Ezra 10 - Yet Now There Is Hope

Ezra 10 brings the book to a sobering conclusion as the restored community confronts renewed sin among the people who have returned from captivity. Though the temple has been rebuilt and worship restored, Ezra discovers that Israel has once again compromised by intermarrying with surrounding nations, directly violating God’s command for a holy and separated people.

The passage moves through three movements of restoration. First, intercession, as Ezra weeps, confesses, and pleads before God on behalf of the people, demonstrating how godly sorrow leads others toward repentance. Second, proclamation, as the Word of God is clearly declared, exposing sin and calling the people to make confession, separate themselves, and return to obedience. Third, examination, as each individual is brought face to face with their own responsibility before God, revealing that repentance is never merely corporate but deeply personal.

Though the chapter is heavy with conviction, it is also marked by hope. “Yet now there is hope in Israel” because God’s mercy preserves a remnant and provides a way for restoration. The message closes by pointing to the ultimate fulfillment of this hope in Jesus Christ, whose complete devotion and atoning work alone make true restoration possible. God’s call in Ezra 10 is clear. Turn from sin, respond to His Word, and find hope in His mercy through repentance and faith.

Thanks for listening to the Living Faith St. Louis podcast. This episode is part of our weekly sermon ministry from Pastor Blade Sbisa, with occasional guest speakers and special series.
 For more information, visit the LFSTL website.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

In Ezra chapter 10 and verse 10. The book began with a people delivered from the world, or that is to say, bondage in Babylon, and now it ends with a people confessing that they've gone back to trespassing against the Lord. Kind of a sad way to end. Ezra chapter 10 and verse 10 it says, And Ezra the priest stood up and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and I have taken and have taken strange wives to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore, make confession unto the Lord your God, unto the Lord 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. You know, there are times in life that no matter how optimistic you are, you are still left wondering, is there anything to be thankful for or hopeful about? You ever been in that place in life? Like maybe even as an optimist. Like you look at the world, you're like, bright and sunny day, and it's it's gray and cloudy and raining. And you're like, great day. Even that individual who's able to see the world that way will likely come to a place in their life where they're looking at the situation, maybe their home, their and their workplace, uh, the city they're in, and they're just thinking, this feels hopeless. That's where Ezra finds himself as he leads this people. And then the people also agree with him. This morning, as I just mentioned, is one of those times the nation of Israel is caught in this place that feels hopeless. And yet, the Bible tells us in verse 2 of Ezra chapter 10 that there is yet now hope for Israel. And that is for a very specific reason, their repentance. Here's the fact. We need to go back and consider why Israel was so broken and why they were so heavy over their sin and over the sins of their fathers, and that is because they came to a realization upon Ezra declaring the law of God that they were not right with the Lord. Look it with me just for a moment, the first two verses of Ezra chapter 10 and verses 1 and 2. It says, 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 Jeheel, one of the sons of Eliam, said unto him, 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. And as you go on, you see that there's counsel made and commandments given, so that Israel would do according to the law. The reason why this heaviness had fallen fallen upon Israel is because they realized by the scribe Ezra, who was, you know, seeking the law of God, and he was diligent to do so, they understood Leviticus 26 and verse 40 through 43. I don't know how familiar you are with Leviticus 26, but it is a phenomenal text to give you a timeline for what God is doing with the nation of Israel. And specifically, Leviticus 26 is outlining for us five, if I can call them this, courses of judgment that are going to fall upon Israel depending on how they agree with God or rebel against him. And so God outlines for them their future history depending on what they are to do. And in God's foreknowledge, he knows that they're going to rebel, and he actually begins to list all of the stages of Israel's history in Leviticus 26, all the way through the Babylonian captivity into even the tribulation. Leviticus 26 and verse 40, it says, If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, and their trespass, which they trespassed against me, and that have also walked contrary unto me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and I have brought them into the land of their enemies, that's Babylon. If then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they shall accept the punishment of their iniquity. Verse 42. Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember, and I will remember the land. Here's a wonderful promise regarding a re-establishment of what was given in Genesis chapter 12 to Abram. God is still intending to give Israel the land despite their rebellion, even in their unbelief. Even here in a moment in Israel's history when they're pretty messed up, and God knows they're going to be, God allows them to return. Verse 43, and the land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths while she lieth desolate without them. The Babylonian captivity, those seventy years were given to the nation so that the land could rest. The Bible actually tells us it wasn't just for the judgment of the people. There's actually something God is doing with the land because Israel had not observed the Sabbaths. God is moving them out of the land so that the land can have rest for a while, so that he can restore it to a place to bring the people back in and accomplish what he always intended to do. That's another study for a different time. While she lieth desolate, Israel, while Israel is in Babylon, it says, And they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity because, even because they despise my judgments, and because their soul aboreth my statutes. So Israel is brought into captivity because of their rebellion, and they're desolate, and we find that God has a willingness to bring them back. Our title this morning for our message is, Yet now there is hope. Israel, after actually a lot of years upon returning to the land, has now found themselves caught back into the sin that God delivered them from. As we can see that phrase in verse 2 of Ezra chapter 10, I want to emphasize it to you because as a Christian, sometimes you look at the world, you look at a city you're in, and you think, is there any hope in this place? I want to encourage you that there's always hope for a repentant people. There's always hope for a repentant people. The thesis, if I were to give one, for the sermon this morning is that restoration or revival or repentance will always require someone's complete devotion. And some cross-references and Ezra 10 would bring us to the law and show us the weight of what it means to be a man of devotion. This is, again, a necessary requirement for restoration, someone's complete and utter devotion. The next chapter, Leviticus 27 and verse 29, it says, None devoted, which have been devoted of men, shall be redeemed, but shall utterly be put to death. Leviticus 27 and verse 29. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed. Devotion that is made by man will not redeem men, but shall utterly, these men shall utterly be put to death in these things. We'll look here in a moment what I mean by someone's complete devotion. That someone is not you or I. We have to understand that according to the law, this heaviness and this serious issue that came upon the nation was because God wasn't operating in the same way that he is now as he was then. As we can think about the God that we know, we worship, we love, we think about his goodness and his grace and his forbearance and his mercy, because that's what he showed us on the cross. But for Israel, they had come under a contractual agreement with God where their relationship with God was based upon their obedience or disobedience. Our relationship with God is based not on the law, but on faith. And through faith, ultimately, God's grace. A pattern is set for us in this text in Ezra chapter 10. First, in verses 1 through 5, intercession. That's the first section this morning. Intercession. Ezra making prayers for the people that they might see their sin. Secondly, from verses 6 through 15, proclamation. Intercession? Proclamation. Ezra and other leaders then stand up before the people and boldly proclaim what they need to do in response to their knowledge of sin. And then lastly, examination. So it moves from prayer to preaching to a personal responsibility to be accountable to what has been said. So again, the pattern is simple. People or leaders pray on behalf of others. Those same leaders purify their own life and preach the word of God, as Ezra did. And then those receiving the message are left in a place where they have to personally respond to the Word of God. And so, first, intercession in verses 1 through 5. Our first key point is that intercession provides hope for those dead and their trespasses and sins. Pretty simple thought, I think, one we all understand. But are you and I a praying people, not for our needs or maybe our health problems? Yes, give all those things to God. But are we a praying people for the souls of other people? For those that we know that are lost and broken in sin. How much of our prayer life is dedicated to seeing other people revived again? Are we interceding on behalf of others? I mean, I think it's a real question for us this morning. I know when I evaluate my prayer life, so often it's selfish. I'm not like Ezra. I'm not casting myself before the Lord, broken before him, because I'm considering and how broken some situation has gotten. And that weighs on me, and I hope it weighs even on you this morning. Look at with me, Ezra's response, and in chapter 9, actually, in verse 15. This is where we came from last week. Ezra chapter 9 and verse 15. This is Ezra's prayer to the Lord. He says, O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous, for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day. For, I'm sorry, behold, we are before thee in our trespasses, for we cannot stand before thee because of this. Ezra here is so burdened that he ends up actually, as a leader, taking on that brokenness and those trespasses of the people. And this way is a beautiful type of Christ, willing to actually become sin with the people that he might see them delivered from the sin that they're in. Now I know that if you're anything like me, you're uh not a person of intercession. And I just don't want to assume that, but I know the tendencies of our human nature, right? It's it's to not pray for those that that need it. And as I see Ezra's life, I just see a need for lifting up our hearts and souls uh to the Lord on behalf of those who were burdened for. As I just mentioned, Ezra chapter 9 and verse 15, it says, We are before thee in this trespass. And as Ezra then begins to speak to the people and pray before them in chapter 10 and verse 1, he says, And we, uh and when he, I'm sorry, had confessed, weeping, and casting himself before the Lord, there was a great assembly or a very great congregation of men and women and children that came before him and wept. And I think that's important. It was this this leader who set a pattern for what a broken life looked like. I apologize. I'm not a super emotional person. And just in advance. Like, maybe you've been led by someone who's really good at being vulnerable with their emotions or they're they're a crier. Maybe you've had a pastor like that before, and that somehow has has helped you uh be burdened and you felt the weight of the mission because they're just so broken over any given situation. I apologize. I'm not, I feel like in and of my personality, I'm not like those individuals, but gosh, I hope that the Lord would give me a brokenness like Ezra. I hope that in some way I can be a model for what it means to be broken for the lost world. I hope that first and foremost for my life, you're convinced that you ought to be a man or woman of intercession. We have to. Like, it has to be something that weighs on us and grieves us as we go about our days. Intercessory prayer drives the people to real brokenness. Ezra is found weeping and casting himself down, and then it says, quote, the people wept very sore. This worked, the the transition from Ezra's brokenness to the people. That worked because prayer works. Ezra had prayed. But secondly, because our prayers of brokenness before the Lord also show other people that they need to be broken. When we talk with people and we share the gospel with people, I was thinking about it yesterday when I was talking with a guy on the street. Is our communication filled with urgency? Is it filled with weight? Are we helping people see the sobriety of their sin and what it means that they would stand before God and abide his judgment? I sometimes think in my own life, in an effort to be friendly and kind, I end up compromising being direct and showing somebody how much I'm really worried and I really care for their soul. You guys ever talk to a family member and it's kind of casual, it's passive, you're a little bit worried that you're gonna offend them, or you're trying to be careful. Maybe it's a coworker, you're trying to have an easy conversation. Ezra was so broken for the people, the people couldn't help but look at his life and think, we ought to respond in like manner. We ought to be broken like this man is broken. Look at it with me in verse 2. You see this phrase once again. It says, We have trespassed against the Lord and have taken strange wives of the people of the land. Ezra said that we have trespassed, and then the people say as well, we have trespassed. They are following his lead. And so on the streets, as we share, wherever the context might be, we're helping people understand that we're not better than them. We're going out and we're saying, Hey, I'm a in the flesh, I'm a sinner just like you. I have trespassed against the Lord. I was dead in my sins and trespasses, and Jesus was merciful to me. And we're helping people see. I had to come to the place in my life when I was broken. And you, I hope you have that testimony. I don't know if you've ever been broken before the Lord in that way. Maybe you can call back to the wells of your salvation and you can think about that moment you you processed. If I don't get right with God, I'm going to be in great danger before his judgment. And we we ought to be bold to help people see they need to do the same thing. And the easiest way to communicate that to other people is when it's real in our own life. And we really feel what it would mean for us to not have that atonement on our lives. Intercessory prayer drives people to real brokenness, but the prayer also paves a way for real hope. In verse 2, it ends this way: it says, yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing. And I just want to emphasize here the yet now. There wasn't hope before the people repented, but yet now, because the people were willing to humble themselves, there is hope. And that is the message we carry in our mouth. We don't have to have all the right answers, you know, as Peter says. We don't have to have all the slick ways to share the gospel or share our faith, convincing people why to be really intelligent is to believe in God. We just have to give them a reason for the hope that's in us, that lieth in us. Do you have hope? I have hope because I've repented. And the Bible tells me that if I humble myself before God, he gives grace to the humble. But he resisteth the proud. He resisteth those that are proud. And so yet now, right, God gives an opportunity for great hope in the nation. The people confess their sins and repent. And it's concerning this thing regarding them taking wives to themselves. Okay, moreover, there was hope in Israel because of Ezra's intercession, which turned to the people's confession and ultimately their obedience. From verses three through five, you find a few words beginning with C. In response to this confession, they begin to become obedient. In verse 3, it says that they say they're to make a covenant with God. So they go to make a covenant, verse 3. Secondly, in verse 3, it says that they are to abide the counsel of their leaders. It says, according to the counsel of those. Here, verse 3, I'll just read the second half. It says, And such as were 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. The people desire to make a covenant, to get right with God. They then end up receiving counsel from their leaders and the commandment as they tremble before the Lord to do according to the law. Then in verse 4 it says, Arise, for this matter belongeth unto thee. There's some personal accountability they're called to initially. It says, We also will be with thee, be of good courage. There's your third word, and do it. A covenant, counsel. They're then called to be courageous regarding this need for repentance. And then finally, Ezra calls them to swear by this covenant and to make a commitment. There's the word that isn't in the text, but they swear, verse 5. Look at it with me in the end, it says, and they swear. And so they finally make an agreement to commit to this covenant. Secondly, here in the text, not I don't want you to just see the intercession of Ezra and the people, but Ezra's proclamation from verses six through 15. And our second key point, I want to express that the proclamation of God's word is necessary for proper restoration. The proclamation of God's word is necessary for proper restoration. Begins with prayer. If we want to see anything revived or restored, we want to see people repent and turn to the Lord and be right with him, we have to first pray. Secondly, we ought to proclaim what God says, and we have to obviously share the gospel, but then also forecast what it means to live a life of righteousness before God. And that's what Ezra does. Proclamation is made. It reminds me of what the prophet Jeremiah already told Israel in Jeremiah chapter 3 and verses 12 through 13. He says, Go and proclaim these words toward the south and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord. I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity. That's what God's asking them to do. That's it. Only acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. God is just initially in the gospel message, God is just wanting us to acknowledge our iniquity. That's what we're doing as we share the gospel. The very first stage of getting somebody saved is helping them realize they're lost. We'll say getting them lost. They have to realize they're guilty before God. And here, right, in Ezra chapter 10, we find that the people are finally willing to accept the fact that their fathers have sinned and they have. And even though God had begun to walk contrary to them, he is restoring them or willing to restore them again if they would repent. This section, our second section regarding proclamation, begins with Ezra. Ezra's burden. He's so burdened, in fact, that in verse 6 it says he did not eat bread, nor drink water. It goes on to say he mourned because of the transgression. I just want to say, has that ever happened in your life? Have you been so broken and burdened for an individual to get saved or to accept the gospel that you actually stop eating, that you would dedicate all of your energy and your emotion to see someone come to Christ? Now it's not the fasting that's going to obviously get some magic work done by God, but it is prayer, and it is us pleading with God on behalf of other people for him to move and give them opportunity to repent. So again, his burden wasn't just sorrow. It wasn't just he kind of felt bad about the fact that Israel had rebelled. Sorrow drove him to actually begin proclaiming what was true of God. Do we do that? I know as you have been sitting there, you've probably had a few people, maybe one person, a few people on your mind who don't know the Lord and it and it burdens your heart. Or maybe for years and years you've prayed for someone that you just really desire to come to Christ. Is that anyone in the room? You thinking of someone specifically? Yeah. I hope if you don't have someone you're burdened for, begin there. Just say, Lord, give me someone to be broken over. But I would think most of us have that name in mind. It's one thing to be burdened for that person. It's a whole nother thing to be like Ezra and begin actually proclaiming what's true of God towards that person. Where your sorrow and your grief and your mourning and your fasting drives you to the place where you begin actually sharing God's word with them. It doesn't mean you have to be preaching in a pulpit, you know, come over to their house out of a pulpit and begin preaching the word. Maybe it's a text, maybe it's a phone call, maybe it's a coffee date, maybe I don't know the context that that all falls out, but we ought to allow our sorrow and our grief and our mourning for people to bring us to a place where we're actually sharing what we know is true of God and what he offers. Brothers and sisters, I know that I need to be held accountable to this, and so I provoke you to love and good works as well. You ought to share your faith with the lost. I want this church to be successful. I want a church planted here in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri. But uh, if we just gather a bunch of people and we're just comfortable as Christians gathering and enjoying one another, and we're not broken over the lost world, I don't want God to establish a church here. Like I would see that as a great failure to see a bunch of people meeting together, only interested in themselves. It's a joy to be with one another, isn't it? Like we have to really enjoy our company with one another. But but who really, who cares? If the church isn't then motivated to go out into the world and based on what we hear in this context, be grieved enough to go and begin proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus. It has to, what we believe of the Word of God, what we receive of the Word of God, has to translate to our walk with God. And so we find Ezra mourning, and he tells them now, the language changes from we have transgressed, or we have been found in trespasses against the Lord, and verse 10 to ye have transgressed. And his message changes, and as a leader, he begins to be broken for the people, acknowledging their sin, willing to actually take that on himself and be broken before God. But now he turns to the people and he says, Ye have transgressed. And this is our need as evangelists, right? We initially taken a conversation and we convince people, yes, I my life was broken and I was a sinner before God, but now you, you are responsible. And as we work through Ezra chapter 10, and this book closes, it moves from a leader's responsibility and burden and proclamation to a very personal need to respond to the words received by that leader. And so as you just look ahead in the book of Ezra, what you'll find is a giant list of names for all of the men that have rebelled and taken wives of strange wives of other nations. That's how the book concludes. Is God listing individual people and how they responded to the words that God had given them? It's a bittersweet moment. A moment of repentance, but a moment where the truth comes out regarding how all these individual people responded to God. What we found here in the second section is the need for proclamation, and Ezra's obviously need here to be burdened, but in this burden a proclamation of the transgressions, and then finally here, steps of repentance, or a route of escape, if I can say it that way. Look at with me, verse 11. Ezra begins to not only tell them that they're sinners, but he actually makes a way for them to escape. Ezra chapter 10 and verse 11, it says, Now therefore, make confession unto the Lord your God, unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from strange wives, from the strange wives. Reminds me of Isaiah 55 in verses six through seven. It says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he, that is God, will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. That's the offer of God. We have to convince people that their brokenness before God does mean that the fierce wrath of God is upon them. We'll find that here in the text, that language. And that if they're willing to forsake their way and repent and turn to God in humility, that he will abundantly pardon. This is the response of the people. You can see it. It says, and as thou hast said, we must do. We must do. Now, lastly, in this section, I just want to express to you that this proclamation gives to us a proper order of steps for the people. A proper order of steps for how they ought to respond. But it's also putting, Ezra's putting in order proper means of reconciliation. For this group in Ezra chapter 10, it actually takes about three months for all of the men to actually have their sin dealt with. It's a very messy time for the nation. Three-month process. There's so many people, in fact, that they can't even meet in the temple, and they're all sitting out in a rainstorm. And the people are like, we can't get this done today. It's going to take too long. So let's just elect all of the leaders to go before you and confess the sin of their people. And that's that's what happens. And this three-month process is probably a pretty messy one. Because it's not just the sin of men, it's the sin of men who have become married and have had children. And if you've been in a church, sadly, that's had any issues that have come up, like sin issues, or maybe a man has fallen, there's an affair, there's a divorce, whatever it might look like, it's messy. Sometimes in a congregation or church, the process of reconciling people back to God is really messy. And you've been possibly really close to that process. For Israel, it was three months of the leaders trying to deal with 110 men who had really blown it. And so, yes, while Ezra's proclaiming the truth of God, he's also measured and he's putting in order the proper means of reconciliation. Just like any congregation that has leaders that fall into sin, there is a process of dealing with the messiness of a situation like this, and it is never easy. And yet, kind of looks like Ezra makes it easy. Like he he makes it seem not so difficult. Look with me, Ezra chapter 10 and verse 13, it says, But the people are many, and it is time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, that is to say, without the temple, because of all the rain. Neither is this a work of one day or two, for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let now our rulers of all the congregations stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in their cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, unto I'm sorry, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. See, the order that Ezra sets out is that he would meet with a few leaders, we'll read that here in a moment. He would meet with a few leaders with the individuals that had sinned. He's not parading every individual and dealing with them as a group. He's actually meeting with these people that had sinned at appointed times. And individually dealing with all of their unique situations, unique marriages, and working through whether or not they were truly repentant. And once again, kind of a weird passage for this morning. We're not dealing with any of these issues as a church this morning. Praise the Lord. I'm very thankful for that. Um, but nonetheless, they are there are lessons here to be learned regarding order that needs to be established in the church. And um, I'll just tell you, if you've been caught in a moment like that, uh it is never easy when people fall into sin because the the leaders end up looking like uh they've done everything wrong because of 110 men disobeying the law of God. And now Ezra's just trying to figure out how he cleans up the mess, and people are looking at him, wondering why he stinks. It's like, well, because he's trying to get things in order again, and it's it's messy to do so. So just be wise and patient with those that might uh be over you, or maybe even you have yet to forgive someone who dealt with some issue poorly. It's difficult in the church to respond rightly to a lot of sin. In this final section, as we continue to move forward, as we see uh the work that as we're put in order, we find again that there's this transition from intercession to proclamation to personal accountability, or that is to say, examination, from verses 16 through 44. Before this giant list of offenders, at the end of the text, as I've already mentioned, there's a section that begins this way in verse 15. It actually starts a little bit before this, but pick up with me in verse 15. It says, Only Jonathan, the son of Azel and Jehaziah, the son of Tikvah, were employed about this matter, and Meshelem and Shabbatiah the Levite helped them. Okay, it's like what in the heck does any of that mean to me? And why does that matter? Ezra is saying, these are the only men that helped him in the matter of putting these things in order and dealing with these men as they are appointed to come and get their sin worked out. And to me, there's some unique insight here because of the language, the first word I want to call to your attention is only. Only. Only Jonathan, Azil, and Jeziah. Interestingly enough, these three names mean Jehovah has given, God made, and God views. In other words, the solution that Ezra puts in place regarding dealing with sin is with respect to these three men. God has given, God has made, God views. It's a foreshadowing of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These men's names that were set over the overseeing process of cleansing the people actually represent for us exactly how we're cleansed in the New Testament according to the gospel. God has given his only beloved Son. God has given. Jehovah gives. That's the name Jonathan. And then, secondly, the name means God has made, just as through the gospel, God has made us new creatures in Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And then thirdly, regarding Jezel's name, it says God views. And so, in light of God giving his only beloved Son, and making us new creatures in Christ, and giving us a new identity in Jesus, we are now viewed differently by God. And we're seen as righteous in his sight, judicially before him, because of this alone. And I'll tell you in the New Testament, that is the only way that you and I are going to be saved. Is if we find ourselves needing clean, if we find ourselves needing cleansed, or a lost person find themselves needing cleanse. They're only going to get it through this order, through God giving his only beloved son, God making that individual new and giving them a new identity in Christ, and then God obviously viewing them differently because of it. I just find that as a little nugget here in the passage that is intriguing to me. It goes on in verse 16. Verse 15, then verse 16, and says that these leaders and these men they examine themselves in the matter. And so once again, this examination has moved from congregational, a congregational focus, a group focus, down to the individual. And now, men are individually examining themselves and whether or not they're going to agree with God regarding their sin. It reminds me of 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28, which uses the same word. It says, But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 28, for the New Testament Christian, is about the Lord's Supper. And so, in like manner, the way in which we are to, 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 1, cleanse ourselves, it is doing that examining work of processing whether or not we have agreed with God regarding the gospel. We also have to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. Isn't that what Paul would go on to write to Corinth and 2 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5? He says, Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves how that the Lord Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? He's saying, Are you like it's it's Ezra to the people, and it's me to you this morning. Are you saved? Have you examined yourself? Do you know that you have a personal responsibility to respond to the words of God as they're given? So, first an examination, verse 16. Secondly, they're called out by their name. There's the phrase, by their name. God's calling, God, every man, the Bible says, will give an account for himself. There's appointed unto men a judgment after they die. Every man will stand before God, giving an account of their own life. You're not, your dad, your grandma, your spiritual leader is not going to plead for your soul. Now, I give an account for this church and for the people God gives me to lead, but that's a judgment on how I lead, not on where your soul is going to go. We have to examine ourselves. Because we're going to be called out by name. Verse 17, if you can see here as I've begun to unfold a pattern regarding a response to the gospel. It says in verse 17, they made an end. That is, they actually made a commitment to turn away from their strange wives, to put them away, the text says. It reminds me of Colossians chapter 3 in verses 5 through 7, which says, Mortify therefore your members upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which things the sake, for which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience, in that which ye also have walked sometime, wherein ye lived in them. We ought to, as believers in Jesus Christ, who have accepted the gospel, we ought to put an end to the things we know God hates. And this leads us to our third key point this morning, and that is that personal examination will leave everyone guilty before God. Personal examination will leave everyone guilty before God. At the beginning of my message, I shared a thesis, and you can see that on your bulletin regarding what it would mean to be restored and the necessity for restoration. And we see that someone is going to have to give a life completely devoted to God. The problem is none of us do that. But there has been a man who has completely dedicated himself for our salvation, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, which we will see here. You see this phrase of being guilty or guiltiness in verse 19 of the chapter. If you were to look at with me, it says, regarding the people in verse 19, and they gave their hands that they would put away their wives. And being guilty, they offered a ram of the flock of their trespass. So they were guilty and then they offered a ram. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 tells us, just like Israel is in their trespasses here, that before salvation we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but he hath quickened us. Verse 4 of Ephesians 2 says, But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. For by grace are you saved. Have you and I trespassed? We most certainly have. We were born into this world sinners. We were born broken and without hope, and we needed the Lord to save us. And the reality is we have received hope. I hope that you have hope this morning because of the gospel. How is it that we are to respond to our guiltiness or our trespass before God? Well, Romans chapter 5 and verses 1 through 2 says, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand, and rejoice and hope of the glory of God. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 13 through 14, it says, And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And that is what we find for the nation of Israel. The same solution Israel found in Ezra chapter 10 through the sacrificial system of the Old Testament is also what we have in the final sacrifice in the Lord Jesus Christ. And once again, that's in verse 19. It says, They offered a ram. They offered a ram. And they did this because this is what the law told them to do. This is what the law told them to do. If you just kind of glance over the tenth chapter with me in the book of Ezra, what you'll find is that Ezra is calling them to do some things. There's a lot of language repeated surrounding this word do, or words like it. Verse 3, it says that they are to let it be done according to the law. You see that language, verse 3. Ezra chapter 10 and verse 3, let it be done according to the law. You go on in verse 4. They are told to be of good courage and to do it. It goes on in verse 5. It says that they should do according to the word. The proclamation is then made in verse 7, and counsel is given in verse 8, and the people are called to respond within a three-day period to the message they've heard to repent. A three-day period. I hope that calls your mind to something. Leviticus chapter 6 and verses 6 through 7. This is why they're offering a ram. It says in the law, and he shall bring his trespass offering before the Lord, a ram without blemish, out of the flock with the estimation for the trespass offering unto the priest, and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord, and it shall be forgiven him for anything, and all that he hath done, and trespassing therein. Now that alone in the Old Testament is a beautiful phrase. The atonement is given for anything and all that a man hath done. So many people get caught up because they think their sin is too big for God to forgive. Sorry. The atonement's made for anything and for all that we have done. Romans chapter 5 and verses 8 through 11 it says, But God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more than being justified. Yes, by faith, but here in Romans 5, by his blood, we should be saved from wrath through him, just as Israel here is able to avoid the fierce wrath of God because of their willingness to humble themselves before him. Verse 10 for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life, verse 11. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have received, now received, the atonement. The opportunity to be at one with God. That is a beautiful thing, to have a covering. And we get that covering as we, as you guys probably are aware in the Bible, we confess our sin before the Lord. And this confession is drawn out because we Actually, we have believed in our heart not only that Jesus Christ is Lord, but that God hath raised him from the dead. So a confession is made, verse 11, as we've already read. And in Romans chapter 10, we're told that if a man right confesses with his mouth the Lord Jesus and believes in his heart that God hath raised him from the dead, then he should be saved. It goes on in verse 10, it says, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And now look with me in Ezra chapter 10. What I find very interesting is that the call or the proclamation that Ezra makes to the people to respond is given with a stipulation. And that stipulation is that they needed to respond within a three-day period. Look at Ezra chapter 10 and verses 7 through 9. It says, And they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather themselves together unto Jerusalem, and that whosoever would not come within a three within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the elders, all his substance shall be forfeited, and his sep and himself separated from the congregation of those that had been carried away. Verse 9, then all the men of Judah and Benjamin, that's the southern two kingdoms, referred to as Judah in your Old Testament, they gathered themselves unto Jerusalem. All of them did this. They all gathered themselves unto Jerusalem within three days. It was the ninth month and the twentieth day of the month, and all the people sat in the street of the house of God trembling because of this matter and for the great rain. The New Testament in the book of Philippians tells us that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. That's to say, we ought to consider whether or not we're saved, and then in acknowledgment that we are, we ought to have a life that's actually reflecting the salvation we say we claim. And here it is, Israel finding a solution for their sin in a three-day period. Just as God has offered to us forgiveness because of a three-day period when Christ was buried and rose again. Ezra the priest makes a clock proclamation. That word is coming from some words that mean thunder. He's thundering before the people, and he's telling the people to respond and to separate themselves, and they tremble before this matter. And if you can just see the scene, this great congregation gathering around Ezra as he proclaims the truth of God. Ezra's weeping. The people are weeping. He's casting himself down before the Lord. And there's so many of them that they can't be within, right? It says they can't even be without. And there's a downpour. And all of these men, tears on their faces, a complete downpour. I mean, I just can't help but imagine what God's actually doing through this little moment in Israel's history. He is most certainly cleansing the people. And he brings a storm to actually clean the place. I mean, we know in the New Testament that a husband, according to Ephesians chapter 5, is to be loving his wife, and he's to be sanctifying her by the washing of water by the word. And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ wants to do in our life. He also wants to cleanse us by his word. He wants to wash us. He wants to do what he did with this people. He wants to take a broken and humble people and bring them restoration through water. And here in our application devotionally, the water of the word. Now there are, again, as I mentioned in the first of the text, great prophetic truths tucked within all of these verses, prophetic types, as a little remnant of Israel returns from captivity into the land. That's a study for another time. Right now, I think God is allowing us to survey the book of Ezra to see what it might mean for us to be a praying people as we trust Him for this great work. I don't know why. Again, fully God has had us in the Book of Ezra, but I think it's for us to understand primarily two things. That we are invited into the greatest construction project the world has ever known by allowing, God allowing us, inviting us to go win souls and see a spiritual house built. And secondly, we ought to learn from this book to be a broken and a dependent and a pure and ultimately a praying people. That's how this church plant has to begin. Like a real dedication to prayer, a real conviction that prayer actually works, a real brokenness for the souls of men, a real desire to actually have a life reflective of the things we're hoping to call people to. Amen? I don't know about you, but I feel cold sometimes. I feel apathetic. I don't feel burdened enough for the people that I know God tells me to be burdened for. And so we we should trust him for these things and just continue to grow and looking a little bit more like him. And so I just want to remind you as we close of the thesis, and that is that restoration always will require someone, someone's complete devotion. The restoration that we receive is not through our own dedication and devotion to God. We can be as zealous as we want. The reality is we can ever be fully devoted to the Lord as he wishes. We should step forward in faith, but the restoration that we need is the devotion of, is found in the devotion of the Lord Jesus Christ as he went to Calvary. It is a solution that's found when a man finds himself guilty before God. He's willing to confess his sin before God. He's willing to respond within that three-day period, finding a solution for a new life and a new beginning and the resurrection. So you and I ought to receive that as well this morning by faith as we consider this pattern. I don't know how that, I don't know how or what that looks like in your life. But I just ask, as you leave the space today, that you'd pray to the Lord and just say, Lord, help me to understand and take that next step of obedience. I don't think, and I I really hope, that nobody in the room has married themselves to strange wives of other lands. But there are many distractions that we have in the Christian life, and we often marry ourselves to things spiritually that God is completely against, and God wants us to be restored and renewed so that we can walk according to the truth of His word.