Sunday 17th May
Read Ezra 6:19-22
“On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. 20 The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. 21 So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.” (NIVUK)
We end the first section of Ezra with the Passover feast, the first major festival after the dedication of the temple. Given what will follow, and the impression we might have that Israel is exclusive, the outline of the Passover here is critical. Those who officiate took care to make themselves clean but the Ruth’s and Rahab’s were welcome to participate. If you had joined yourself to Israel and their God, you were welcome to celebrate Passover with them and remember the salvation of God’s people. If you had joined you were entitled to joy.
The mention of the king of Assyria, rather than Persia, is surprising and difficult to explain. The simplest explanation is a scribal error but this distresses those who believe the text as passed down is inerrant. The alternative is to argue that the author is making the point that the new king of Assyria, of whom the Persian king clearly is (as Persia inherited the lands of Assyria), has repented at God’s leading and restored the people to their land and their temple, reversing the cycle of punishment begun with the exile of Israel by an earlier Assyrian king. Through judgment and humiliation, one generation later finds joy and jubilation at God’s great reversal.
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.” (Luke 1:46-48) (NIVUK)
