June 15, 2023
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Reading along with us in Ezra? Here’s today’s reading:
Ezra 9 (NIV)
Ezra’s Prayer About Intermarriage
1 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites.......Continue Reading
Ezra is mourning and seemingly overcome by the guilt of not only his own sin but the sin of the people. The realization hit him as it does us that we are so undeserving of the love, mercy, and forgiveness of Christ. We continue to fall into sin over and over and yet God is always there with His mercy.
It also shows how important it is to fellowship with believers and especially the need for marriage to be equally yoked. We can so easily slip into sinful behaviors when we surround ourself with others that do. We are called to reach out to the sinners but we must be strong enough in our own faith to stay obedient to God.
Ezra 9 They mingled the holy race with everyone around them. The leaders and officials were responsible for this unfaithfulness. Ezra had torn his tunic and pulled his own hair from his head and beard and later laid face down because and prayed as he said he was to ashamed to lift his face to God. Even after our evil deeds then he says God did not give them the punishment they deserved. Because of there behavior not one could stand in God’s presence. God wants so much for us to get it right. now not later.
Ezra was made aware of that the people, priests, and the Levies had married foreign wives and many also had children by them. They were commanded not to do this for it would lead Israel to go astray and go after false gods. And not worship the true and living God. Ezra rent his garment and plucked out the hair of his head and beard and sat down in disbelief at what had been done. He sat there to evening. He fell upon his knees and prayed. Many joined him during his prayers and called out to God. He included himself in the prayers even though he wasn`t one of them that took foreign wives. The KJV in verses 8c and 9b uses the word reviving where the NIV in verse 8c uses a little relief and verse 9b uses new life. When I see the word reviving I think of the word revival. God takes this very serious of marrying unbelievers for the very same reason for it would cause our love for Christ to grow cold. The household would be unstable. It must be very hard when one person comes to Christ and the spouse is not saved. How shall two walk together unless they agree. Going back to Israel this must had been extremely difficult for the people, priest, and the Levites to separate themselves from foreign wives and the children born of them. It needed to be done to get right with God and follow Him with all one`s heart. What a cost for disobeying God in the first place. And all the suffering of the children along with it because of their sin. With all of this Ezra realizes that God has been merciful and has punished Israel less than their sins deserve. God did allow for foreigners to worship Him and turn from their false gods like He did with Ruth, Rahab, and so many others. Thanks be to God that He is a merciful, patient, and loving God toward us that don`t deserve any of His mercy but deserve hell for our sins. Praise God.
We can be grateful that in Christ we are not accountable for communal or national sin like the Jews were. We stand before God as individuals in such matters unlike Ezra here who appropriately mourns and grieves for the sins that Israel has committed recently and in the past. How important was the rule God set for Israel to not marry foreign wives considering the intimate nature of the marriage relationship and the wrong influence that would be present. It is unfortunate that the leaders and priests also disobeyed in this way instead of leading the people in the ways of righteousness. What a heart Ezra had for the people and for God in doing what he did and praying what he prayed. He saw how gracious God had been to bring them back and grant them favor with these foreign kings after He had rightly disciplined the past generations for their sins. Now the people were acting like their forefathers and thereby are undeserving of the mercy God has shown. How good that God does not punish us as much as our sins deserve and yet may we live right before Him and not fall in the traps of sin that satan and the world put before us.
Ezra 9
Ezra is in shock at what has transpired.
I think of all of the sins that are commonplace now that would be shocking not too long ago.
They aren’t only not shocking, but promoted.
I think we need to be prepared to be even more shocked and to plead before the Lord for His mercy and justice for those who are sinned against.
Romans 1:28-32
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”