e-mail 10/10/6

Ezra 10:1 "While Ezra was preparing and while he was confessing and weeping and bowing down..."

Ezra is not book that we read often. Preachers do not usually preach from this book and many do not believe that it is revelant for us today. You decide.
Ezra knew that God's people were living in defiance to God's commands. In Chapter 9, we find Ezra's prayer of confession. The people had intermarried with nations that used idols in their worship. They were pagans. God had specifically said that His people should not marry these people because they would lead them away from God and His laws. God had said "I will be your God and you will be my people if you do as I command".

The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites chose not to separate themselves from the people of the land. "They had taken their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that holy seed is mixed with people of these lands." There was direct and deliberate disobedience. They lusted and wanted what their eyes saw.

People have said to me "you cannot help who you fall in love with" and I beg to differ. A Christian should never put him/herself in a situation where the possibility of becoming involved intimately with an unbeliever is possible. We are called to be a separate people, holy, blameless before God. As parents we have failed to teach this to our children.Paul very clearly taught that two people should not be unequally yoked. Therefore, the Holy Spirit of God would not put a believer and an unbeliever together. A person who is seeking to serve God with all his heart will not be drawn to a person who chooses to live apart from God. If there is lust in the heart, sin is waiting in the wings and the choice of obedience is ours.

When Ezra heard of this sin that grieved God, it grieved him. He thought about what had happened to God's people and how they had strayed from the teachings of God through His prophets. The Levites and the priests had also strayed from the truth. At evening Ezra prepared himself to pray. He did not come before God in his finest clothes but tore his garments and robe and pulled out parts of his beard. He needed to feel pain and shame to intercede for the nation of Israel.

In verse 3, Ezra begins his prayer with "O my God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift my face to you, my God"...(Read Ezra 9:6-15 for the entire prayer). We need to focus on several things about this prayer and the account of what happened as a result of the prayer.

1. Ezra loved God and he also loved his people. Ezra apparently understood that God's laws were that which were best for the people and the nation, not only in the now but also in the future.

2. Ezra was willing to bow humbly before God and confess for something that he had not done. He went to God to find a solution for the problem for the Israelites. What could be done to restore the nation of Israel back to their status of being honorable in God's eyes?

3. While Ezra bowed before God, the people who were guilty came and stood before him, weeping bitterly, men, women and children. They suggested a new covenant with God. In order to be right with God, many agreed to put away their pagan wives and children.

Restoration is costly. What an awful time this must have been for these people, but sin in the presence of a holy God is also awful. It is a lot better to do the right thing in the beginning, than to try to make it right afterwards when other people can also be hurt. Our sin affects more than just ourselves, our families and friends also suffer as a result of our sin.

From the very beginning, God has always wanted a people who would be completely devoted to Him, who would love Him and show that love by being obedient to the very things that are for our own good. Adam and Eve failed Him. The Israelites failed Him and unless things change, the church is failing Him. It has been said that "we call bad, good and good, bad" The unsaved world cannot distinguish the Christian of today from those in cults or pagan religions. Christians are made fun of because of the hypocrisy that is shown to the world by those who merely profess their faith with words and those who are possess their faith with their lives.

We have a responsibility to walk in truth. We have a responsibility to go before God on bent knees and heart and plead for mercy for ourselves, our church and for our country. Each of us has a choice in this life - our way or God's way. I am not perfect but I do want my Lord to be pleased with what I do especially when I am.....

Sharing God's Love,
Peggy