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Ezra 9 - What People Don't Understand about Sin · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello there, faithful listeners, Welcome to the Bible
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Speaker 1: explained on this lovely Wednesday morning. So, faithful listeners, you
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Speaker 1: probably noticed that I took the last two days off.
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Speaker 1: I did that because I was sick. I was not
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Speaker 1: feeling good. In fact, I was sick since last Tuesday.
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Speaker 1: My voice was just progressively getting worse throughout the week.
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Speaker 1: But after church on Sunday, I was beat. I was dead,
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Speaker 1: and I'm like, you know what, I am sick, And
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Speaker 1: so finally on Tuesday I was doing it a little
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Speaker 1: bit better, and so now I feel well enough to
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Speaker 1: record an episode for you guys. So sorry, if you
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Speaker 1: all don't follow me on Facebook or if you're not
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Speaker 1: signed up for my emails, you may not have known
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Speaker 1: why I took a couple of days off. So you
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Speaker 1: got to subscribe to the email list or go over
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Speaker 1: to Facebook and you can get updated on those two platforms.
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Speaker 1: And sometimes I do it on kofee as well, though
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Speaker 1: I forgot to this time, so I apologize for that.
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Speaker 1: But yeah, let's go ahead and read Ezra nine today
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Speaker 1: versus one through fourteen. And while you're grabbing your Bible,
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Speaker 1: here's our first sponsor for today, alrighty, let's go ahead
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Speaker 1: and jump into Ezra nine the entire chapter. As usual,
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Speaker 1: I will be reading from the web, and as usual,
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Speaker 1: I'll be sharing a delicious cup of seven weeks coffee
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Speaker 1: with you guys, and hopefully you've got your nice hot
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Speaker 1: beverage that you are sharing with me as well. While
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Speaker 1: we're drinking that, let's give reverence to God's word by
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Speaker 1: reading Ezra chapter nine together. Now, when these things were done,
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Speaker 1: the princes came near to me, saying, the people of Israel,
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Speaker 1: the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from
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Speaker 1: the peoples of the lands following their abominations, even those
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Speaker 1: of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Parizites, Thebusites, the Ammonites,
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Speaker 1: the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have
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Speaker 1: taken their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so
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Speaker 1: that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples
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Speaker 1: of the lands. Yes, the hands of the princes and
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Speaker 1: the rulers have been chief in this trespass. When I
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Speaker 1: heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe,
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Speaker 1: and I pulled the hair out of my head and
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Speaker 1: out of my beard, and I sat down confounded. Then
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Speaker 1: everyone who trembled at the words of the God of
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Speaker 1: Israel were assembled to me because of the trespass of
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Speaker 1: the exiles. And I sat confounded until the evening offering.
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Speaker 1: At the evening offering, I rose up from my humiliation,
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Speaker 1: even with my garment and my robe torn. And I
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Speaker 1: fell on my knees and spread out my hands to Yahweh,
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Speaker 1: my God, and I said, my God, I am ashamed
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Speaker 1: and blushed. To lift up my face to you, my God.
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Speaker 1: For our iniquities have increased over our head, and our
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Speaker 1: guiltiness has grown up to the heavens. Since the days
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Speaker 1: of our fathers. We have been exceedingly guilty to this day.
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Speaker 1: And for our iniquities we are kings, and our priests
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Speaker 1: have been delivered into the hand of the kings of
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Speaker 1: the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and
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Speaker 1: to the confusion of face. As it is to this day. Now,
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Speaker 1: for a little moment, grace has been shown from Yahweh,
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Speaker 1: our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and
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Speaker 1: to give us a steak in this holy place, that
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Speaker 1: our God may lighten our eyes and revive us a
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Speaker 1: little in our bondage, for we are bond servants. Yet
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Speaker 1: our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but
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Speaker 1: has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of
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Speaker 1: the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up
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Speaker 1: the House of our God, and to repair its ruins,
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Speaker 1: and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. Now,
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Speaker 1: our God, what shall we say after this? For we
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Speaker 1: have forsaken your commandments, which you have commanded by your servants,
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Speaker 1: the prophets saying, the land to which you go to
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Speaker 1: possess is an unclean land, through the uncleanness of the
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Speaker 1: peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled
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Speaker 1: it from one end to another with their filthiness. Now, therefore,
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Speaker 1: don't give your daughters to their sons. Don't take their
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Speaker 1: daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity,
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Speaker 1: forever that you may be strong and eat the good
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Speaker 1: of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to
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Speaker 1: your children forever after all that has come on us
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Speaker 1: for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since
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Speaker 1: you are God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve,
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Speaker 1: and have given us such a remnant, Shall we again
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Speaker 1: break your commandments and join ourselves with the peoples that
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Speaker 1: do these abominations? Wouldn't you be angry with us until
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Speaker 1: you had consumed us, so that there would be no
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Speaker 1: remnant nor any to escape. Yahweh, the God of Israel,
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Speaker 1: you are righteous, for we are left a remnant that
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Speaker 1: has escaped as it is today. Behold, we are before
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Speaker 1: you in our guiltiness, for no one can stand before
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Speaker 1: you because of this. Now, one thing you'll want to
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Speaker 1: keep in mind as we move into Ezra nine is
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Speaker 1: that Ezra nine takes place about eighty years after Ezra
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Speaker 1: chapter one, So it's been eighty years since the first
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Speaker 1: Israelites came back into Israel. And that's important to note
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Speaker 1: because most likely Zerubabyl, who was the governor of Israel,
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Speaker 1: is likely dead, and so is Jeshua, who was the
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Speaker 1: high priest at the time. He is also likely dead.
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Speaker 1: It's just been too long of a time since the
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Speaker 1: first Israelites came back into the land. No, just because
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Speaker 1: it's been eighty years does not mean the situation for
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Speaker 1: Israel has changed very much. They are still considered bond servants,
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Speaker 1: they are still under the rule of Persia, and we
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Speaker 1: find out why things aren't exactly looking up for them,
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Speaker 1: even though eighty years has passed. You know, you'd think
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Speaker 1: that eighty years there would be significant change happening in
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Speaker 1: your country, Like that's actually a really long time for
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Speaker 1: very little to have changed. But now we can see
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Speaker 1: a little bit of the problem going on here. So Ezra,
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Speaker 1: who is now in the land of Israel, and we
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Speaker 1: talked about why he went to the Land of Israel
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Speaker 1: and some of the things that he accomplished in the
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Speaker 1: previous chapter. And he's been in the land for about
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Speaker 1: four months now, So it says in verse one of
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Speaker 1: Ezra nine. Now, when these things were done, the princes
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Speaker 1: came near to me, saying, the people of Israel, the priests,
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Speaker 1: and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the peoples
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Speaker 1: of the lands following their abominations, even those of the Canaanites,
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Speaker 1: the Hittites, the pair Resites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites,
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Speaker 1: the Egyptians, and the Amorites, For they have taken their
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Speaker 1: daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the
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Speaker 1: Holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Yes,
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Speaker 1: the hand of the princes and the rulers has been
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Speaker 1: chief in this trespass. Then Ezra speaks in verse three,
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Speaker 1: when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and
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Speaker 1: my robe, and I pulled the hair out of my
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Speaker 1: head and out of my beard, and I sat down confounded.
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Speaker 1: So that right there is some of the reason why
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Speaker 1: things haven't changed much for Israel in these past eighty years.
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Speaker 1: They are doing the exact same sin that they were
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Speaker 1: guilty of that made God so angry in the first place.
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Speaker 1: And God told the people his people, he said, look,
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Speaker 1: if you don't follow my commands, I am not going
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Speaker 1: to put my hand a blessing on you, because you
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Speaker 1: are my people and I am your God, and you
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Speaker 1: promised to worship me. So if you're going to go
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Speaker 1: follow all of these other little g god out there
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Speaker 1: and destroy yourselves through the worship of these abominations, through
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Speaker 1: these demons, I'm not gonna bless you in that. I'm
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Speaker 1: gonna have no part in that, and you should have
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Speaker 1: no part in it either. That is what God said
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Speaker 1: to his people in Deuteronomy chapter seven, which we'll discuss
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Speaker 1: here in a second. But God was not happy with
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Speaker 1: this behavior and apparently the Israelites are still doing it
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Speaker 1: to this very day. In Ezra chapter nine, and so
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Speaker 1: Ezra hears about all of this, and he is absolutely appalled. Okay,
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Speaker 1: he is appalled. So let's read what Deuteronomy seven has
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Speaker 1: to say about all of this and why Ezra was
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Speaker 1: so upset and what the people are doing wrong. Deuteronomy
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Speaker 1: seven one through six, And here's what it says. And
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Speaker 1: this is God, or actually Moses speaking to the Israelite
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Speaker 1: people when they were in the wilderness, okay, and he
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Speaker 1: was telling them what they're supposed to do once they
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Speaker 1: go into the promised Land. So here's what it says
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Speaker 1: in starting in verse one, when Yahweh H God brings
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Speaker 1: you into the land where you go to possess it,
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Speaker 1: and casts out many nations before you, the Hittite, the Gurgashite,
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Speaker 1: the Amorites, the Canaanite, the Parizites, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
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Speaker 1: seven nations greater and mightier than you. And when Yahweh
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Speaker 1: R God delivers them up before you and you strike them,
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Speaker 1: then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no
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Speaker 1: covenant with them, nor show mercy to them. You shall
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Speaker 1: not make marriages with them. You shall not give your
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Speaker 1: daughter to his son, nor shall you take his daughter
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Speaker 1: for your son, for that would turn away your sons
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Speaker 1: from following me, that they may serve other gods. So
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Speaker 1: Yahweh's anger would be kindled against you, and he would
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Speaker 1: destroy you quickly. But you shall deal with them like this.
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Speaker 1: You shall break down their altars, dash their pillars into pieces,
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Speaker 1: cut down their asherpoles, and burn their engraved images with fire.
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Speaker 1: For you are a holy people to Yahweh, your God. Yahweh,
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Speaker 1: your God has chosen you to be a people for
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Speaker 1: his own possession above all peoples who are on the
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Speaker 1: face of the earth. Okay, So that is what the
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Speaker 1: Israelites were to do when they enter into the Promised Land.
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Speaker 1: They weren't supposed to make any treaties with any of
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Speaker 1: the people that refused to leave. Now, notice right here
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Speaker 1: in verse one. First, God is casting these people out
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Speaker 1: before the Israelites. All of these different nations, the Hittites,
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Speaker 1: the Gergoshites, the Amerites, the Canaanites, the Perizites, the Hivites,
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Speaker 1: the Jebusites. All of these people were being cast out
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Speaker 1: by God. But there are some people that were not
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Speaker 1: going to leave the land. They were going to stay
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Speaker 1: and fight against the Israelites. So anybody that refused to
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Speaker 1: leave the Israelites were supposed to go in and destroy
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Speaker 1: those people completely, and not just destroy them completely, but
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Speaker 1: destroy all of their gods and all of their altars
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Speaker 1: as well. And you might be like, well, Jen, that
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Speaker 1: sounds really harsh, that seems like genocide. Well, first thing
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Speaker 1: you need to know about this is the one thing
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Speaker 1: God is always concerned about is our spiritual health, because
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Speaker 1: that is the most important thing. Our spiritual health is
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Speaker 1: far more important than our physical health our physical bodies. Hence,
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Speaker 1: why when Jesus encountered the crippled man, what did he
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Speaker 1: say to him? First, he didn't say you are healed.
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Speaker 1: He said you are forgiven, and then he healed the
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Speaker 1: man because the spiritual health of that man was far
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Speaker 1: more important than his physical health. That's also why Jesus
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Speaker 1: tells his disciples don't fear men who can kill the body. Instead,
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Speaker 1: fear God who can both kill the body and the
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Speaker 1: soul by throwing you into Gehennah. And then Jesus also
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Speaker 1: says in his Sermon on the Mount, it's better for
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Speaker 1: you to have your eye ripped out of its socket
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Speaker 1: and thrown away. If your eye is causing you to sin,
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Speaker 1: then for your entire body to be thrown into hell.
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Speaker 1: Same thing goes with your hand. If your right hand
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Speaker 1: is causing you to sin in some way, it is
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Speaker 1: better for you to chop off your right hand and
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Speaker 1: throw it away than for your entire body to be
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Speaker 1: thrown into hell. Now, of course, Jesus is not there
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Speaker 1: telling us to rip out our eyes and cut off
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Speaker 1: our hands, but just to stop sinning, because our spiritual
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Speaker 1: health is far more important than our physical bodies. So
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Speaker 1: God is not afraid to punish somebody physically for the
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Speaker 1: spiritual sins that they are committing, whether it's the Israelites
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Speaker 1: or the Gentiles, which is also why God says in
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Speaker 1: Deuteronomy seven, verse four that God would not be afraid
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Speaker 1: to destroy the Israelites if they went ahead and started
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Speaker 1: worshiping the gods of these other nations. Now that being said,
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Speaker 1: God is always merciful and he's always loving, which is
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Speaker 1: why he told Abraham at the very very beginning of
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Speaker 1: the Book of Genesis that Abraham's descendants would in fact
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Speaker 1: inherit the Promised Land, but not yet, not yet, because
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Speaker 1: the sins of the people that lived in the Promised
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Speaker 1: Land had not come to fulfillment yet. So yes, the
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Speaker 1: people of the land were sinful, but they weren't so
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Speaker 1: sinful that they were a lost cause. God never destroys
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Speaker 1: somebody until they are a lost cause, and so in
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Speaker 1: Deuteronomy seven, these gentiles that are in the Promised Land
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Speaker 1: that refuse to leave, those people are the lost causes.
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Speaker 1: And if they continued to live in their sin and
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Speaker 1: their depravement, then that spiritual sickness that they had would
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Speaker 1: start to spread to all the other nations, to all
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Speaker 1: the surrounding regions. Which is why God told the Israelites,
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Speaker 1: it is better for you to destroy these people than
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Speaker 1: to allow them to live and that spiritual sickness to spread.
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Speaker 1: That is why these people that refuse to leave that
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Speaker 1: go against my plans. You are to destroy them completely,
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Speaker 1: and not just them, but all of their altars, all
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Speaker 1: of their ashrapoles, all of their shrines, everything that they
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Speaker 1: make to these foreign gods their high places. Get rid
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Speaker 1: of them completely because these things cause spiritual sickness. Do
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Speaker 1: not worship at these altars, do not keep these altars,
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Speaker 1: Destroy them completely, and all that being said, don't intermarry
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Speaker 1: with these people, don't let them stay in the land,
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Speaker 1: don't make peace treaties with them, don't give your daughters
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Speaker 1: to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.
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Speaker 1: Do not have friendship or peace treaties with these people,
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Speaker 1: because they are spiritually sick and they are a lost cause.
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Speaker 1: And if you have friendship with these people, then you
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Speaker 1: also will become a lost cause, and I will destroy
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Speaker 1: you quickly as well. So that is explaining why the
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Speaker 1: people were not supposed to intermarry with these pagan individuals.
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Speaker 1: It had nothing to do with race. By the way,
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Speaker 1: a lot of people like to take this passage and
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Speaker 1: say that God is racist or something like that, But
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Speaker 1: that's absolutely ridiculous because God created every single human being,
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Speaker 1: every single skin color, every nationality, every culture on the planet.
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Speaker 1: So obviously God is not racist. I always thought that
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Speaker 1: that argument was the dumbest thing I ever heard. Plus
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Speaker 1: there's plenty of interracial marriages in scripture that we could
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Speaker 1: talk about, but I'm not going to go down that
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Speaker 1: rabbit hole. Just know that has nothing to do with race.
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Speaker 1: It has everything to do with spirituality. So in Ezra
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Speaker 1: chapter nine, our passage for today, Ezra is disgusted because
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Speaker 1: the people are doing the exact same sin that they've
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Speaker 1: always been doing that made God so angry from the beginning,
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Speaker 1: which is there intermarrying with the pagans of the surrounding nations. Now,
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Speaker 1: that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if these pagan
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Speaker 1: men and women ended up following Yahweh as a result
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Speaker 1: of the marriage, but that is almost never going to
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Speaker 1: be the case, right, It's usually going to be the opposite,
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Speaker 1: Like in the case of King Solomon, right, who married
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Speaker 1: what was a nine hundred women or something like that,
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Speaker 1: and it says at the end of his life his
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Speaker 1: heart was divided and he did not worship Yahweh fully
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Speaker 1: because his wives were pagans and they were worshiping all
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Speaker 1: these other gods, and they included Solomon in these pagan rituals,
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Speaker 1: and Solomon went along with it. He would burn incense
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Speaker 1: to these other deities, and that made God very angry
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Speaker 1: at Solomon. And that was right before the civil war
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Speaker 1: that took place in Israel because essentially due to what
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Speaker 1: Solomon had done to his nation. But going back to it,
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Speaker 1: Ezra is not upset because there's some sort of racial
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Speaker 1: thing happening here. He is upset because the people are
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Speaker 1: still doing the exact same sin. They are intermarrying with
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Speaker 1: the pagans and likely worshiping false idols. Through these marriages,
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Speaker 1: it says, they have mixed themselves with the peoples of
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Speaker 1: the lands. Yes, the hands of the princes and the
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Speaker 1: rulers have been chief in this trespass. So apparently the rulers,
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Speaker 1: the leaders of Israel, are the chief ones that were
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Speaker 1: part of this big problem. So Ezra's response to this,
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Speaker 1: in verse three, it says, when I heard this thing,
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Speaker 1: I tore my garment and my robe, and I pulled
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Speaker 1: the hair out of my head and of my beard,
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Speaker 1: and I sat down confounded. Then everyone who trembled at
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Speaker 1: the words of the God of Israel were assembled to
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Speaker 1: me because of the trespass of the exiles, and I
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Speaker 1: sat confounded until the evening offering. Now it's really interesting
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Speaker 1: about Ezra's response here is is that he kind of
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Speaker 1: broke a commandment by mourning the way he did. It
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Speaker 1: says in okay, so let me find this passage here.
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Speaker 1: It's sort of funny. In Deuteronomy fourteen. This is from
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Speaker 1: the CSB version one and two. It talks about not
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Speaker 1: making a bald spot on your head. It says, you
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Speaker 1: are the sons of the Lord your God. Do not
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Speaker 1: cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head
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Speaker 1: on behalf of the dead, for you are a holy
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Speaker 1: people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has
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Speaker 1: chosen you to be his own possession out of all
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Speaker 1: the peoples on the face of the earth. So that's
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Speaker 1: talking about mourning. God told his people when you are
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Speaker 1: in mourning, you are not supposed to cut parts of
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Speaker 1: your hair, cut into your skin, or do anything like that.
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Speaker 1: Because you are a holy people. You are separated from
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Speaker 1: the pagan nations. You are to be different. And the
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Speaker 1: Israelites understood this law, so when they were in mourning,
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Speaker 1: they did not do like the other nations did. They
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Speaker 1: would not like shave their head, so instead they changed
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Speaker 1: it a little bit to get like passed this law
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Speaker 1: by saying that plucking hairs out of your head was acceptable.
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Speaker 1: And I just find that really really funny. I don't know,
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Speaker 1: it's kind of a gray area. I would guess he
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Speaker 1: probably shouldn't have pulled his hair out of his head
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Speaker 1: if he's trying to follow the laws of God. Perfectly. Now. Granted,
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Speaker 1: you could say that it says specifically mourning for the dead.
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Speaker 1: Ezra was not mourning for the dead here, so maybe
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Speaker 1: that's okay. If he pulled the hair out of his head.
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Speaker 1: I don't know, though. There's also a law that says
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Speaker 1: that the high priest is not supposed to tear his garments.
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Speaker 1: That's found in Leviticus twenty one, verse three. It says
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Speaker 1: the priest who is highest among his brothers, who has
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Speaker 1: had the anointing oil poured on his head and has
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Speaker 1: been ordained to wear the clothes, must not dishevel his
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Speaker 1: hair or tear his clothes. There is some debate whether
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Speaker 1: or not Ezra was a high priest. It could be
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Speaker 1: that somehow Jeshua was still alive, and maybe Ezra was
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Speaker 1: not the high priest dead or never became the high priest.
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Speaker 1: We don't really know, so I'm not sureri iff Ezra
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Speaker 1: broke a law there or not. But the main reason
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Speaker 1: why the high priest was not supposed to tear his
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Speaker 1: clothes was because he, again, he was different than the
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Speaker 1: other people. He was inside the temple, he was the
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Speaker 1: only one allowed to go into the most holy place
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Speaker 1: where God's presence resided, and since he was supposed to
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Speaker 1: be so close to God, he was not to mourn
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Speaker 1: the way the other people were mourning, because when you
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Speaker 1: were in the presence of God, you understand that God
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Speaker 1: is supreme and that there are no real disasters in
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Speaker 1: the presence of God, which is why you're not to
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Speaker 1: tear the priestly robe, because God is in complete control.
18:41
Speaker 1: Not to mention, you know, the priestly garment was very
18:43
Speaker 1: beautiful and was not supposed to be ripped up. So
18:46
Speaker 1: whether or not Ezra was a high priest and broke
18:49
Speaker 1: a law here, I don't really know. But either way,
18:52
Speaker 1: the reason Ezrah was doing this was because he truly
18:54
Speaker 1: was troubled over what was happening here in Israel. He
18:59
Speaker 1: was disgusted about it. So he sits down and says confounded,
19:03
Speaker 1: and certain people actually came and sat down with him.
19:06
Speaker 1: Everyone who trembled at the words of God of Israel
19:09
Speaker 1: were assembled to me because of the trespass of the exiles,
19:11
Speaker 1: and I sat confounded until the evening offering. So that
19:15
Speaker 1: means that he was just sitting there, dumbfounded, essentially over
19:19
Speaker 1: what he had just heard. And that's the thing, you know,
19:22
Speaker 1: Ezra did have a good response to sin. You know,
19:24
Speaker 1: ninety nine percent of the time, we Christians, we do
19:26
Speaker 1: not take sin seriously enough. We kind of just brush
19:30
Speaker 1: past it. We sort of think, oh, God just winks
19:32
Speaker 1: at our sin. God is okay with this, God is
19:34
Speaker 1: okay with that. No, we should be taking sin far
19:38
Speaker 1: more seriously than we actually do, myself included. And Ezra
19:41
Speaker 1: really did have the right response here. He took this
19:44
Speaker 1: sin very seriously because don't forget who he was. He
19:48
Speaker 1: was a very knowledgeable scribe, meaning he knew the law
19:53
Speaker 1: inside and out. He knew the history of the Jews
19:56
Speaker 1: inside and out. He is credited actually as the writer
20:00
Speaker 1: of First and Second Chronicles and First and Second Chronicles.
20:03
Speaker 1: If you guys went through those two books with me,
20:05
Speaker 1: you know how advanced they were, the amount of knowledge
20:09
Speaker 1: that you needed to understand all of those tribes and
20:12
Speaker 1: families and possession of land and all that stuff that
20:16
Speaker 1: Ezra knew about. So, of course he knew the history
20:18
Speaker 1: of the Jews, probably better than most people did at
20:21
Speaker 1: this point, and he knew that sin was what caused
20:25
Speaker 1: the Jews to not be close to Yahweh, to not
20:28
Speaker 1: be blessed by Yahweh. So that's why he's taking this
20:30
Speaker 1: sin so incredibly seriously. So finally, at evening offering, it
20:35
Speaker 1: says in verse five, he rose up from his humiliation,
20:39
Speaker 1: even with his garment and robe torn, and he fell
20:42
Speaker 1: on his knees and spread his hands to Yahweh, his God.
20:46
Speaker 1: And here's what he said in verse six, I said,
20:48
Speaker 1: my God, I am ashamed to blush, to lift up
20:52
Speaker 1: my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have
20:55
Speaker 1: increased over our head, and our guiltiness has grown up
20:59
Speaker 1: to the heavens. I really like that Ezra includes himself
21:01
Speaker 1: in this, even though he definitely was not part of
21:04
Speaker 1: the sin. But he understood the unity of Israel. He
21:07
Speaker 1: understood that when one person in Israel sin, that it
21:10
Speaker 1: affected the entire nation. And you would think that a
21:14
Speaker 1: sin like marrying somebody who is not a Yahweh follower
21:18
Speaker 1: wouldn't be a sin that affects other people. But Ezra
21:21
Speaker 1: understood that it was a sin that affected other people
21:25
Speaker 1: because Israel was to be completely and totally unified under Yahweh.
21:30
Speaker 1: Just like when one person in the church sins, it
21:32
Speaker 1: really does affect the entire church. I mean, think about
21:35
Speaker 1: these pastors. And it's not just pastors. I always pick
21:38
Speaker 1: on pastors because they are the leaders of the church,
21:42
Speaker 1: but I mean it could be anybody. But think about
21:44
Speaker 1: the pastors that do these sexual sins. Even though he's
21:48
Speaker 1: just one individual in the church, it affects the entire
21:52
Speaker 1: church because people look at that sexual sin, They're like, oh,
21:55
Speaker 1: there's another pastor. Look at these Christians, look how they behave.
22:00
Speaker 1: It affects the entire church. When one person sins. I
22:02
Speaker 1: mean it could be something as simple as just an
22:05
Speaker 1: ordinary church goer that has a Jesus fish on the
22:09
Speaker 1: back of their car and cuts somebody off in traffic.
22:13
Speaker 1: If that person is an unbeliever or is jaded against Christianity,
22:17
Speaker 1: you can imagine he's probably like, there's another one of
22:19
Speaker 1: those Christians, those goody two shoe Christians that can't even
22:23
Speaker 1: drive correctly, that has road rage. Why would I ever
22:25
Speaker 1: want to go to a church. It's that kind of
22:27
Speaker 1: stuff that makes Christianity look bad, not just for you,
22:31
Speaker 1: but for every other Christian on the planet. So we
22:34
Speaker 1: have to keep that in mind. As Christians, our sin
22:37
Speaker 1: does not just affect us, it affects everybody. So as
22:41
Speaker 1: are here includes himself in this prayer, and he says
22:44
Speaker 1: in verse seven, he goes back to the history of
22:46
Speaker 1: the Jews. Since the days of our fathers, we have
22:49
Speaker 1: been exceedingly guilty to this day, and for our iniquities, we,
22:54
Speaker 1: our kings and our priests have been delivered into the
22:56
Speaker 1: hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword,
22:59
Speaker 1: to the captivity, to plunder into confusion of face, as
23:01
Speaker 1: it is to this day. So there's another reason how
23:05
Speaker 1: one person's sin affects the entire nation, because God is
23:09
Speaker 1: going to judge the entire nation. Now that being said,
23:12
Speaker 1: God is able to rescue the righteous while he punishes
23:15
Speaker 1: the unrighteous at the exact same time. There's a verse
23:18
Speaker 1: that says that I believe in First Peter, I think
23:21
Speaker 1: it is that talks about God's judgment on a nation,
23:25
Speaker 1: and yet how he protects the few people who are
23:28
Speaker 1: righteous in the nation. I believe the example of Noah
23:31
Speaker 1: is given where the entire world was punished, but Noah's
23:34
Speaker 1: family went through that ordeal safely. If the people of
23:37
Speaker 1: Noah's age would have just done what they are supposed
23:40
Speaker 1: to do and not filled the earth with corruption and
23:43
Speaker 1: violence and absolutely weird and terrible things. Then Noah never
23:48
Speaker 1: would have had to go through that hardship to begin with,
23:51
Speaker 1: Those who are innocent have to deal with the consequences
23:53
Speaker 1: of other people's sins. So he says in verse eight,
23:56
Speaker 1: now for a little moment, grace has been shown to
23:59
Speaker 1: us from yahweh, our God, to leave us a remnant
24:01
Speaker 1: to escape, and to give us a stake in this
24:03
Speaker 1: holy place, that God may lighten our eyes and revive
24:06
Speaker 1: us a little in our bondage. For we are bond servants.
24:10
Speaker 1: Yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage,
24:12
Speaker 1: but has extended loving kindness to us in the sights
24:15
Speaker 1: of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set
24:18
Speaker 1: up the house of our God and to repair its ruins,
24:20
Speaker 1: and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
24:23
Speaker 1: So he's talking about God's grace in spite of all
24:25
Speaker 1: of this sin. You know, yes, God is no longer
24:29
Speaker 1: angry with his people like he was during the days
24:31
Speaker 1: of the Jewish kings. But that doesn't mean that people
24:34
Speaker 1: should just go on sinning, because God's grace is great.
24:38
Speaker 1: So he continues in verse ten, Now, our God, what
24:40
Speaker 1: shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,
24:43
Speaker 1: which you have commanded by your servants, the Prophets saying,
24:45
Speaker 1: the land to which you go to possess is an
24:47
Speaker 1: unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands,
24:50
Speaker 1: through their abominations, which have filled it from one end
24:53
Speaker 1: to another with their filthiness. Now, therefore, don't give your
24:56
Speaker 1: daughters to their sons. Don't take their daughters to your sons,
24:59
Speaker 1: nor see their peace or their prosperity forever, that you
25:02
Speaker 1: may be strong and eat the good of the land
25:04
Speaker 1: and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.
25:07
Speaker 1: So he's quoting the Prophets and Deuteronomy seven there where
25:11
Speaker 1: the people are not supposed to make peace treaties with
25:13
Speaker 1: the gentiles of the region, because the gentiles were pagan
25:17
Speaker 1: and they worshiped idols that were not Yahweh, and they
25:19
Speaker 1: filled the land, it says, with filthiness. So, in other words,
25:23
Speaker 1: sin and the Israelites were not to have any part
25:25
Speaker 1: in that. And you might be like, well, why would
25:27
Speaker 1: the Israelites keep going back to this, Like what was
25:30
Speaker 1: so appealing about these pagan nations that they kept wanting
25:34
Speaker 1: to worship these other gods? Well, Ezra says it right here.
25:37
Speaker 1: These pagan nations did in fact have prosperity. Don't take
25:40
Speaker 1: their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or
25:43
Speaker 1: their prosperity. These nations, it looked like we're kind of
25:46
Speaker 1: getting whatever they wanted. They were prosperous. They looked like
25:50
Speaker 1: they had peace. They were worshiping these other gods and
25:53
Speaker 1: doing whatever they wanted to do. They were living for themselves.
25:56
Speaker 1: They were worshiping themselves, and it looked very attractive to
26:01
Speaker 1: the Jewish people. But all of it was a farce.
26:04
Speaker 1: Every bit of it was not the truth. It was
26:07
Speaker 1: just temporary prosperity and peace. And that was what God
26:10
Speaker 1: was always warning his people about. Don't try to be
26:14
Speaker 1: like the other nations. Don't do it. Be a people
26:16
Speaker 1: holy to me. So, then Ezra says in verse thirteen,
26:20
Speaker 1: after all that has come on us for our evil
26:22
Speaker 1: deeds and for our great guilt, since you are God,
26:24
Speaker 1: have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have
26:28
Speaker 1: given us such a remnant, shall we again break your
26:31
Speaker 1: commandments and join ourselves with the peoples that do these abominations.
26:35
Speaker 1: Wouldn't you be angry with us until you had consumed
26:37
Speaker 1: us so that there would be no remnant nor any
26:39
Speaker 1: way to escape. Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous,
26:42
Speaker 1: for we are a remnant that has escaped as it
26:45
Speaker 1: is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness,
26:48
Speaker 1: for no one can stand before you because of this.
26:51
Speaker 1: So Ezra ends this prayer to God by saying, God,
26:54
Speaker 1: you've been gracious, You've been merciful to us, So are
26:57
Speaker 1: we going to slap you in the face ginuing to
27:00
Speaker 1: sin after you gave us this second chance. He doesn't
27:04
Speaker 1: ask for forgiveness or anything. He ends with God, we
27:07
Speaker 1: are extremely guilty. We recognize our sin. And there were
27:12
Speaker 1: a few people, I am sure, praying this prayer with Ezra,
27:16
Speaker 1: because it does say that Ezra was in front of
27:18
Speaker 1: people when he prayed all of this, so there were
27:20
Speaker 1: people that were serious. This was a serious issue. We're
27:23
Speaker 1: going to find out what Ezra does in the last
27:27
Speaker 1: chapter of Ezra, which is Ezra ten, and we're going
27:29
Speaker 1: to talk about that chapter next week on the Bible Explained.
27:33
Speaker 1: But before I close out today's episode, here is one
27:35
Speaker 1: last word from a sponsor. All Right, I've been closing
27:40
Speaker 1: all of my episodes recently with a call to action.
27:43
Speaker 1: So what is a call to action we can do
27:45
Speaker 1: based upon Ezra nine. Well, I think the best one
27:48
Speaker 1: is to recognize that our sin truly is bad and
27:53
Speaker 1: it doesn't just affect us, but it affects the people
27:55
Speaker 1: around us as well. It doesn't matter what sin it is,
27:59
Speaker 1: sin will trick out and it will affect the people
28:02
Speaker 1: in your life. And if you are hiding a sin,
28:04
Speaker 1: it actually says that every sin is going to come
28:07
Speaker 1: to light eventually, that things are not going to be
28:11
Speaker 1: hidden for long. You might think you're getting away with something,
28:13
Speaker 1: but it's not going to be for long. And I'm
28:16
Speaker 1: not saying all of this to guilt you guys or
28:17
Speaker 1: anything like that, but more well maybe I am a
28:19
Speaker 1: little bit, but more so to just recognize that sin
28:24
Speaker 1: needs to be taken far more seriously than it is.
28:28
Speaker 1: And if you do have some sort of secret sin
28:29
Speaker 1: that you are guilty about, well then bring it to God.
28:32
Speaker 1: Maybe pray this prayer today that Ezra prayed, and apply
28:35
Speaker 1: it to yourself and say, God, I'm really trying. I
28:38
Speaker 1: want to work through this sin that I have right now.
28:40
Speaker 1: I don't want this sin to eat my life up.
28:43
Speaker 1: I don't want this sin to affect other people, and
28:46
Speaker 1: I don't want this sin to affect me any longer.
28:48
Speaker 1: So please help me get past this sin. And another
28:50
Speaker 1: thing that you can do is find an accountability partner
28:53
Speaker 1: if you are comfortable finding somebody who's trusted in your life.
28:56
Speaker 1: And also if you have a prayer quest, please don't
28:59
Speaker 1: hesitate to reach out. I won't be able to give
29:01
Speaker 1: you any answers or counsel you or anything like that,
29:03
Speaker 1: but I will pray for you, and that is the
29:05
Speaker 1: most important thing, honestly, that I could do for you,
29:07
Speaker 1: because God's help is so much powerful than any words
29:11
Speaker 1: I could ever say to you. So please reach out
29:13
Speaker 1: with a prayer quest if you do in fact have one,
29:15
Speaker 1: and I will pray for you for the week. Faithful listeners,
29:19
Speaker 1: I hope to see all of you guys tomorrow as
29:21
Speaker 1: we wrap up the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews has been
29:23
Speaker 1: an absolute blast, and I hope to see all of
29:25
Speaker 1: you guys there six am or whenever you choose to
29:27
Speaker 1: wake up and listen until tomorrow. Happy listening, and God bless.
29:38
Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
29:39
Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
29:41
Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
29:44
Speaker 1: lifeaudio dot com you'll find dozens of other faith centered
29:47
Speaker 1: podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting,
29:52
Speaker 1: and more.