The passage we are about to study today is one of the heaviest passages in all of Ezra. In a few moments we will read an account of Israel’s faithlessness as their sin is revealed to Ezra. We will also read Ezra’s gut-wrenching response as he cries out to God on behalf of Israel. But before we dive into the text for today, I think it would be good to do a short recap of what we have studied in recent weeks.

#1: EZRA BEGAN TO EXECUTE THE MISSION AND THE VISION (7:25 – 8:15)

Ezra had been given a mission and a vision from God to restore a people of the Word and to beautify the temple in Jerusalem (7:25 – 27). So, he gathered a ministry team and made a list of his teammates (7:28 – 8:15). As we studied this portion of Ezra, we learned that:

  • Without a clear calling from God our mission will drift into self-centeredness.
  • Poor preparation promotes poor performance, but prior preparation prevents poor performance.
  • A mission without organization is merely words on a piece of paper.
  • A mission without a vision is simply a trip without a destination.
  • Executing the mission and the vision that God has given us requires preparation, organization, and a posture that is ready to catch the vision.

#2: EZRA RESPONDED TO THE PROBLEM OF THE MISSING LEVITES (8:15 – 20)

In this portion of our study, we looked out how Ezra gathered his leadership team to the banks of a river when he realized that there were no Levites on his team (v. 15). So, Ezra responded to that shortage of leadership by recruiting some leading men of insight from within his current team and then he sent those men to recruit some Levites for the work that was ahead of them in Jerusalem (vv. 16 – 17). The high point of this portion of the text was witnessing God’s work as he provided the Levites that Ezra needed to fill his team with (vv. 18 – 20).

The question we wrestled with during that study was: “Why leave comfort for sacrifice; why leave the comfort of a cushy life for a dangerous 1,000-mile journey to Jerusalem?” The answer to that question, is that Ezra and his team had caught the vision for a good reason to leave comfort and embrace the sacrifice of the journey ahead because they knew that a better king with a better letter would be seated on the throne of people’s hearts.

#3: EZRA AND HIS TEAM MADE THE ROAD TRIP TO JERUSALEM (8:21 – 36)

One commentator states that this portion of the text “is a tale of faith” where we are reminded that the journey of pursuing the mission and vision that God has given us is a dangerous pursuit that requires an uncompromising level of trust in God.2 

The reality here is that though God’s guidance may look different in similar situations for different people, the journey of pursuing God’s mission and vision for your life is still a journey that requires great faith.3 

Uncompromising faith is expressed in specific situations; it relies on assurance of God’s promises; it receives strength from a trustworthy source; it will experience victory; and it will express grateful worship.4 

Ultimately, the journey of a faith-filled follower of God will be a journey of giving all of yourself away in a mission that results in the selfless act of worshipping God. This is where we enter into the text in front of us today…

EZRA 9:1 – 15

1After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” 3As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. 4Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, 6saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. 7From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. 8But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

10“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”

This passage is a heavy passage that describes Ezra’s initial response to hearing that Israel had fallen into sin once again. The report of Israel’s sin (vv. 1 – 2) absolutely appalled Ezra (vv. 3 – 4) and he responds to the report by crying out to God in prayer (vv. 5 – 15). There is nothing easy nor light about what we are studying today. The recognition of the depths of our sin should always leave us feeling devastated and more in need of a Savior than ever before.

#1: THE REPORT OF ISRAEL’S FAITHLESS SIN (VV. 1 – 2)

What was the sin that Israel was guilty of? The simple answer is that Israel had disobeyed God’s command not to marry into the surrounding nations. The “holy race” of Israel had been commanded not to mix itself “with the peoples of the lands” (Ezra 9:2; Deut. 7:1 – 4; Exod. 34:11 – 16). At first glance this command sounds racist to our ears, but we need to understand that the word for “race” that is used here in verse 2 is not meant to describe skin color it is meant to describe a spiritual condition within the surrounding people groups in the land; God had simply commanded Israel not to marry people who were practicing unbelievers.5

This is a general principle throughout all of Scripture and it is confirmed by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6. Now, the real shocker here is that Israel’s leaders had opened the door for this kind of sin, and it appears that these leaders had even divorced their Jewish wives so that they could “marry influential pagan wives, the daughters of wealthy landowners” in the area (Mal. 2:10 – 14).6 This is the report of Israel’s faithless sin. What do you do when you receive such a grievous report of sin in the family of God?

#2: EZRA’S INITIAL RESPONSE TO THE REPORT (VV. 3 – 4)

We read that when Ezra heard the report of Israel’s faithless sin, he says “I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.” I think we oftentimes have a tendency to ignore or justify or compare or minimize the sins of the church family and her leaders today.

But that is not what Ezra did. The word “appalled” shows up twice in the text and it carries the sense of absolute devastation. So devastated was Ezra at the report of sin in God’s family that he tore his clothes and he pulled out his own hair in the midst of his grief.

Have you ever been so devastated by the sin of the church family that you tore your clothing, and you pulled your hair out and you sat there devastated, realizing how destructive and painful and dark the presence of sin really is? This was Ezra’s initial response to the report of sin in God’s family.

#3: EZRA CRIES OUT TO GOD IN PRAYER (VV. 5 – 15)

This prayer of Ezra’s is perhaps one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching prayers in the Old Testament outside of David’s prayer in Psalm 51 or Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1. In this prayer, Ezra confesses shame, sin, and guilt on behalf of Israel (vv. 5 – 7); he confesses God’s favor, generosity, love, presence, and protection (vv. 8 – 9); he recognizes the consequences of sin (vv. 10 – 12); and he confesses God’s merciful and just character with a concluding recognition that no one can stand in the presence of God because of the seriousness of sin (vv. 13 – 15).

Ezra literally sat in the devastating realization of Israel’s sin all day long and then he fell on his knees before the Lord in prayer (v. 5). In his prayer, Ezra says that he is ashamed because Israel’s sin and guilt had been piling up as high as the heavens for generations (vv. 6 – 7).

He recognized that God had shown his grace to Israel by paving the way back to Jerusalem and even though they were technically still enslaved to the kingdom of Persia, he could see that God was being gracious towards them despite their utter sinfulness (vv. 8 – 9).

He knew that God had not left them but that he was actually extending his steadfast love, presence and protection towards them even in the midst of their rebellion (v. 9).

Ezra knew that the consequences of sin, the consequences for rebelling against God’s commands, were severe because God’s commands to us are meant to keep us safe and pure and holy which means that when we rebel against God’s commands, we will not be safe, we will not be pure, and we will not be holy; the spiritual inheritance we will pass along to our children will be tainted with sin (vv. 10 – 12).

And even as Ezra recognizes the painful consequences of sin and rebellion, he also sees the mercy of God when he says that God has “punished us less than our iniquities deserved” (v. 13). But Ezra also recognizes that God’s mercy does not diminish his justice; he knows that dark days lie ahead if Israel’s sin is not repented of quickly and he also knows that no guilty person can stand in the presence of God (vv. 14 – 15). We have been punished less than we deserve yet no guilty person can stand in the presence of God.

CONCLUSION…

When I study this passage, I feel overwhelmed with the reality of my sin. I feel the weight of passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10 where the Apostle Paul says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

When I work my way through this list, I can see that I have sinned in nearly every way this list describes, and I am reminded that Ezra says that no one who is guilty of sin can stand in the presence of God and I feel absolutely devastated by my sin.

But then I catch the next verse in 1 Corinthians 6:11 where Paul says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” You see, the grace and the mercy and the steadfast love of God that Ezra confesses in his prayer, receives its power in the person and the work of our crucified, risen and returning Savior.

The humbling thing about the message of the gospel, the message of Jesus Christ, is that God loved us and extended his mercy and grace towards us while we were still in our sin. In the midst of our rebellion against God, Jesus stepped into the darkness and the wickedness of our sin, and he paid the price to ransom us at the cross of Calvary and he now calls us his saints.

And because he left the tomb empty on the third day, we have the victory over Satan, Sin, and Death. And when we walk into God’s presence in eternity, our Good Father will step towards us and we will hear these words, “Not guilty! Come into my presence my good and faithful servant.” That’s a picture of grace and mercy that should set you and I free to wage war against our sin on a daily basis. Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Derek W. H. Thomas, Ezra and Nehemiah: Reformed Expository Commentary, (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P&R Publishing, 2016), 152 – 155.

3 Ibid., 154 – 155.

4 Ibid., 155 – 164.

5 Ibid., 166 – 169.

6 Ibid., 169.