Ezra Rebuilds the People

Unfinished Business: The Bittersweet Story of Ezra & Nehemiah • Sermon • Submitted 2 months ago • Presented 2 months ago

Ezra 7–10

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Personal story about a time when…

I tried to fix something.

But I made it worse.

Sometimes our “solutions” make bad situations worse.

We’re just trying to

help

fix

improve

Even the “solutions” of

God-fearing

Bible-believing

Genuine

Religious People

…have made bad situations worse

This is often what happens when we choose (what we think is) the lesser of two evils.

we’re still supporting evil

and that evil doesn’t take away the other evil

it just adds to it

So, here’s the question we need to ask ourselves…

How do we know if a solution is truly from God?

We’re going to pick back up in the book of Ezra

Last week we talked about the exiles coming back from exile

We’re going to jump ahead in the story about 80 years from the time they first returned

So, this is a whole new generation of Jews living in Jerusalem

A priest and Bible scholar named Ezra

who was still living in Babylonia

went home to Jerusalem (a place he had never been)

[Transition Statement - Introduce the specific text]

Ezra 7:6 ESV

6 this Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Ezra 7:10 ESV

10 For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

When he left for Jerusalem

he studied

he fasted

he prayed

When they arrived, they offered sacrifices to God

he was sincere

he was genuine

he was devout / pious

but his dreams to were quickly shattered

Ezra 9:1 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.

Technically, they were right

when Israel went into the promised land

they were not supposed to marry Gentile women

Ezra 9:2–3 ESV

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.

Why did God initially tell them not to intermarry?

idolatry

not ethnic purity

Ezra kind of freaked out

he panicked

he was afraid

he prayed

Ezra 9:6–15 “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.””

a priest suggested a solution

Ezra 10:3–4 ESV

3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God, and let it be done according to the Law. 4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”

Ezra agreed with the proposal

Ezra 10:10–11 ESV

10 And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. 11 Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”

FOUR leaders opposed this solution

everyone else said, Yep, this is what we need to do

For two months

Jewish men set up appointments

came and divorced their wives

and sent their wives away

along with their children

in spite of the promises they made to them

in spite of their covenant to care for them

“Separate yourselves”

Ezra’s work would eventually lead to a group you may have heard of…the Pharisees

the word “Pharisee” means “separated ones”

The Pharisees saw Ezra as a hero

So, does this story make you uncomfortable?

I think it’s supposed to

Some scholars think what Ezra did was right and good

Some scholars think it was wrong

The text doesn’t explicitly say

some scholars think MAYBE the prophet Malachi was reflecting on this situation when he wrote…

Malachi 2:13 ESV

13 And this second thing you do. You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.

Malachi 2:14 ESV

14 But you say, “Why does he not?” Because the Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

Perhaps…

they thought they were being faithful to God through this course of action

but by sinning against these women and children

they were sinning against God

It was the Lord who was witness to your union and covenant

that’s why he’s not listening to you now

that’s why he’s not accepting your offerings

God doesn’t just care about your ritual and your religion

he cares about how you treat people

he cares about you keeping your promises

Malachi 2:15 ESV

15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

Some of these women Ezra sent away were Moabites

You know who else was a Moabite wife?

A young lady named Ruth

God used her to redeem her whole family

Through Ruth, he brought King David

And even King Jesus

Can you imagine…

If Ruth and Naomi had come back to Bethlehem

And everyone had said,

“Get out!”

“You can’t be here!”

“Naomi’s son should have never married you in the first place!”

“Go home!”

Paul seems to have something similar in mind in 1 Corinthians 7

There may have been early Christians wondering if they should divorce their unbelieving spouse

Paul said, “No!” The unbelieving spouse (and children) are blessed and sanctified through that union

Malachi 2:16 ESV

16 “For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

Malachi 2:16 NASB95

16 “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

Why does God hate divorce?

Because it is doing violence to someone

God cares about the victims of divorce

Through Malachi, God is saying to these “religious” men…

You can’t be faithful to Me by betraying your wife

You can’t fix your relationship with Me by breaking your relationship with your wife

it could be easy to simply criticize them, but the truth is…

We’ve all “covered our garment with violence,” haven’t we?

We’ve tried to fix things according to our own strength and wisdom

we’ve made bad situations worse

we’ve hurt people we were supposed to love

Sometimes—even in the name of the Lord—many sincere people have hurt

their spouse

their children

their neighbors

the foreigner, the orphan, the widow they were supposed to love

We’ve all done wrong…even while thinking we were doing God’s will

so, back to our original question…how do we know if a solution is truly from God?

God’s solution is patient, merciful, self-giving love.

His solution as in, that’s what he would do

for the next 500 years

he would continue to be patient and merciful

and in the greatest act of self-giving love, he would send his Son to suffer and die

Patience, mercy, and self-giving love have always been what God expected of his people

Well-meaning people like Ezra often

made a bad situations worse

by trying to fix them through their own wisdom and strength

failing to imitate the character of God

They knew that God…

is merciful, patient, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love

desires mercy and not sacrifice

wants them to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God

They should have lived according to God’s revealed character while they waited for his salvation

for us

This is how we know if a solution is from God

Does it look like the God’s character as revealed in the cross?

Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”