God is faithful Ezra 9-10

Or young and you went on a trip. Any of you ever remember, Kira, you ever go on a long trip? Do you normally sit in the back seat when you go on a long trip? Have you ever asked the question, are we there yet?

And have you ever asked that question.

More than once?

And you wonder, will we ever get there? It's likely that some of you may have been wondering that about the book of Ezra. Will we ever get to the end of the book of Ezra? Why must we spend so long and take so much time in this book?

Well, as it is in every part of the word of God, there's a lot in there. I can't possibly bring it all out to you. Sir couldn't possibly bring it all out to you. Kitty couldn't possibly bring everything that's in the word out to us in Sunday school.

But what we can, we do. Months ago, we gave you a list of the things that we're gonna see through the book of Ezra. I remind you, if you had taken these notes down before, that in chapter one, we saw the end of Babylonian captivity for the children of God.

Chapter one, we saw the sovereignty of God at work. We saw the providence of God at work. We saw the provision of God through work. And truly, that is throughout the entire book of Ezra. Chapter three, we saw the worship of God being restored.

In chapter four, we saw the subtle and sneaky attempts to thwart the work of God. In chapter five, we saw the work of God continue based upon the word of God itself. That was where Haggai and Zechariah preached the word of God.

Chapter five, we saw the purpose of God being told to King Darius. In chapter six, we saw the provision of God by means of his providence, again. And we see this consistently, repeatedly, over and over.

In chapter six, we saw the Passover being again practiced by the children of God. In chapter seven, remember there was about 60 to 70 years passed between chapter six and seven, but the work of God was not limited by time.

Again, we saw the provision of God through means of his providence. That means by natural working out of circumstances, God provided for his children. Chapter seven, we saw and heard through the mouth of Ezra that glory goes to God alone.

In chapter eight, we saw Ezra's confidence in God being demonstrated. If you'll remember last week, Ezra made a bold statement to the king that the good hand of our God is upon us. Ezra demonstrated his confidence in God.

And in chapter eight, if you finished reading that throughout the week, you'll saw that God truly did deliver them. God answered the prayer of Ezra. God brought them safely to the place that they were traveling to.

And then here in chapter nine and 10, now there are, I think, 15, 16 verses in chapter nine. And we're gonna look at the first 17 of 10 as well. We're not gonna stop on every single verse, but as we bring this study in Ezra to an end, as we come to the end of it, we're gonna see, again, the overarching theme throughout this is that God is faithful.

If you're wondering what the theme for the message today is this, it is that, that God is faithful. And the very theme and the very thought that is drawn from that, the idea that God is faithful is found throughout reading of the Old Testament and throughout reading of the New Testament.

And I believe could best be summed up by a verse of scripture in the New Testament in 1 John. In 1 John chapter one, I'm sorry. Yeah, 1 John chapter one, verse nine. 1 John chapter one and verse nine.

John, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned these words, but God is faithful. And he is just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you give a literal moment of time just to consider what we've read in Ezra, there is no way that you can deny that is not what we have read.

God is faithful and God is just in all of his doings and in all of his ways. And God is the forgiver of sins. And remembering, as we begin to pick up into this first verse, I'm gonna give you kind of an outline, the skeleton of the verse breakdown.

So if you're taking notes, you can put these down as kind of headings, but keep in mind that what we read in the Old Testament are tops and shadows of what Jesus fulfills in the New Testament. The practice of sacrifices being made in the Old Testament were typifying and looking forward to what Jesus Christ would do.

The sacrifices in the Old Testament were necessary on a repeated and on a daily basis. But what Jesus Christ did was once and for all. And so that is the parallel that we see when we look at the Old Testament and we see the New Testament.

So keep that in mind. So we hear in chapter nine, verses one through four, if you wanna put a heading there, we're gonna read the people name the sins of their leaders to Ezra. The people name the sins of their leaders to Ezra.

That's verse one through four. In verse five through seven, in the confession of Ezra, we're gonna see the reason for his astonishment. Now, I say that because we're gonna end verse four with that word astonishment.

We're gonna see that at the end. We're gonna look at the meaning of that word, what that look like in the context of what was taking place. And then in verse eight through nine, we'll see Ezra's recognition of God's grace and God's steadfast and enduring mercy.

In verse 10 through 15, we'll see that Ezra recalls the commandments of God and recognizes that God is righteous in his judgment on his people. And then in chapter 10, verse one through 17, we'll see that the people recognize their sin and they repent accordingly.

So as we begin reading here in Ezra chapter nine, verse one, this is what the word of God says. When these things were done, the leaders came to me saying, the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the land with respect to the abomination of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites.

For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons so that the holy seed is mixed with the people of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this trespass.

In verse three, so Ezra speaking, this is first person. So when I heard this thing, I tore my garment and my robe and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard and sat down astonished. Verse four, then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel assembled to me because of the transgression of those who had been carried away captive.

And I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. So here in verse one through four, again, we see the people coming and letting Ezra the scribe know that what was taking place in and amongst the crowd because listen, Ezra was not a mind reader.

Ezra was not God. Ezra was just a man just like you and I are and he was not aware of everything that takes place. But as we learned in Sunday school this morning, God knows it all. He knows your thoughts.

He knows your down sitting and he knows your uprising. He knows the very words that are gonna come off your tongue that when they come, before they come out of your mouth, he is aware of these things.

So understand Ezra did not know everything that was going on, but people came. Now, I wanna say this, I made some notes here. At most people, if we're honest and we have to admit to the truth, we don't like to have our sins made known unto us.

Amen.

Nobody can truly say, boy, I love it when my sins are made known to me. I'm not talking about your pet peeves. I'm literally talking about sins. Everybody's got quirks and issues, right? They make fun of me on Thursday nights if they start talking about false teaching or something, I start squirming, that's a quirk, right?

That's not a sin. It's irritating, I know, maybe to some people, but it's just a quirk. But to have our sins called out to us is not always a comfortable experience. It's not always a comfortable experience.

Many people will say, I don't like to go to church where they preach about sin in my life or in other people's life. Well, what other reason do we have to preach but to point men to their sins according to the word of God so that they might know the love and the grace of God in Jesus Christ?

So as we consider this, they came and they were telling Ezra the sins of their leaders. Here was the issue, the sin is a problem whether it's in the lay membership or whether it's in the leadership of the body.

If there were issues with, in this case, it was issues with the priesthood. And we'll see as we move through the text here, we're gonna move quite quickly, but we'll see as we move through the text here, the issue of sin with the leadership was named outright.

And so as we do move through this, know this, that mankind's greatest need, this is how, this is the universal principle here that applies, mankind's greatest need is salvation. Mankind's greatest need is salvation.

Our greatest need is not to be physically healed but rather to be spiritually whole. And so I would stop here for just a second and ask you, are you spiritually whole? Mankind's greatest need is not to be physically healed but spiritually whole.

Our great need is not to be financially set but to be eternally secure. And again, I'm not preaching against money. It's good to have money, but the love of money is the root of all evil. If you love it more than you love God, if that is your focus.

So our goal is not to be financially set but to be eternally secure. Heaven and earth shall pass away, the Lord said, but my word shall endure forevermore. So what we need, what we need the most, our greatest problem is not anything physical.

Our greatest problem is the spiritual reality of sin and death. Have you recognized, do you know that your great need today is salvation in the Lord? Ezra responded to the people, to the people's sin was that of astonishment.

Notice here in the text, it says he sat down astonished. Well, first he tore his robe, he plucked out the hairs of his head and he began to pluck out his beard hairs. Now I'll tell you this, pulling on a beard hair from underneath your chin, man, is like having an armpit hair pulled out.

It is not pleasant at all. But he plucked out his beard, he was in such agony, but the Bible says he sat down and he sat down astonished. Now, when I think of astonishment, the first thing I think of is a physical reaction.

How about this?

Any of you ever been astonished? Some people do it with a closed mouth. No, it's not the physical reaction. It was the inward reaction. It was an inward response. That's what that's talking about. It was a mind numbing shock that he had.

He could not believe that what the people of the land of the people of God were doing after they had been taught not to do so by God. Chris made a little bit of a reference to this when he spoke this morning in Sunday school.

And so we see that they were astonished. And then in verse five through seven, as we move on at the evening sacrifice, Ezra said, I rose from my fasting and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord, my God.

And I said, oh my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, my God. For our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day, we have been very guilty.

And for our iniquities, we, our kings and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the land to the sword, to captivity, to plunder and to humiliation as it is this day. This was the cause of Ezra's astonishment because it was for sin and idolatry to which they were sold into Babylonian captivity.

It was idolatry. And yet having been delivered out of idolatry, they continue to lean back toward that same form of idolatrous behavior. In verse eight and nine, Ezra recognizes God's grace and God's enduring mercy.

In verse eight and nine, we read this. And now for a little while, grace has been shown from the Lord, our God. To leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.

Repeatedly over the months, we have made that statement that this book of Ezra is a book about revival. A revival of God's people, a revival of return to the worship of the true and living God. A revival and a restoration of the practice of worshiping God.

It was a revival of the preaching of the word of God. And so Ezra makes this statement here and he says that God has given us a peg in his holy place. He's put a nail in the wall, something that holds steadfast and sure.

And he said this, so that God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. And then here it is in verse nine. In verse nine, he says, for we were slaves. Well, that's recognizing, humbly recognizing who he was.

How do we communicate this? And how is this a biblical principle that should be and is communicated to us today? We must recognize who we are before a holy God. Where it is that we came from. When we rejoice and we ought rightly to rejoice.

I know I quoted it last week, but I can't help but quote it again. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless his holy name. All that is within me, bless the Lord, O my soul. When we consider what God has done.

When we consider that theologically, if you wanna look at the theological perspective for just a moment, where it is we come from. We do not come from goodness in and of ourselves. We do not come offering God something that's worthy of him trading or bartering for.

We come from being dead in our trespasses and in our sins. And yet God in his mercy and grace gives life and that unto us that we might have hope in him. That is good news. I think about over in first Corinthians actually.

In first Corinthians chapter six, you don't have to turn there, but that's a point of reference. First Corinthians chapter six, verse nine, 10 and 11. The apostle Paul is writing to the Corinthian church and he says this.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

But Paul says this, and such were some of you, but you are washed. He recognizes that same type of understanding and such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God.

Such were some of you. Back in Ezra, he says, we were slaves, and this is part of his confession unto God. We were slaves. We recognize that we were in bondage, Ezra's saying. We recognize that when it seemed all hope was lost, the only hope that we had was you, O Lord.

We were slaves, yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage. God is faithful. But he extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, but God is faithful. To, and this is why God did this, and this is why God did what he did.

Ezra describes this. He did it to revive us, him speaking. He did it to revive them, to restore them, to renew them, to make it so that they could accomplish the purpose that he himself had determined should be carried out in their lives.

But he revived us to repair the house of our God and to rebuild its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. So the restoration of the temple, to rebuild the rebuilding of its ruins and the rebuilding of the broken down wall, which in the book of Nehemiah, that's what Nehemiah's about.

It's about the children of Israel rebuilding those broken down walls. Nehemiah and Ezra were contemporaries in their day. And then in verse 10 through 15, we'll see how Ezra recalls the commandments of God and recognizes his righteous judgment.

In verse 10, he says, and now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you commanded by your servants, the prophets, saying, the land which you are entering in to possess is an unclean land, and with the uncleanness of the peoples of the land, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their impurity.

Now, therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.

And going on, and after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a deliverance as this, should we again, then this is the question, should we again break your commandments and join in marriage with the people committing these abominations?

Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us so that there would be no remnant or survivor? What a question is that? He says, God, you have punished us less than we deserve, truly, and you have delivered us when we did not deserve to be delivered, and you have done this in spite of the fact that we have disobeyed your word.

Now, I wanna make something clear here so that there's not a chance of misunderstanding. There are some, there are some who profess to be churches that will say that God's command, that God's prohibition to intermarry with the people of the land was a race issue.

It was not a race issue at all, it was a religious issue. Now, some people don't like that word religion. Some people will say we don't need the word religion, but I beg to differ with you. There is a difference between someone who is religious spiritually speaking and someone who is religious morally speaking.

We are called from the word of God to be religious people. Don't believe me? Turn it over to the book of James for just a moment. The book of James, James chapter one and verse 21. Therefore, lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you who thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. This was a work issue. And again, there are some who would say, you ought not to use works and grace in the same sentence.

Friends, the good works that are produced in the life of a Christian are the immediate, are the immediate result of God saving that individual. We are called to live out our life. What did Paul tell the Philippians?

Work out your own salvation with fear and in trembling. Obeying God is a command given to us in the scriptures. And disobedience to God's word is sin. Sin is, the Bible says sin is the transgression of God's law.

God's law is what God has said to go beyond what God has said. When you see the no trespassing sign, guess what that means? No trespassing. If you come over the line, you might get shot. You might get bit by a dog.

Whatever the case may be, it is a warning. And when we are called not to transgress the law of God, that is God's word of warning to us that we should obey what he says because we will be blessed if we obey and we will be cursed if we disobey God.

The Bible says that if you're without chastisement, if you're without punishment, if you're without discipline, then you are not a child of God is what the Bible says. So we must obey God. So Ezra's confession unto the Lord is he's confessing how he knows God has not punished them as much as they deserve or as much as he could have punished them, but he has shown them grace and he has shown them mercy and that God, whether he had have destroyed them or not, was still righteous in his doings.

And so we see Ezra, the man of God's response and confession to God. And then here in chapter 10, verse one, back in Ezra chapter 10, verse one. Now, while Ezra was praying and while he was confessing and weeping and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women and children gathered to him from Israel.

For the people wept very bitterly. The Bible says the people wept very bitterly and Shechaniah the son of Jehoiah, one of the sons of Elam spoke up and said to Ezra, we have trespassed against our God and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land.

Yet, now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. In spite and I would say, make a general statement here in spite of your sin, but I'm gonna qualify that statement. God does not, God does not condone sin in spite of your sin in any way, shape, form or fashion.

But despite your sin, God in his mercy and in his grace, sent his son, Jesus Christ to be the propitiation for our sins so that we might have hope. Do you know that hope? Are you saved?

Are you lost?

Do you know where you are? You're at Reformata Baptist Church, 10840 Chapman Highway, Seymour, Tennessee, 37865. Physically, that's where you are.

I don't know where you are spiritually though.

You know and God knows and you have a responsibility if hearing the word of God, you recognize your sin and you know that your sin has separated you from a holy God, your responsibility is to confess your sins, to repent of your sins and to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That Jesus Christ according to the scriptures died for your sins and that Jesus died, was buried and that according to the scriptures that Jesus Christ arose on the third day and we could go on further that he ascended back to the father and that one day after a while he will return to gather his church unto himself.

Will you be in that number or will you be left out? I don't know, I'm not called to know that but I am called to tell you today what thus says the word of God, repent and believe the gospel. Shekinah said we trespassed against our God, we've taken pagan wives yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this.

Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God and let it be done according to the law.

Arise for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you, be of good courage and do it. Last year when we went through the book of Philippians, the unifying force that united, that joined the people of God was around the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

And the doctrine of Jesus Christ, there's a whole lot in it but primarily for the sake of time this morning just know this, that the doctrine of Jesus Christ includes the atonement of sin. And whether you're reading Old Testament or whether you're reading the New Testament, all of it and if it was to come to a point comes to the head that Jesus Christ died for sins, that he is the atonement for our sins.

And so here we see this, Shekinah says let's make a covenant with God, let's agree with what God says. This is not saying let's make a deal with God because God does not make deals. You cannot say to the Lord, Lord, if you'll get me out of this situation, I believe in you.

If you'll just do this for me, I'll follow you the rest of my life. Listen, how many people are there today who have made that deal with God and are just as lost today as they were the day they made that deal with the Lord?

The Lord is not about bargaining. Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself, come, take up your cross and follow me. That is the call. So this covenant is not about making a deal, it's about them being in agreement with God.

And they say, God, we're gonna do what you have commanded, we're gonna put away these wives of the land. And then in verse five there, he said, Israel rose and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites and all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to his word.

So they gave a public testimony there in the midst of the congregation. So they swore an oath. Verse six, then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehannum, the son of Elishab.

And when he came there, he ate no bread and drank no water for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity. And they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the captivity that they must gather at Jerusalem.

And that whoever would not come within three days, according to the instructions of the elders, leaders and elders, all his property would be confiscated and he himself would be separated from the assembly of those from the captivity.

There was consequence. Now, I know it's been a challenge maybe, and maybe some of you still don't have your mind around the whole church discipline thing. But listen, if we're gonna be a gospel church, we must have church discipline.

There must be accountability to one another. There must be. And this is what we see accountability within the midst of this congregation. So in verse nine, all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within three days.

And it was the ninth month on the 20th of the month. And all the people sat in the open square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and because of heavy rain. So there were spiritual issues weighing heavy on them and there were physical issues weighing heavy on them.

How are we gonna sit out here in the rain? I'll be honest with you, and y 'all may have to put me through church discipline for this, but I cannot tell you that if I knew we had to sit outside in the rain, that I would be here every week.

But these people were not only pressed with spiritual issues, but with physical issues, but the Bible says this, then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, you have transgressed and have taken pagan wives according or adding to the guilt of Israel.

Now therefore make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do his will. The command was clear. And by the way, it was a command as are the words of the living God to repent, to obey and to follow.

They are not a suggestion.

Jesus is not saying,.

Will you please believe in me if you want to? No, Jesus did not tell Matthew when he called Matthew from the receipt of custom, Matthew, would you like to come and follow me? Come on, it'll be all right.

What we have in the word of God is that Jesus said, follow me.

It wasn't a question.

It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command. And that was the command here to separate themselves, to do the will of God. And then verse 12, then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, yes. And as you have said, so we must do.

But they made this statement that there are many people, it is the season for heavy rain and we are not able to stand outside, nor, listen closely, nor is this the work of one or two days for there are many of us who have transgressed in this matter.

Now what's the significance of that within the context here? Remember the significance is this, that they still had to actually make the sacrifices to atone for their sins. There was a whole lot of rams.

There was a whole lot of rams. There was a whole lot of bulls that had to be slaughtered, that had to be burned, that the process of sacrifice given in God's law for them at that time had to be followed.

And listen, for one, personally speaking, there have been times where I've been made so aware of my sin that I can't just repent for a minute or two, but I'm repenting for an hour or two. And imagine out of the thousands of the people here, out of just the leadership, remember there are probably over 5 ,000 just of the Levites, priests, and the Nethanim, and the singers, and all of them who had to repent of their sin.

This took time.

So the Bible tells us there that they said, this is not a matter of one or two days of us doing this, but it's gonna take time. Now never were they physically or spiritually sinless and never will you or I be spiritually sinless until we're glorified.

That's coming, but it is not yet. The work of salvation is monergistic. I love that sermon that you sent the other night, "'Costly Disciplines of a Godly Pastor.". The work of salvation is monergistic.

It's one way, it's God doing the work in the center and saving the sinner. The work of sanctification, living out our life for faith, is synergistic. It is God giving the command and us obeying God. Are you obeying God in your life?

Are you following God or are you following your will? And in closing, verse 14 through 17, please let the leaders of our entire assembly stand and let all those in our cities who have taken pagan wives come at appointed times together with the elders and the judges of their cities until the fierce wrath of our God is turned away from us in this matter.

Only Jonathan, the son of Asahel and Jeheza, the son of Tivka, opposed this. There were those who opposed as there will be in life and in general. But who are we to argue with the Lord? What the Lord calls sin is sin.

No matter how much we disagree with what God says, it does not change that God has said it and God's word is truth. The Bible goes on and says, the descendants of the captivity did so and Ezra the priest with certain heads of the father's households were set apart by the father's households, each of them by name.

And they sat down on the first day of the month to examine the matter. They were willing to admit to their sin. They were willing to own up to it and they were willing to repent of their sin. And they examined the matter by the first day of the month, by the first day of the month when they had finished questioning all the men who had taken wives.

And then in verse 18 through verse 44, you'll see a list of the names of those who were the repenters basically. And so all that we've read, all that we've looked at, all that we've studied, all that we've gone through in the book of Ezra leads us to this one key truth that God is faithful.

All that was accomplished was accomplished according to the word of God. And how does this relate to us in 2019? Well, because we're on this side of the cross, because we're on this side of the sacrifices that were being made at this time, we can be assured of one thing, that God is faithful.

And he is just to forgive us of our sin and our iniquities and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He is faithful. There's an old song, I believe it was written around 18, in the 1800s, maybe 1888.

And the song says this. April, if you would come up as well, Debbie. And we'll go ahead and sing that last song that we didn't sing then in closing. But as they're coming up here, and I would ask you to stand.

And I guess our dismissal this morning will be on a song of worship. But this old song here says this. Lead on, O King Eternal. The day of march has come. Henceforth in the fields of conquest, thy tents shall be our home.

Through days of preparation, thy grace has made us strong. And now, O King Eternal, we lift our battle song. Lead on, O King Eternal. Till sin's fierce war shall cease and holiness shall whisper that sweet amen of peace.

Lead on, O King Eternal. We follow not with fears, for gladness breaks like morning. Where 'er thy face appears, thy cross is lifted over us. We journey in its light. The crown awaits the conquest. Lead on, O God of might.

Take heart, children of God. Take heart in the Lord. Praise the Lord.