I liked today's reading because my Bible says, "No matter where we live, backsliding is an ever-present danger". That is so true if we do not attend to our spiritual life. We see the Isrealites doing this over and over....we are no less immune.
Ezra renews the covenant....he brings the Book of the Law before the people and teaches them. Notice how many times you read the phrase "who were able to understand". We know the Holy Spirit had not come to all the people yet, so I wonder how God's people came to understand? I know that God can do anything, but this point was interesting to me. Verse 12 shows that the people now understood, so Ezra must have been empowered to teach with meaning. The people then celebrate the Feast of the Booths (Tabernacles)...it had been a long time. This was the feast that was rememberence for when the Lord delivered the people from Egypt.
Chapter 9 documented real mourning. The people were all in sackcloth and had dust on their heads. The history was verbally accounted for...this is how the people learned...the majority couldn't read and the Bible was not universally available in those days. There was the corporate confession of sins. The Israelites were slaves in their own land.....remember they didn't want to look defiant by having their own king when the Persian King was on their side releasing them from exile....
This is all about journeys.....two great ones...from Egypt and from exile. Our life is our "journey"....
The people make a covenant, a binding agreement...order is returning to the people of God....there will be sacrifices again and order in the temple. The people are sinful and confess. They promise not to give their children in marriage to the pagans.....this precludes idol worship.
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