Light Shining in the Darkness: Confessing Sin

Rapport:

Review

We looked last week at sin and we defined the term as something which is crooked, twisted or bent in our heart, mind, and body. Sin stands in direct opposition to God because He has made all things good, but when sin entered the world, the corruption of sin makes God’s good creation-twisted and opposed to Him.

We can see this play out in all of history for humanity has always exhibited the reality that human beings are inherently evil and God is at work changing people’s hearts so they are restored back to loving Him and seeking to do all that He pleases in the world.

This is the theme of chapter 9 in Ezra as we see the Jews portray the portrait of a sin cursed world with our loving, always forgiving, always patient, and always just in punishing those who rebel against him. God chose Israel as his people when He called Abraham to himself around 1500 years before the events in Ezra. Those 1500 years of the life of Israel have represented the broader whole of all human existence in that all human beings fall continually in the struggle and bondage of sin.

But as God made a covenant with Israel to love them and redeem them by his grace, He continually proves to be faithful to his people regardless of their faithlessness. These truths about God are confirmed in his interactions with humanity throughout the existence of this world. God continually proves that He is the One true God who shows loving kindness and mercy to those undeserving of such love.

Ezra 9 and 10 makes this point very clear as we see God applying mercy and grace to the Jews once again in spite of their incessant rebellion against His word. Some like to make the false claim that the God of the OT is full of wrath and anger, and the God of the NT is loving and forgiving. This is an idiotic statement by those who only skim the Bible for straw-man arguments against it. Clearly, we will see in these last two chapters of Ezra, like the rest of the OT and New Testaments, that God is ...

Ex. 34:6-7 “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty"

Because of that love, God has provided a way of salvation by those who put their faith in Him. Historically, it has always been the faith in God and his promises that was pathway to salvation. Before Christ, believers in God were those who trusted in the hope of a Messiah who would come. For those after Christ, we know his name to be Jesus and he saves people from their sins. Our faith must rest in Him alone and we can have relationship with Him again.

Ezra 9 and 10 tells the story of God’s people struggling in sin and revels the faithfulness of God to love wretched sinners in spite of their selves. This is the love that God consistency reveals about himself through the ages.

Now last week, we looked at how Ezra’s ministry of preaching God’s word exposed sin in light of God’s commands. God had told the people in Deut 7 that they were not to intermarry with the pagan nations so that they would not turn to worship the false gods of their new relationships. This shows God’s omniscience about the human nature that He created. He knows that when humans fall in love and marry, they graft their interests and beliefs in unity.

Think about how in your marriage, you now do things with your spouse that you would have never thought you would be interested in before. But because of love…you are interested because your love for your spouse.

Amy didn't realize how big of a nerd I was well into our marriage. My love for sports was easy to adapt to but even my love for Star Wars and lego has become something that she....ok well maybe not Star Wars and lego yet but we are getting there. The point is that God knew that if His people fell in love with those who worshipped false gods, that would tempt His people to love them as well.

Ezra declared the word of God to the people and the resulting sin bubbled to the surface! Ezra, as a spiritual leader of the people responded to the news of this sin with great remorse. He was broken by the continually falling away from the Lord that He saw in the people whom he led. This afternoon, we will look at the remaining verses and we will consider how the Ezra’s action teach us how to deal with sin as God’s people.

What is our reaction to sin? How do we deal with it in our own lives as God reveals it to us?

Adam and Eve, the prototypes of the sinful life, show us how some people respond to sin. Adam and Eve were confronted by God re: their rebellion and they show us how NOT to repsond to sin.

Running and hiding from God/Denial: Gen 3:9 tells us that Adam and Eve ran from God after their rebellion. Sin had exposed their nakedness and how did they respond? They hid from God because they were afraid of his judgement against their sin. A proper response to sin is not running from God; it is running to Him.

Blaming others instead of yourself: We see the blame shifting first from Adam for He actually blames God for his failure in obedience. We can all do that can’t we? We might blame God because its too difficult a task to obey. Adam blames God’s sovereign plan of bringing Eve to be his wife. He says, “the woman you gave me.” Adam makes it seem as if God was the reason for the sin primarily, and Eve secondarily when he says, “she gave me the fruit and I ate.” Notice God is mentioned first, then Eve, then finally himself. That is backwards. No one is to blame for your sin but you and you are only to blame for your sins, and not the sins of others. We have been given choice in this world to act according to God’s word and we must obey what He commands.

Self-destruction: another example we see when we are confronted with sin is self-destruction. We see this exemplified in Adam and Eve’s offspring, Cain and Abel. As I have told you recently, Ken Sande, in his book the Peacemaker, states we often times deal with conflict with with flight(mentioned above) or fight which includes internal or external rage and hate. Fighting comes when our sin is confronted, we deny that sin’s reality, and we respond with more sin-hate and anger. God confronted Cain when his less than average sacrifice was not accepted by God the way his brother’s was. Instead of Cain seeing the sin of holding back something from God, he blamed Abel and fell into a more sin- jealous envy. God even warns Cain, “sin is crouching at the door. its desire is contrary to you but you must rule over it.” Cain ignored God’s wisdom, allowed is idolatry to lead to envy, envy to hate, hate to murder and murder to lying to God. That is a self-destructive pattern when we respond in our sin by adding layer upon layer of sin like a professional eater at a pancake breakfast.

So how should be respond to sin: humble ourselves and confess it to God. Confession of sin is the lesson we can learn from Ezra in our passage today and I want to show you 6 elements of a proper prayer of confession to God.

*Disclaimer: This narrative we are about to read does not teach that Ezra has committed this sin. This is not his personal sin and therefore he is not guilty of this sin and in need of personal confession. His confession is a mediatorial confession. Ezra is a priest and his confession is not serving as a substitute confession for those who have actually commited this sin against God. He is a priest and mediator for the people. As a leader, He is pleading to God on their behalf, much like Moses did when Israel sinned on Mt Sinai for God to forgo his wrath against Israel for their idol worship.

We will see him use personal pronouns like “we” and “us” and he is now admitting his own violations but he is admitting the guilt of His people under him and the consequences they all might face under God’s swift hand of judgment. Let’s face it, the sin of some have always brought about consequences for the many. I am sure we can all share stories in life of how that is true. Like one sibling, ruining a fun trip or event for everybody because of their bad attitude.

So let’s look at these elements of confessing sin to God

I. Honoring God (v. 6)

Notice immediately in v 6, Ezra beings his prayer with” O my God.” Its the proper OMG because it acknowledges humility in Ezra and honor towards God as the only source of help for his problem. Ezra 9:5 and Ezra 10:1, both include the posture of humility that Ezra takes as he prays. He mourns over the sin of the people, by tearing his cloak, and pulling his beard. He is acknowledging the offense committed against God’s name and glory. v 5 “he fell upon his knees and spread out his hands to God” while 10:1 includes Ezra was weeping and made confession. These actions by Ezra paint the picture that his prayers are actually pleading with God’s power and purposes to act towards mercy.

Confession of sin must begin by acknowledging the glory of God that demands our worship, not our disobedience. When that has been offended, the worshipper of God must be broken over their sin and humble under the weight of God’s glory. It is an improper posture in prayer if you begin pointing at others and not yourself. Honor God by being humble, stating your need for God’s intervention and help!

Secondly, it is worth noting that Ezra calls him, “My God.” Ezra knows that He belongs to God by faith and therefore, while he trembles in his presence, he can speak directly to him in prayer. He has an understanding of belonging and therefore confession comes with a connection of love. God loves His people regardless of their failures.

We know that God’s people, are those who belong to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the bridge that unites sinners back to God in fellowship so that we still tremble before his holiness and yet we belong to Him by His love for us. Therefore, our confessions of sin begin with a proper humility and honor, knowing that He will not reject us.

If you have ever sold anything door to door, like cookies for your kids school fundraiser, you know that apprehension of going to someone’s door and asking for money. You might assume rejection 10-60 sec in the conversation. You are surprised by a agreement to purchase 2 lbs of snicker-doodles.

You don’t have to feel that apprehension with God. He already knows the sin you have committed and he can relate to suffering in sin because His Son suffered the greatest way possible for sin. We can approach Him!

Heb 4:14-16

Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Since we can approach God with confidence, start your prayers of confession with time to honor God. I would argue that our prayers should begin with praise to God for his attributes. It sets the tone for how we pray and more specifically, how we might confess our sins to God. Instead of jumping in to our prayers like “I need this” or I failed you in this way”, start off by describing to God his attributes and his characteristics that are worthy of our praise.

“Father, your goodness is unmatched, your grace is unlimited in my life, your faithfulness is unimaginable…because of these things, I can come to you confessing my wrongs that I have committed.

II. Reflecting on Your Past sins (vs. 6-9)

Secondly, we see Ezra reflect back on past sins in Israel’s history. He does so because in this circumstance, it showers greater glory to God’s unrelenting grace and forgiveness.

Ezra 9:6–7 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.

Ezra is disgraced and ashamed because of the iniquities and guilt that have come through Israel’s history. The ledger of their sins against God is long and the sin debt against him is worse than the national debt of America. He uses the terms in verse 6 that their guilt as “mounted up to the heavens” which is a metaphor for unimaginable guilt against God.

There is nothing wrong with acknowledging your past sins as long as you can see past the sin and see God’s grace. Ezra is looking back in history to identify these past failures for two reasons:

the past points to the present sin. When we sin, we oftentimes repeat the same sin struggles and so looking at the past, helps us ID the reoccurring pattern. Prov 26:11 “11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” This shows you that whatever method used in the past might need some change. Also, looking at the past to see the present means that you are getting a healthy reality of the nature of sin in humanity. Every good medical evaluation looks back at reoccurring symptoms so that a problem can be diagnosed.

the past points to present grace. Secondly, looking at past sins, reminds us of the present moment in time that we are living and God’s grace is the reason we are alive. Because you have a present, relies solely on God’s grace in your past. You and I didn’t derserve to survive our past failures against GOd and He was justified to take us out in judgment against our sin. But he passed his judgment on us and placed it on his Son so that we might go free. Ezra writes

Ezra 9:8–9 ESV

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.

According to Theological Wordbook of the OT, the Hebrew term Hanan, translated favor means “help given to those in need.” Certain names like Ann, Anna, Anita, Annette, Juan or Hannah are derivatives from the HB hen or hanan. Ezra acknowledges as the priest of the people, that God had shown them immeasurable favor over the years. By remembering those things and mentioning them in his prayers, he is offering praise and thanksgiving for God’s grace.

God’s grace means receiving that which we do not deserve. God has shown his immeasurable love to his people throughout history by remaining steadfast in his love and faithfulness, in spite of their failures. They mention the “remnant” in verse 8. That word means those who remain, and it refers to those of the house of David who were allowed to continue to experience the fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises to Israel.

Isaiah 11:1–2 ESV

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jesse was the father of King David and the stump of Jesse is like saying that the kingdom of David that has been destroyed by conquering nations, the remnants of that once strong tree is simply just a stump. That stump is the remnants of Jews who returned to Jerusalem. From that stump, a shoot will bud revealing new life and new hope for God’s people. That new hope will be HIM who the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon. We know this is the Messiah and his name is Jesus.

Eph 2:4-8 “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

No matter what sins you have against God, Jesus’ work on the cross was sufficient to cover those sins and provide the grace of God’s forgiveness upon you. Never say or even think ideas such as “my sins are too great” or “how could God love a person like me?” While these might sound like noble and honest statements, they are ignorant of the power of God’s love and grace. God can love a sinner like you because He is poweful enough to overcome your sin and therefore while your sins and great, God’s love in Jesus Christ is greater.

Identifying Your current sins (vs. 10-12)

Ezra 9:10-12

Ezra 9:10–12 ESV

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.’

Another element we see in this prayer of confession is Ezra giving specifics of present sins. Notice how Ezra weighs the sin of the people with the word of God which we talked about last week. The commandments to Israel in Deut 7 which forbid the intermarrying of foreign peoples was the standard of measurement to determine the sins of the people. Therefore the present sins are mentioned and they are mentioned with specificity.

As you approach the word of God each day, God will reveal your sin to you and as he desires for us to confess our sins to him, he intently wants us to confess our specific or known sins to him. Regardless that He is already fully aware, we see in Scripture the specific sins confessed to God. Ezra 9 shows us the specific sin of intermarrying foreign people confess to God.

ps 32:3-5

Psalm 32:3–5 ESV

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

You might ask, if God already knows, why not just generally ask, “lord forgive me of my sins” Let me give you two reasons:

1. the Lord Jesus modeled prayers of confession with specificity in Matt 6:12

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)

12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Jesus is stressing that as we pray, not only do we acknowledge the spiritual debts that have been accrued against a holy God, but he mentions in that model prayer the person acknowledging that sins have been committed against him and he has forgiven that opponent so his prayers would not be hindered. Therefore, Jesus is teaching us to pray with specifics, in our intercession and in our confession of sins.

2. the specific prayer of confession acknowledges to God that you understand the details of your sin and you are not too prideful to admit it to Him. I imagine the situation turning out differently for Ananias and Sapphira if they would have confessed their wrong doing to Peter when he confronted them, but they did not and they died! Since God knows our sin, they their is nothing to hide, but if we confess our specifics, then he acknowledge true brokenness over the offense which is pleasing in his sight.

Pleading for His mercy(vs. 13-15)

Ezra finishes his prayer with pleading for mercy the people. He is astonished, bewildered and in disbelief that the Jews have fallen into the same sin. Look at v 13,

Ezra 9:13-14

Ezra 9:13–14 ESV

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?

The only thing left to do in such an unavoidable situation is to plead with for mercy. He again recounts the underserved mercy and grace of God and yet boldly asks again that God might spare the people. He is holding God to his promise of a remnant while pleading that the remnant of the Jews not be completely consumed by his wrath. His wrath is what they deserved. Their complete annihilation is what they deserved as they continued in sin again and again.

Ezra concludes his prayer recounting they guilt incurred by the Jews and the justice of God that was surely to come.

Ezra 9:15

Ezra 9:15 ESV

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.”

This is where the world stands in their sinful guiltiness whether they realize it or not. God is a just God and sin is an offense against his holy name. The prophets throughout the OT proclaimed a swift and fierce judgment of God against his enemies.

Nahum 1:6-8

Nahum 1:6–8 ESV

6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him. 7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

malachi 3:2

Malachi 3:2 ESV

2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.

rev 6:12-17

Revelation 6:12–17 ESV

12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The question continually uddered by the prophets, a rhetorical question i might add, is who can stand against the might and the wrath of God against sin. Ezra answers that question in Ezra 9:15....”none can stand”

All the world is guilty under the weight of sin. It is a bondage and a prison to all and none can escape that prison. It is death row for all with a reservation, not for the gas chamber or the electric chair, but for an eternal pouring out of God’s anger against his enemies. God has shown that anger on display when he flooded the earth, when he reigned fire and ash from heaven to destroy entire cities, when he allowed conquering nations to invade and destroy His people and His places of worship.

What is our hope? Where is our escape from the sin that we have incurred?

Trusting in Christ's work

Ezra only speaks in shadows language of where our hopes lies. It lies in the rearranged wrath of God that fell upon his Son Jesus. He is our hope of escape