Month: April 2024

Nehemiah 1:4, 6 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,…Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel the servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned.

Nehemiah was still in Babylon when he heard the report of the poor condition of the returnees to Jerusalem and that the walls were broken down. He was sad and angry, but his Godly response to the news was to turn to the Lord in repentance and prayer. Prayer is our first response, not our last resort.

Nehemiah prayed for several days with weeping and fasting, turning the bad news over to the Lord. He demonstrated the elements of effective prayer: 1) praise, 2) thanksgiving, 3) repentance, 4) specific requests, and 5) commitment. He may not have meant it that way, but he became an instrument in God’s hands to be the answer to his prayer.

Heartfelt prayers like this can help clarify: 1) any problem you may be facing, 2) God’s great power to help you, 3) the job you have to do. When God’s people pray, difficult decisions fall into proper perspective, and appropriate actions follow.

Nehemiah even included himself and his family in confessing the sins of the people against God. He believed that God was good, kind, and merciful, that He would forgive their sins and answer their prayers. At any time during hard times, difficult conditions, or painful circumstances we may turn to the Lord in repentance, prayer, and faith. How do we respond to adversity?

Ezra10:11-12 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.

A major part of the return, reform, and rebuilding the kingdom under Ezra involved putting away the strange wives. This would be a hard thing to do, and it seemed harsh. But it was important in order to keep the faith and worship of the people of God pure. The Savior of the world was to arise and come out of these chosen, separated, and called out people.

The NT believer still does the hard but necessary work of separating himself from the world, the devil, and his own sinful flesh. It is the Holy Spirit who actually calls us by the Gospel, separates us from the world, and sanctifies and sets us apart for God. Separating ourself from worldly entanglements is impossible for us to do on our own, but the Spirit of God makes it possible and works it out in us.

We do divorce our wives, but we do put away worldly influences that draw us away from the power of the gospel unto salvation.

Ezra 10:1-3 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.

Ezra prayed, confessed, and wept before God for the trespasses of the people, and his repentance led the people to repent. They confessed that they had taken foreign, pagan, and idolatrous wives. They realized that these strange wives would tempt them away from the faith and worship of the Lord.

The people made a covenant promise that they would put away their strange wives and their unbelieving practices. They would not just say it and will it, but they would actually do it. So thoroughgoing and sincerely rooted was the repentance and faith of the returnees from Exile that they followed through and actually changed their behavior. They took this drastic action because the experiences of exile had so deeply affected them that it produced repentance and change.

We may repent, but we don’t always bring forth the fruits of repentance by putting away the worldly attitudes and behaviors that come between God and us. Godly sorrow for sin leads to a deep faith in grace, for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation and changed lives. We need the power of the Spirit to put away the things of the world from our lives.

Ezra 10:10, 14 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken thy commandments….Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?

After leading Israel back to Jerusalem from captivity, Ezra led the people in confession and repentance. The returnees had been intermarrying with the pagan people of the land and now had to stop this practice.

They had sinned against the Ten Commandments of God, especially the First, by taking unbelieving wives. Foreign wives would lead the people of God into idolatry and unbelief. They must put away the world and its temptations to lead them away from God. Ezra had led them not only back to the Land, but also back to the Lord. Now break every affinity with the world that is opposed to God.

Confession and repentance is the necessary means to putting away worldly ways and come back to pure faith in the One True God. Daily contrition is also necessary for us NT believers, for the devil, the world, and our flesh are ever present to tempt us away from joyous faith in Christ.

Repentance includes the faith in Jesus that receives forgiveness and the new life of the Spirit. It involves putting away affinities with the world. The Word of Gospel and the Spirit of Life actually is the power that actually does just that. It changes lives. And since we fail and fall back often, we need to repent often. When we return to God daily He receives and welcomes us again and again.

Ezra 9:3-5 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 astonish. Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that 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.

After the return from captivity to Jerusalem under Ezra, many of the people intermarried with the pagan unbelievers in the land. This compromise and mixture drew the people away from pure faith in the Lord. This was seen as a reversion to the same old ways that led to captivity in the first place. This abominable response to God’s Deliverance was reprehensible.

Ezra’s response was to repent for the nation and pray for the people. He tore his clothes and sat in astonishment, exhibiting public penitence, and then took up the posture of public prayer. He led the people in trembling at the word of God. This repentance was deep and widespread.

Ezra’s prayer reflects a good perspective on sin. He recognized: that sin is serious, that no one sins without affecting others, that he was not sinless, and that God’s love and mercy had spared the nation when the people did nothing to deserve it.

This response is a good model for us to follow in our daily prayer life: sincere repentance for sin and true faith that receives Grace. For we daily sin much and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. We take sin seriously so that we take grace even more seriously.

Ezra 8:35 Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and six lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the Lord.

The deliverance from captivity, the return to Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the temple was such a big deal, that even the children born in Babylon that did not know the former life celebrated with a grand worship of the Lord. They offered offerings to the Lord in great abundance. Their thankfulness to God for salvation pulled out all the stops.

The burnt offerings were a sign pointing to the coming once-for-all sacrifice of the promised Messiah. The offering of these sacrifices was the outward expression of faith in the promised Salvation. NT believers no longer make burnt offerings, but they look back in faith to the offering of Jesus Christ. Through the cross of Christ we are forgiven of sin and made holy and acceptable to God. We remember the offering of Christ and by faith apply it to ourselves every time we repent and confess, remember our Baptism, and go to church to hear the Gospel and receive the sacrificed body and blood of Christ for our deliverance.

We have been born in captivity to sin, death, and the devil, but the offering of Jesus Christ sets us free and brings us home. The result is constant thanksgiving and never-ending praise during our lifetime.

Ezra 8:28, 30 And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and gold are a freewill offering unto the Lord God of your fathers….So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

Ezra and the returning Jews were coming back to Jerusalem with a huge amount of gold, silver, and a large amount of treasure to transport. Not only did the Lord redeem His people from Exile, but He also provided them with great blessing and wealth. And they made the journey without an armed guard.

The Lord God had made them holy, and the things they brought with them. To be holy is to be set apart for Godly purposes. The people responded to God’s great blessing and salvation with a freewill offering to the Lord. They did not personally take the wealth God granted and enjoy it for themselves, but they offered it to the Lord’s service of their own free will, without force or coercion. It is like what we, as elders in heaven, will do before the throne of God, as described in Revelation. We will receive golden crowns as gifts of grace from God and then immediately cast them down before God.

Our response to God’s grace and blessing in Christ is to freely offer our selves and our things to the service of the Lord. “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

Ezra 8:21-23 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way, for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance….The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him: but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.

For Ezra and the large contingent of Jews, the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem would be arduous and dangerous. He was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen, for he had told the king that God would be with them and guard them. He believed God to take care of them.

Therefore, before setting out, he had the people fast and pray and seek the Lord for the right and safe way forward. The fasting is an outward reminder of an inner attitude of trust in God. And the Lord heard their prayer; He brought them safely to Jerusalem. The fasting and seeking the Lord focuses our attention on God, His Word and His promise. The fasting and seeking the Lord is naturally what we do when undertaking a dangerous endeavor. Placing it all in God’s hands is our response to need and crisis. And it is enough.

Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.

Upon the return from captivity in a time of crisis and need, the Jews needed a strong leader of courage and determination. The Lord raised up Ezra the scribe, the prophet, the teacher, and the leader to bring them through a difficult time. Ezra was able to get the temple built, to restore order and safety, and to reestablish the kingdom under the Law of Moses.

For this cause, Ezra responded by preparing his heart to seek the law of the Lord. The task would require studying, teaching, organizing, and leading. Ezra answered the call, but he was humble enough to know he could not do it without God. Thus he prepared himself to seek the Word of God. With diligent study, the Lord prepared him to do it and to teach it. Through Ezra, the Lord was successful in restoring the remnant of the kingdom of God on earth, so that the son of God could come to earth to save us all.

We also are called upon to accomplish difficult tasks within the sphere of influence in which we are called and placed. Marriage, family, church, community, work, and service are not areas of life that easily or automatically bring success and wellbeing. The Enemy opposes goodness everywhere. Therefore, we need to seek first the kingdom of God through prayer and faith. And God helps.

We prepare the heart by being in the Word daily and in church weekly. God is looking for a prepared heart in which He can dwell and through whom He can do good and great things.

Ezra 7:6, 9, 28 This Ezra went up from Babylon…and the king granted him all his request according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him….For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon…according to the good hand of his God upon him….And hath extended mercy unto me before the king…And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.

King Artaxerxes granted Ezra and his men permission to return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian Captivity. Ezra responded to God’s will and His mercy by making such a bold request of the king, preceded by prayer and faith. He knew that his return was God’s will, and if God willed it, it would be done. So Ezra proceeded according to the hand of the Lord that was upon him.

God worked it out, through the earthly authorities, to do His will and bring His people home. With God’s hand upon him, Ezra was able to believe God to answer his request and surrender to the will of God, who was able to work things out.

Great things can be done when the hand of God is with us. Our response of faith is to pray, “Thy will be done on earth.” God will accomplish His purposes in our earthly affairs to bring us to Himself. He already did so in the death and resurrection of His Son, and He does His will in our life by bringing the Gospel to our hearts through Word and Spirit. Our response is to pray for His will to be done in our life and expect it to be done.