The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Ezra 9:6-7,
"I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today."
Thus begins Ezra's prayer of confession of the sins of the nation when he heard some of the Jews, including priests and Levites, had intermarried with the peoples surrounding them... again!
As Ezra acknowledged later in his prayer, the Jews were not to intermarry with their neighboring peoples due to their idolatry with its practices. He quotes the Lord himself in his prayer, "The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance." Ezra 9:11-12.
Earlier in Israel's history, the nation had abandoned God after they took possession of the land he had promised Abraham's offspring. They intermarried and turned to idol worship and so fell outside of God's intentions of reaching out to the world through his covenanted people. They no longer served his agenda and so he had them destroyed, first the northern ten tribes by Assyria, and then later the southern two by the Babylonian army. Only a small remnant survived and were carried off to Babylon and surrounding areas for a seventy year captivity.
Now that the Lord had arranged for them to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple and Jerusalem with its walls and gates, the returnees not only returned to their homeland, they also returned to the stench of their sin by resuming the horrible practices! As it is written, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Proverbs 26:11. This is exactly what Israel had done... just like any of us who allow ourselves to be drawn back into sin after having overcome it.
This particular sin placed the Jews in jeopardy as their purpose was to be used by God in the roll-out of his plan of salvation. God was working to this end and the nation strayed from God's intentions for them. Fortunately, through Ezra's leadership, the nation changed course, helping set the circumstances for when Jesus Christ would be born into the nation to fulfill his ministry of reconciliation.
Turning our backs on God by pursuing other things is a horrible sin. I find a very effective antidote to this proclivity of our sinful nature in Colossians 3:1-4, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
"I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today."
Thus begins Ezra's prayer of confession of the sins of the nation when he heard some of the Jews, including priests and Levites, had intermarried with the peoples surrounding them... again!
As Ezra acknowledged later in his prayer, the Jews were not to intermarry with their neighboring peoples due to their idolatry with its practices. He quotes the Lord himself in his prayer, "The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance." Ezra 9:11-12.
Earlier in Israel's history, the nation had abandoned God after they took possession of the land he had promised Abraham's offspring. They intermarried and turned to idol worship and so fell outside of God's intentions of reaching out to the world through his covenanted people. They no longer served his agenda and so he had them destroyed, first the northern ten tribes by Assyria, and then later the southern two by the Babylonian army. Only a small remnant survived and were carried off to Babylon and surrounding areas for a seventy year captivity.
Now that the Lord had arranged for them to return to their homeland and rebuild the temple and Jerusalem with its walls and gates, the returnees not only returned to their homeland, they also returned to the stench of their sin by resuming the horrible practices! As it is written, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Proverbs 26:11. This is exactly what Israel had done... just like any of us who allow ourselves to be drawn back into sin after having overcome it.
This particular sin placed the Jews in jeopardy as their purpose was to be used by God in the roll-out of his plan of salvation. God was working to this end and the nation strayed from God's intentions for them. Fortunately, through Ezra's leadership, the nation changed course, helping set the circumstances for when Jesus Christ would be born into the nation to fulfill his ministry of reconciliation.
Turning our backs on God by pursuing other things is a horrible sin. I find a very effective antidote to this proclivity of our sinful nature in Colossians 3:1-4, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
This we can do by immersing ourselves in Scripture, by encouraging one another in fellowship to the focus on God's wonderful and majestic character and nature, and the amazing things he has done.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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