"God: Turn Back to Him, for He is the Only Remedy" (Ezra 9-10)

All right. I'm going to go ahead tours in chapter 9, and 10 is quite a bit of scripture here. So let's hold on. Hear the word of the Lord. After these things have 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 land of the, with their Abominations, from the Canaanites. The Hittites, the perizzites, the jebusites, the ammonites the moabites, the Egyptians, and the amorites, do they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their son's so that the whole erases mix itself with the peoples of the land. And in this faithfulness, the handed. And in this facelessness, the hand of the officials in the chief priests or the chief men have been foremost. As soon as I heard of this, I tore my garment and my cloak and I pulled my hair from my head and beard and Santa Paul, then all, who tremble at the words of the god of Israel became who trembled at the words of the god of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned Exile, gathered around me. While I sat up all day until the evening sacrifice, and at the evening sacrifice, I Rose for My fasting with my garment and my clothes torn and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the god, the Lord, my God saying, oh 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. From the days of our fathers, to this day. We have been in great guilt and for our iniquities. We are Kings. And our priests have been given into the hands of the kings of the land, to the sword, to the Captivity, to plundering to other Shane as it is today, but now for a brief moment favors been shown by the Lord. Our God leave us as a Remnant to give.

And I'm sorry. But now for refund go back to verse 8, but now for a brief moment favors been shown by the Lord. Our God to leave us a Remnant in to give us a secure. Hold within his holy place. That our God May brighten her eyes and grant us a little Reviving into our slavery for. We are slaves are God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but is extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia to grant us some Reviving, The set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea in Jerusalem. And now, oh, God. What shall we say? After this? We have forsaken, your Commandments, which you have commanded by your servants. The prophets saying the land that you're entering to take possession of it. It is a land in pure with the impurity of the peoples of the land with their Abominations that have filled it. End-to-end with their uncleanness. Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons. Neither take their daughters for your sons and never seek their peace and prosperity. That you may be strong and eat the good food to eat, to go to the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever. And after all, that has come upon us and all our evil deeds. And for all our great guilt sing that you are, God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve. And I've given us such a Remnant. Is this, shall we break your Commandments again and intermarried with these people who practice these Abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us? So that there should be no Remnant, not any to escape? Our Lord O Lord, the god of Israel. You are just four weeks are left of Remnant. That is a skate and it is today. The hold we are before you in our guilt. For none can stand before you because of this. I want Ezra Freight in made confession weeping and catching himself down before the house of God. A very great assembly of men women and children gathered to him, out of his room, for the people, wept bitterly and s. I of the son of jail, the sons of Elam. Address to azra. We have broken Faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land. But even now there is hope for Israel, spite of this. Therefore. Let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wise and their children according to the Council of my Lord and those who tremble at the commandant of our God, let it be done according to the law arise for it, is your task and we are with you be strong and do it. Then as we're Roseanne made the leading priests and Levites and all of this will take an oath that they would do as had been said. So they took the oath. The nezzer withdrew from for the house of God, I went into the Chamber of Jonah and the son of a liason. We spent the night either eating bread and or drinking water or he was mourning over the faithlessness of the X-Files and a proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the returned Exile, that they should assemble at Jerusalem and that if anyone did not come within 3 Days by order, the officials in the elders, always, Preferred Property should be forfeited and he himself banned from the congregation of The X-Files. Are all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the 20th day of the month and all the people sat in the open Square, before the house of God, trembling because of this matter. Because of the end because of the heavy rain. And as were the priest stood up and said to them, you have broken Faith In Married foreign women and so increase the guilt of Israel. Now, make confession to the Lord, the god of your fathers to do as well. Separate yourselves from the people of this land and from foreign wives. Then all the assembly answer. The loud voice. It is so we must do as you have said, but the people are many and it is time. Of the heavy rain and we cannot stand in the open. Doors us a task for one day or 4 to. We have greatly transgressed in this matter. What are official stand for the whole assembly? What? All in our cities who have taken foreign Wives come at a point of times and within the elders and judges of every city until the fierce Wrath of our God over this matter is, turned away from us. Only Jonathan, son of a Sahel and the Hazel. The son of Tickfaw turned away from us only Jonathan. Oh, I'm sorry. I only Jonathan and the son of Also hell and Jazzy are the son of Tikvah opposed to this, I'ma show em and shabbetai, the levite supported them. Then they were the returned Exile did. So as of the pre-selected men heads of Father's house is according to their fathers houses, each of them to designated by name on the first day of the tenth month. They sat down to examine the matter and by the first day of the first month, they had come to the end of all the men who'd married for in women. Now there were found some of the sons of the priest who married foreign women May. Asiah Eliezer. Jareb. Get Adalia. Some of the sons of Joshua, the son of Joseph and his brothers, they pledge themselves to put away their wives and their guilt offering was a ram of the flock of there for their guilt of the sons of Elmer. And I are the sons of Harem Messiah, Elijah shimamiya. Jaheel, and Isaiah of the sons of Peshawar. Eliana. Messiah is male Nathaniel. Joseph dad. Elsa of Elisa, B Joseph. A. Semi that is colita pacifier, Judah Eliezer of the singer soul. I should of The Gatekeepers schorlemmer Elementary. And of Israel, the sons of farosh ramiyah is Aya.

Measurement Eleazar s fire and Ben Anaya of the sons of Elam. Matt and I are Zakaria up. I drove Elijah the sons of that to Yellow horn. Die. A liar, showed up Matt tonight. Jeremiah has a bad and as as I as this a of the sons of there by where John Lennon and Anaya is a by and also a fly of the sons of Benny mechoulam. Malik added. I just hope shelter roof of the sons of pace off. Moab odd nutshell Ben and I shall deny and Manasseh of the sons of her ring. Eleazar is Trisha Sharma. Maya Simeone. Benjamin Malik and Sharon, Maya of the sons of Hashem. Matt. And I am at the top is a bod. Elephant Hotel.

Elephant let sorry, Jeremiah Manasseh and shammai of the sons of mani-ma die or Rahm, Emanuel, been. And I have been to the Nyah Mammoth Elijah matinee matinee and jossue of the sons of Ben Ewing show my show Malaya. Nathan a. McKenna doll by Shy shy shy as a rail. Sheila Mia and Joseph with a sense of Nebo, Joe IL. Mattifier zebit. Jaden and Joelle and Ben Anaya, all these had married for women and some of the women had even born children.

Father. We thank you so much again for your word and thanks for hearing it. Father. I pray that it even though I snuggled and struggled through some of the names that you would be less that time of reading and bless the hearing father's, we go into it and start to discuss you when I pray that you would again move in our hearts challenge us and speak to us and son, Jesus name. I pray. All right. It's a lot of scripture. I know, but here we are at the end of the book of Ezra but really we talked about this is really kind of the only the end of Act 2 of our ezra-nehemiah Journeys. What? Kind of walking through Ezra and Nehemiah Chris preach last week. And then he didn't talked about the fact that Ezra reliant on God's sovereignty to complete the task that you've been called to do. And then God's sovereignty, we should be ready to move when God moves us, right? And in, when we move and need to be certain that were following God's lead. We saw that as, we took some time to fasten to pray and as we follow God's leading trust him. We also learn to trust others who trust him. And all of this, we can take comfort knowing that God's will can't be afforded. And then once we enter into chapters 9 and 10, we see sinful Israel doing their best, as they seem to do in the Old Testament to thwart, God's will with Interfaith marriages. That lead them away from the one true God. If God's people defile themselves Wilson, only remedy is to repent and turn back to God. Honoring God and holding onto evil. Can't work, can't do both good and evil cannot intermingle. And it's what we see Happening Here in chapters 9 and 10 and is beginning to Ezra 9. + 10 is going to be important for us to remember that. These folks mention hear the Canaanites, the Hittites, the perizzites, the jebusites, the amorites are all among the Seven Nations. Israel was directed to drive out of the land way back in Deuteronomy chapter 7, when they came out of Egypt in the first Exodus, right? The ammonites in the moabites, lived east of the Jordan River and were considered hostile enemies to Israel of all times. The Egyptians were seen as morally bankrupt as the Canaanites. And you got to remember, they also held the Israelites slaves for 400 years prior to the Exodus, right? So, so all of these people are people that are known by God, know, by the people, God, to be enemies of God, not just enemies of the people, that's his enemies of Israel, but enemies of God himself. And here we see the priests believe, I see people of Israel. The officials and all the chief men have married women. From these groups. All of the people are affected by man. Maybe a small. Number of people have done this in her marrying. What is widespread issue in? It affects the whole body of Israel. And remember to is that between those who came back with his rubble? And those who have come back with Ezra? It's only about 55,000 Israelites. Total return from Exile. Roughly 600,000 were taken away in the Exile only about 55,000 of return so far. The remnant is small. In any Publix in will affect the whole group. This is a Publix in. Do these marriages have led the priests and Levites the people of Israeli officials to Chief man to turn from the one true God and they begin to worship the foreign gods of the spouses.

They're either doing that or they're trying to figure out ways to incorporate the worship practices of the false gods into the worship of Yahweh. The one true God. They're teaching their children to follow the foreign gods and not about Yahweh. The one true God. These are the things that led Israel to be taken into Exile in the first place and now within a generation of the return, the people are acting the same way. It may again be a small batch of people, but it's like having a little spot of skin cancer. You don't want to get it before it grows. And that's what What's Happening Here in chapters 9 and 10. First to receive this word faithlessness. Write the word in Hebrews translated in other places and scripture as a breach of Faith or a Breaking of the faith. It was the officials in the chief men who were doing it. The most. These leaders had abandoned the face and they were the faith. And they were setting this dangerous example for the others and the command, to not, marry not Israelites isn't about race. I want you to understand that, this isn't, this isn't some sort of race-baiting kind of thing. This is not about race. It's about faith. Moses married a midianite woman back in Exodus chapter 2, Boaz. Marry Ruth Ruth was a moabite, right? Boaz & Ruth, by the way, show up in the genealogy of Jesus and in Matthew 1:5. So why is it okay for Moses and Boaz to marry women of of a different Faith or women outside of Israel? Will? They had both abandoned their false Idols? They held firm to worshipping. The one true God they'd held from to worshiping Yahweh. It's okay to do that. They forsake everything for suck. Giving up everything that was with that false god that they hadn't brought up worshipping, turned into the one true God and held firm to worshipping him. See those two and intermarried in this case, here in Washington, Ezra 9, and 10. They have not held from to the right worship of Yahweh. They have abandoned the truth of God for the false promises of the world around them. Right? James. Hamilton says it like this the returnees of Israel have endangered the promised so they can cuddle up with snakes. They have forsaken, Yahweh for idolatrous spouses. Cuddle up with snakes, man. Here's the interesting thing. I want you to notice here. And I noticed this is I was reading through it. Ezra was not out and about looking for centers. Ezra. Didn't raise this issue himself. This issue was brought to Ezra, right? He was not acting as some sort of grand Inquisitor. This wasn't the, the Israelite Inquisition. Haha. I can never escape. The Israelite is in position. That's not what was happening here. He was faithful and doing what God through our desserts. You sent asked him to do and I was to appoint magistrates and judges in to teach the law. We see that back in chapter 7 verses 25 and 26. And is Ezra is teaching the word of God can fix the hearts of those not following scripture exposes sin. And as a response to it with grief and dismay when the sin is brought to his attention. Enters into this brief time of prayer. This brief time of fasting and others who tremble at the word of God. Join him in grief filled prayer and fasting.

An. This is an appropriate response to expose sin. We should grieve and mourn and seek God. There's nothing more tragic than want to believe her walks away from the truth of scripture. And it should cause us to do exactly what we see being done here and verses 5 through 9 of chapter 9.

Mourn and grieve and desire them to return. Ever gets up from his fast at the end of the day and he falls on his hands and knees. Before holy God and he just calls out. My God. I am ashamed and I blush to lift my face to you. By God for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads. And our Guild is mounted up to the heavens for the days of our fathers. To this day, we have been in great guilt and for our iniquities are Kings. And our priests have been given into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, to utter shame. As it is today. As our praise and confesses the set of the whole body. Here's what's interesting. Ezra himself is not in her married. Ezra himself is not reach, the face the face yet. He loves himself into the scent of Israel. He sees himself just as guilty of sin, as he sees everyone else. Is Ezra indignant about the sin? Yes. Does he recognize the devastating effects of the said? Yes, is he self-righteous about his lack of thin compared to those around him know, Ezra is humble before God and His humble before the people of Israel here. These words of prayer as we read them and we think about whatever saying they're so true about you. And I We have all done things that make us ashamed and would make us blush before a holy God. All of us in our own lives has caused pain in his cause shame.

We are no less guilty than those whose guilt has been convicted of. We're just in the same spot and Ezra continues in his Praises. But now for a brief moment favors been shown by our by the Lord. Our God to leave us a remnant of us, a secure hole in his holy place, that our God May brighten our eyes and grant us a little Reviving out of slavery. We are slaves yet. God has not forsaken us and our slavery. His extended us, his steadfast love before the kings of Persia to grant us and Reviving to set up the house of the Gods repair its ruins and to give protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

Not only does ever confess his sin here and confess the sins of the people. He also confessed his God's faithfulness in the face of Israel's faithlessness. Ezra. Thanks. God for his grace and he thanked him that it has been extended to Israel. And we should learn from his right here since it brought to his attention. He confesses his sin in the seven, the people. He then Praises God for his goodness. Ever changes. The focus from faithlessness to faithfulness. The faithlessness of the people is now looking at the faithfulness of our God. When we feel bog down and feel horrible about her sin, which is really easy to do, we are to confess and then we're to look to God. If I were to turn to Christ and to celebrate what he has done for us in Jesus. We have one who satisfied, the RAF we deserve.

In Jesus, we have one who paid the price you and I cannot pay in Jesus. We have a remedy for our sin. It is his word on the cross that brings forgiveness and it is his resurrection. That gives us eternal life with God.

Anna verses 10 through 15 is Ezra's. Continuing to pray. Ethan repents of the evils done before a holy and just God verses 10 through 12. He tells God specifically why they have intermarried with women of another faith and they have turned from the faith of they know to be true to a false face. And in verses 13 and 15 knowledge is God's justice. Righteous. Justice is Israel's been punished in the past and even make to announce that we were punished and we were rightfully punished, but you probably didn't punish the way we deserve to be punished. You probably deserved a little more. Thank you. God, for being gracious and not giving us all that you could have given us.

And he's weeping and he's pleading before God to cure the repentance in to turn his wrath away. It is, he's doing this. Others become convicted and they had their hearts and their voices to this prayer of confession and repentance. And that that's what leads us into chapter 10. And we see in chapter 10 how how the people responded to their own breach of Faith. There's there's those who are more weeping and mourning and in crying out and praying and repentance prayer to God. And then shecaniah comes up and he States, we have broken Faith with our God, and we have married foreign women from the peoples of the land. But even now there is hope for Israel. In spite of this.

People are feeling Justice. Convicted is Hazard about this issue.

When we look at this, we don't really know. But the men who approached azra back in 9:1 about this sin. We don't know them. We don't know anything about the spirit makes me wonder. I'm going to turn to the book of speculations behind the maps, right? We we wonder if these guys as Ezra has been teaching scripture. If these men that come to Ezra hadn't themselves been convicted by their own, send that they maybe have been the man who had married. Some of these foreign women ended turn from faith. And they approached, as a means, to seek biblical Council, scripture is silent in this. We don't know, but it makes me wonder. What we do know is that shecaniah is right here that there is hope, and that hope comes through repentance of that sin and is the people repent. They're drawn to action and hear the scripture shows. The exact the action is drastic shecaniah from the advice of ever asked the people make a covenant with God and to put away the foreign women and the children in their me. Wow, that's a lot to take in and I know it. Because you got to be thinking. Wait, wait, doesn't God disapprove of divorce. Yes. God does. Doesn't New Testament scripture. Teach that we should remain with unbelieving. Spouse is so that they can come to Christ. Yes. And 1st Corinthians chapter 7. We are taught just that. So then is this a spot where we see scripture contradicting itself? No. I do need to explain that little bit the word s. I used to hear that we've translated as marriage and verse two of chapter. 10 is not the normal Hebrew word for marriage. That's a little weird here.

It's better translated as we have given them a home.

Now, we can infer some things from this. What are things that we can kind of in first? Maybe these relationships weren't really marriages. Maybe they were a little more illicit than a marriage. Right. Maybe these women have become Mistresses and concubines. To these Levites to these priests, these men of Israel. Rather than true spouses. Write the word divorce doesn't appear here either, which is interesting because the word divorce is a Hebrew word. And there is there stuff for that for the Hebrew word for divorce. This music. It's just a phrase, he prefers to put away or to bring out another indicator that these may not be what we would consider true marriages, but some other kind of relationship, a marriage like relationship emerge looking relationship. The situation in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 is people who came to Christ after them after they were already married and their spouse or maintenance believer. Not an intentional marriage between a believer in an unbeliever, the difference in what's happening there as well.

Something to think about here, is that, this is recorded here for descriptive purposes, within scripture, not normative, or prescriptive purposes in Scripture. Just because we're seeing what's happening here in in in Ezra these folks, putting out these women and putting out these children. That is by no means.

Adjust vacation for people to do that today. That's not what that is. Understand that. The thing here that we see, do see is a s o n s. I, I make absolutely no excuses for the sin. They don't even offer an explanation. They don't they don't look for SUP natural circumstances to justify at work, or we can leave that one alone. That one's okay. There is no see God. It's like this. There weren't enough Israelite girls that came back with us or is your like girls, you sit back with us, but they didn't look as good as the Canaanite, girl. There's no excuse, cuz there's none of that stuff here. They take full responsibility for the sin. I expect the people to do the same. They take action to get rid of the Senate expected people to do the same as well. And I'll say this, once it has found out when conviction has felt when confession is made, when repentance is real. You will want to rid yourself of the root of your sin as quickly as possible. And we see ezrin shecaniah doing that. The remnant of Israel is doing that here is a manner that seems really odd to us today. And it seems really strange does with the idea of purging oneself of the root of sin is present and it's something that we are called to do to flee from sin.

As we arrived in Jerusalem, in the fifth month of the Jewish calendar. And the ninth month he called for that solemn assembly of the men of Israel to be present to deal with in her marriage issue. So he'd been there for 4 months teaching and preaching teaching and preaching teaching and preaching.

That day of the ninth month, all the men showed up. Most agree with you, but they needed some time to complete the task. I don't know what the timeline wasn't. Why the timeline was there? Maybe this is a way that these men are finding a way to provide for those foreign women and their children. Right? When they were going to put them out. Maybe they were, they were getting the provisions, put together for that scriptures, kind of silent. It made a bit of time to just complete the logistics of such an undertaking. if your Guinness is kind of Silent, it may have been time for the households to repent together and maybe just maybe, Some of those foreign women rejected their false gods and turn to Yahweh. The one true God, we do know that that happened in 6:21, right. That there were some people who would come and turn themselves in and truly converted over to worshipping. The one true God, Yahweh and were able to participate in the Passover in chapter 6. The scripture is quiet on this. We do know there was some opposition. Now, we also don't know what the opposition was about whether or not it was in opposition to the whole proposal. No. No, we shouldn't divorcees. Whether we shouldn't be that? No. No, or if it was just to the timeline. You guys aren't moving faster. We don't know. There are some who think the opposition wanted to move quicker than the rest of the assembly in this. What's important here? Is that the people repented? The Purge themselves of their sin, they found the things that were were drawing them to send the Temptation and they got them, The Temptations themselves. And that's what's important for us today, here. Right, that we are repentant. Repentance isn't just a, I ask God one time to forgive me. He forgave me. And I'm done. Repentance is a lifestyle that we live. And that's the thing is, it's the greatest challenge that you. And I faced. Is this eternal challenge to be faithful to God at all times. And those were closing out the book of Ezra moving into the book of Nehemiah, receive the god, easily and Miley overcomes all the external opposition's to his work. It's no big deal may have but God's people who are Unfaithful bring shame and embarrassment to sprays and pain upon themselves.

We also see God. As the Redemptive remedy. Ezra teaches that when God's people fail to be faithful and we will They should be quick to repent. It should be quick to believe that God will be faith on that. God will keep his work. There to be be quick to seek him out cuz there's hope for him or hope in him. And there's hope that he will show his Mercy or something. It will show his grace. He does.

We may be shamed by sin. But we are saved by faith and we repent of our sin to live for God's glory. We see that shown here in other chapters, 9 and 10. This morning. We're going to go into time of of quiet, reflective prayer, in our time of invitation.

I'd like to open up our altar this morning, and our altars almost always open. It's never like closed down. It's not how it works here, but we don't always take advantage of that place. They're always take advantage of it as a place to pray about this. This in light of this message of repentance this morning. I liked it to think about being in the altar, being in your seats, finding a posture of prayer to pray about the abuse that we've seen being uncovered, within our own convention within the Southern Baptist convention of churches. I'd like for us to pray for those survivors this morning. I like to refer us to pray for us as a convention to turn from the sin that brought us here. I would like for us to pray that as our commission meets next week in Anaheim, the guy was through our hearts and we will continue on a path of repentance and making. Right? What has been done wrong. Did you bow with me?