Ezra

I finished reading Ezra today. I have two comments about this book. (And by the way, I realized today that I'm more than half way through the book).

1. Ezra recounts a miraculous story about Kings that are not of Israelite descent that have conquered the entire region and are allowing the Jews (and Israel) rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been burned by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried the people captive into Babylon. Kings Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes have been generous and allowed the people to return to worshiping God as they please, and have even provided great means to rebuild the temple.

2. At the end of the book, the people are returning to worship and sacrifice and really to repent. One of the things they are asked to do to repent is to put away the wives that are of foreign lands. I believe they are from Babylon. What does this mean though? En masse they are supposed divorce all these women and leave them to care for their fatherless children? I wish I understood what this meant because it seems pretty crazy to me.