Ezra 9:1-15
“Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.” (Ezra 9:1-4)
Just about a hundred years before, Judah had been taken into captivity because of their repeated failures to observe God’s commandments. After seventy years of judgment, they had been allowed to return to Judah and serve God again. During the ensuing thirty years, they had seen God deliver them from numerous attempts to get rid of them, including Haman’s attempt to exterminate them.
After he had presented his credentials and delivered the kings instructions to the neighboring leaders, the princes approached Ezra with a problem. Instead of separating themselves from those around them and devoting themselves to worshiping God, the people had become involved with the very groups God had warned them to avoid, adopting their beliefs and standards and doing the same things that had caused them to go into captivity to begin with, and as is so often true, the worst offenders were those in authority.
Ezra was shocked that people could so completely ignore the lessons of history and repeat the same things that had caused them to be in captivity in the first place. Ezra was not alone in his concern, as others trembled at what was going on, but didn’t dare stand against it because of the power of the rulers involved. Many believe that a strong authority is necessary to maintain doctrinal purity. They fail to realize that wicked people seek power, to use it against those who do right.
“And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.” (Ezra 9:5-15)
That evening, Ezra prayed at the evening sacrifice. In his prayer he confessed the sin of the people, in joining with their neighbors to worship their gods after having been punished for it in the past. He thanked God for having delivered them at that particular time, mentioning that they were still doing the same things again.
Though they knew God had forbidden them marry these groups because they would tend to worship their gods as well. He had promised that if they would obey, he would give them a strong country both politically and economically. As he pointed out, there was every reason to expect God would get upset again when they broke that command, and the repeated sin might well cause him to be even angrier, sending worse judgment than before. They had already seen a sample of what God could do.
God would be well within his rights to punish them for their disobedience, and they had no excuse for their behavior. They knew what God had said, and had seen the consequences for such action. To do it again was inexcusable.
“Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.” (Ezra 9:1-4)
Just about a hundred years before, Judah had been taken into captivity because of their repeated failures to observe God’s commandments. After seventy years of judgment, they had been allowed to return to Judah and serve God again. During the ensuing thirty years, they had seen God deliver them from numerous attempts to get rid of them, including Haman’s attempt to exterminate them.
After he had presented his credentials and delivered the kings instructions to the neighboring leaders, the princes approached Ezra with a problem. Instead of separating themselves from those around them and devoting themselves to worshiping God, the people had become involved with the very groups God had warned them to avoid, adopting their beliefs and standards and doing the same things that had caused them to go into captivity to begin with, and as is so often true, the worst offenders were those in authority.
Ezra was shocked that people could so completely ignore the lessons of history and repeat the same things that had caused them to be in captivity in the first place. Ezra was not alone in his concern, as others trembled at what was going on, but didn’t dare stand against it because of the power of the rulers involved. Many believe that a strong authority is necessary to maintain doctrinal purity. They fail to realize that wicked people seek power, to use it against those who do right.
“And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
And now for a little space grace hath been showed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this; Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.” (Ezra 9:5-15)
That evening, Ezra prayed at the evening sacrifice. In his prayer he confessed the sin of the people, in joining with their neighbors to worship their gods after having been punished for it in the past. He thanked God for having delivered them at that particular time, mentioning that they were still doing the same things again.
Though they knew God had forbidden them marry these groups because they would tend to worship their gods as well. He had promised that if they would obey, he would give them a strong country both politically and economically. As he pointed out, there was every reason to expect God would get upset again when they broke that command, and the repeated sin might well cause him to be even angrier, sending worse judgment than before. They had already seen a sample of what God could do.
God would be well within his rights to punish them for their disobedience, and they had no excuse for their behavior. They knew what God had said, and had seen the consequences for such action. To do it again was inexcusable.
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