Ezra 9

Our last couple Sunday mornings as we looked through Ezra 7 & 8, we discovered 6 important keys from Ezra’s life and what was taking place in the lives of the returning exiles, that we need to put into practice in our lives as well. Applying these things to our lives has a transformative affect, not only on us, but on those around us as well. This 6 keys are:

1. As God moves in our life’s, we need to give Him the praise and glory He deserves.

2. We need to understand the fact that God is in control and trust Him.

3. We need to know that our time in God’s Word and our faithful giving to further His work brings Him great joy.

4. We need to acknowledge that God Sets the Terms of our Service to Him, Not Us.

5. We Can Trust Jehovah Sabaoth in the Battles We Face.

6. There is protection in Accountability.

A devotion to these 6 key applications had already transformed the life of Ezra, and were beginning to transform the lives of the returning exiles. Their transformation will jump off of the pages as we look at this mornings passage.

If you haven’t already, turn in your copies of God’s Word to the book of Ezra chapter 9. That is page 500 in the pew Bibles.

I’d like to start this morning by reading chapter 9:

“9 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.’” Next Slides

Ezra’s Purpose for Being in Jerusalem.

To begin with this morning, I would like us all to be reminded of the purpose of Ezra’s return to Jerusalem. We see this purpose highlighted in Ezra 7:10. If you’re in chapter 10, just turn back about 2-3 pages and you will be in the right place. By the way, the first 2 things we see listed in verse 10 were things he was able to accomplish while still living in the Persian Empire, the last thing is what I want to highlight now. Let’s look at this verse together:

Ezra 7:10

Next Slide

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.

What was his purpose for being in Jerusalem? To teach the Word of God in Jerusalem.

The first thing we read in chapter 9 is: Next Slide

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.

The question is, what is meant by: “After these things had been done”?

Roughly 5 months have passed since Ezra and those with him entered Jerusalem, during those 5 months I believe 2 things were taking place.

The first we see in 8:36, Ezra was traveling throughout the region delivering the kings message throughout the region. But I also believe that something else far more important was taking place, Ezra was teaching God’s Word to the people. As he taught, God’s spirit began to move through what he was teaching. This is often the case when God’s Word is taught, it should always be the case.

So, here Ezra has just spent close to 5 months teaching God’s Word and what happens? Next Slides

Eyes are Being Opened to the Sin of the Nation. Vs. 1-2

We see this as we read on in Ezra 9: “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”

Now I want you to notice something towards the middle of verse 1, when Ezra writes; “have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations” he is pointing out something very key here regarding separation. It was impossible to be completely separate from the people of the land in the same way it is impossible for us to be separate from people around us who have not surrendered to Christ the way we have. But just because we live among people who have not trusted Christ, does not mean we live life the same way they do. The problem with the sin of the Nation of Judah that is being pointed out to Ezra is that they weren't separating themselves from the abomination of the peoples of the land.

Ezra then goes on to list the names of the peoples of the land whose abomination they had not separated themselves from and then in verse 2 he notes the main way they had violated this: “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.”

Now perhaps you may be wondering why marriage to the inhabitants of the land was such a big deal. Well it’s a big deal for a number of reason:

First and most importantly: Because it was a direct command of God. We see this command a few different places in the Old Testament, but for now we will look at Exodus 34:11-16. Next Slides

Exodus 34:11-15

Exodus 34:11–16 ESV

11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 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.

Now this command in and of itself is all we need, the fact that God said so should be enough. I mean practically every parent has said at one time or another to our children “Because I said so, that’s why!” Unfortunately for many, this command is not enough, we want to know why. Thankfully, as we read on in Exodus 34, God gives us some reasons in verse 12, 15 and 16.

We will look at verse 12 now where we read: “12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.”

Did you notice what Moses wrote at the end of verser 12? “lest it become a snare in your midst.” What Moses is writing here, under the direction of God Himself I might add, is that when we enter into a these close relationships with those that do not have a relationship to God like ours is, they become a snare to us. They pull us down. Satan uses those relationships as a trap to ensnare us into watering down our commitment to God and God alone.

Ezra also gives us another reason in 9:2 in one specific word he uses. Look at your copies of God’s Word to Ezra 9:2. The word Ezra uses is “faithlessness”. He uses the same word in verse 4. Now let me tell you what is taking place here.

As has been pointed out as we have been going through the Book of Ezra, God had promised to be with the returning exiles. We looked last week at how Ezra and those returning with him had fasted and sought God’s protection as they made the journey back to Jerusalem and how God had delivered. If we go back to the first couple chapters of Ezra we see time after time how God had been moving on their behalf.

What we are seeing now, with Ezra’s use of the word “faithlessness” is that many of the marriages that were taking place were as much marriages of convenience as anything else. So, what is meant by “marriages of convenience”? Well in many ways they were business transactions with the people in the area. Because they did not trust God to take care of their needs, they began to marry to establish business type of relationships that would enhance their positions financially. To make matters even worse, they pushing their son’s to do the same thing. In other words, they were putting their son’s in a position to be ensnared by Satan so they could make a buck.

The end result, which may have already been taking place, was that they would soon be participating in the idol worship that was one of the reasons they had been brought into captivity to begin with.

This brings us to the thing that appalled Ezra the most, and that is the leading culprits in this sin. We see the ones leading the way in verse 1 and verse 2: Next Slides

Faithlessness Being Taught by the: Faithless Leaders. Vs. 1 & 2

In verse 1 we read; “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations.” and in verse 2 we read; “And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.”

So, here we have the people who were supposed to be the spiritual and civic leaders, the positive example setters for the nation, leading the way in disobedience of God.

We have seen the sin God opened their eyes to as Ezra taught them the Word of God, we have seen who was leading the way in this sin against God. Now I want us to look at:

Next Slides

The Proper Response to Sin. Vs. 3

Look at Ezra’s remarkable response in verse 3; “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.”

Ezra understood how serious sin was in the eyes of God. He also understood that these were some of the sins that bought them into captivity to begin with. He was thinking, Are you kidding me, are we so slow to learn from the mistakes of our past that we are doing this again?

Then we read that Ezra “tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.” It was not uncommon in ancient Israelite culture to tear your garments when you were in deep sorrow, also not uncommon was for one to shave his head and beard. Ezra here is taking that a step farther, he was so appalled by the sin of the people brought to his attention that he pulled the hair of his head and beard out in clumps.

By the way, the word here used for appalled is a very strong word, it means to be devastated, to show horror, to be stunned, to be ruined.

Now there are two things that I see here that should serve as a wake-up call to us. To be honest, the first is more of a wake-up call to me. Next Slide

Leaders should be heartbroken over the sins of those in their care.

Unfortunately this has not been my response to sins I see taking place within the people of Liberty Chapel. My heart should be broken when I see people of the church in sin, especially, as was the case with the people of Judah, when people keep going back to sin’s that have already brought them under the judgement of God, and believe me, I have seen plenty of these sins taking place.

By the way, you’re not off the hook on this. The majority of you listening to me right now are leaders in some way. Wether your a parent, a worship leader, a Sunday school teacher or AWANA leader, a children's church leader, a small group leader and not just a small group leader-if you’re a part of a small group you are a leader of sorts, a Trustee or Elder....I could go on and before I was done almost everyone here would see themselves on this list.

The bottom line is this, our hearts should break when we see sin in the church.

The next wake up call that should take place here is: Next Slide

We should be heartbroken over our own sins.

Ezra’s response to the sins of the people should be similar to our response to our own sin. Now I am not necessarily saying we tear our clothes and pull our hair out in clumps, but we certainly ought to be appalled by our sins like Ezra was. Somehow we need to see our own sin the way God does, as something that is a great offence to Him and worthy of His judgment. As something that is filthy and poisonous to our character.

We also need to understand that our sin doesn’t just affect us, it affects others as well.

If you go back to the very first individuals taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, you will see included on that list Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego. These 4 young men were righteous men, yet the sin of the Nation of Judah brought them into captivity before almost everyone else. The sins of the Nation had a serious affect on them.

I was trying to come up with a way to illustrate this for us this morning. I decided to use an illustration I got from Pastor Mel Wiggers. Mel is one of the greatest preachers I have ever had the privilege of working with.

Mud, residue from our burn pile, Roundup, antifreeze. All in small portions.

So what is the application for us this morning?

This mornings application:

Well to begin with, we need to continue in following the lead of Ezra in:

We need to set our hearts to study and apply God’s Word to our lives.

As we do:

Our eyes will be opened to sin in our own lives.

As our eyes are opened:

We should be heartbroken over our own sins.

Additionally:

We need to be heartbroken over sin we see in the lives of other believers.

And: lastly:

We need to confess our sins to God and repent of our sins, which means to turn away from them.

We will look more at this last one next Sunday.

Let’s close in prayer.