But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God,to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage (Ezra 9:8).

Ezra considered God's restoration of the remnant of Judah to the land "a brief moment of grace." Even though they remained slaves to the kings of Persia, God moved these kings to look favorably upon the remannt of Judah. Ezra knew that this restoration was not based on merit but purely on God's unmerited favor (Ezra 9:13).

Friends, I feel as though this time in our history is "a brief moment of grace," a calm before the storm. Our very lives are brief moments of grace, for "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). 

Therefore, shouldn't there be a certain vigilance and diligence regarding our personal holiness? After all, Scripture says, "Without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). When we make our plans for the summer, shouldn't we make our devotion to God the chief priority? I pray that the Lord will both bring this to mind and stir our resolve to do this. 

Ezra 8

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.”²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

²⁸ And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord, the God of your fathers.²⁹ Guard them and keep them until you weigh them before the chief priests and the Levites and the heads of fathers' houses in Israel at Jerusalem, within the chambers of the house of the Lord.”³⁰ So the priests and the Levites took over the weight of the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.

³¹ Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way.

I love this example of faith. Ezra claimed that God was behind this idea – if so, then God will Provide. Ezra gave to God’s priest great wealth to protect, they guarded the wealth faithfully. Then the trip ended successfully, showing God was with them.

Aren’t there times your faith may not match up to your words, or rather your words and actions don’t line up with your faith? Yes you believe that God took your spiritually dead soul and gave you eternal life, but you doubt he loves you during illnesses? During depressions? You doubt he doesn’t orchestrate all things even your forgetfulness, your rude store attendant, your unanswered prayers?

If you dare say you love a silent God, a god who does not speak from trembling mountains as in the days of old, but regularly in subtle whispers of your heart. Perhaps for some he does speak audibly – even a greater woe to these that don’t line up their words and actions to the great faith before them!

As James 3:9-12 declares, what comes from your mouth shows what is in your heart. Do you have the hope of the lord? Are you considered righteous as Rahab and Moses by your actions (cf.James 2)
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Ezra 10

¹⁵ Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supported them.

I believe God, being the epitome of creativity, can work out his will regardless of our actions. When disagreements occur in scriptures I can’t help but put myself in that moment. A moment when destinies are being set, do you choose to invest in company A or company B, do you marry or not, do you stay at your current job or do you switch to another? These are times when you have hit a fork in the road.

To help me overcome these high stress moments in life, it helps me to know that God can make my decision valuable or not, in the results – he can make my decisions as important to an event as is the color choice of my socks when doing a study; or he can make the color of my socks during a study bring about a monumental event!

We should do our best, get as much information as possible, get as much counsel as possible, we are responsible for our part in being good stewards; but we only have success in the Lord, our hearts may have intentions but he guides the feet (cf. Proverbs 16:9)

Looking at this moment of disagreement in isolation, these who disagree have done nothing wrong or unfaithful perhaps they had a different plan and the Lord is silent to judge their hearts for us. They had success but I think it would be premature, by simply looking at this passage alone, that they lord would not have blessed another way.

Should I go left or should I go right? Often I don’t think it matters. We should act with all diligence, but in the end always with peace and the hope of God, since we are not “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (cf Ephesians 2)

“Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve, for you, our God, have allowed some of us to survive as a remnant. But even so, we are again breaking your commands and intermarrying with people who do these detestable things. Won’t your anger be enough to destroy us, so that even this little remnant no longer survives? O LORD, God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an escaped remnant, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.” (Ezra 9:13-15 NLT)

Isn't this remarkable? Ezra is praying as a leader of the small remnant returning from exile to rebuild the community of Israel. In his prayer, he acknowledges that they suffered exile because of their extreme wickedness and rebellion against the LORD. They should have been wiped out completely, but God, in His grace, allowed a remnant to survive. Yet now, even the remnant is again sinning against the LORD. As such, Ezra acknowledges that God is just and that the surviving community of Israel has no spiritual leg to stand on before the LORD: "None of of us can stand in Your presence." 

Notice, that it was because of grace that the remnant was even allowed to survive exile and return:

“But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the LORD our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. (Ezra 9:8 NLT)

But Ezra sees that they have abused the grace given them by again rebelling against the LORD. Thus, he mourns for his people and confesses their sins on their behalf (notice he says "we" and not "they": "we come before you in our guilt"), even as if they were his own. Then he decrees a severe measure for their repentance, the putting away of all their foreign wives. 

We have a similar scenario depicted in Hebrews 10, where some who have experienced God's grace are in danger of wavering from their hope in Christ by not persevering in faith amidst suffering and persecution: 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together [perhaps better "let us not forsake our gathering together, as in the rapture] as in the parallel in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2], as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. 

In view of the second coming of Christ, both for salvation and judgment, the saints are encouraged to "live by faith," and with "patient endurance" to "continue to do God's will," holding "tightly without wavering to the hope" that God will "keep His promise" of salvation to them.

Friends, join me these days in the house of mourning, for there is more a cause for mourning than for rejoicing. It is more spiritually healthful for us to abide and meditate at a funeral than at a wedding celebration. We need to hear more messages on judgment rather than on salvation, on death more than on life. For we must understand that we cannot truly live unless we die. Yet, we refuse to die to ourselves, and some of us don't even know what this looks like. We confidently affirm along with Peter, "I am ready to die for You," but we are upset about what this person said about us, or what that person emailed, or because our jobs are so demanding, or because our spouse seems lazy or unconcerned about us, or because our children may not get into their top choice college. Trivial matters! Things that pertain to the dead and dying, that will all pass away with this present world system! Let us understand that when we prioritize trivial matters we trivialize important ones. You cannot serve God and mammon!

But if we were to meditate on our deaths, perhaps we would find greater impetus to focus on the things that matter, the things that will last forever. Let us join Ezra in mourning and don't let off until we finally repent, come to our spiritual senses, and begin seeking the LORD again. I have been accused of being morbid and divisive, upsetting the "peace" at church. But is it the time for us to be "at peace" at church? Do we need to be calmed or shaken up? As I see things, every message these days functions like an anesthetic to true change. We are lulled into spiritual sleep. Where's our sackcloth and ashes? Who's pulling out their hair? Surely I am not the only one who sees that we are spiritually sick? My deep frustration is that while I see the crisis, I feel myself still paralyzed to change. It is not that I'm a hypocrite, but I am certainly and deeply inconsistent. I pray that perhaps the LORD will see my distress of soul and His Spirit will help me embrace this challenge to my faith. I pray this for every one of you on this site. I pray this way for our church and the church leadership. I also pray this for the leaders and members of our martial arts organization. I see glimpses of people living the normal Christian life, but it is a rare sight, and I think that I am sometimes mistaken. 

Some of you said that you enjoy reading my posts. Why? I pray to God that it is because you are stirred by them to seek Him with a sincere heart and an unwavering faith. If you are reading my posts instead of the Scriptures, stop now. I do not want to be a stumbling block to you. These posts are to encourage you to read the Bible more, not less, so that you will ultimately come to your own conclusions about God and faith and life in Christ. I hope no one ever quotes me, but if anyone constantly and accurately references the Bible because of me, then praise the Lord!

I was shocked to see the number of the first exiles who returned to Jerusalem; there were only total of 1700 hundred men. If you remember how many Israelites there had been when they came out of Egypt, the above number sounds pathectic! That's what happens when we take matters to our own hands. Israel proved to be weak as any of her neighboring countries which corrupted her without God. Even though they suffered the consequence of their sin, they were not left without survivors by God's mercy. I see God's faithfulness in that small number. What we are capable of with our own strength doesn't matter whether it is big or small. God's own zeal for His people accomplishes His plan. The realization of our depravity and total dependence on God is a starting point of our revival, not any sort of motivational tactic or speech or programs. No zeal lasts more than a month unless it's from Holy Spirit. I heard a preacher who kept saying we are so valuable to God, which sounds like we are loved by God because we are so important to Him. Really? It may sound like Gospel message because it talks about God's love for us. Brothers and sisters! Only way to understand God's love for us comes from the raw realization of our wretchedness and wrongfulness, which leads to true repentance. Let's ask God to reveal our nakedness everyday so that we may see our need for the Lord, Jesus!

And the Lord continues speaking....

I just left a bible study this morning where I felt a kick in the throat, discussing where financially my heart is.  We spoke of Simon's reaction when the Jar of Alabaster was broken for Jesus (matthew 26), and the immediate reaction was to point at the financial loss... This would be me.

Phinehas is one of my most favorite biblical characters because of his zeal.  Like a solidier who does not get entangled in civilian affairs (2 Timothy 2), a little hardship, a little financial loss, wouldn't make a warrior flinch, a warrior like Phinehas.

Your sharing was timely Yujin, thank you!

Now, off to show my gratitude to Him....

Friends, do you find the putting away of the Canaanite wives and children a little disturbing? Certainly, it would be hard to fathom such a thing being done in our day. But have you considered the offense to God, who repeatedly gave the command not to intermarry with the people of the Land? Also, have you considered what would have happened to such a person in Joshua's day? They would have been summarily executed for putting the people of Israel under the wrath of God. Yet, here no one dies, though there might have been some emotional and financial hardship.

What is needed today is not diplomacy and political correctness but the zeal of a Phineas, or of a John the Baptist. We rejoice in the conversion of a single person here and there and parade the glory of God with a hearty and amazed "Amen." I sometimes wish we did not have these testimonies, for they seem to have an anesthetizing effect on the community of believers. Screwtape would be proud. As long as someone is getting saved from time to time, the congregation is content. Yet, is it time for us to be content? Shouldn't we be daily mourning over our sins? Shouldn't we be devoting every resource to obey God's commission to declare the Gospel? Is there any pride that out of the eighty or so waking hours of a week we perhaps give an hour or less to obeying God's commission? Even though heaven may be rejoicing over the one person saved this month through our church, we should be crying out for the millions that are lost and have died without hope.

Someone recently called me "a man of God" in front of a lot of people. Another expressed admiration for my boldness in declaring the Gospel in a semi-hostile environment. Still another said they admired my devotion to God's Word. But if I am a "man of God," if I demonstrate Christian boldness, and if I am a model for devotion to God's Word, what a sorry state is Christianity in today. I count it no modesty to say that I am nowhere near where I ought to be as a servant of the Lord. Instead, if you find me in a reflective moment, I would share with you what daily distress I feel over the lack of true faith in me and in the church today. Praise God for His sovereign grace toward me!

Ezra was the spiritual leader of the returning exiles, he was well versed in the Laws of Moses. When he hears that some the people including the priests and Levites had intermarriaged with the woman of the neighboring nations, he became understandably quite upset. When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. (Ezra 9:3) Ezra understood that Moses specifically warned against such marriages and knew from their history that these marriages caused the downfall for even great kings like Solomon.

When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you...Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.  (Deut 7:1,3-4)

However, from the account of how many men had actually married foreign women it is just over 100. Ezra 2 list 29,000 men who returned from exile.  Therefore the actual percentage of men that were involved in intermarriage was very small.  However, no matter how "small" this problem was, Ezra falls prostate before the LORD, praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God (Ezra 10:1) for the sins of his people.  (Remember Joshua 7, God's anger burned against all Israel because of the sin of one man, Achan)

Then Shekaniah rises up and proposes a plan: send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law. Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” (Ezra 10:3-4) So Ezra proceeds to follow this advice.

I am a little conflicted by this advice. Shekaniah is not identified as a prophet of the LORD and it doesn't specifically say "Thus saith the LORD". In other words, the Scripture doesn't specifically say that this was a declaration from the LORD. Shekaniah even tells Ezra "this matter is in your hands," however, he does say "Let it be done according to the Law." (Ezra 10:3-4) When a specific direction isn't given by God, following the revealed word of the LORD would be the wise approach in dealing with such an issue especially since it involved a violation of God's Law. 

Nehemiah, a contemporary of Ezra, also dealt with the same issue.  Moreover, in those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon and Moab... I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves...” (Nehemiah 13:23-25) However, Nehemiah doesn't specify what he did with the men who had already married foreign wives.

(Did you notice the difference between Ezra's response and Nehemiah's response...Ezra pulled out his own hair, Nehemiah beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. )

Now Malachi, a post-exilic prophet, also addressed this same issue.   Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god.  As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 2:11-12) 

Essentially all this is about being "unequally yoked together with unbelievers." (2 Corinthians 6:14) Ezra, Nehemiah and Malachi all acknowledge that this was a major problem of concern. 

 For Christians, Paul clearly addressed this question specifically: To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.  For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let it be so. The brother or the sister is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (1 Corinthians 7:12-16)

Why the change in Person. It went from first Person Ezra to third person?

Yujin responds... It actually goes from third person (ch 7) to first person (ch 8-9), then back to third person (ch. 10). It could very well be that as Ezra gives the historical account, he chooses to insert direct passages from his personal memoirs that do not interrupt the flow of the story but only complement it by bringing into it a more personal dimension.

Ezra 8:21-23 - Ezra took time to put God first!  Before he made any physical preparations for the journey he prepared spiritually.  Their prayers and fasting prepared them spiritually by showing their dependence on God for protection, faith that God was in control, and their affirmation that they were not strong enough to make the trip without Him.

I really enjoyed Ezra.  The message of "put God first" was a message I needed to hear right now.