The Bible Study Podcast, episode 620.

Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of the book of Ezra with Ezra chapter 10.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast.

I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

We continue on the story with Ezra with chapter 10, but let's do a little recapping.

In chapter 9, you may remember that what we saw was that Ezra comes back from captivity, from the Babylonian captivity, from exile, and finds that the people are really up to some of the same problems that

got them into exile in the first place. Specifically, they've been intermarrying with the

people who are the locals and their detestable practices, their worshipping of other

gods, which was definitely something that God did not have in mind. This is the

relationship, the story of God and his people here in the Old Testament, the Jewish people.

They were intended to be his. He told them from the beginning he was a jealous God and brought

them out of Egypt to be a nation, but they wanted to be like everyone else and started intermarrying

and started acting like them.

So he comes back and finds out we're doing that all over again.

So the question is, as he starts last time with this prayer, how are people going to respond?

Because remember in the time of the kings, the way they responded in general, was to ignore the prophets

as they were sent to tell them to repent. Let's see what happens. The people's confession

of sin. Well, that kind of gives things away there. Chapter 10, when Ezra was praying and

confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God,

a large crowd of Israelites, men and women and children gathered around him.

They two wept bitterly.

Then Shakanaya, son of Jehiel, one of the descendants of Elam, said to Ezra,

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