July 7, 2024
From The Series: When God Rebuilds…
Part 22 Remaining Faithful
Ezra 9:1-15
Mountain View Evangelical Missionary
Church
Too many people today are easily distracted by the new thing as it goes by. Even with spiritual matters, Satan often deflects us from God's path that He has for us by presenting a teaching that is almost a carbon copy of what the Bible says. But… if we look closely enough and if we are familiar enough with the real thing, we can spot the counterfeit. We can remain faithful to what God's Word teaches us.
This morning we are resuming our study through the Book of
Ezra. You will be happy to know that after this morning, we have only two more
lessons from the Book of Ezra. We will then cover the Book of Nehemiah for five
lessons during the summer. Then on September 8th, Lord willing, we
will begin an in-depth study of the Gospel of John.
Here is a bit of a recap for this morning. At the beginning
of the Book of Ezra, we read of the return of a few faithful Israelites to the
city of Jerusalem and how the resuming of the proper worship of Yahweh had been
permitted. The reconstruction of the Temple was required and had been
authorized. This event has been likened to a second exodus of the Jewish
people, this time from the scattering brought about under the rule of the Babylonian
Empire.
But, just as it was prophesized, a new empire arose after 70
years of domination and the Babylonians were defeated. The LORD moved the heart
of the new King, and as was prophesized, the people were permitted to return
and the Temple work was begun, as was prophesized. However, the Jewish faithful
ran into some problems with some unwanted help from pagan neighbours and the
construction was halted for 16 years. Yahweh raised two prophets, Haggai and
Zechariah, to correct and encourage the remnant in Jerusalem and in five short
years the Temple was completed.
Another is then called upon to travel to Jerusalem and lead
a second group of pilgrims back to the Holy City to assist not just with the
worship of Yahweh, but also, as we will see this morning, a call to a holy way
of living. From among the royal court of the Persian King, an expert in the Law
is called forth and given royal permission and authorization to ensure that the
Israelites were living according to the Laws given by Yahweh.
The last time we were together, we discovered that Ezra had
arrived with his group of pilgrims. Some time has passed since their arrival—perhaps
three or four months. During this time, Ezra may have been making his rounds to
the various local governors and satraps as he was instructed to do by the King.
Suddenly… perhaps when he had returned from one of his
journeys, Ezra was confronted by a group of leaders with a report which upset
Ezra tremendously. A report is given that the people of Jerusalem had been
intermarrying with the surrounding people groups. They were marrying outside
their faith. To our modern ears, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but to God
it is. It is still a big deal for us to this day, for those who take their
faith seriously. We will look at that concept in a little bit. For now, please
join me by opening your Bible, or turning on your device, to the ninth chapter
of the Book of Ezra in the Old Testament portion of your Bible.
READ EZRA
9:1-15
Turn with me back to the first verse in chapter nine while we
dive into this passage a little deeper. "1After
these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of
Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves
separate from the neighbouring peoples with their detestable practices," Stop
right there for a moment. We see some local leaders have come to Ezra, some
other translations may use titles such as "officials", or
"princes". Commentators differ about who exactly these leaders were.
They may have been confined to just the Jewish leadership, or some of them may
have been local secular rulers who may have been trying to stir up trouble
among the Israelites. Remember, Ezra would have informed the surrounding
officials exactly what his mandate from the king was. Politics being the beast
that it is, even back then, enemies would have looked for any chance to disrupt
the growth that was happening in Jerusalem.
But what are these leaders referring to? The people of Israel
"have not kept themselves separate from the
neighbouring peoples". Let's look at that list of peoples, "the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites."
I mean this is a who's who list of the historic enemies of Israel and the
leaders accuse them of "detestable practices". These neighbouring
cultures were guilty of "detestable acts" in the eyes of the LORD.
Baal and Molech were the gods of the Canaanites. Do they sound familiar? Baal
was worshipped by the Canaanites, Moabites, and Egyptians. Molech required
child sacrifice.
Previous kings of the Israelites allowed for the worship of
Baal to occur in the temple. This may have been why the offer of assistance was
rejected so vehemently when the neighbours came calling. Remember in chapter 4
of Ezra we read, "When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the
exiles were building a temple for the Lord,
the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads
of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek
your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria,
who brought us here." Notice how these people
offering help were referred to as "the enemies of Judah". The
faithful in Jerusalem were being cautious. Were they looking to seek after
Yahweh, or were they looking for another place to establish their false Gods of
Baal, Asherah, and Molech?
But that's not the immediate problem facing Ezra. Look at verse two of
Chapter 9, "2 They have taken some
of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the
holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led
the way in this unfaithfulness." I tell the young people in our
Bible study, the first thing to do is always identify the pronouns in a
passage.
"2 They, (who are "they" the Israelites) they have
taken some of their daughters, (whose daughters? The daughters of the
long list of enemies that we just read) as wives for
themselves and their sons, (Again, referring to the Israelites and the
sons of the Israelites) and have mingled the holy race
with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in
this unfaithfulness." (Which leaders? The leaders and officials of
the Jewish peoples).
Something else I wish to point out is when the author is referring to "the holy race" or some of your Bibles may say
"the holy seed" here, this is not a racist statement. It is not
racial purity that Ezra is concerned with here, it is religious fidelity that
is the big concern. We can tell it's not a race issue because of the language
used. Look at the last word of the verse, Ezra is speaking in terms of
faithfulness.
In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, sin against God is presented through
a marriage metaphor and the word "unfaithfulness" is used multiple
times. But, why is this a big deal anyway? I'm glad you asked. Let's first
examine the command that the Israelites are once again breaking. I say once
again because we will see that there is a pattern of this behaviour in the
history of Israel.
First, a little context here in case you don't recognize the
passage. Moses is once again meeting with Yahweh atop Mount Sinai and Moses is
about to receive the second set of stone tablets. Moses has pledged the
Israelites to Yahweh and has requested that the LORD forgive His people and
take them as an inheritance to Himself. Yahweh agrees and in return, God
pledges a Promised Land to His people. Before Yahweh will give the Promised
Land to His people He will drive out the enemies from the land.
"15 “Be careful not to make a
treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to
their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their
sacrifices. 16 And when you choose some of their daughters as
wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods,
they will lead your sons to do the same."
Look at verse 16, here is the reason for the prohibition against
marrying outside the faith, the holy race, "16 And
when you choose some of their daughters (again identify the
pronouns, whose daughters? The daughters of the Amorites,
Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) as wives for your sons (the sons of the chosen people, the holy
seed) and those daughters ( the daughters of the
Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites) will prostitute themselves (those
daughters) to their gods (the false gods of
Baal, Asherah, Molech, etc.), they will lead your sons (the
sons of the Israelites) to do the same."
What Yahweh is saying here is, that if your sons marry the daughters from
the surrounding cultures, who worship false gods, they will lead your sons
to do the same.
The warning is repeated in Deuteronomy 7, verse 3 which says, " 3 Do not
intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their
daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children
away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy
you." Here in the Bible narrative, the warning is
repeated because the Israelites have been wandering in the wilderness for some
time and they are getting closer to seeing the promise from Yahweh of a
homeland come to fruition. God is reminding them of the consequences of
intermarrying. There is a risk that the sons and daughters of the other
cultures will lead your children away from the faith.
One more Old Testament passage to see the result of ignoring these
warnings, these instructions from God and then we will examine what the New
Testament has to say about it.
Turn with me in your Bible to 1 Kings 11:1-13 and let us read together
one of the saddest biblical examples of a leader failing to remain faithful to
God. Turn to your left in your bible, and turn back a few books to I Kings 11:1.
READ 1 KINGS 11:1-13
We just read Solomon, the wisest King to have ever lived, had 700 wives
of foreign birth and 300 concubines. I'm sorry, I don't mean to disagree with
the Bible, but in my opinion, verse 3 disqualifies Solomon from the title of
wisest man to have ever ruled. 700 wives? I'm pretty sure, that once you add
that second wife, your wisdom can be questioned. Never mind the 700th!
But what was the result? "His wives turned his heart after other
gods". Even the wisest ruler to have lived can have his heart turned away
from the One True God, by the hearts of spouses who worship other gods.
So, that's for the Israelites, right? What does that have to do with us
modern Christians in this modern world? We are free to marry whomever we wish,
aren't we? After all, we are under Grace and the Law doesn't apply to us
anymore, right? That's what you will hear from some preachers.
The Apostle Paul had started a church in the city of Corinth. Corinth
was a port town, a major shipping center for trade and commerce. Just like port
towns and cities all over the world, there were a lot of sinful behaviours
happening in this town. As could be expected when you start a church in such a
town, the Corinthian church was a messy church and its people were having a
problem with getting this new thing called "Christianity" right. As a
result, Paul wrote several letters to them trying to guide them and straighten
them out and we have the benefit of reading those letters today, some two
thousand years later. It is a benefit for us, but also a condemnation of
mankind, because we can see that even two thousand years later, mankind is
still repeating the same mistakes. We should keep that in mind whenever we are
tempted to look down our noses at the many repeated mistakes we read the
Israelites committing in the Bible.
So, Paul writes a letter to the
church at Corinth and here is what he says about intermarrying, "14 Do not be yoked together with
unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what
fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is
there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an
unbeliever?" Now, Paul doesn't spell out the consequences like
Yahweh did in the Old Testament examples we read, but the warning is there and
it contains sound advice even for us today. As Christian parents, we should be
sharing this warning and teaching with our children.
As Christian singles, we should keep this warning in the forefront of
our minds when dating. If you are serious in your walk with Christ, this should
be a non-negotiable! This is the prime example from today's passage of our
first point this morning. We are called to remain faithful to Jesus Christ,
even in our dating relationships and our marriages.
Marilyn and I are so fortunate because in the last 15 months, we have attended
two biblical marriages where young women from the Bible Study I was leading,
waited for godly men to marry, and a third one just got engaged this past week
to another godly man. It is so encouraging to see, these women who take their Christian
walk seriously obeying Scripture on this point. Attending a genuine Christian
marriage between two believers is just as encouraging for the body of Christ as
attending a Baptism. It is such an awesome witnessing opportunity for the
unchurched to see genuine Christian love being faithfully lived out. It is a
blessing for all who attend.
Now, I don't claim to be cupid here, but. If you're single and looking
for a Christian mate, might I suggest attending a Bible Study? You are more
likely to find a Christian mate there than in a bar or nightclub.
What I'm saying with all this is that we are called to remain faithful
to Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. And this brings us to our second
point: we fail. However, some failures have larger consequences than others.
Marrying outside the faith has some of the most serious consequences we will
encounter in our walk with Jesus. Our hearts may be led astray from Jesus, just
like Solomon's heart was. Our children may not grow up in the true faith,
because the unbelieving spouse rejects the teachings of Jesus. This will literally
have eternal consequences for the children.
Speaking of failing, turn back with me to today's passage and let's
examine Ezra's reaction to this news. Look with me at verse 3, "3 When I heard this, I tore my tunic
and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled." At
first glance, this seems like your usual reaction of the Jewish people on
receiving terrible news. This was a standard response to show a state of
mourning, to rip one's garments, put on sackcloth and ashes and shave one's
head. But look what Ezra does, he doesn't simply shave his hair and beard he pulls
some of it out! This gives us our first indication of how serious this was to
Ezra.
Now, some of the commentators that I read while preparing for this
message, made the argument that surely Ezra must have been aware of the
presence of foreign-born wives among the Israelites. I'm not so sure. Keeping
the historical and cultural context of that time in mind, men did not mingle
with women who were not their wives. Often, when a man would come to visit
another man in his home, the women and children would be absent from the room,
so that the men could discuss things uninterrupted.
In any case, the shock that Ezra exhibits seems to be genuine, and I
think that this shock stems from the fact that the report even included the
leaders and officials were involved in these sins. Look at the descriptor that
Ezra uses, he sat down appalled. Ezra was stupefied, devasted, and astonished
at hearing this news. He didn't wander off to process this news, his reaction
was immediate and gut-wrenching. He sat down appalled as if someone kicked his
feet out from underneath him. In verse four Ezra says that he sat there in this
state until the time of the evening sacrifice.
This reaction had an unsettling effect on those around him. Perhaps this
happened at the Temple because we see men gathering around Ezra observing the
effect that this news had on him and they started to feel remorse as well.
Verse 4 says, "Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of
Israel". That's an interesting phrase there, isn't it? "Trembled at
the words of God". Does Scripture have that effect on you? Do you tremble
at the warnings contained in the Bible? Do you even take them seriously? Do you
believe them, the words of the Bible? If we don't believe in the authenticity
and inerrancy of the Bible, then it is really easy to ignore what it says and
go on living our lives unaffected.
But, if we believe the Bible is true and is the
God-breathed Word, then we darn well better tremble at the words of God when we
become convicted by the Holy Spirit! We should be dropped in our tracks like
Ezra was and become convicted of our sins.
Notice the word "appalled" is used twice here in verses 3 and
4 and the word, the marriage metaphor of "unfaithfulness" is used to describe
the situation in the relationship between the Israelites and Yahweh. But look
at verse 5, "5 Then, at the
evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn,
and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God 6 and prayed:" Do
you see that word "self-abasement" or your translation may say
"fasting". Other translations use the words, "affliction", "heaviness",
or "period of mourning". The original word in Hebrew is tah-an-eeth
and this is the only place in the Bible where this particular noun is used. It
is meant to convey a sense of mortification, of being afflicted, or humbled.
One commentator asked this question, "Do we as leaders have deep
emotional responses to sin in the camp? Are we pained and grieved by sin as
Ezra was, or do we judge and condemn?"[1] I think that is a great question. As leaders, this could mean leaders
in the church, or leaders in the home, do we have deep emotional responses to
sin in our camp? I don't mean we fly off the handle and yell and scream when we
find out someone is in sin. The Biblical response to finding sin in our camp is,
being pained and grieved by the sin. Not just at the sense of betrayal by the
sinning individual, but are we pained and grieved for them? Are we concerned
for their standing before a Holy and Just God? That's the
appropriate response, not concern for our hurt, but concern for their standing
before God.
Our first response should be to reconcile that sinning individual back
to God, and then for us to be reconciled to the sinner. We are all sinners,
that is why we need a Saviour. Look at the glorious example that Ezra sets for
us in this passage, "I rose from my
self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my
hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed:" Once Ezra got over
the shock of the news, he went before God and prayed! This is known as one of the
great prayers in the Bible. Why prayer? Ultimately, as a leader, if you know
mercy you will show mercy!
Look at verse 6, “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." Notice
how Ezra started with the personal stance of "I am too
ashamed" and then quickly switched to the collective phrase, "Our
sins are higher". Like a good leader, Ezra did not try to separate or
distance himself from the troubles of his people. He took full ownership of the
situation. What a contrast to our political leaders today. "7 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. Ezra does not
blame God for their plight. Instead, Ezra acknowledges the Justice that God has
delivered to the Jewish people.
8 “But
now, for a brief moment, ( the brief moment has been about 80 years
since the first people returned to Jerusalem. 10 years longer than their time
in exile, and once again they have sinned against God), the Lord our God has been
gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place k
in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in
our bondage. 9 Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken
us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of
Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair
its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “But
now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands 11 you
gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘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. 12 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.’
13 “What
has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet,
our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given
us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we then break your commands
again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices?
Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or
survivor? 15 Lord,
the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here
we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in
your presence.”
Notice that Ezra does not ask for anything from God.
He simply humbles himself before a Holy and Righteous God and acknowledges that
they have sinned and our deserving of any wrath and punishment that may come
their way. But Ezra also knows that God is merciful and unchanging. Yahweh was
merciful in the past and may be merciful once more if the Israelites were
sincere enough in the confession and repentance. Which brings us to our third
point this morning. We are called to remain faithful, but we fail, and when we
fail, we are called to confess to God and repent of our sins.
We should
be like Jesus when we come across unrepented sin. "41 As he
approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and
said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you
peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will
come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and
encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash
you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave
one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to
you." We should weep over those who have unrepentant sin, and pray that they
will come back to God. Not just pray, but if they are important to us, we
should come alongside them and guide them back to the proper ways of living for
Jesus.
This cycle of learning and following God's teachings, failing to live
them as faithfully as we should, and then confessing and repenting is done to
illustrate our need all the more for a Saviour. You may be wondering why we
have spent all this time studying the rebuilding of the Temple when you may
think that it has very little to do with our lives because we no longer need
animal sacrifices.
I'll tell you why. I have been going through these Old Testament books
to show you the steadfastness involved in these biblical accounts. Not of the
Israelites, but the steadfastness and faithfulness of the Mighty God!
In the third chapter of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul put it this
way, "22 This righteousness is
given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Even those we
have been reading about in the Old Testament). There is
no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Even
those we have been reading about in the Old Testament). 25 God presented
Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, m through the shedding of
his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his
righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished—26 he did it to demonstrate his
righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus."
What is Paul saying here? Let me use this illustration: some of us are
old enough to remember when credit cards first came out, we had to sign a slip when
we bought things. Remember, when you walked into a store, maybe you had cash,
maybe you were broke until the next payday, but you had a piece of plastic in
your wallet and you walked into the store ready to make a purchase. You picked
out your goods, and you confidently walked up to the cash register, and when
the clerk was finished ringing everything in, they turned to you looking for
payment and you gave them your card.
They would then reach under the counter and bring out this heavy
machine, the cashier may have even given you a look of annoyance as she did this
and she plunked this heavy block down on the counter. She then took your card
and placed it on the block, took a receipt form and carefully placed that over
the card and then she swiped the handle over the paper and the card and it made
that "chic-chick" sound. Then the cashier would turn the receipt to
you and you would sign it take the receipt and walk out of the store with your
goods.
You would walk out with your goods even though you didn't pay anything
for them yet. But on that receipt, you signed in small print, it said that you
agreed that you would pay for it someday. The same principle applies to the
temple sacrifices that the Israelites did for all those years. The animal's
blood did not pay for your sin, that was just the signature on the receipt.
The problem is, you can't pay for your sin, only Jesus can. The blood of
the sacrifices was God's signature agreeing that He would pay you debt one day.
It was a foreshadowing, and looking ahead to when the ultimate blood would be
shed to pay your debt. The debt that was owed to God when we rebelled against
Him in the Garden of Eden.
This gift, this free payment to us, of our debt, is known as Grace and
it is a gift from God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Friend, if you do not possess
this gift, or if you are unsure if you do, then come and talk to me after the
service and we will discuss it further.
CONCLUSION
The following is a quote from Edward Payson who was a Pastor
of a Congregational Church in Portland, Maine and lived from 1783-1827.
Quote: "The criminality of any sin is in proportion to the motives and
obligations which opposed its commission. To sin against many and
powerful motives indicates greater depravity, and is, of course, more
criminal than to sin against few and feeble motives.
Suppose a person is informed that if he commits a certain crime
he shall be imprisoned. If, notwithstanding the threatening, he
perpetrates the crime, he shows that he loves the crime more than
he loves liberty. Again, suppose him to be assured that if he commits
the crime he shall be put to death. Should he after that commit
the crime, it would indicate greater depravity than before, it would
show that he loved the crime more than life.
But the Word of God threatens sinners with everlasting misery if
they persist in sin, and promises them everlasting happiness if
they will renounce it. I need not tell you that what is everlasting is
in one respect infinite, in duration. Here, then, are two infinitely powerful
motives presented to the sinner to deter him from sin—infinite
happiness and infinite misery. Every one, then, who persists in sin,
notwithstanding these motives, shows that he loves sin more than everlasting
happiness, that he hates holiness more than he dreads
everlasting misery. His attachment to sin, and, of course, his depravity
and criminality, are therefore boundless or infinite."[2] End Quote.
Friends, please don't be that person who hates holiness more than you
dread everlasting misery. Unless, of course, you do not take the words of
Scripture to heart. I beg of you please, to be one of those who tremble at the
Word of God and to put your trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ on the
Cross for your Salvation.
Let me close out with these words from Scripture:
24 “ ‘ “The
Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.” ’
Pastor
Paul’s Points:
1) We are called to remain faithful.
2) We fail.
3) We are then called to confess and
repent.
Questions
to meditate on this week:
1. Why must I remain faithful?
2. What does Scripture say about
marriage outside my faith? Why is this important?
3. Do I take seriously what the Bible
teaches? Do I "tremble" at God's Word?
[1]
Donna Petter and Thomas Petter, Ezra-Nehemiah,
ed. Terry Muck, NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Academic, 2021), 224.
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