Such Deliverance as This
The history of the Jewish people continues in Ezra. Such Deliverance is set during the second half of the book when Ezra leads a group of Jews from the Babylonian captivity back to their land. Take a look at Ezra 7-10. There are some startling developments. Ezra 8:31 says, “. . . and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and the ambushes by the way.” Ambushes! That sparks the imagination. In chapter 10, Ezra mandates divorces for the Jews who have married pagans.
The widow Hadassah. Spinster Jarah. Bitter Naama.
Their paths cross in an arduous journey from Babylon to Yehud as Ezra
leads the Jews back to their homeland. A vindictive Persian stalks the
caravan to the Promised Land where unforeseen challenges threaten
resettlement. Ancestral lands have been seized and inhabited.
Jews have intermarried with their heathen neighbors in disobedience to Adonai’s law. Ammonites Tova and Judith await their first babies. Tova has embraced the God of Israel, but Judith dabbles in the worship of Moloch. Determined to return to Adonai’s ways, Ezra decrees pagan wives be divorced. Tova, Judith, and even Naama are at great risk.
