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that book as we went and looked at Esther and then brief backtracking to Daniel but we’re continuing to see as we move through the Bible chronologically how God restored Israel from exile now we call that Judah had three steps of destruction that brought them into exile but also there are three steps of restoration for Judah and Israel coming out of exile so we’ve already looked at the first step of restoration together and that was in the beginning part of Ezra which leader was involved in the first step of restoration with the returning exiles so anyone remember it’s irreparable that’s right and under the rubble not only did the returning exiles build for themselves homes again back in the promised land but they also restored the sacrificial worship they r Ian auger ated the feasts and they rebuilt God’s temple and in all of this even though the people were acting it was really God who was doing everything as Ezra has emphasized to us God was moving the hearts of the Kings God was moving the hearts of the people and he was granting the Jews favor so this not this happened not only under the rebels leadership with the Jews coming back into the land but we saw also in the book of Esther which takes place after the time is red bull before the time that we’re looking at today under Esther God allowed Esther and Mordecai God allowed further favor to the Jews and also the destruction of many of the Jews enemies this was God at work and in both instances where what we saw was rebel and with Esther and Mordecai people were being drawn to Yahweh and joining themselves to the Jews because they saw that God’s favor was on this people and his power was on display so Israel after this second kind of Exodus has gotten a great new start though the Jews in Palestine are small in number it really looks like it’s finally doing what it was supposed to be daring worshipping God obeying his commands drawing the nations to join themselves to God and then experience God’s blessing so everything is going well but now some time has gone by and Ezra appears on the scene Ezra is also going to journey back to Israel with a group of exiles in the second step of restoration and when he arrives what as refines will be a shock to him and it’s going to dishearten him and then what will azra do and how Israel reacts to Ezra and what do all these events mean when it comes to Israel’s ongoing relationship with god that’s really what we’re looking at today the title of today’s lesson is restoring God’s law here’s our outline say we’re going to basically look at the second half of the book of Ezra well overview the information we see and as just 78 about Ezra’s return journey to Jerusalem into the surrounding area are then looking more closely at edge or nine and then we’ll look more closely at as your 10 and then we’ll consider what this book was meant to communicate to the Jews and what it communicates to us how we should apply it that’s right before we continue my god we thank you for this word rates you’d help me be able to explain it and God I pray that we’d be affected by it as you meant in Jesus name Amen I please open your Bibles to Ezra 7 and we’re going to read a small section of this chapter but then we’re going to overview the rest of it and some of chapter 8 so as our seven is pays for 89 in the few Bible we’re going to read one to ten where we’re introduced to our main person Ezra follow along with me as I read this is ezra 7 verses 1 10 now after these things that is the events involving rub a bull and Ezra 106 and the reign of artaxerxes king of Persia there went up Ezra son of zaire ayah son of azariah son of hill kiya son of Shalom son of Zadok son of ahi tube son of a Mariah son of azariah son and Mariah son of Zarah hiya son of oozy son ibuki son of a B shua Sunnah Phineas son of Eleazar son of Erin the chief priests this Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses which Yahweh God of Israel had given then the King granted all he requested because the hand of yahweh is god was upon him some of the sons of israel and some of the priests the levites the singers the gatekeepers and the temple servants went up to jerusalem in the seventh year of king artaxerxes it came to Jerusalem in the fifth month which was in the seventh year of the King from the first of the month he began to go up from Babylon and on the first step on the first the first month he began to go up from Babylon and on the first of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem because the good hand of his God was upon him for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of Yahweh and to practice it and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel all right there’s a few things with me at just this brief little portion we’ve jumped forward in time from the completion of Israel’s temple Israel’s new temple around five-fifteen bc and that was under King Darius we’re now in the seventh year of artaxerxes around four 64-bc this then is about fifty years later and we finally meet the book’s author ezra and immediately were given his genealogy you may notice as there’s ancestry as is presented here goes back to which important person Aaron and Aaron was it’s the line of Aaron that is the line of the priests you also may notice that Zadok is in Ezra’s God at various points took people out of the line of the priesthood he said your family is no longer going to be part of the priests and he’s going to give it to a different family and Zadok was the one that God have actually said it’s going to be from this line and so Ezra is both in the line of Aaron and he’s in the line of Zadok so he’s in the god-ordained line of Levitical priests so Ezra is a priest but Ezra notice is also ascribed verse 6 says that Ezra is skilled in the law of Moses and that’s what a scribe is a scribe is an expert in the law or an expert in the scriptures notice that Ezra two experiences the sovereign favor of God King Artaxerxes gives Ezra whatever Ezra requests because the text says the hand of Yahweh was upon Ezra it was on Ezra as it travels with a group of Jews back to Jerusalem a group that’s a group that includes regular Jews priests Levites and temple personnel and it’s quite a trip as relieves Babylon where the Jews are to go to Jerusalem in the first of the first month and arrives in the first the fifth month so it’s a thousand-mile journey about four months to complete but the group makes it safely to Jerusalem because as verse 9 says the good hand of God was upon him there’s that phrase again the last verse of this section tells us something about Ezra’s heart what does Ezra’s passion it is too steady always longed to do it and to teach it to Israel now notice verse 10 begins of the word for I just indicates part of the reason why God’s good hand is upon Ezra even to bring ezer to Jerusalem God brings Ezra who was passionate about teaching to Jerusalem God is bringing Ezra to teach does Jerusalem need a passionate lover and teacher of God’s law well we’ll come back to that question but notice here Ezra is introduced into the narrative and notice how God paves the I for Ezra and those with Ezra to reach Jerusalem the rest of this chapter give details about the decrees of artaxerxes given on behalf of Ezra artaxerxes gives authority to Ezra to teach in Jerusalem to set up a Jewish government and administration to punish offenses against God’s law and against the Kings law even using capital punishment he gives authority for Ezra to bring gifts and offerings from the king and from the exiles to Jerusalem and also to ask for and acquire whatever else was necessary for the temple from the magistrates already around the land of Jerusalem as with chapter 8 gives more information about the thousand-mile journey that Ezra and those with him under tank if you just look at the beginning of chapter 8 you may notice there’s a number of there’s more genealogical information we get some genealogical information about the leading men and their families that went up with Ezra we also see that the whole group fasts and prays for God’s protection before they set out on their journey they are traveling without escort why are they doing such a thing well as your eight verses 21 to 23 explains look at those two verses or those three verses has or eight verses 21 to 23 Ezra says 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 us our little ones in all our possessions for I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way because we had said to the king the hand of our God is favorably disposed to all those who seek him but his power and his anger are against all those who forsake him so we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter and he listened to our entreaty how those words I are going to be key what we see in the rest of this book but this is why they went up without escort and God and His good Providence brought them safely to Jerusalem and when they get there the very end of azor 8 tells us that the group offered sacrifices to Yahweh so again we’re seeing so far in this book that nearly everything that’s happening with Israel and returning exiles is pretty encouraging God is moving the hearts of many people to benefit the Jews God protects the Jews God brings the Jews back into the land and it’s just as Ezra says God’s favor god favors those who seek Him but burns with anger against those who forsake him but then we arrived at azra 9 this is where we’re going to start really our in-depth look so let’s look at sr 9 verses 1 15 that’s the entire chapter follow along me as I read starting in verse 1 azran I now when these things have been completed the princes approached me saying the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands according to their abominations those are the Canaanites the Hittites the perizzites the jebusites the ammonites the Moabites the Egyptians and the amorite for they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons so that the Holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands indeed the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost and this unfaithfulness when I heard about this matter I tore my garment and my robe and pulled some of the hair from my head and my beard and sat down appalled then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel unaccounted the unfaithfulness of the exiled gathered to me and I SAT appalled until the evening offering but at the evening offering I rose from my humiliation even with my garment and my robe torn and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to Yahweh my god and I said oh my god I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you my god for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt and on account of our iniquities we are kings and our priests I’ve been given into the hand of the king of the lands there are kings of the lands to the sword to captivity and to plunder and to open shame as it is this day but now for a brief moment grace has been shown from Yahweh 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 for we are slaves yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem now our God what should we say after this for we have forsaken your commandments which you have commanded by your servants the prophets saying the land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands with their abominations which have filled it from end to end and with their impurity so now do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters to your sons and never seek their peace or their prosperity that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your son’s forever after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and our great guilt since you are God have required us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us an escaped remnant as this shall we again break your Commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations would you not be angry with us to the point of destruction until there is no remnant nor any who escaped Oh Yahweh God of Israel you righteous for we have been left and escaped remnant as it is this day behold we are before you in our guilt for no one can stand before you because of this alright let’s start our analysis of this passage with basic observations soon after arriving in Jerusalem well as where is probably still at the temple so they’ve just finished doing the sacrifices Ezra learns that the people have seriously compromised they’ve taken foreign wives for themselves and for their sons according to vs. wanted to what has made this compromise even more heinous they have intermarried that is the compromise but there’s another aspect to this intermarriage that just makes it even worse that’s right the leaders the princes and the leaders have been most in this compromise they are the ones who are leading the intermarriage and it’s not just the leaders but in verse one tells us the priests and the Levites they have also intermarried if anybody shouldn’t be intermarrying it’s the holy priests but they’re doing it the leaders are doing it and all Israel’s taking part and so you can understand Ezra’s reaction you tears his garment your tears his robe he pulls hair out from his head and his beard must been pretty painful and he sits down silent and appalled until evening it just sits there at the time of the evening offering Ezra gets on his knees at the temple and he raises his hands in prayer to God now what does he tell God we just read it but notice a couple different things Ezra identifies himself with his people he doesn’t say they’ve sinned he says we’ve sinned we Oh God your people Israel have sinned terribly against you and he recounts how this has been Israel’s pattern in the past and how their sin previously resulted in their judgement and exile he acknowledges Ezra acknowledges that God gave Israel grace in the midst of their desert judgment he granted favor to the Jews he allowed a remnant to come back and restore the Temple in Jerusalem he says God didn’t you did not punish us as our iniquities really deserved but Ezra says how has Israel responded to this judgment and to this kindness from God by directly violating God’s come in not to integrate with the peoples of the land as ur admits that such behavior if it continues must naturally end up in judgment again but this time with absolutely no reason to expect any mercy from God any ends as their ends his prayer by confessing Yahweh you are righteous and we are guilty and that’s where the chapter ends now let’s pause and ask a couple of interpretive interpretation questions we’ve talked about this before but let’s just clarify again God is not and has never been against interracial marriage all people are one race as we know we all descend from Adam there’s nothing wrong with two people of different ethnicities or nationalities or skin colors from marrying and as proof we can just look to the two non-jewish women who were pronounced righteous and are notably in the lineage of Jesus Christ which two women are those there’s Ruth and Rahab enrica Rahab was a Canaanite Ruth was a Moabite and they were joined Israel they were obviously displayed as righteous they showed faith in Yahweh and they’re in the line of Christ so God’s not against people of mixed ethnicity marrying so why did God prohibit Israel’s intermarriage with foreigners that’s right it comes down to idolatry has nothing to do with ethnicity it was a law in the Torah that God said don’t intermarry with the people of the land because they are Idol worshipers and when you went to marry with them they will draw you away from me and we can see this directly Deuteronomy 7 verses 3 to 4 i’ll read it to you Deuteronomy 7 verses 32 for God says furthermore you shall not intermarry with them you shall not give your daughters to their sons nor shall you take their daughters for your son’s for they will turn your son’s away from following me to serve other gods then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you and he will quickly destroy you so this this is about idolatry this is about not marrying idol worshippers and this is true even for Christians today God commands that true believers only marry true believers that’s in first Corinthians 7 39 only in the Lord may a Christian marry and again this is not about maintaining some sort of pure ethnicity it’s about maintaining pure worship towards God and that’s what we’re seeing here with the situation in Ezra now another question we’ve talked about Israel’s return from exile as like being a new start a second Exodus a second chance to settle in Canaan well as we’re witnessing with Ezra what is so tragic at least that what we’re seeing right now about Israel’s new start that’s right it is like a new start and they do get a chance to come back into the land but they are also doing what they did the first time it’s like a repeat it’s not just a repeat that they get to come back but it’s also repeat and chumps with their compromise their intermarrying with the people to land it was just like what they did the first time and so we see that what looks so promising is suddenly not looking so promising it looks like it’s the same old Israel but so much has happened between now and then how could they do this now Ezra is shocked and ashamed at Israel’s behavior and we as readers especially from what we’ve seen in chapters 127 or 128 we should feel the shock as well after all that’s happened after all of Israel’s experiences with God after all God’s blessings after our God’s chasing after the momentous judgment of their being removed from the land and after God amazingly and graciously bringing a remnant back into the Land Israel is still not clinging to God and obedience how hard is Israel’s hearts but perhaps perhaps there is still hope for Israel because we got another chapter in this book so let’s read what happens next look at Azure 10 will readjust verses 1 to 17 though I will make some comment about what appears in the second half of chapter 10 so as returns joining a verse 1 let’s see if there’s any hope for Israel in this situation first one now while Ezra was praying and making confession weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God very large assembly men women and children gathered to him from Israel for the people wept bitterly check and ayah the son of joy heal one of the sons of Elam said to Ezra we have been unfaithful to our God and have marry foreign women from the peoples of the land yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this so now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children according to the Council of my Lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God and let it be done according to the law arise for this matter is your responsibility but we will be with you be courageous and act then Ezra rose and made the leading priests the Levites and all israel take oath that they would do according to this proposal so they took the oath then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehovah and the son of elijah ship and though he went there he did not eat bread nor drink water for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles they made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles that they should assemble at Jerusalem and that will whoever would not come within three days according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the Assembly of the exiles so all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days it was the ninth month on the 20th of the month and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them you have been unfaithful and have marry foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel now therefore make confession to yahweh god of your fathers and do his will and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives and all the assembly replied with a loud voice that’s right as you have said so it is our duty to do but there are many people it is the rainy season and we are not able to stand in the open nor can the task be done in one or two days for we have transgressed greatly in this matter let our leaders represent the whole assembly and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times together with the elders and judges of each city until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us only Jonathan the son of a Sahel and Josiah the son of tikka opposed this with mushy lamancha both I the Levite supporting them but the exiles did so and as are the pre-selected men who were heads with father’s house holds for each of their fathers households all of them by name so they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter they finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wise by the first day of the first month okay let’s observe again Ezra’s public humiliation and prayer now we saw in chapter 9 it causes many Israelites to gather around him and weep bitterly now one of these Jews stands up and speaks for the group man by the name of shekan ayah notice his words he confesses the people of Israel have been unfaithful just as Ezra has said yes check and ayah says there is yet hope he suggests that Ezra cause the people to covenant to put away their wives and their children of idolatry and he promises that the people will be with Ezra if Ezra will be courageous and act as it complies with check and I a suggestion and those present with Ezra all swear to put away their foreign wives and children Ezra though still distraught over Israel sin refuses to eat or drink but makes a proclamation that all the exiles of Judah must assemble in Jerusalem within three days or else forfeit all their possessions and be excluded from the assembly that’s a pretty serious threat but remember Ezra has authority from Artaxerxes to act this way understandably people don’t want to lose their possession so everybody shows up in three days it’s the 20th of the ninth month which happens to be a day of heavy rain and notice the people are trembling as Ezra confronts them as or tells them how they have sinned and he calls on them to separate from their foreign wives now numbers there sponsor the people on the one hand they say you’re right we have done wrong we have done wrong and we will separate on the other hand they say it can’t be done right away because it’s raining a lot of people here and great as our transgression been in the matter people suggest instead to appoint leaders to collect the names of the offenders and make a series of appointments for the people until and and conduct those appointments until all the prohibited marriages have been investigated and dealt with we hear that for Jews including one leave I do not support this plan but as your and the rest that people do agree to the plan and cases begin the first day of the tenth month and are finished on the first day of the first month so we got 12 months in a year how long did it take to investigate and process the necessary divorces how many well it would began the first day of the tenth month they proceeded to the eleventh month and it was finished on the first day of the twelfth month so just two months so do tenth and eleventh Mont hurty yeah the tenth and eleventh month wait no math is always not my strong point so 10 11 and 12 so I guess it would be three months three months yes because it’s finished on the first month okay so three months never just don’t check that okay yes three months okay so I tema longer than I thought it took ya so they finished in three months they finish investigating all the cases now the final part of chapter 10 which we didn’t read record the names of various persons who had to divorce their wives you can see it right at the very end of our reading we get a whole bunch of names this list includes sons of the priests and includes Levites and includes temple singers and various other Israelites in total there are 113 names recorded 113 persons verse 44 the very last verse this chapter concludes the account by saying all these people married foreign wives and some of them had had children with them so we’ve made these observations let’s interpret again based on what we see was the sin of idolatry sinter marriage a big problem in the return Jewish community or was it a small one it was a big one it was a big one we’ve already saw the leaders the priests in the temple personnel were all involved we see that it couldn’t have been dealt with all her it couldn’t be dealt with all at once because so many people had violated the command we have on the names of 113 people recorded as offenders who repented but it’s possible that there were more people than jesse’s 113 these are just the ones who are noted down for us and they may even simply be just the leaders it could be more people than this because after all it took three months just to investigate and process all the divorces so great was Israel’s transgression in this matter not just who committed it but how many people committed it remember there aren’t that many exiles in the first place exiles that are returned so the exiles have committed a very great evil and yet check and ayah says the exiles still have hope how can they still have hope what is there hope yes Craig they are the remnant they are the exiles but and what can they why should they have hope after they’ve committed so great a transgression God has preserved the mutts at this point and that’s a sign of grace but what else gives them hope covenant promises and the mercy that is involved in that covenant because what did Ezra saying the Lord gives favor to those who seek Him but to those who forsake him his anger burns against them so if they seek the Lord now there’s still opportunity for the Lord’s favor that is if they repent there’s still hope because God is the god is a kind of God that is merciful he is the one who will restore those who repent and those who turn to him on the basis of God’s character on the basis of the Covenant that he’s expressed with Israel there is hope for them there is yet hope and repentance even though they’ve committed a great transgression there’s hope and repentance now still how is it that so many Jews including the leaders the priests the Levites how is it that they ended up violating God’s clear prohibition against pagan intermarriage I mean was the command not clear how could they have done this well we could speculate a little bit as to possible motives or possible situations perhaps they were ignorant perhaps there was an inadequate teaching of God’s law since they came back maybe there weren’t people doing a good job teaching the law we know that priests and Levites were some of the offenders in this matter so they’re not going to do a good job of teaching the Lord’s command in this area so maybe the people were ignorant or maybe they weren’t maybe they knew God’s commands but they just didn’t think of it as being that important they had the sacrifices in the temple again after all so that should cover any sort of offenses that they do or maybe that’s what they were thinking perhaps they rationalize their behavior in some way thinking that their marriages were the exception to the rule the line of thinking excuse me goes along something like this yes my betrothed is probably a bad spiritual influence but I can handle her and maybe through our marriage I can lead her away from her superstitions to actually worship the true God and perhaps some of these marriages were brought about by a desire for practical benefit the line of thinking go something like this she comes from a very good family her parents are rich they’re already established in the land I’m not established in the land and if I want to make it I need I need some support I need to have some good family connections so maybe there is a practical reason pardon me just a second or maybe or maybe you simply fleshly lust they’re saying to themselves she’s really pretty I want her doesn’t matter what her family is doesn’t matter what her religious ideas are I want to have her perhaps it was a mix of these things we don’t know we’re not told Israel doesn’t give any excuse because there is no excuse there’s no there’s no reason for them to be able to justify their behavior God’s law forbids idolatrous into your marriage without exception and yet they transgress this law and they transgressed it greatly now we hear that for people opposed the plan to investigate and dissolve the marriage is by appointment why did they do this again we don’t know it could be for a good reason probably not I suspect it wasn’t a good reason because the plan that the assembly proposed this seems like a very reasonable plan and so probably these men dissented because they wanted to hold on to these relationships but we’re not told for sure maybe they thought there was a better way to handle it and maybe they say no we got to do this now maybe there was a good reason but probably not and they’re noted there noted by name as opposing the the plan that’s presented now another question we have to ask here is that the New Testament teaches that if a believer is married to an unbelieving spouse and the unbelieving spouse is willing to live with that believer then the believer must not seek a divorce why then under Ezra’s charge do the people divorced or unbelieving spouses and mass how could that be okay yes I think that’s one of the ways we we could answer and I think that’s a good answer to this question even though it seems basic it’s just a different situation it’s a unique situation actually I think there are two main ways you can ask this question i’ll mention one first and then i’ll get back to the one that um that someone just mentioned one way we can answer this question as to why israel or why these exiles are divorcing their spouses and allowed to do that call to do that even though Christians are not in the New Testament is that God dealt differently with Israel as his chosen nation of physical descendants from Abraham then God deals with the church or how God commands the church for example God commanded Israel to execute various kinds of heinous sinners and blasphemers that’s in the law but the church has no such command we’re not supposed to kill blasphemers also God tolerated though he never approved certain practices in the nation of Israel like concubinage and polygamy now the church received no such toleration it was never part of God’s design but God didn’t say all right I’ll tolerated in the church as well no he says that should not even have a place so we see that there are certain things just from those two examples there were certain things that God do with Israel that was a little different than he’s done with the church or that he does with the church here we may be seeing another instance of that that God allowed divorce in the case of idolatry for Israel even though that’s not something that he allows for the Church now we should note according to the law for Israel if a person’s spouse actually encouraged him to seek other gods other than Yahweh go into the law that spouses to be put to death so divorce would actually be a less severe way of dealing with the situation that the law calls for but as someone mentioned it might simply be a unique situation another way to answer this question regarding Israel’s divorces is to simply say this is a unique moment in Israel’s history maybe for God’s oh gods own reasons God permitted this mass divorce because of Israel’s situation they’re small and number they’ve only recently been reestablished in the land this kind of divorce was not to be a normative practice it was not to be a policy for Israel but it is something aloud and this specific instance something called for by God in this specific instance it’s not a command to be obeyed or imitated going forward it’s just something unique right here remember and this is a good principle for us to keep in mind just because something happens in narrative in the Bible even when godly people do it or repentant people do it does not mean that Christians for all time should do it or even Jews for all time should do it sometimes God is merely doing something a year doing a unique act at a particular time with a particular person for a particular reason so r either one of those reasons it was okay for them to do this in this instance but that’s not something that we do as believers today Israel’s marital separation was prescribed by God in this situation believers today must continue in marriages with unbelieving spouses if those fastest agreed to stay faithfully married to them but have follow-up question we could ask is how could the divorcing husbands merely throw throw out their wives and kids like that well I don’t know if they threw them out we don’t know what kind of provisions they the divorcing husbands made for their ex wives and their children I imagine there was something that they provided for them they didn’t just put them on the street yet even so it’s not like even with these provisions that these family separations were not going to be traumatic they were this was going to be a painful separation this was going to be a huge life disruption yet this pain was not God’s fault there would be no trauma here if Israel had simply obeyed in the first place that it stayed obedient but now that they have sinned it’s important that they go back to God that they seek Him no matter the personal cost so if it means separation from wives and children then so be it now let’s think about chapter 7 to 10 together as his arrival back into the land was certainly timely because think about it what would have happened if Ezra hadn’t come to Jerusalem Israel might have continued on in their intermarriage and compromised in even greater ways and they would have come under God’s judgment but as we saw why is it that Ezra came to Jerusalem back in chapter and why why were we told that Ezra journey to Babylon and made it there safely his desire was to teach his desire and his passion was to teach and yet it wasn’t simply about what Ezra wanted what else did we see in that chapter the hand of god was upon him it was God who had favored and blessed and brought him to have such a passion and it was God who also caused him and many others to set out for Jerusalem and to make it there safely it was God who was bringing this all about yes he was using Ezra and Ezra’s passion but it was God who was bringing it all about and this has been one of the great themes of Ezra God is sovereign Lee working all things together for the favor of his people and so if it was God who brought Ezra to Jerusalem and Ezra was the one who brought the people back to God then essentially who was the one bringing people back it was God himself God was mercifully confronting his people and drawing them back to himself God was showing kindness to them God was showing yet more favor to them not just saying alright you’re blessed I’ll give you some protection but he says I’m gonna I see you going astray I’ll bring you back I’ll send Ezra to you someone who is skilled in zealous for my law and we come now to the end of the book of Ezra and the end is someone abrupt Israel readily repents after the confrontation of Ezra via God’s law and that’s great news and yet the nature and extent of Israel’s previous compromise is a bit alarming if we employ the marriage metaphor that so frequently describes Israel and God in the Bible it’s like Israel has been a notorious adulteress that God finally divorced and he exposed her to heavy punish and humiliation Israel after experiencing this repented and God took her back his wife again and blessed her with his love yet already issues been caught seeing other men now she’s quickly repented she’s repented again after being caught but that’s a somewhat foreboding development what will Israel do in the future she has this past she’s gone back again but she’s repented what will she do in the future and I believe that’s the question that Ezra ends his work with that’s what he’s left for the reader and his audience to consider and remember he’s writing to the returned exiles in this work and so he’s essentially asking them after all this you exiles of Judah and Israel what will you be will you finally be faithful as God’s wife will you finally learn from your mistakes were you finally once and for all cling to god as you clearly ought or will you go back to how you’ve always acted will you compromise and ignore all the judgments God enacted in the past will you ignore all the mercy and goodness he’s poured out on you even by bringing you back from exile even after all of this will you still be unfaithful and your answer o Israel starts with how you treat God’s law will you tremble before his word you may have noticed the word trembling appeared a couple of times in the chapters that we read will you tremble tremble before God’s Word will you be diligent to know his law to do it even in the command to not intermarry with the people of the land ask those are the questions as your lays out before Israel through this book and over the next two weeks we’ll look at how Israel response under the leadership of Nehemiah well look at that over the next two lessons but this is the question this is the question as relieves his audience with and it’s the question that we also are left with what will you do after all of this questions or comments on what we’ve seen today yes mm-hmm mm-hmm mm-hmm right mmm yeah I think it’s a good way to describe a bill you bring up Jeremiah and we could bring up a number of the prophets that we’ve seen so far you can going all the way back to Moses why has Israel transgressed in this way how have they gone so clearly past the line that God put in his law it’s because their hearts have not been changed as a whole now there are some repentant people and maybe we could say certain generations are a little bit more faithful than other generations but as a whole it appears or at least this is what azra would have us ponder it appears that Israel’s heart has not yet been changed they have not yet been circumcised in heart and not to spoil what we see in the rest of Scripture but we’re going to see as we move along in Nehemiah that this keeps on happening is you’ll keep sliding away keeps moving away and this is going to stress me am I out you can say what are you doing and we’re going to see that even going into the time of Jesus Israel keeps turning away and it does go back to what you’ve expressed bill that the heart has not yet been changed and God says God acknowledged that in the prophets in Jeremiah in other places that’s why that New Covenant and the promises associated with it is so important because God says I will change your heart you have an obligation to turn to me and the fact that you’re not even after all this just shows how wicked you are and yet you’re not too wicked for me herb let me say this way despite your great wickedness I will still change you and my perfect timing I will draw you back you right so you just mentioned bill I think you’re connecting that with a prophecy and Daniel in the 70 weeks prophecy and there’s a connection of how many years between the restoring of the law under Ezra restoring the obedience to the commandments again or at least the enforcement of the commandments and the coming of Messiah so yeah there’s God has even revealed and this is what we talked about last time God has revealed his mysteries even how things are going to move along and even what we see here is connected with God’s ultimate purpose to send the king the Messiah even the ancient of days to come to Israel work for Israel’s atonement with a perfect sacrifice or bring atonement for is your perfect sacrifice inaugurate that new covenant and then later on in time we’re going to see that covenant fully implemented and the people of Israel fully saved yes in the back or in the middle mm-hmm mm-hmm hmm mm-hmm right yeah yeah yeah mm-hmm you yeah so you mentioned some good things thank you I’ll just repeat them and briefly one is exploring more why there’s a difference between the New Testament Old Testament when it comes to a marriage with someone who doesn’t follow God and as you pointed out rightly that the principle that is guiding the New Testament command is um has perhaps people getting saved at different times one spouse before another at marriage bond is not to be dissolved because there’s the continual opportunity to share the gospel with that spouse and to share the gospel and to lead the children in the gospel and that is the situation that Christians are in going forward we don’t say okay that was unique to that time and then we had this other thing that was unique to Israel’s time but what is it today well we’re in that second situation where the gospel is going out all across the world and God is drawing different people to himself so he says if that spouse is willing to live with you then continue in that situation because you have the opportunity to sanctify that person to be a witness to that person and to be a witness to your children that’s definitely true and then you also mention how we should remember that not everybody was bad even in this situation as or there’s great compromise not only do we have people repenting when the one that compromises pointed out but there are people who didn’t compromise there are people who reported this sin to Ezra and asked Ezra to do something about it so you’re right young you’re right to mention that there that is also a principle for us today we’ll talk about that just a second when we consider application a little bit more but that’s one of the things we’re called to as believers as well to when we see a brother in a fault to go after him to bring him back we shouldn’t just say oh well there goes another one another apostate or oh I can’t believe he did that what a terrible person I don’t want to talk to him anymore we should feel some shock and we should feel sorrow over sin especially sin in the church body but we should also look to restore knowing that that doesn’t mean that person is not saved it may be that they just fallen into a trespass and they need to be lifted out and that is a call for believers to do so one comes to Israel we you see different points we see certain amount of faithfulness and repentance at different times in Israel’s history there are sometimes a more faithful generation and a less faithful generation or within that generation there are more faithful people and less faithful people there were true believers in Israel this time even in Jerusalem perhaps true believers who were compromising and then maybe some who weren’t true believers and we’re compromising so yes there were those differing levels there and it’s useful to keep that in mind other questions or comments I think we could take me one more yes I think it’s Joe yeah are you saying awk should we consider that an active obedience yeah I think we should I mean that’s the way that it’s described in this book we’ve been unfaithful but now we will turn and seek the Lord bye-bye your counsel Ezra and by what the law says by separating from these wives so it was an act of repentance and obedience to separate from these wives again it’s a little bit weird because that situation was not specifically discussed in the law it does say actually to put to death someone who’s going to lead you to my doll idolatry but in this unique situation or as a lesser form of dealing with the situation it was divorced rather than execution that was there was the mark of obedience and repentance if you have other questions or comments you can definitely email me afterwards but what does all this mean for us already we’ve explored I think a couple principles that we see from this from the book of Ezra and from this experience in Israel’s history that do apply to us today but here’s some other questions for you to consider as we wind down our lesson today so five questions what does this all mean for us well first of all put yourself a little bit in Israel’s situation after all God has done for you do you still walk unfaithfully toward God do you act like Israel always drifting back toward the same sins though you have supposedly repented time after time Israel did this as a nation ultimately because her heart was still uncircumcised so if we’re doing what Israel did as a nation then is our hearts still uncircumcised are we still enslaved us in Jesus Christ brings freedom have we found yet that freedom from bondage to sin through Jesus another question to consider number two have you been ignoring an area of compromise in your life if someone were to tell Ezra if you were around today or somewhere to tell pastor Bobby or if Jesus were here someone were to tell Jesus about what’s going on in your life would he be shocked would he be appalled would he want to weep would he feel the need to come after you to bring you back question 3 does the sin of your people make you feel distraught that is does your love for your brethren like the Apostle Paul’s make you feel intensely concerned about how people might be led away from Christ into sin are you zelus then and are you full of love to see people protected and brought back whenever they slip does your heart grieve over the self-destructive sin that you see in others around you and not just in the church but even in our nation in America do you hate to see God so dishonored in America with ungrateful rebellion but not simply hate but are you grieve are you willing to reach out to your countrymen to try to rescue them to plead with them be reconciled to God does the sin of your brethren and of your countrymen does it affect you number 4 if you are unmarried have you been drifting toward a mixed marriage a marriage of light with darkness Christ with Belial we talked about as a Steve mentioned we talked about what what to do if you’re already in that marriage God says continuing it as long as that person is willing to live with you but if you’re not God says don’t don’t get close to it don’t seek it out and yet are you if you’re in that situation are you allowing your heart strings to become entangled in a relationship that you know ultimately will not be honoring to Jesus I will actually drag you down in your spiritual walk we should not embrace missionary dating one missionary marriage and then finally to you by providing for you by blessing you by refining you by drawing his servants to minister to you and even reprove you do you thank the lord for his discipline and reproof for we know as proverbs and Hebrew say he whom the Lord loves he disciplines I was an act of love for God to bring Israel back through Ezra and it’s a laugh it’s an act of love for God to bring you back if you fall into a sin or even to save you in the first place do you love the Lord do you love Yahweh because of that that’s all for this week next week we look at step three visual restoration under nehemiah only briefly close in prayer what would we thank you for this word I pray that you to help us apply it meditate on it and to be thankful for what you’ve done and do for us and Lord to also be affected by and concern over the sin that we see that we see around us I want to pay to protect your church I pray that the Brethren will be continually going after the Brethren not to attack but to restore that there might be continual harmony and love in your body just as you have meant in Jesus name Amen right I’ll see you all next week thank you