"God's People Repent" (Whole Service)

Pastor Jon Gohdes Shawnee Bible Church Sunday April 26, 2020 “GOD’S PEOPLE REPENT” (Ezra 10:1–44) Can I invite you to turn in your copy of God’s Word to Ezra chapter 10? We are concluding our studies in Ezra this morning by reading and wrestling with what I’m sure you’ll agree is a difficult chapter in the Bible. Let me warn you that we’re going to face a big problem in this passage—not because there are problems with God or in God’s Word but because there are problems in life! Ezra 10:1–44 Would you agree that this chapter is just one big hot mess? You’ll recall that chapter 9 was this dramatic scene where Ezra comes to Jerusalem, and he finds the community has been unfaithful in regards to marriage. They have engaged in the same old error and rejection of God’s Word that previous generations had when they intermarried among the foreign peoples surrounding them—the issue of course was that this always resulted in Israel falling away from the true worship of Yahweh. We need to point out that we don’t have all of the information that we might want in order for us to make a clear judgment call on the situation in Ezra 9–10; but we are helped by turning to the Prophet Malachi. He would have been a contemporary of Ezra’s, and he allows us to see more of the situation going on in the hearts of the people. Particularly, we turn to Malachi 2:11–17. Here in Malachi the picture is coming into clearer focus. Malachi points out that these people were observing their outward ceremonies of religion, but they were acting treacherously in their marriages (even to the point of divorcing their first wives who were Jewish, evidently for the purpose of marrying new wives who were not Jewish!). We’re not actually given the specific reason why they’re doing this, but it’s clear they were violating God’s design for marriage and his plan for them to be a holy people. Incidentally, Malachi 2:14 is perhaps the best description of marriage in all the Bible! Marriage is not to be violated because it is a “covenant of companionship.” Jay Adams helps to clarify: “…the word translated ‘companion’ has as its kernel idea that of union or association. A companion, therefore, is one with whom one enters into a close union (or relationship). …a companion is one with whom you are intimately united in thoughts, goals, plans, efforts (and, in the case of marriage, in bodies). …entrance into marriage should mean the desire to meet each other’s needs for companionship. Love, in marriage, focuses upon giving one’s spouse the companionship he/she needs to eliminate loneliness [cf. Gen 2].” (Adams, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible, 11–12) As Malachi confronts these people, he lays out that the companionship of marriage must be protected by a covenant—by a sacred oath which promises to work hard at being the most intimate companion of the other. Whenever the covenant of companionship is broken by unfaithfulness, it is a serious and ugly offense to God—and many of these people were doing it willingly! These people needed to be brought to the point of Psalm 51:16–17. In chapter 9, Ezra embodied such a “broken and contrite heart” to the people calling them to repentance. Now in chapter 10, they seem to be getting the message: they themselves respond by coming up with a plan to repent. But their problem is huge: they have been unfaithful in marrying foreign women (some of them even have children by these marriages!)—what will it mean/what will it look like to faithfully repent in such a situation? This problem is such a hot mess, but the solution they come up with is to divorce their foreign wives and send them away. I warned you that this chapter is a difficult one! You mind probably goes right back to Malachi 2:16 which we just read a couple minutes ago: “Didn’t Malachi say that God hates divorce? What is going on here in Ezra?” God’s people are repenting of a big harry mess they got themselves into… Repentance merely means to “turn around” (often because of something drastic). It means you’re going one direction, but something happens to make you think differently and commit to a different allegiance; you turn around and start going the opposite direction. Something happens in the hearts of God’s people when they repent from sin and turn to God. (1) REPENTANCE COMES FROM THE DESIRE TO BE FAITHFUL TO GOD (verses 1–4) After these people are brought face to face with their unfaithfulness, they come up with a resolution in verse 3. Out of desire to return to covenant faithfulness to God, they conclude that the solution is to break off their earthly covenants with these foreign wives. To be frank and honest with you, I don’t fully know what to do with this passage. God does hate divorce—but he’s hated what they’ve been doing also. They decide corporately that a clean break must be made. I think one commentator’s summary is helpful here: “One fact to be borne in mind about the issue as a whole is that divorce was permitted in Israel, though not without some serious cause (Deut 24:1); and broken marriages had been rife at this time for the very opposite of the present reason: that is, there had been a scandalous number of Jewish wives abandoned in favor of heathen women (Mal 2:10–16). While divorce is always hateful to God (Mal 2:16), and a witness of human ‘hardness of heart’ (Mark 10:5), the situation described in Ezra 9 and 10 was a classic example of one in which the lesser of two evils had to be chosen. If a serious reason for divorce could ever exist, this had a better claim than most to come within that category.” (Derek Kidner, Ezra-Nehemiah, 71) For the strange circumstances they find themselves in, the exiles conclude that to be faithful to God they must go through with this extreme measure. Their repentance is coming in the wake of rebuke, which has brought about a reawakened desire to be faithful to God. Interestingly, this is their plan, but they submit to Ezra’s leadership to see it done (verse 4). If repentance comes from a desire to be faithful to God, it begins with… (2) REPENTANCE BEGINS WITH A COMMITMENT TO BE FAITHFUL TO GOD (verse 5) Thus far the people have come up with an idea—they’ve talked about what should be done; but in verse 5, it’s time to “sign on the dotted line” (verse 5). Here the people move from talking about a plan to committing to a plan. It may not feel like another step, but it is. How often we talk about obedience, we talk about getting help, we talk about following God, we wax rhapsodic about the things of God—but we lack any concrete plan to follow through. How are we going to step out? What are we going to do? Repentance commits to returning to God no matter the cost… And that leads to… (3) REPENTANCE LEADS TO CONFESSION OF UNFAITHFULNESS TO GOD (verses 6–12) With surprising unity, the people respond to own up to their unfaithfulness. Proverbs 28:13 Notice from verse 9 that this is actually a sin in which the men in particular have been unfaithful. The men of Israel are called to assemble at Jerusalem in order to own up to what they have done, and this is not convenient. They must drop everything they’re doing. It’s during their winter season. They get 3 days to show up, or they will essentially be kicked out of the community of Israel. But their genuineness is demonstrated by the fact that they come. People who truly want to be faithful are willing to deal with the inconvenience of repentance. Verses 10–12 Repentance leads to confession—to agreeing with God and owning up to any unfaithfulness that is revealed by the Word of God. When we do that, what’s the promise? 1 John 1:9 Repentance leads to confession—to agreeing with God and owning up to any unfaithfulness that is revealed by the Word of God. But it doesn’t stop there… (4) REPENTANCE LEADS TO ACTIONS OF FAITHFULNESS TOWARD GOD (verses 13–14) The people know the matter is too huge to be taken care of all at once. They commit to a process of coming to Ezra family by family for the situation to be investigated and resolved. There’s always some who will not see and will oppose God’s Word (they’re mentioned in v. 15). We don’t know their reasons, but we can assume they thought they had some pretty good ones. Verse 16 contrasts this small group of unwilling dissenters with the vast majority who were willing to “do so” (verses 16–17). The process of repentance took three months. The names of the men are actually listed in vv. 18–44. The unfaithfulness was called out from the top down: priests, Levites, singers, Israel… Verse 44 emphasizing a final stark comment about the situation. Kidner provides another helpful comment: “Presumably because divorce was nothing new in Israel, except on this appalling scale, we are not told what was done for these victims of it. It seems most likely that in such a case a wife would return to her own family; but this is no more than an assumption. We simply lack the knowledge of what was customary.” (71) Our hearts are heavy at such a prospect: drastic unfaithfulness has called for drastic measures, but I can’t help thinking of Paul’s words to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:8–11). I want to make a final important observation about repentance from our text, and it is in verse 19. The important observation is this: our sin and unfaithfulness are not atoned for (“covered”) because we turn around and forsake them. This is important! There’s a way of thinking which goes like this: “God, I promise I’ll change, and I’ll never do it again if you’ll just forgive me this time!” That is not the basis upon which God forgives our sin. Our sin is only forgiven and covered by the shedding of blood—no longer by sacrifices we present, but by the ultimate once-for-all sacrifice that we trust (the life and death of Jesus). That is true for anyone who believes in Jesus today, Jew or Gentile. But it is the glorious future for Israel on the day when they awaken from their current rejection of the Messiah and corporately return once again in repentance to God. Speaking of that time Malachi said Malachi 3:1–4. APPLICATIONS: How does Ezra 10 help us think about divorce? We recognize that we live in a messy world where sometimes the choice is only between “the lesser of two evils.” We affirm with every confidence that divorce is never an option for two believers in Jesus Christ who are married to one other and who are sincerely seeking to be faithful to God. (That is the rule. If divorce happens here, there is a breakdown in either the “believer” part or the “sincerely seeking faithfulness” part!). When divorce happens, Jesus said it is always because of some hardness of heart, some unfaithfulness (by at least one party). This means divorce is always a big deal. However, just because you’ve been through a divorce does not necessarily mean you’re the hard-hearted, unfaithful one. (Remember the abandoned Jewish wives!) Divorce is something God hates, but it may be called for in some extreme cases. It would seem this was a special case only for Israel where they were supposed to divorce their second wives (to preserve the Jewish/Messianic line). Believers in Jesus today are to remain married if possible (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:1–24). The overall application for all of us (married, divorced, or single) is to continually ask and answer the question: how do we respond when God’s Word reveals any area of unfaithfulness (whatever it may be)? Do we, as God’s people, repent?