Ezra 9

Ezra  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  50:41
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Ezra 9 ESV
1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. 10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

Wickedness of the Jews Revealed

Ezra 9:1–3 ESV
1 After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
We are looking at a period of time between the end of Chapter 8 and the events of Chapter 9. We find they arrived in Jerusalem on the “first day of the fifth month”, and on the fourth day, delivered up the treasures in the Temple, offered burnt offerings and sin offerings, and the next time reference we find is in Chapter 10 verse 9 - “It was the ninth month and the twentieth day of the month” when the great assembly took place in Jerusalem.
We are looking at up to 4-5 months that the events in Chapter 9 and 10 take place.
During this time, we can assume Ezra was busy preaching and teaching God’s plan for the Israelites and began to realize the need for revival.
It seems that it was effective. The leaders “officials” approached Ezra and spoke of the un-Godly lifestyle they were living - in particular that the priests and Levites had not kept themselves spiritually separate, as commanded by God. They had intermarried to unbelievers, in direct violation of God’s Holy Commandments:
Exodus 34:14–16 ESV
14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.
Deuteronomy 7:1–6 ESV
1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. 6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 20:10–18 ESV
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.
Not only had they intermarried, but they had picked up on their pagan spouses and relatives habits.
Even though they had been warned, they failed to follow God’s Commands and as a result were committing immoral and wicked acts of false worship - the same that the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites worshiped. Baal, Ishara, Moloch, Chemosh, Amurra, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Ra, and the list goes on - just as they had been warned would happen.
In this present situation, leaders—both civil and religious—were the worst offenders. They were the most unfaithful, sinful, and worldly.
By marrying unbelievers and engaging in the practices of immorality and wickedness, God’s people had intentionally corrupted themselves.
Why is this such an issue?
2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
A yoke is a wooden bar that joins two oxen to each other and to the burden they pull. An “unequally yoked” team has one stronger ox and one weaker, or one taller and one shorter. The weaker or shorter ox would walk more slowly than the taller, stronger one, causing the load to go around in circles.
When oxen are unequally yoked, they cannot perform the task set before them. Instead of working together, they are at odds with one another.
Unbelievers tend to have different worldviews than those of believers, and the differences could lead to an unhealthy marriage in the long run and could compromise the faith of the believer.
We are to live a separate life from the world - not becoming extremist and isolating ourselves, but to simply separate our lifestyles. We should still be a witness to them, and disciple them, which means we have to associate with unbelievers - but we shouldn’t overstep the bounds into becoming overly social and allow ourselves to potentially be influenced to participate in their un-Godly lifestyles and behaviors.
The result of finding out these things caused Ezra to go into a state of deep concern for God’s people. Hearing just how bad things had come shocked Ezra to the point he tore his clothing and pulled hair out of his head and beard, signifying a deep grief.

The Believers Mourned

Ezra 9:4–5 ESV
4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God,
Ezra had apparently gone to the temple, and others wanted to know why Ezra was so troubled, and soon, other faithful believers joined Ezra in mourning over the sins of God’s people.
Ezra stayed there until evening sacrifice (around 3 P.M.), when he fell down and prayed to the Lord. This position showed his shame for what God’s people had done, but he was assuming a position of begging before the Lord, and throwing himself at the mercy of God.

Ezra Confesses the Sins of the People

Ezra 9:6–15 ESV
6 saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem. 10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra confessed the continuing problem of sin among the people of the nation. He reacted to the sin with embarrassment, using terms such as ashamed and disgraced.
He felt embarrassed because it was for guilt like this that the nation had gone into captivity in the first place at the hand of foreign kings (viz., Sargon II and Nebuchadnezzar). The Captivity was to be a method of purifying the people and reestablishing a close relationship between them and God.
Apparently the Exile had not accomplished its purpose because of the people’s tendency to stray from their covenantal obligations.
Like a flood their sins, Ezra said, had engulfed them for their sins were higher than their heads. Ezra acknowledged the grace of God in allowing the people to return to the land. He reminded God and himself that it was the Lord’s graciousness that allowed the kings of Persia to grant the Jews freedom to return to the land of promise to rebuild the temple.
Now they were back in bondage—bondage to sin.
Ezra then confessed the men’s present sin of intermarriage. Ezra asked, What can we say after this? By this question he was acknowledging that the nation had no excuse before God. No explanation was given for the leaders’ disobedience.
They had broken God’s commands to remain pure before Him, and to separate from the corruption and detestable practices of the land.
They had directly disobeyed the clear Word of God.
Foreign marriages contaminated Israel, fostered the foreigners’ prosperity, weakened Israel spiritually, and decreased her opportunity to enjoy the land’s crops. The conclusion Ezra reached was that God would be totally just in destroying them in His anger so that no remnant would be left. They deserved even greater punishment than God was giving them. In a nutshell, Ezra was describing the position of all mankind before God.
As people disobey the Word of God they stand under His wrath in their guilt. Ezra’s prayer included no specific request; he simply threw himself on God’s mercy. By this he concluded his prayer in the same way he began. He acknowledged that no one in the entire community was worthy to stand before the righteous God. In his prayer Ezra affirmed several attributes of God: grace, kindness, anger, and righteousness.
Ezra was asking God to be merciful on the basis of His loyal love for the nation.
John 16:8 ESV
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
James 2:10 ESV
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
Today, we as a nation stand before God with no excuse before God. We know our nation is struggling with the bondage of sin, and even our leaders have failed us in that regard. We have let it go so far down the path of un-righteousness that we, too, have no explanation for our leaders’ disobedience. I have had conversations with others about a Christians obligation to vote. There are some who take the stance, God will provide us with the leaders He chooses. While that is true, we must never forget that God uses HIS people to accomplish His will - and by avoiding the polling place, we too are just as guilty as everyone else in neglecting God’s command to us.
While I have heard many arguments against voting - let me go through scripture with you.
Romans 13:6–7 ESV
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
We see that we, as Christians, are to obey the authorities because they are a part of God’s justice - they are a governing force between good and evil in society. By “refusing” to vote, then we are allowing the world and satan to overtake the political offices and we will stand with no excuse as to why we allowed Godless people to be placed in God’s position of authority in our government.
Scripture also tells us Jesus commands Christians to be salt of the earth - salt is a preservative and prevents spoilage. To preserve the Godly nature of our government, we must liberally apply this salt so that we prevent spoilage in places of authority.
Notice there is no moral obligation to vote - nothing in scripture tells us “Thou Shalt Vote”, however I can argue we have the right and the responsibility to be the stewards of the positions of governmental authority.
But where do we go from here? How do we make a difference now that it seems the morality of our nation and our governing officials have failed? We must do the same as Ezra and the other believers. We must unite in prayer, acknowledging God’s goodness and mercy on our nation, taking responsibility FIRST for our own sins and then the sins of our nation, and we must beg God to forgive us and restore us to where we are a country that would be pleasing to Him.
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