The exiles are challenged about rebuilding the temple. They write to king Darius who resends a letter quoting his prior decree that the temple is to rebuilt. Reconstruction resumes.
We also find our pal Zechariah in the mix. He is with the people in Jerusalem now.
A later king. Artaxerxes (who may be Xerxes) sends Ezra to Jerusalem. Ezra dedicates himself to studying the law and an issue arises. Many of the men returning from exile had married and had children with non-Jewish women. This causes a big crisis among the community returning from Babylonian captivity.
On one hand, we might think "so what", since we know the New Testament and how the Gospel went to the Gentiles. The Gospel spreads through people and what more connected than families. Should not God be honored by this?
Actually, I lean that way.
However, in Ezra, we get little indication of how God feels about it. Rather, we see a people who are ashamed of what their ancestors did. They want to purify themselves, even if that means isolating those who intermarried with foreign women. The NIV marginalia states that they are sent off with their Gentile families, but the text states that they just waited for God's anger to pass, implying that the half-Jewish families would be integrated. Likewise, If the people are truly now following the Mosaic law, then there was a process for them to follow to be reintegrated. It takes several generations.
This contrasts what happened in Esther, in which converts to the Jewish religion were praised.
So, what is going on? I cannot fully make clear what happened with their families. However, what seems to be happening is the start of trend which initially is good, but will be a problem in the New Testament - a zeal for obeying the Mosaic law to the letter. There clearly is a national shame and they want to correct the problems of the past.
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