DEALING WITH SIN (EZRA 10:5)

Dear Members in Christ,

Dealing with Sin (Ezra 10:5)

In the last article, we covered the transgressions of the people; how the people had sinned in mixed marriages. The way to restoration is to acknowledge one’s sins and to repent before God. Ezra wept and prayed and cast himself down in the house of God and he led the people to restore their relationship with God. The sight of Ezra sorrowing moved and pierced the hearts of the people, and we read that they “assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.” (Ezra 10:1). This lesson showed us the way in which Ezra led God’s people in the path of repentance and covenant with God.

“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.” Ezra 10:5

How did God’s people, led by their God ordained leader Ezra, express their sorrow and contrition for sin? How did they show that they were determined that their spiritual lives will not fall afoul of God’s will? The verse above (Ezra 10:5) records their determination before God. They swore before God, they made an oath, fully understanding that an oath before God is not to be lightly taken. They thus resolve, “Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them…” (Ezra 10:3). They took the painful step to be estranged from their sinful union with the heathen women. This short episode must have been one of the most difficult moments in the lives of the repentant leaders, but they showed resolution in their act.

A. Repentance begins with a deep sorrow for transgressing God’s laws  

The oath of contrition involved the entire leadership of God’s people. Ezra 10:5 records that the oath was taken by the chief priest, Levites and all Israel. Sorrowing for sin, is not just an emotional display. It involves concrete action. For God’s people, this national mourning has to begin from the topmost tier of their spiritual leadership, led by none other than Ezra himself.   

“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.” Ezra 10:6

Beloved, the Bible describes for us the earnestness of Ezra and the people to turn away from their sins. Such should be the attitude of a penitent sinner. There must be a sense of sorrow for having transgressed against God. The sin of marrying heathen women was a warning God had given His people through the laws of Moses. God’s Word had warned them that the result of being in an “unequal yoke” union, would be apostasy, idolatry, and eventually the judgement and wrath of God. This is sufficiently clear to the people who had just returned from captivity. The captivity itself was a judgement from God for the forefathers’ sin of ignoring God’s laws concerning marriage.  

B. Ezra’s determination to remove all traces and recurrence of Israel’s sin

Ezra and the leaders of Israel then enacted a law to ensure that this sin will not recur in the lives of God’s people. This law was stringent - anyone found not complying would be excommunicated and will have his property confiscated.

“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.” Ezra 10:8

There may be some who may think that the Old Testament laws are overly strict, and unnecessarily harsh. Try telling that to a nation that has disobeyed God, and suffered the total destruction of their nationhood, their religion, and were made captives for 70 years! This was what God had prescribed for His people to keep them from sinning and from future calamity. The people then resolved, “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).

Dearly beloved, the actions of Ezra and the people returning from captivity is a lesson for us. God forbid, if a Christian should fall into sin, remember that the Lord Jesus died on the cross for our reconciliation. We must acknowledge and confess our sins and we must be very determined to take action to separate ourselves from our sins. Remember, God is ever faithful to forgive and cleanse us. May God help us to walk close to Him. Amen.

In His Service,
Rev. Lim Seh Beng, Pastor