In many ways Ezra 10:1–44 wants to teach us the same truth about God that we learned in Ezra 9:1–15: the Lord is just and gracious. We see this not in an explicit verse testifying to God’s justice and grace, but in the fact that the Lord moves his people so that they will take action, which will turn away his anger from them. The Lord convicts his people of sin in order to bring them to repentance and prevent their destruction (Ezra 9:14). As follows:

• The people recognizing their sin and making a conscious decision to obey God (Ezra 10:2).

• Next there is call for repentance from all Israel. A proclamation is made throughout the land (Ezra 10:7–8). The whole church is summoned to come and repent. Those who refuse to repent will be banished.

• Once everyone has arrived, Ezra gives clear instructions regarding what must be done (Ezra 10:10–11). Though it is not explicitly mentioned, we also assume that Ezra commanded the people to bring guilt offerings if they were guilty of intermarriage (Ezra 10:19).

• Having been told what God expects from them, Israel takes a very practical next step. A plan is made (Ezra 10:14) and the elders are called to conduct house visits (Ezra 10:15–16). The guilty men repent of their sin and send away their wives, and we can assume that the anger of God was turned away (Ezra 10:14).

By means of the above-mentioned steps, the Lord was moving his people to action in order to turn away his anger. From this we have a testimony that God is just and gracious. God is just, he is angry at the sins of Israel, and he requires sin to be punished. But he is also gracious, willing to forgive where there is repentance and faith.

This truth about God encourages us. It tells us that no matter how terrible our sin or how dark the crime we have committed, there is always hope for anyone who repents and turns to God in faith (Ezra 10:2). On account of God’s mercy and the work of Jesus Christ, God’s people can be forgiven; they do not have to be sent into a second exile.