God is holy, and he made a covenant (special agreement) with Israel to establish a holy nation (Exodus 19:4–6; Leviticus 19:2). Being God's people meant Israel needed to be pure in worship and social relationships. God knew that if his people became part of the culture of their pagan neighbors, they would adopt evil worship practices (see Numbers 25:1–9). Their failure to stay pure and their blending with these cultures eventually led to their destruction and exile (2 Kings 17:5–23).
When the priest and scribe Ezra wrote to the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem, he intended to remind them to remain pure to their beliefs and commitments. After arriving in Jerusalem, Ezra discovered that the people had married pagan foreigners, which was against God's law (see Deuteronomy 7:3–4; Joshua 23:12–13). This threatened their identity as God's holy nation (Ezra 9:1–2).
The book of Ezra emphasizes the need to separate from foreigners. It recounts how those who first returned to Jerusalem refused to cooperate with the pagan people around them (Ezra 4:1–5). These people claimed to worship the same God but actually worshiped several gods in addition to the Lord. If the Jews had joined them, they would have compromised their beliefs and become ungodly, as Israel had before the exile to Babylon (see Exodus 34:15–16; 1 Kings 11:1–5; 2 Kings 16:3).
The early Jewish leaders in Judea understood the danger of tolerating these foreigners. They learned from their ancestors' experiences and refused to compromise the purity of their faith for the sake of so-called peace. They carefully followed God's instructions in everything they did (Ezra 3:2, 9; 6:18). To identify as “servants of the God of heaven and earth,” they needed to please and serve him alone (5:11).
Today, Christians are God's holy people (1 Peter 2:9). This is a title that indicates purity. The apostle Paul advised the Corinthians not to marry non-Christians, as Christ and Satan have nothing "in common" (2 Corinthians 6:14–15). Righteousness and unrighteousness do not mix. God's people must avoid behavior that corrupts. Instead, they must adopt attitudes and actions that match their holy status (Colossians 3:5–15).
Passages for Further Study
Genesis 27:46–28:5; Exodus 19:4–6; 34:15–16; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 7:3–4; Joshua 23:12–13; 1 Kings 11:1–5; Ezra 4:1–5; 5:11; 9:1–10:11; Malachi 2:15; 1 Corinthians 6:15–20; 2 Corinthians 6:14–18; 2 Timothy 2:21–22; 1 Peter 2:9–10