TRANSCRIPT
As we come to the final message of the camp, let's turn to Ezra, Chapter 9. And let me read Chapter 9 and Chapter 10, Ezra, Chapter 9 and Chapter 10, beginning with Ezra, Chapter 9, and verse 1.
“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.
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 shewed 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.
Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore. And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it. Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they sware.
Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away. And they made proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem; And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance should be forfeited, and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of this matter, and for the great rain. And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. And the children of the captivity did so. And Ezra the priest, with certain chief of the fathers, after the house of their fathers, and all of them by their names, were separated, and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.
And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely, of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren; Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah. And they gave their hands that they would put away their wives; and being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock for their trespass. And of the sons of Immer; Hanani, and Zebadiah. And of the sons of Harim; Maaseiah, and Elijah, and Shemaiah, and Jehiel, and Uzziah. And of the sons of Pashur; Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethaneel, Jozabad, and Elasah. Also of the Levites; Jozabad, and Shimei, and Kelaiah, (the same is Kelita,) Pethahiah, Judah, and Eliezer. Of the singers also; Eliashib: and of the porters; Shallum, and Telem, and Uri. Moreover of Israel: of the sons of Parosh; Ramiah, and Jeziah, and Malchiah, and Miamin, and Eleazar, and Malchijah, and Benaiah. And of the sons of Elam; Mattaniah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jeremoth, and Eliah. And of the sons of Zattu; Elioenai, Eliashib, Mattaniah, and Jeremoth, and Zabad, and Aziza. Of the sons also of Bebai; Jehohanan, Hananiah, Zabbai, and Athlai. And of the sons of Bani; Meshullam, Malluch, and Adaiah, Jashub, and Sheal, and Ramoth. And of the sons of Pahathmoab; Adna, and Chelal, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattaniah, Bezaleel, and Binnui, and Manasseh. And of the sons of Harim; Eliezer, Ishijah, Malchiah, Shemaiah, Shimeon, Benjamin, Malluch, and Shemariah. Of the sons of Hashum; Mattenai, Mattathah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei. Of the sons of Bani; Maadai, Amram, and Uel, Benaiah, Bedeiah, Chelluh, Vaniah, Meremoth, Eliashib, Mattaniah, Mattenai, and Jaasau, And Bani, and Binnui, Shimei, And Shelemiah, and Nathan, and Adaiah, Machnadebai, Shashai, Sharai, Azareel, and Shelemiah, Shemariah, Shallum, Amariah, and Joseph. Of the sons of Nebo; Jeiel, Mattithiah, Zabad, Zebina, Jadau, and Joel, Benaiah. All these had taken strange wives: and some of them had wives by whom they had children.” Amen
As we mentioned last time, we come to the end of the book of Ezra, which ends on this very tragic note. Now, the time period between the end of Chapter 8 and the beginning of Chapter 9 is not very long. In Ezra 10:9, this was the ninth month. In Ezra 8:33, this was the fourth day of one of the earlier months. In Ezra 8:31, the 12th day of the first month. And here in Ezra 10:9, this is the 9th month. So, not very long afterwards, in this short period and during this period - remember, Ezra's mission was to teach the law of God, Ezra would have been teaching the law - but within this short period came this really devastating blow that threatened to undo everything that had been accomplished up to this point.
And all of this leads to a very important lesson for us because this is relevant for us as we seek to serve the Lord today. We try to do much for the Lord. We try to be fruitful, effective, profitable in our service to Him. But perhaps we don't realise how easily the whole enterprise of serving the Lord can come crashing down because of sin; because of the disastrous consequences brought in by sin.
It is instructive for us to note that the sin of the people was not something that Ezra himself discovered and ferreted out. It is not that Ezra was going around investigating the people, checking up on them, spying on them, looking in at their windows. In fact, it was the people themselves who came to Ezra. Ezra chapter 9, ‘When these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, they have sinned; they have transgressed the commandment of God' (verse 1). The people themselves came to Ezra and it seems this was the result of Ezra's teaching. Because Ezra had been teaching the law, the people themselves were convicted because they knew about this sin and they came to Ezra to tell him. Because through the teaching of the law, they realised the seriousness of what had been going on. They were convicted by the work of the Spirit through the Word of God.
Remember, we learned in our morning devotions that we are not to quench the Spirit. Part of the work of the Spirit is to convict us - using the Word of God - to correct us, to expose our sin, to rebuke us, so that we are moved to repentance. And the people's confession here demonstrates to us the convicting power of the Word of God. This had been going on already, as we read in Chapter 10, there were many who had been given to this sin. This is not something that could have started just as Ezra arrived. It had been going on already. It was brought to light, it was confessed, it was recognised because of the teaching of God's Word. The Word of God, used by the Spirit of God, can convict the hearts of the people, can expose sin and error and bring it to light.
And I think we see a further indication of this in the names that are used in Chapter 9:1, when the people came to Ezra, when the princes came to him to confess this sin, they said, “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands” - and they mentioned - “the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.” They mention all these names. Where do these names come from? Many of these groups were no longer really in existence by the time of Ezra, by the time of the Persian Empire. There were no such people as this. Then where do the names come from? The names, it seems, come from the law of God. Because those are the groups of people that were named in the Law of Moses when the people of Israel were first going into the land. They were warned specifically about these people of the lands who were there at that time.
Now, of course, the specific people groups no longer existed as political entities as in the time of Joshua and so on. But of course, the principle still applies. These are still strange wives that have been taken by the people of Israel. But the choice of words seems to be significant. It points again to the conviction that was brought on the people because of the teaching of the law. Because Ezra had been teaching that old law - not outdated - the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given.
And again, this is a lesson for us. The faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God is used by the Spirit of God to expose and to deal with sin. It is part of the ordained means by which God deals with sin. Through His Word, God's law today, God's Word today, has lost none of its power, none of its efficacy. When it is taught faithfully, when it is taught systematically, God uses it. God uses it to sanctify us today just as then - ‘Sanctify us through Thy truth; Thy word is truth’ (John 17:17). The Word of God has this sanctifying effect. It shows us our sin, and the Spirit of God uses it to convict us of sin so that we repent, so that we put sin away from us, so that we confess and forsake our sins and find mercy. And we should keep that in mind today. When the Word of God is preached and we realise that we have sinned against God, we should respond with confession and repentance. We should not respond with anger. We should not say, ‘Oh, this person is out to get me, this person is preaching against me.’ It's the Word of God. It's the Spirit of God. It is for our good.
When sin is exposed and rebuked, it is for our good that we should put it away, because sin needs to be dealt with. It is a reality while we are in this life - while we are in this mortal flesh, we are surrounded by the world - we are prone to succumb to temptation. God's Word exposes and rebukes our errors so that sin can be dealt with. Because sin is destructive - destructive to our lives, destructive to our service.
And that's what we want to learn as we go through these last two chapters of Ezra: how are we to deal with sin as we seek to serve the Lord? Again, I think there are two things especially that we can focus on. First of all, we must recognise the danger of sin. We see that especially in chapter 9 in Ezra's reaction when this sin was brought to him. And then secondly, we see the necessity for us to be resolute in repenting of sin and dealing with its consequences. And we see that especially in chapter 10, in this particular occasion, when they had to deal with this particular sin. So, the danger of sin and the necessity of being resolute in repenting of sin and dealing with its consequences.
I. The Danger Of Sin
First of all, the danger of sin. Again, why was this particular thing so serious, so severe? Why was their compromise such a big deal as to cause Ezra to react the way that he did? We have to make clear that this is not some kind of cultural xenophobia. It's not that they just didn't like these people who were not Israelites, because of course, as we know from Scripture, those from other nations who embraced the God of Israel, who submitted to the law of God, they were welcomed. We can think of examples like Rahab, like Ruth. They were brought in, there was room for them, there was provision for this kind of thing if they would submit to the God of Israel and worship Him truly. The problem here was not cultural but spiritual. What these people had been doing was expressly forbidden by God, and it was forbidden for a spiritual reason.
In Deuteronomy chapter 7, the commandment was: ‘Make no covenant with them, don't give your daughters, don't take their daughters for your sons, because they will lead you astray, because they will lead you to worship their gods, they will draw you into idolatry, they will lead you away from the Lord God of Israel’ (Deuteronomy 7:2-4).The people were prone to this kind of thing, prone to be led astray, prone to do according to these abominations, prone to go along with this idolatry. And that's exactly what happened here. Ezra chapter 9, verse 1: “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” - they have taken daughters for themselves, and that has led them into idolatry. They do according to their abominations.
And so, the holy seed, Ezra chapter 9, verse 2, “have mingled themselves with the people of those lands.” They have lost their holiness, they have lost their witness. They have committed this grave sin against God to participate in pagan idolatry, to be dissolved away into the surrounding nations. That's a contradiction of their holy purpose as God's people, to be separate, to be holy, to be witnesses of the Lord, to serve Him. Remember, it was precisely their failure to recognise this that had led to the exile in the first place. It was precisely their idolatry, their doing according to the abominations of the surrounding nations that had provoked God to anger, that had led to the exile in judgment. And now they are repeating the same thing.
So, their compromise was severe because of the nature of the prohibition. It came from God for a spiritual reason. It was a clear command, it was often repeated. They were warned about this again and again. The compromise was severe because of the nature of the people; prone to sin, prone to being led astray, prone to succumb to temptation. Compromise was severe because of the nature of their purpose, to be a holy witness unto the Lord, to keep themselves separate as God's people.
And we must realise that the same thing applies to us. We also have the same prohibition: ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world’ (1 John 2:15). ‘Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers’ (2 Corinthians 6:14). We have the same proneness to temptation. We also are very easily drawn away. ‘Evil communications corrupt good manners, be not deceived’ (1 Corinthians 15:33). That's the reality. We are weak. If we surround ourselves with temptation, we will give in to temptation. And we also have this holy purpose, to be God's witnesses in this world.
So just as the people in those days, so also for us, we need to realise the danger of sin. We need to see the consequences of sin. We need to see it as a contradiction of the holiness of God. We need to see the enormity and the seriousness, the gravity of sin. Sin cannot be a small thing for us. Sin cannot be a trivial thing for us. Sin must be something that we take very seriously. And perhaps the best way to do this - in light of this season especially - is to think of the Cross.
Because on the Cross, we see what sin really is. We see what sin deserves. We see the price and penalty that had to be paid for my sin, for your sins, all the things that we have done. That was the price that had to be paid. That's how serious a thing sin is. That the Son of God had to give His life in our place, He had to bear the wrath of God that we deserve, all His sufferings were for our sins. That's what sin is. It's not a small thing, we cannot think lightly of sin when we look at the Cross. Surely, we want to be rid of sin, we don't want sin in our lives. We don't want to add to the sins that caused the Lord to hang there on the tree. We don't want any compromise with sin, and we see its seriousness.
And Ezra recognised this. That's why Ezra had this reaction. Notice this in verse 3 of Ezra chapter 9: “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.” That was Ezra's reaction. Now, we might think that's a bit over the top, that's a bit melodramatic, that's a bit too much. But it wasn't a show, it wasn't a pretend, Ezra wasn't putting on a performance. This was genuine, this was from the heart, this was his reaction to what the people had done because he saw the sin for what it was, he realised the seriousness of this. This was his deep shock and grief even though he wasn't personally implicated - it's not something he had done, the people had done it - yet he reacted in this way.
There was great heaviness, a sense of abasement before the Lord, he rent his clothes expressing his deep grief, he was stunned, and as he prayed, he said, “I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God” (Ezra 9:6). This is not the response of someone who takes sin lightly. This is the response of someone who sees sin for what it is. And this is something we must learn.
Remember in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, how the Apostle Paul rebuked the Corinthian church precisely because they were thinking carnally and they were taking sin lightly. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2, “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
That's the reaction they ought to have had; Like Ezra, they should have responded like Ezra when they realised this. They should have mourned that such a thing could be found in the church. They should have reacted to get rid of it, to put away this sin and the one who has done this deed - who is unrepentant - they should have mourned. But they took it lightly. They thought it a small matter. In fact, they were boasting as if the grace of God gives a license and an excuse to tolerate sin. But it doesn't.
Ezra recognised the seriousness of this because he recognised the holy presence of God in their midst. This is the city of God. This is the temple of God. These are the people of God. God dwells in our midst. We must be holy as He is holy. We cannot tolerate sin in the camp. We cannot treat it lightly because God is here. That's a recognition we need to have. ‘Know ye not that ye are the Temple of the Holy Ghost? The spirit of God dwells in you.’ (1 Corinthians 3:16) We also must be holy as God is holy. God's presence is here. We are called by the name of Christ, by the name of the Son of God. We are Christians. This is a Christian church. We must be holy. We must be sanctified. We must be dealing with sin and putting it away. We cannot tolerate it.
Ezra recognised again and had this sense of personal involvement. That's why he responded in this way. That's what the Corinthians should have done. ‘Ye have not rather mourned’ (1 Corinthians 5:2). Why should they mourn? They're not the ones who have done it. Why should Ezra react like this? He hasn't done anything wrong. But Ezra had this sense of personal involvement, this corporate recognition. We are the people of God. We are all together in this. Sin in the camp affects us all. And Ezra felt a personal burden for the sins of the people, perhaps especially as the one who was there to teach them the law. He felt morally responsible in this corporate sense. And he recognised that sin affected their corporate witness. He was grieved by this sin that was taking place among the people. And Ezra recognised this as something that had increased and grown up unto the heavens, as he says in verse 6 of chapter 9: “Our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.”
This was the result of Ezra's study of the law. Again, "a ready scribe in the law of Moses" (Ezra 7:6). That's what it means. His study of the law had made him sensitive to sin. His study of the law had made him recognise the seriousness of sin. That's how we know that he had really studied it. Again, not like the Pharisees who read and memorised and were great students, but they had not really understood, had not really applied, had not really humbled themselves before the Word of God. Because as the Lord rebuked them, ‘Ye tithe mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, mercy and judgment’ (Matthew 23:23). Great sins, like a camel, they allowed, they tolerated, they thought nothing of. They were straining at the nets but not Ezra. He recognised the seriousness of this sin. He was sensitive to it.
Notice again the contrast between Ezra's reaction and even those who came to him in verse one. The princes came to me, saying, “The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves.” But these princes did not come with their clothes rent, did not come with ashes on their heads. They just came and told him. Ezra reacted so strongly. Even though they recognised the sin and came to Ezra, it seems they didn't yet have this sense of the enormity of it until they saw Ezra's reaction. The people learned from Ezra's reaction and they saw in his response the seriousness of their sin, and it moved them to realise what they had done - when they saw him rent his clothes, when they heard him pray to God, when they heard him rehearse the grace that God had shown to them for the idolatry, the abomination, the wickedness of their fathers. God has given them a little reviving, a little grace, a remnant. They are back in the land, and now they have done the same thing again.
When they saw Ezra's reaction, when they heard his prayer, then they realised - chapter 10, verse 1, “When Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.” They wept when he wept. His response to sin galvanised them and caused them to realise the seriousness of what they had done. And it's the same for us also. If we respond to sin with this great sensitivity, God can use that to move others to see sin for what it is, to recognise the seriousness of sin, because they see our response to sin. By contrast, if we take sin lightly, then we send the opposite message, again, just like the Corinthians, they were contradicting the gospel, contradicting their witness, treating sin like it's no big deal. And they ought to have mourned.
This also we can learn from Ezra. We can see how Ezra's example was used by the Lord to galvanise the people, so that a very great congregation of men and women and children all assembled themselves together. But they recognised also in Ezra's reaction, in Ezra's prayer, that there is hope. That's what they said, Ezra 10:2, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.” There is hope. There is forgiveness. There is grace. If they will repent and return to the Lord, He is gracious, He is abundant in mercy, He's ready to pardon, longsuffering. As we sang in the hymn just now, ‘Grace that is greater than all our sin.’ That's not grace to take lightly, but it is grace that we can cling to and cry out for when we are truly contrite and penitent - ‘a broken and a contrite heart thou wilt not despise’ (Psalm 51:17). That's our hope even today.
Sin is a great and serious thing. Sin is a thing of enormity. Sin is a thing that needs to be dealt with, but it can be dealt with. There is a place for repentance, there is forgiveness for sin. Sin is not something that need crush us or overwhelm us, because there is forgiveness with God. So there is hope in Israel, there is a way of repentance, but it is not easy. Sin is a serious and terrible thing. Yes, there is grace, there is forgiveness, that doesn't mean sin is an easy thing to deal with.
II. The Necessity Of Being Resolute In Repenting Of Sin And Dealing With Its Consequences
Great resolution is needed to repent of sin and to deal with it. Sometimes, very disastrous consequences, and we can see that here in chapter 10, in what the people had to do to deal with this sin. We see their concern now as a result of Ezra's concern, and we see here their commitment in verse three, “Let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them.” A covenant, expressing their firm commitment to repentance and reform. They signify this with a solemn oath.
Repeatedly in times of revival, we find this, covenanting with God. You see it in the history of Israel, in the days of Jehoiada the priest, in the days of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah. The people were called to make a covenant with God to signify their commitment to repentance and obedience by making this solemn oath before God, to bind themselves. And that's a recognition of the weakness of our nature. We can make promises or we can break them very easily. Words are cheap. So the people here wanted to bind themselves by a covenant to make sure that they would stick to it, that they would really maintain this resolve to repent of their sin.
And that's what we need to do to repent. It must be serious, it must be resolute. Repentance is not something easy, the work of a moment, especially where the sin is so severe as this, with such great consequences as this. That's also something that we need to recognise. Sin can take only a moment, but it can be a lifetime of dealing with the consequences of it. The indiscretion of a moment, the transgression of a moment can lead to lifelong consequences for us. Sin is not something to be trivialised or to fool around with. We see that here. There was a way of repentance, but it was not easy. It required courage. That's why Shechaniah urges Ezra to act, verse four of chapter 10, “Arise; for this matter belongeth unto thee: we also will be with thee: be of good courage, and do it.”
Ezra had the responsibility to lead the people in this. Perhaps this was not, probably this was not at all what Ezra imagined when he came to Jerusalem with this desire, having prepared his heart to seek the law of God, to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. He never expected that this would be the result, that he would have to do this. But again, that's the reality of sin. Courage was required.
Sometimes when you're doing gardening - I don't do any gardening, but I'm sure some of you do gardening - and we all know that when you are doing gardening, you have to pull up the weeds, right? Sometimes, I'm told, these weeds have very deep roots, very extensive roots, and you can't just pull up the top. You have to take everything out. You have to take out all the roots, otherwise, it just comes back. Sometimes, it can be very extensive under the surface, more than you realise. You can't stop halfway. You have to go through with it and deal with the whole thing.
And so it was here. They had to deal with their sin. They couldn't just leave it. They couldn't allow it to continue. So also in 1 Corinthians, they had to deal with that sin and that meant, in that case, putting away the one who had committed that sin because he obviously was not repentant. He was fine with what he had done. That person had to be put out of the church. It's not an easy thing to do, but on such occasions, it is the necessary thing to do to deal with sin according to the Word of God.
So also here, this was Shechaniah’s proposal to Ezra, his exhortation to Ezra, ‘Let us make a covenant to put away all the wives and such as are born of them. Let it be done according to the law.’ (Ezra 10:3). Ezra, you take the lead, we will be with you, we will do it. And Ezra did it, Ezra 10:10-11, “And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.”
Ezra calls the people to confession and repentance and to action. To truly repent of their sin and to put it away from them, to get rid of it. And the people agree, but it needs to be done right. It needs to be done systematically. It needs to be done in an orderly manner, verse 13, ‘This is not the work of one day or two, for we are many that have transgressed in this thing.’ (Ezra 10:13). So the people are with Ezra, just as they said, and they are willing to go through with this all the way to the end.
“Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us.” (Ezra 10:14) It had to be done systematically. It had to be done properly. There had to be evidence. There had to be witnesses. They couldn't just say, ‘All of you who have taken strange wives, just come up and then put them away.’ Because, of course, such a thing could be exploited. People can take advantage, ‘I don't like my wife. I'll just say she's a strange wife, and then I'll be done with it.’ People can do that. Again, that's a recognition of the wickedness of man, our fallen nature.
So it had to be done right. The people had to come with the elders and the judges of their cities who would know the situation and who could verify anything that was said. All of this had to be done rightly. There were many complications. What if they're children? How to deal with that? It's not an easy thing. It's a painful thing even to consider. But again, that's the reality of sin. It gets its roots deep in our lives, and it can be very difficult to uproot and get rid of.
That's why, again, this list of names is here. It's not insignificant. It's not irrelevant. It tells us the reality of what happened. These were the people who had done this. Their names are recorded - the priests, the Levites, and so on. This was real. This happened even there after the exile, after the return. The priests and the Levites mentioned first because their responsibility was greater. It was a public sin. It had to be dealt with publicly. And the names are recorded.
Now we must say something about how this specifically applies to us because there are those who have denounced this whole procedure as wrong. They shouldn't have done this. How can they put away their wives? Doesn't God hate putting away? Doesn't God hate divorce? But we must realise that there's every indication in this passage that it was the right thing to do in that situation. Ezra recognised the necessity of this. Ezra, a man of God, a ready scribe in the law of Moses, and the people showed their concern to do this according to the law of God, according to the commandment of God. He recognised the necessity of it in that situation.
Of course, this is not to say that separation between husband and wife is something to be taken lightly. It is indeed alien to God's original creation. God does hate putting away. But in fact, in Malachi, where God said that, it was the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel to the wives of their youth, and they had taken other wives - foreign wives - and despised their first wives. These were the things that God despised, and abhorred, and spoke against.
Here, in this case, God also hates their idolatry. God also hates their ungodly marriages to these pagan women, which had been expressly forbidden by God in His law, which they were warned against repeatedly in the law of Moses. So there is every indication in this passage, on that specific occasion, because of their situation, because of their national witness, that this was the necessary thing to do. Not an easy thing to do, but the necessary thing to do to deal with their sin.
Now, in the New Testament, we have very clear teaching that if a believer is married to an unbeliever, a believer is not to seek a dissolution of that marriage. This is found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 7, also in 1 Peter, chapter 3. The situation in the New Testament is different. Why? One reason is, again, in the Old Testament, all of them began within the nation as covenant people, circumcised on the eighth day. They are all there as a national witness, all there as one people together in the land. Therefore, any association with pagan wives will bring in idolatry, will bring in contamination, will bring in corruption.
In the New Testament, the situation is different because we all begin outside the covenant. We all, as Gentiles, begin outside. We are brought in when we believe the Gospel. We are grafted in. So the teaching in the New Testament is, remain. Of course, in 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Peter 3, the implication is that the believer is married to the unbeliever because both were unbelievers, and then after the marriage, one was converted. The teaching there in the New Testament, in that context, is remain and be a witness because God can use your witness to save your loved ones, to save your family. Again, that's the New Testament context. We all begin outside the covenant people of God, and when we are brought in, God can use that to bring our families also. That's part of God's covenant concern for the family.
The Old Testament, because of their context, because they are a national witness, the situation is different. The commandment is: don't bring in foreign wives, pagan wives, because they will bring idolatry with them, they will influence you. And the New Testament is, the teaching is, don't divorce because you may influence them for good. So there's a different situation, and we have to recognise that.
The point for us is to learn the seriousness of sin. To learn how sometimes it can cause very disastrous consequences, and it can require very drastic measures to bring in. Sin brings in all kinds of complications, and this is something that we increasingly face today, even just with the advancement of technology. There are things that are possible today which were unimaginable just a few generations ago. Things can be done that our forefathers could not have imagined. How are we going to deal with these things? These are the complications that sin can bring in. When dealing with sin, the right thing to do will not be the easy thing to do.
Therefore, let us learn this lesson. It is much, much better, much, much easier to stay away from sin than to give in and then try and deal with it afterwards. Stay far away from sin, keep clear of temptation, guard yourselves, keep yourselves pure and holy. Be on guard, be sober, be vigilant. Don't wander even near to sin and temptation because, again, it only takes a moment, and it can be a lifetime of pain and heartache dealing with the consequences of that moment.
In that time of Ezra, this transgression had been going on for a long time. Yes, it was exposed. Yes, the word of God was taught. Yes, the sin was brought to light. Yes, the sin was dealt with. How painful it was to deal with it. So the whole book of Ezra ends on this note. In verse 44 of chapter 10, “Some of them had wives by whom they had children.” That by itself, right there, is a stark warning and reminder to us of how serious sin can be. We don't want to let it get to that point. When we are serving the Lord, we must be on our guard against temptation and sin because once we allow sin to come in, a whole lifetime of service can be ruined. A whole lifetime's worth of building up a witness can be brought to nothing by a moment. So let us take this warning to heart and be sober and vigilant against all temptation and sin. Guard ourselves so that we do not fall, and pray that the Lord, who is able to keep us from falling, will keep us from falling.
Let's close with a word of prayer. Our Father in heaven, once again, we thank you for Your Word. We thank you for this solemn and sober reminder of the seriousness and danger of sin. We pray you would help us earnestly and diligently to examine ourselves to make sure we do not fall into sin. That we may serve you purely, acceptably, and profitably for the glory of Your name. Help us to be holy as You are holy. You know our hearts, You know our weakness, You know how easily we succumb to temptation. We cannot do this on our own. We pray You would help us, sanctify us, and guard and keep us. We pray You would continue to bless our witness and our service to You in this way.
And Lord, we thank You for this camp, for all that we have learned through Your Word. We pray You would continue to work in us by Your Spirit as we meditate and reflect on these things. Help us to learn these lessons well and help us to serve You and to grow and improve and mature in our service in the years to come if the Lord tarries. We pray for Your blessing on each one here, for those who are watching by the live stream, and we pray especially for the children, that You would work even in them through the lessons that they have learned. That they may be drawn close to You, that they may learn and know the truth. That they may be guarded and kept from temptation, from sin, from the wiles of the devil. That they may be prepared in their generation when we are gone, to serve You faithfully, to serve You profitably. In all this, we ask once again, with much thanksgiving, with humble joy and gratitude for all Your goodness. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
THE BOOK OF EZRAMessage 1: Privilege and Promptness in ServiceMessage 1: Privilege and Promptness in ServiceEzra 1:1-11Message 2: Precept and Praise in ServiceMessage 2: Precept and Praise in ServiceEzra 2:1-3:13Message 3: Perseverance and Protection in ServiceMessage 3: Perseverance and Protection in ServiceEzra 4:1-5:5Message 4: Prudence and Providence in ServiceMessage 4: Prudence and Providence in ServiceEzra 5:6-6:22Message 5: Preparation and Perspective in ServiceMessage 5: Preparation and Perspective in ServiceEzra 7:1-28Message 6: Purpose and Prayer in ServiceMessage 6: Purpose and Prayer in ServiceEzra 8:1-36Message 7: Piety and Penitence in ServiceMessage 7: Piety and Penitence in ServiceEzra 9:1-10:44
