Skip to content Revival Through Repentance: Lessons from Ezra 9-10 May 28 · 16 min ...more
Revival Through Repentance: Lessons from Ezra 9-10
May 28, 2025 · 16 min
Understanding how God's Word calls us to be set apart with insights from Ezra's response to spiritual compromise among God's people.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand May 28, 2025 · 16 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Understanding how God's Word calls us to be set apart with insights from Ezra's response to spiritual compromise among God's people. ...more Show the full description Show less Understanding how God's Word calls us to be set apart with insights from Ezra's response to spiritual compromise among God's people.
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Repentance, Revival, and Reformation 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to stand on the word. Today, we finished the final 2 chapters of the book of Ezra as we look at chapters 9 and 10. Verse 8 of chapter 9, and now for a little while, grace has been0:21 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. Now0:33 these 2 chapters are insightful and they're powerful in the truths that they have in them. What we find in these 2 chapters repentance, number 2, revival, and 3,0:45 reformation. And what's it linked to? Well, it's linked to the word of God. This is a life altering, nation changing truth, what we find here in these 2 chapters. Now here's situation.0:57 Ezra and about 1500 people that he led back to Jerusalem had been there about 4 and a half months. Alright? Everything seemed to be in order, at least on the surface. The idolatry that was a major cause of their previous1:09 downfall and the eventual captivity, That was gone. However, there was there was still moral and spiritual comfort compromise. It wasn't flagrant, but it was contrary to the1:21 word of God. There was the the the foundations were not solid. Verse 1, chapter 9. When these things were done, the leaders came to me saying the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have1:33 not separated themselves from the peoples of the land with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the1:45 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 peoples of those lands. Indeed, the head of the leaders1:56 and rulers have been foremost in the trespass. Wow. Verse 3. So when I heard this thing, this is Ezra, I tore my garment and my robe and plucked2:08 out some of the hair of my head and beard and sat down astonished. 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, and2:20 I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice. Now interestingly, the heart of the transgression here had to do with marriage. God in his word had repeatedly2:32 instructed the children of Israel not to make covenants with the pagan people of the land, which included intermarriage. The reason was that it would lead them to spiritual compromise. They would drift away2:44 from their relationship with god. They would end up following other gods and lose the zeal for the 1 true god, and they would no longer be set apart unto god as holy. Now2:56 let me ask a question. Are there principles here that apply to us? First Peter chapter 1 verse 16. Peter quotes Leviticus and the call for us to be holy, meaning to be set3:08 apart. In John 17, Jesus says that we are in the world but not of the world. How is that possible? Well, we're sanctified. We're set apart. How? Well, Jesus tells us by the word of God.3:20 God. Through Jesus Christ, we're to be different than the world that is those outside of Christ. Now as it pertains to marriage, Paul gave really kind of a parallel command to what we have here in the in3:32 the Old Testament. In second Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14, he says, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with3:42 darkness? I mean, what? What's the answer? It doesn't. Alright. Verse and and here's something we're gonna see here in a moment. We just we just read. But the3:54 worst transgressors of this were the leaders. They should have been setting the example for good, but yet they were compromised. Verse 5, at the evening sacrifice, I arose from my fasting and having torn my4:06 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 higher4:18 than our heads. Look. We're up to our neck in this, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. We're sinking. Since the days of our fathers to this day, we have been very guilty,4:30 and for our iniquities, we are kings and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and humiliation as it is this day. So why was Ezra4:41 shocked and grieved by what those who were living in Jerusalem accept How was it that they could just think, no big deal. But yet he was4:53 astonished so much so that he he he tore his garment, a sign of grief, and he plucked out hair from his head and his beard. What's the difference? He was in the word of God. He knew the word of God.5:05 He had been in the word of God. And the word of God is our benchmark by what is right and what is wrong. It's not what social media says. It's not what is culturally acceptable. It's not5:17 even what we feel like is right. It is the word of God. That is the standard of right and wrong. Ezra remember? We looked at this last5:29 time. He sought the word of God, the law of God. He did the word of God, and he taught the word of God. Makes a big difference. Now pay close5:41 attention to this. Verse 8. 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 our5:52 eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves, yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage, but he extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia to revive us,6:04 to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And now, oh, 0, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have saken6:16 forsaken your commandments. As the recipients of God's grace, that was they they had been released from captivity. They their their mission6:28 funded to go back and to reestablish. The temple had already been reestablished, but now they're rebuilding the city, rebuilding the walls. And that grace6:43 matter more urgent. This, by the way, is an illustration of the grace that we have in Christ Jesus. Right? It's what we see here in this passage. We go back to a peg in his holy place, and we've seen that6:54 before. Remember? Actually, over in Isaiah 22. Isaiah 22 22. The key of the house of David, I will lay on his shoulder, so he shall open and no 1 shut,7:06 and he shall shut and no 1 shall open. We also see that over in Revelation chapter 3 verse 7 and 8. Going on here in Isaiah 22 23, I will fasten him as a7:18 peg in a secure place, and he will become a glorious throne to his father's house. Jesus, through his death on the cross, the peg, same word as nail, his death on the7:30 cross has secured hope through redemption in the presence of the father. It is secure. That's what we have in Christ Jesus. Last verse, look at what sin does.7:42 Verse 15. Oh, lord, god of Israel, you are righteous for we are left as a remnant as it is this day. Here we are before you in our guilt, though though no7:54 1 can stand before you because of this. They had no justification, no right to stand before God because they were totally compromised. That's why we, even though we're sinners,8:05 once we're forgiven of our sins and we're clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that's how we have the ability to approach the throne of grace boldly. It's not because of our standing because8:17 lord, lord knows we sin each day. I know I do. I'm in the process of being sanctified. Hopefully, I'm not repeating the same things over and over, but we have the ability to8:29 stand before god the father because of the righteousness of the son. Alright. Let's move on to Ezra chapter 10 verse 1. Now while Ezra was praying and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of8:41 god, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel for the people wept very bitterly. Look at the influence he had by the fact that he was set apart by the word of8:52 God. He was grieved by the sin. All of a sudden, people began to realize, yeah, we're not this is not right. So his example really began to trigger something in the people. And9:05 Shechaniah, the son of Hihael, 1 of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, we have trespassed against our god and have taken pagan wives from the people of the9:16 land. Yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. There's hope. What's the hope? God is gracious, and he is forgiving. Now, therefore, let us make a covenant with our god to put away all these wives and9:28 those who have been born to them according to the advice of my master and those who tremble at the commandment of our god and let it be done according to this law. Now remorse and feeling9:40 sorry is not enough. Repenting. Repenting is necessary. What does repentance mean? It means changing our mind and our behavior. That's what's required. Verse 4, arise for this matter9:52 is your responsibility. He's talking to Ezra. We also are with you. Be of good courage and do it. Now, again, notice that it is your responsibility. Ezra the10:04 priest, the spiritual leader, was the 1 who was recognized as the person who was was to lead. The and he was the priest, spiritual leader. Okay? We often look to government to10:15 be the catalyst for change. Government will change when the hearts of the people are changed by the proclamation of the word of God. I I I've said this before, but politics10:27 is downstream from the culture, and the culture is downstream from the church. Now we we often get it backwards, and it's because the church is not being the salt and light that it's supposed to be.10:39 But the church, those the the proclamation of the word of God should have a shaping influence on our culture, which should affect the laws that govern our nation. This is the10:51 prophetic voice of the church declaring the word of God. Verse 5, then Ezra arose and made the leaders of the priests, the Levites, and all the all Israel swear an oath that they would do according to this word, so they11:03 swore an oath. Verse 6, then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehonen, the the son of Elisha. And when he came there, he11:15 ate no bread, drank no water, for he mourned because of the guilt of those from the captivity. Now this was not an easy issue. Okay? And then we're talking about this. They had intermarried, and so they had to11:27 make it right. And we're talking about couples who are married. They had children. They were gonna have to commit to separate themselves. This fact, it seems extremely harsh. Why would god11:38 call them to they've already been married, and they're having to separate from their spouses, separate from the children that were born out of those relationships? What kind of god would call for such drastic11:50 action? I will tell you a god that calls us to be holy and to be set apart for him for him unto him and to put him first. See,12:02 restoration requires repentance. Repentance requires action. Verse 7, and they issued a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the descendants of the cap of of the12:13 captivity that they must gather at Jerusalem. Verse 9. So all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered at Jerusalem within 3 days. It was in the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the open12:23 square of the house of God trembling because of this matter and because of heavy rain. This is the wintertime. Then Ezra, the priest stood up and said to them, you have transgressed and have taken pagan wives adding to12:35 the guilt of Israel. Now therefore make confession to the lord, god of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the pagan wives. Alright? Be separate as god12:47 has called you to be separate. Then all the assembly answered and said with a loud voice, yes. As you have said, so we must do. Now the rest of the chapter gives the details of the process. They said, look. We need a12:58 little time. It's raining. It's cold out here. Let the leaders get together and decide how to do this. And so they went through this process of looking at every case, and and the rest of the chapter here list all13:10 of those, all of the people from the priest to the people and those that had intermarried. Now there's another lesson here. Okay? The fruit13:22 of revival, reformation, is only sustained by the continued commitment to the word of God. Now we're gonna see this in the book of Nehemiah that this13:34 same sin, this same compromise returned just 12 years later. After all that they had gone through, we see this, once again, come to the forefront as a problem in the nation. A13:46 great passage of scripture with with with such significant truth and principles that god has called us to be a part be apart from the world. We're in the world, but not of the13:57 world. We're to be sanctified, set apart for the purposes of god. And and and God is serious about that in order for us to be fully utilized for the kingdom of God and14:09 to fully experience the abundant life that Christ came to give us. Father, we thank you for your word, and and, lord, what a powerful word it is. And we continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to lead us on this14:21 journey, opening our eyes and our understanding of how your word applies to our lives in this world in which we're living today. Guide us, direct us, and lead us, we pray. And, lord, use us for your kingdom and glory.14:33 In Jesus' name, amen. Again, as we're talking about the word of God, I wanna remind you coming up on June the eleventh, we have the 21 day Matthew Bible Challenge. And this is for families. Now I14:45 know you're already on the journey, so, you might think, well, how does this apply to me? Well, I don't know. Are your kids, kids, grandkids? Are they journeying with you? This would be a great time to invite them14:57 to join. We've got lots of resources available. Simply text Matthew to 6 7 7 4 2. That's Matthew to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Until next time. Keep standing15:09 on the word.15:12 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:24 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 Repentance, Revival, and Reformation94K followers
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