of the Holy Ghost Joseph thinks she committed adultery Because it's not that easy to pass on news back then So they're around each other Let's do all the legal paperwork now And over these next 8 months I'm going to save up money We know we want to be together So it's unique because we just live in a different day Different cultures Different societies But they are married And yet she is with Child And they have not come together yet So of course Joseph's thinking She committed adultery Right I mean because she's with Child I've never been with her before Obviously she was with some guy Verse 19 Then Joseph her husband being a just man And not willing to make her a public example Was minded to put her away privately Putting her away is getting a divorce Privately means privately Quietly Not trying to embarrass this woman Basically saying you know what I don't want to marry her now Because she's got a child with another guy That's what he's thinking But I don't want to embarrass her You know what Just put her away And just move on with my life Right Now here's the thing What Joseph does is actually allowed Because there is one group of people Actually allowed Because there is one grounds for divorce in the Bible And that is when You know you got married But you have not come together And then you find out that there's uncleanness With the person that you're married to You say brother Stuckey How often would that happen It seems like a very unique situation It is a very unique situation Now I mean here in this culture It makes more sense Because they do the paperwork And then they actually you know Come together as husband and wife Down the road So there's a time period that goes by This is a very unique situation But the thing is When you get married And you come together as husband and wife There is this bond that is permanent between you As a result of that And at that point Regardless of what takes place Whether it be adultery or whatever There's no grounds for getting a divorce Biblically You're meant to stay married You're not meant to put them away According to the Bible Okay So God hates putting away Now go to 1 Corinthians 7 Let me explain this a little bit more in depth 1 Corinthians 7 And I'm taking a little bit of time Because I'll be honest A lot of people When they preach on Ezra 10 They say Well they did the right thing Now it never says They did the right thing In Ezra chapter 10 Right it doesn't tell us Whether they did the right thing It doesn't say they did the wrong thing It just says what they did Right I mean that's what we have recorded And you know in the Bible When we read stuff We got to think about Okay This is I mean Laban had idols Is that the right thing Rachel stole the idols Is that the right thing I mean they did something Doesn't mean what they did Was correct though Right You got to look at the context You know of what the Bible says 1 Corinthians 7 verse 10 And unto the married I command Yet not I but the Lord And unto the married I command Yet not I but the Lord Let not the wife depart From her husband Now of course the Bible says Before you get married Marry somebody who is saved That goes without saying We talked about that last week But let's say you're married Regardless of how you got married Right Regardless of whether you have A Jacob Leah situation You're married now Okay So this applies And unto the married I command Yet not I but the Lord Let not the wife depart From her husband And it goes without saying Let not the husband Depart from his wife Basically don't leave your spouse Stay married Right That's what the Bible says Verse 11 But And if she depart Let her remain unmarried Or be reconciled to her husband And let not the husband Put away his wife And The Bible just said in verse 10 Don't depart But if you do depart Make sure you stay unmarried Okay You say well why would it mention Verse 11 Well it's not really justifying Departing But it's stating If you make the decision Make sure you stay unmarried But let me just kind of give you An example Of where A verse 11 could take place Right You know there's this guy that Recently declared himself To be Jesus Christ on YouTube Tyler Doka Who knows who I'm talking about Tyler Doka This is a guy that Five years ago or so We made a video at Verity Baptist Church Where they recorded it Where I was explaining That the earth is shaped Like a sphere Okay And we had already made that video We were planning to edit it Try to make it better But then that guy Who claimed to be a new IFB pastor Even though he did not have multiple children All of a sudden he puts out this video And says every other pastor is wrong They don't believe the Bible The earth is flat They don't follow They don't follow the truth of the Bible And so It was like he was Attacking All of the pastors And then I remember We were talking about it that night Because pastor Mendez was like Yeah you know No big deal or whatever But he called out you Because they mentioned In the background The backdrop at Verity Baptist And pastor Mendez was like Put out that video tonight Right So the video was already made We didn't make it specifically for him But then he got like very angry You know About that video that we made Now let me just explain to you Give you your math lesson for the day Why Because here's the thing A sphere is by definition A three dimensional circle Okay And I'll try to make this simple But if you got a circle And look I get it We believe the earth is spherical Okay But not everybody believes that Not everyone has this knowledge Okay You got a circle And the definition of a circle Is you take the middle point of a circle And every point along the outside Circumference or perimeter Is an equal distance From the center So everything on the outside of a circle Is an equal distance From the center Well what's the definition of a sphere A three dimensional object Where you take the center point And everything along the outside Is an equal distance From the center By definition It's a three dimensional circle In fact When you teach a young child You know Because you start teaching kids two dimensions And then you got to switch them over to three dimensions And what do you say A cube is a three dimensional square A sphere Is a three dimensional circle And actually By definition That is exactly what it is Right You say well why are you mentioning this Well This guy you know He ended up going to a lot of heresy He taught that a safe person can go to hell For a thousand years Clearly didn't believe in eternal security And all this stuff And then a couple months ago He realized he's Jesus Christ But only the Jesus of the book of John And not the Jesus of the books Of Matthew, Mark and Luke Right It doesn't make any sense Right But here's the thing I was curious about this guy Because You know I asked one of my friends You know He was married He had at least one child I don't know if he has multiple children I was like What does his wife think Does she think he's Jesus And he said Well in a comment He made a statement that Actually my wife thinks I'm the devil And she left me Now you say Brother Stuckey Do you advocate Leaving your spouse Not in most situations But if all of a sudden Your husband's like I'm Jesus It's probably scary and dangerous To be sleeping beside them I'd be like Depart Right There are some extreme situations Where it's like You know what I would just Leave that house Right Just get out of there It's just dangerous But here's the thing Stay unmarried I mean I would not look down On a woman who is scared For her life From a husband that's You know Whatever You find out your husband's A serial killer Well just stay married Until the bitter end Right That's not the advice I would give But what I would say Is leave And stay unmarried Because That is biblically What the Bible states That if you depart Stay unmarried Right Because what the Bible says is Stay with an unsaved person Because You might save your spouse If they declare themselves To be Jesus Christ You're not going to get them saved Right It's like Just leave I mean Here's what you have to understand The Bible cannot write Every single possible situation That would ever come up Throughout the history of the world This book would be like Right It's like You got to use some common sense In verse 11 You can interpret and say Okay well there's a situation Just leave Right But stay unmarried Right That's what the Bible teaches Stay unmarried Verse 12 But to the rest speak I Not the Lord If any brother Hath a wife That believeth not And she be pleased To dwell with him Let him not put her away And the one which hath A husband that believeth not And if he be pleased To dwell with her Let her not leave him For the unbelieving husband Is sanctified by the wife And the unbelieving wife Is sanctified by the husband Else were your children unclean But now are they holy Verse 14 What it's stating is As the saved parent You are the hope To raise that child To love God I mean If If a child does not have A parent that loves God In their life It's very unlikely They're going to end up Loving God And so the thing is As a saved person If you're in this situation Or if you're ever in this situation It's not a good situation To be in But stay married Because you're the hope To raise your kids Right? You know you have to realize Hey you know what For whatever reason I'm in this situation You know Many different ways That could happen But realize You know what I am the hope To raise my kids To love God And that is what my mission In life is Today Verse 15 But if the unbelieving Depart Let him depart A brother or sister Is not under bondage In such cases That death called us To peace Now Verse 15 What it's saying is Let's say you're saved And you love God And your spouse Leaves you Okay Now best case scenario Is reconcile the relationship Even if they're unsaved Because you're already married But People don't have to feel Miserable the rest of their life Because they were married And their unbelieving spouse Is not with them It's like You know what We don't want to make people Their entire life It's like The past is the past It's not a good situation But it's like You don't have to Kill yourself about it What happened Is what happened You can still Love God today You're not under bondage To just feel miserable All the time Because of what took place But What the Bible teaches is Stay Unmarried Or be reconciled To your spouse If possible Now go to Ezra chapter 10 Ezra 10 You say Brother Stuckey And let me give you an example of this And maybe you'll understand this Maybe you'll think I'm watered down You know Whatever Okay But I would never tell somebody To get a divorce Because it's unbiblical And I would never marry someone Who is divorced Because that would be wrong For me to do However I would say that You know what If you're in your 20s You're a young person I know of a couple situations Of Guys who got married That loved God And then after they got married They started to have problems In their relationship And their wives Like I never believed on Jesus I don't believe I'm still Catholic That's a horrible situation To be in It's an awful situation I know multiple situations Where it's happened Let me be completely honest You know Sometimes guys will go fishing For girls at churches Where they don't really Want to love God themselves But they want to have a wife That's actually a good girl So they'll go to church Even though they don't love God And they could pretend To be safe This happens Right That's a horrible situation And so Here's the thing I would not suggest to someone To get divorced Because it's wrong I would say though That if you're not able To contain yourself It's better to get divorced And remarried Or here it'd be Get an annulment And get remarried Rather than living In perpetual adultery You say What are you saying Divorce is a sin And getting remarried If you are divorced Is a sin Or an annulment But Once you get remarried The sin is over Now can you be Punished for it From God Sure Because it's wrong Here's the thing though That's better than just Living in open adultery And so You know what I'm not justifying Divorce or remarriage I'm just stating The obvious Right Now how does this apply To the book of Ezra What I'm saying is They're in a lose-lose situation I don't think any of the people There are saying You know what Divorce is a godly thing to do Nobody's saying that What they're saying is You know what If we get divorced And just get rid of You know the heathen wives And the children What's going to take place Is we're going to last longer In the land than we would've Now is it the right thing to do Well no But there is no right thing To do in this situation Now I'm not saying whether I agree with it or not I'm just helping you Get the mindset Where it's a rock And a hard place And what they're thinking is This is wrong But this would be worse And what they're saying is The ends justifies the means What they're saying is We're going to last longer In the promised land If we divorce those women And what they're saying is Is it right to do that No But the ends is going to justify How we got to that point Okay So point number one Let me give you one other example I've written down Think of the story of Jephthah Right, if you're familiar with Jephthah Jephthah makes a foolish vow He gets super zealous And he says You know what The next thing that comes in this door I'm going to offer it to God As a sacrifice He's thinking You know I mean maybe there was a lot of mice In that culture Some sort of animal Is going to come in Then his daughter comes in Now he's not specific in the vow Where he says Hey the next animal that comes in He says the next thing That comes in Then his daughter comes in And so here's the thing Breaking a vow is always a sin Right Biblically speaking I'm not going to show you that For sake of time Breaking a vow is always a sin Right Burning someone to death That's alive Is also a sin Now in my opinion Quite honestly I don't understand Jephthah Because as a parent It's a very easy decision Break the dumb vow you made And just beg God to punish you For your stupidity To me it's actually a very easy decision But both are wrong I mean is there a good answer Because burning your daughter to death Is that a good solution I got to keep my vow No Right Breaking a vow is never a good thing either This is like you know Getting the divorce In our symbolic example Getting the divorce is wrong Breaking a vow is wrong But what they're saying is Well the alternative You know basically Would be worse Okay Okay Ezra 10 verse 5 Point number 1 We see a predicament from God's people A lose lose situation There is no good answer You could say Well I think they should have done this I think they should have done this You know we could agree to disagree Because neither one is actually good Point number 2 We see the proclamation from Ezra What do they proclaim This is what we're going to do Ezra 10 verse 5 Then arose Ezra And made the chief priests The Levites and all Israel To swear that they should do According to this word And they swear Then Ezra rose up From before the house of God And went into the chamber Of Johann and the son of Elisha And when he had came thither He did eat no bread Nor drink water For he mourned Because of the transgression Of them that had been carried away And they made proclamation Throughout Judah and Jerusalem On to all the children of the captivity They should gather themselves together On to Jerusalem And that whosoever would not come Within three days According to the counsel Of the princes and the elders All his substance Should be forfeited And himself separated From the congregation Of those that have been carried away They make a decision that You know what You came here To rebuild Jerusalem And you know what If anybody does not come Within three days They are being kicked out They're gone Right Now remember this verse Later on when I tell you What I think the right solution Or the best idea Would have been in the situation But they're basically saying You're going to be kicked out If you don't come here Because we're going to tell you Thus saith the Lord This is our decision And you're going to follow it No matter what Verse 9 Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin Gathered themselves together On to Jerusalem Within three days It was the ninth month And the twentieth day of the month And all the people sat in the street Of the house of God Trembling because of this matter And for the great rain So everybody's trembling And I think it means everybody Where basically those that love God Are trembling because they're worried About the judgment of God Those that have done the sin Are trembling because they're worried About the judgment of God They're trembling because they're worried About the judgment upon themselves Right And the mindset Those that married the unsaved people They care about their land It's like hey we've made sacrifices We don't want to lose our land Right Those that love God Their mindset is We're able to serve God in Jerusalem If we get kicked out We're not going to be able to serve God Right That's the different mindset That the two are going through This side that loves God They're like you know what It's not about having money Or having a special land It's just we're able to freely serve God In Jerusalem We don't want to lose that I mean imagine If you came from a Muslim country And then you migrate You immigrate To a country where you're able to serve God And then you might have to go back to a country Where you cannot serve God You're not going to want to do that It's like hey I'm able to go soul winning And read my Bible And love God And do something in this world I couldn't do that in North Korea Right So you understand the different mindset These two sides have The side that loves God They're like We want to be able to serve God freely That's the mindset they're going into The side that married these heathen women That believe in another God They say well you know what We got this land We don't want to lose it Right That's the mindset Verse 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 Now therefore make confession On the Lord God of your fathers And do His pleasure And separate yourselves from the people of the land And from the strange wives What he says is Divorce Put them away Or just depart Separate Maybe you don't legally do the paperwork But just move on from them Get rid of them That's the decision that they make That's what they proclaim Is it the right decision Well I'll talk about my opinion in five minutes But this is what they do Right Then all the congregation in answer And said with a loud voice As thou hast said So must we do Now realize this The side that married these heathen women The reason why they're doing this Is because they don't want to lose their land You say why don't you save that brother Stucky If they really loved their wives and their kids They would have just left with their wife and kid It's like alright if I'm being kicked out of the promised land Okay I'm not going to leave my wife and my kids It's really weird to get the mindset That you're willing to leave your wife and your kids I mean what a horrible thing To even think about But all of them do You say why Because a person is willing to marry an unsafe person It shows that they're not doing things based on a love of God anyway And I'll tell you what If you want your spouse to love you Find somebody who loves God first And if they love God They're going to love you They're going to love their children They're going to be a good husband A good wife And so these people though They just freely say okay As thou hast said So must we do Right I mean if that's what we have to do to stay in the land That's what we're going to do Verse 13 But the people are many And it is a time of much rain And we are not able to stand without And neither is this a work of one day or two For we are many that have transgressed in this thing So a lot of people have done this They're like You know we're going to have to create a full time job Just to make sure all these people leave You know these heathen women Right a lot of people have done this And Let me say this that Brother Matthias gave us a good example Of what you do when you're reading scriptures With a lot of names You quickly read it And you don't stop to try to pronounce it correctly Just move on And everyone assumes you pronounced it correctly Right Because I'm the same way I'm not going to read all of these names At the end of the sermon I let him read all of them So I can just preach the sermon And I'll be done Before all those names You say why Brother Stuckey I don't know how to pronounce them Right I mean it's hard I mean people assume Alexander Scorby By default is correct on all of his pronunciations I'm sure he's not But it's like I don't know how to pronounce all these names But What you saw was a big list though Right During the Bible reading A lot of you fell asleep You're like It's a lot of names Right I mean a lot of names A lot of people did this Okay Verse 14 Let now our rulers of all the congregations stand And let all of them which have taken strange wives In our cities come at appointed times And with them the elders of every city And the judges thereof Until the fierce wrath of our God For this matter be turned from us Only Jonathan the son of Ahazel And Jehazi the son of Tikvah Were employed about this matter And Meshulam and Shabbathai the Levite Helped them Point number one We see a predicament From God's people Point two We see a proclamation from Ezra Lastly we see parentless children Parentless children Drop down to verse 44 Drop down to verse 44 Ezra 10 verse 44 All these had taken strange wives And some of them Had wives by whom they had children Some of the list Are people that not only got married But they actually had children with these women And that takes it to a whole other level When you actually have children with these people Right? Now you say Brother Stuckey Did they do the right thing? Because here's the thing Once again the Bible does not tell us they did the right thing The Bible does not tell us they did the wrong thing What you have is a lot of godly people That were sitting there trying to figure it out What's the best solution? Because they know divorce is wrong But they also know they're going to be kicked out of the land Where they're able to serve God As a result of what's going to take place They make the decision to go with divorce Right? Now here's my thing I am not emotionally invested in the land of Israel at all I don't care that they got kicked out of Israel Especially thousands of years later I really don't care So for me in a different perspective Not having the same emotions involved I'm just like why do you care about Israel so much? It's like who cares? So for me it's like I wouldn't go with that solution Because here's what I do believe I do believe they lasted longer in Jerusalem As a result of this decision than they would have I do believe they lasted longer And if that's the basis of how you're making it Did they make the right decision or wrong decision in a difficult situation? You might say they made the right decision Because they probably lasted longer But once again I'm not emotionally invested in the land of Israel I don't care that they lasted longer I mean if the New Testament church days had started earlier That would have been fine to me Right? What I am emotionally invested in Is children without parents though Parentless children I mean statistics are pretty clear On the difference between having two parents in the home Versus having one parent in the home And I don't have a list of statistics here in front of me But I mean you could see plenty of them that you can find online I mean parents that have one child in the home Are more likely to smoke And drink And get into trouble I mean it's just a fact Now are there exceptions? Absolutely There are people that are exceptions And they love God And serve God And they are exceptions to the rule However most situations If you only have one parent in the home It majorly affects those children Look A mom provides things for a child That are necessary Necessary As a guy I can't replace those things I mean you might be able to cook a meal Change a diaper Put the kids to sleep or whatever But those are just things that you're doing It still doesn't replace who that mom is The emotion The character The personality I mean men and women are very different from one another Very different And the mom provides things that are necessary Necessary Mom provides a comfort that a guy probably is not going to provide I mean you know your child falls down and gets hurt You know as a father it's like get up and quit crying Soften up Right? Guys and girls look at things differently We just do A mom provides things that are necessary The love of a mom is necessary I mean when a child needs something A child is really sick A child is hurt They run to mom They don't run to dad They run to dad they know they're probably just going to be tossed into the bed And get a pillow in their face Because fathers like to play with them right? A mom provides things for a child that a father can't replace Make no mistake about it A father provides things for a child that a mom can't replace And I'm not talking about being the financial provider That's not what I'm talking about Is that part of the role of a father according to First Timothy? Yes it is That is not the only role of a father Right? I mean in the passage in Ephesians 6 It mentions children It specifically mentions fathers It says bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord Now of course it's true for mothers But it's kind of a reminder to us as dads Hey don't just work work work No time with the kids You must provide nurture and you must provide admonition Nurture would be spending time with your kids Caring about your kids And admonition is the punishment You're correcting your children Sometimes that might be a spanking Sometimes it's just explain to them Hey you don't interrupt two parents talking You don't interrupt adults When you ask something from someone older than them You show respect You say please You say thank you You say I'm sorry These are things you must tell kids They don't know these things naturally But see what I'm saying is Moms provide something for those kids that is necessary And cannot be replaced Dads provide things for those kids that cannot be replaced Now of course You know what we talked about earlier on If you're in a situation of a one parent home Or just one person saved in the home It's like do your best to be the guiding light And you know what Your child can be the exception It is possible to be the exception But I'm just saying it is Much better to have both a mom And dad in the home I remember years ago when I was working a job Over a decade ago And there was a bunch of coworkers talking about someone who You know was in a one parent home And I remember just And I remember just I just said in passing like Oh that's sad you know It's not a great situation to be in Very I mean I didn't say anything controversial Someone got really offended How dare you say You need both parents in the home And I'm just thinking you got to be kidding me Right it's like And you know here's the thing If you don't want to go off what the Bible says Because you don't believe the Bible Whatever Just look at any statistic You see it's a fact Right Kids need mom And they need dad They need both of them And so when I look at this story I say you know what I don't agree with this decision Because here's the thing We're able to serve God in the local New Testament church Of course they wouldn't necessarily have realized What was going to take place 500 years later They're emotionally invested In Jerusalem And here's the thing I mean God is able of these stones To raise up children onto Abraham He can use I mean people all around the world Right It doesn't have to be just Jerusalem They don't have that same perspective And so I get it It's hard to look at their situation I'm just trying to help you understand their mindset It's not that they don't understand divorce What they're saying is Divorce is a better option Option one Option two I'm going to give you option three That I think is the best solution Because here's the thing I didn't immediately come up with this But you know what I'm not in a rush thing Where I have to figure out What are we going to do immediately Like they are You know I thought about it Writing this sermon And to be honest I think I found a solution That actually works pretty good What I would say is Kick everybody out of the land That married an unsaved person That seems to fix everything Right I mean it seems Because here's the thing Those that married the unsaved people It seems like they get away with it Realistically they're probably just going to remarry Which would be wrong I would say Just kick out the people that are the problem We're trying to start I mean because you know You look at this congregation And then look at a local New Testament church Of course We're long suffering with people But look if people cause major problems And they are a liability to our church And they're destroying our church Eventually it reaches the point where it says You know what The whole is more important than just you It's like Just be gone Just go Just leave Look I never like kicking people out of church It's not a fun thing to do But sometimes it's necessary We've made that decision at this church And I think everybody would say Yeah you know it's the right decision We have great unity now I mean you know Fixed a lot of problems that we had Sometimes it's necessary And what I would say to them From an outsider's perspective Thousands of years later Why don't you just kick out the people That married the unsaved people Because it's not like they're going to serve God anyway Right And here's the reality What might have happened If they kicked those people out Some of them would probably be like What am I doing I've destroyed my life And gotten right with God Gotten their spouse saved And begged to come back And they probably would have been let back And of course That's one of the points of church discipline When people get kicked out It is for the benefit of that person If they're a saved person Because maybe we'll finally wake them up To realize Hey I've got to take this seriously I'm destroying my life So what I think they should have done Is not divorce those women And leave parentless children What I would say is just Kick those people out of the land That have done this And I think they would have still lasted in I think they would have lasted longer Because they would have had people That actually loved God in Jerusalem Rather than a bunch of people And you know what it makes sense Because whenever a new IFB church starts Or any church A bunch of people join the church Not everybody stays at the church though Every single church That's new IFB Or like minded They've started with a group of people And some of those people got kicked out Every single one pretty much I don't want to spend the time To tell you all the stories in the U.S. But I know of churches where 80% of the original people 80% of the original people are gone Now at our church It's not that high I mean I think over half the people That were here at the beginning Are still here That were regular members At the beginning But obviously there are people That are no longer here For various reasons And it is what it is Whatever But I think they would have done a much better Just kicking those people out of the land And they probably would have lasted longer And at the same time You're not sinning By making them get divorced And you know what Those children have a hope You would hate to see these parentless children That are there as a result Of what you did Verse 16 And the children in the captivity did so And Ezra the priest With certain chief of the fathers After the house of their fathers And all of them by their names Were separated And sat down on the first day of the tenth month To examine the matter And they made an end With all the men that had taken strange wives By the first day Of the first month And among the sons of the priests They were found that had taken strange wives Namely the sons of Joshua The son of Josedek And his brethren Messiah and Eleazar And Jerub and Gedaliah 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 Now look Perhaps what they're thinking is You know what We're going to lose some valuable people If we kick them out And look That goes through the minds When you're kicking people out of church You're thinking about all the areas That they volunteer And you're thinking Is it worth it Those are the things That go through your mind I think that's probably Going through their mind And I would think that somebody thought Of this solution Maybe they just turned it down Because they said That's not the best thing I mean Look I don't know Maybe they made the best decision In the situation they were at That's not the decision I would make But I understand why they did it It's not 2 plus 3 equals 5 The takeaway though for us Is that You know what When you're looking at stories in the Bible Just because somebody does something Doesn't mean it's right or it's wrong And if God does not tell you in that story If what they did was right or wrong I mean Because you think of You know The wives of Jacob And then all of a sudden They're having their husband Marry their You know Maidens Like their helpers Right And then all of a sudden They're just like God hath blessed me You know It's just like No he didn't Their perspective is Hey we're doing what's right God's blessed me As a result of just having my husband Marry another woman It's like No That's just what you did And you're making that Your own decision on that You have to read the Bible And think about Is this the right thing Look at the context Does God explicitly give the answer Of course God hates divorce We know that But here's the thing I'm trying to help you understand the mindset Because there is the other side There's a reason why they weren't sure what to do Because they realized Wait a minute Neither side's good Because we're going to be kicked out of the land of Jerusalem That's why they're in this predicament They don't know what to do Let's close in a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father Thank you for allowing us to be here today And getting to study the book of Ezra And help us just to take away a lot of lessons Help us the next time we read the book of Ezra To understand things more clearly And just glean more things from your word God We just pray this in Jesus' name Amen Let's sing the song Does Jesus scare? On the first Ready Everybody Sing Does Jesus Turn When the Lord Is made To the Earth And sun As the Bird Is pressed And The Earth Is pressed And The Waker Is pressed And The Waker Is pressed So So I know The Tears They Star Is dispos they Conversation M Who I Am Here And Is Oh, yes, he bears, I know he bears, he bears, I know he bears, his heart is touched with my ear. When the days are really a long night, maybe I'll always be here. On the third, we're going to sing in the favela, and on the last verse, the instrument will join us. On the third, let's sing everybody. Does Jesus care when I've tried and failed to receive some temptation strong? When for my deep grief I find no relief, though my tears flow all the night long. Oh, yes, he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched with my grief. When the days are really a long night's dreary, I know my Savior cares. On the last, does Jesus care when I say goodbye? When the tears turn to me, and my sad heart aches and a hearty grief, is he gone too, because he's seen all around? Oh, yes, he cares, I know he cares, his heart is touched with my grief. When the days are really a long night's dreary, I know my Savior cares. Amen. Can you pray for us? Amen. Amen.