For some time I have been seeking the Lord regarding revival
and the deliverance of this nation. Our decline and imminent destruction is
broadly apparent to me and weighs heavily on my soul. I have pleaded for wisdom
and instruction; and wept over my sins and inadequacies. I share with you now
what the Spirit has revealed to me regarding our desperate need for revival.
When I heard about this matter, I
tore my garment and robe, 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 on account of the unfaithfulness of the
exiles gathered to me, and I sat appalled
until the evening offering. Ezr 9:3-4
Ezra is the priest mentioned in Nehemiah Chapter 8 who read
the word of God that sparked the revival of His time. He placed great emphasis
on God’s word. That was his area of expertise. He was a scribe who studied the
Scripture and taught the Israelites. He, also, wrote a short little book in the
Old Testament that is amazingly appropriate for our situation today.
Here he is speaking in regard to the ancient Israelites who
had recently returned from captivity in Babylon ;
a captivity arranged by God for their rejection of Him. By God’s provision they
had just rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem ;
and yet, here we see that they had sinned so grievously that Ezra was just
absolutely speechless.
We have a tendency these days to lessen the importance of
the Old Testament. Certainly there are many things that are not necessary now
that were profound requirements of that day. We don’t offer animal sacrifices.
We don’t have a priesthood decided by physical birth. We don’t have to be an
Israelite to be part of God’s family. The differences are indeed considerable,
but an appreciation of the Old Testament is absolutely essential for us to be
able to grasp the reality of a pre-cross relationship with God. In it we see
how God dealt with sin before there was an Advocate to turn to (1 Joh 2:1).
On one occasion priests offered unsanctified fire. This sin
caused them to be immediately consumed by fire. Their father, Aaron, kept his
mouth shut regarding the incident. He knew what they had done and Who they had offended.
Wisdom does indeed begin with the fear of God. (Lev 10:1-3)
Achan took what was God’s. That offense caused Israel ’s
army to lose battles and cost the lives of many men. When Achan’s disobedience
was discovered as the cause of God’s wrath; he, his entire family, and all his
animals were stoned to death and then burned. Israel
knew it was either Achan or them. (Jos Chapter 7)
Uzzah touched the Ark of the Covenant. The oxen had stumbled
and Uzzah reacted. He reached up to stop it from tumbling over and incited the
wrath of God. God struck him dead on the spot, because He had told the
Israelites not to touch the Ark. Uzzah’s intentions may have been good, but his
actions reflected a lack of faith in God’s ability to protect His own and a
disrespect for God’s authority. (2 Sam 6:67)
God’s opposition to sin was very clear to ancient Israel .
Having so recently returned from captivity, Ezra’s Israelites were even more
acutely aware of just how forceful and effective the wrath of God is. They
hadn’t seen a handful of their country-men punished. They had seen their entire
nation punished. They weren’t left wondering whether or not God would punish
their unrepentant sin, they knew for absolute certain He would. Ezra’s reaction
reflected that certainty.
He tore his clothes. Which doesn’t sound like much in a civilization
where clothes are so readily available, but in Ezra’s day they weren’t. He
wasn’t able to just go to the mall and buy a new tunic. His clothes, which were
priestly garments, were difficult to come by. They had to be specially made.
There were strict requirements to be adhered to. But when he heard of the sin,
he grabbed them and ripped them apart forcibly – most likely completely
destroying them.
Then he pulls the hair from his head and his beard. Again,
it doesn’t sound like much to us, but there were requirements regarding a
priest’s hair. It wasn’t to be cut. It was to be worn a certain way. Further,
Scripture assures us that each hair on our head is accounted for and here he is
yanking them out.
His frustration and fear is real. He shows it in his
self-abasement. I suspect Ezra saw himself as somewhat to blame. He was a
priest, a teacher of God’s law. If he was anything like us, he had to be
thinking, “Where did I go wrong? What did I miss that caused these people to
turn, yet again, away from God?” And he sets there for hours, totally appalled,
totally distraught and, you have know he’s thinking about how the holiness of
God is going to react to their sin. It’s just that big a deal for Ezra.
What was the sin that had Ezra so deeply concerned? The
Israelites had taken foreign wives. After being ordered not to intermingle with
other nations, they had done just that. Further, these women had born them
children and there they were living
in God’s land; under God’s provision and protection; and yet, still breaking
God’s law.
One of the primary reasons the Israelites were destroyed and
carried into captivity in the first place was that inter-marriage had led them
to forsake the One true God for the false gods of the other nations. And here
they were at it again. It was a little like playing chicken with an 18 wheeler
and you’re advancing on a skateboard. (Thump, thump!)
So, Ezra was understandably distraught and he prayed before
the Lord this way:
But at the evening offering, I
arose from my humiliation, even with my garment
and my robe torn, and I fell on my
knees and stretched out my hands to the Lord
my God; and I said, “O my God, I am
too ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my
face to Thee, my God, for our iniquities
have risen above our heads and our guilt
has grown even to the heavens.” -- Ezr 9:5-6
Ezra was mortified. He was embarrassed and deeply, deeply
ashamed. He had enough sense to realize God already knew all about these sins.
So, even though he had not committed this sin himself, he took responsibility
for their actions and humbled himself before God.
My stepfather used to hunt deer. He studied the quickest,
most efficient way to harvest them while damaging as little meat as possible.
He was proficient at breaking their necks with a single bullet. Respect for the
animal was shown by a swift death and reduction in the loss of meat. The animal
did not die in vain, either. We used every bit. By these things we showed our
appreciation for the animal’s sacrifice. We showed them respect.
In ancient Israel
the sacrifices had real value as well. It wasn’t about dead animals. It wasn’t
just meat. It was an offering before a Holy God; whether for sin or healing or
a son, etc.; they had a purpose. It was all about obedience. There were many
occasions for sacrifice and many rules regarding it; and all had to be strictly
abided by. Death, again, would have been swift and efficient. They weren’t
interested in torturing the animals. They were interested in keeping a right
relationship with God.
Today we tell ourselves there is nothing to fear because God
is love. We stand on the promises of Christ, but we do not seriously consider
even the idea, as a rule, that He might carry out His wrath upon us. This has
led to a disrespect of the cost of the cross and a lack of regard for His laws.
We, literally, live as though His sacrifice freed us from the obligation of
obedience.
“Then I will draw near to you for
judgment; and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and against the
adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and
against those who oppress the wage
earner in his wages, the widow and the
orphan, and those who turn aside
the alien, and do not fear Me,” says the Lord
of hosts.
For I, the Lord, do not change . .
.” Malachi 3:5-6
Ezra’s Israel
was forced to send away the wives and children of their disobedience. I
suspect, given the nature of ancient cultures, for many it was a journey to their deaths. Do not
think either that they did not love these wives or their children. I’m quite
certain they did. Fortunately, they realized that disobedience would result in
even more disastrous repercussions.
So they chose the holiness of God over the depravity of life
without God. They knew in no uncertain terms what kind of future lay in store
for them. It was simple really. With God they had won wars and been prosperous.
Without God, they had been given over to be killed and enslaved.
We have a lot to learn from Ezra’s Israel .
They took sin seriously. In reality, we do not. They lived in fearful
reverence. We live expecting, sometimes even demanding, to be blessed. Their forgiveness cost them. Ours is
considered free to us, in that we were not sacrificed for it, but it was far
from free for Him.
Unlike the sacrifices of Ezra’s day, the Lord spent much of
His life knowing exactly what lay before Him. He carried the weight of that
knowledge with Him as He ministered to the lost. He knew that He’d be betrayed
by those who claimed to serve His Father and He knew His Father would look
away. He was without sin; holy and perfect – completely God and completely man
– worthy beyond compare, the perfect sacrifice. He knew He would be beaten
mercilessly. He knew they would shred His skin. He knew they would mock Him and
spit on Him, but He went anyway. He didn’t get a bullet to the neck. He didn’t
get a knife in the throat. No, He took nails pounded into His hands and feet
instead.
As a society we seem to have lost the ability to appreciate
just how great His sacrifice really was. We don’t seem to identify with it at
all. There aren’t altars covered in animal blood scattered around the
countryside to remind us. There aren’t people hanging from crosses. We don’t
see people flogged until their bones are laid bare. Yes, there is a lot of
brutality in the world today, but much of it is so white-washed as to be
unrecognizable.
We have covered it with psychology and human reasoning. We
fault the way we were raised; rather than, the sin we’ve embraced. We blame God
and alter His Word to suit us. We have fallen into a despicable state of
disrespect. We don’t understand the cost of our salvation so we don’t consider
its worth. We’re not trembling like Ezra. We’re not pleading for forgiveness.
We generally don’t even acknowledge that we have any sin to repent of.
We say, for instance, that killing children by abortion is
acceptable because it is a woman’s right. Yet, God says, “Do not shed innocent
blood.” We say that there are many gods and all are equally important. Yet, God
says, “I am.” Many professing Christianity abort their children, divorce and
remarry, lie, cheat, blaspheme, steal . . . we don’t act like our forgiveness
came at a high price. We act like we
are owed it. We are far more concerned about offending the feelings of those
opposed to God than of inciting His wrath. We have no real fear of Him, and
that lack of regard is borne out by our actions.
Yet, God absolutely demands our respect. We see that clearly
in pre-cross, ancient Israel .
We see it in the way they lived. We see it in the way they worshipped and we
see it in the way He dealt with them. What we need to get a grip on today is
that He is exactly the same God today that He was then.
We need to understand that there are rules. Ezra’s Israel
understood that concept. That was what enabled them to send their wives and
children away. We absolutely would not do that today. We wouldn’t. No, we would
say, “God wouldn’t ask that of me.” We have the attitude that what we want is
all that matters. We’ve completely lost sight of the fact that it is what He
says that actually matters.
If we were priests with forbidden fire, we’d be rendered to
a pile of ashes. If thieves, we’d be stoned -- if faithless, stuck down in our
tracks. But we harbor an even more sinister and appalling sin. We deny the
authority of God over us and, in doing so disrespect the precious sacrifice of
His only Son.
We believe that He wants to bless us and we welcome that. We
accept that He wants to forgive us and expect Him to do just that. But we deny
that we are also His to govern and, in doing so, spurn the cross.
We need to be more like Ezra. He searched the Scriptures and
found the truth of God’s will and carried it out. We need to search the
Scriptures as well. We need to remind ourselves of God’s law. We can’t
appreciate the sacrifice if we’ve no understanding of that sacrifice. We can’t
turn from our sin until we accept that it is sin.
The solution for Ezra’s Israel
was that they put away all foreign wives and children and reconse-crate
themselves wholly to God. Our solution is much the same. We must abandon our
sins. We must search the Scriptures until we recognize them as sin and turn
away from them whole-heartedly. If we approach humbly before the throne of
grace – like Ezra; acknowledge and turn from our sin – like ancient Israel; and
re-commit ourselves to His will – then can we expect revival – not before.
God is still holy. He did not allow His Son to suffer the
torment of the cross that we might live as though that sacrifice was of no
value. That is why we cannot just speak our submission, we must act on it. Sin
in ancient Israel
had real life consequences. Sin today still does. Thousands of dead children
testify quite loudly to that fact. Every single time we act like sin it isn’t
an issue we disrespect the One Who loved us enough to endure the cross that He
might reconcile us to Himself for eternity. Put yourself in God’s shoes. This
is His Son we’re talking about. I don’t know about you, but I’d be more than
just a little angry.
Patiently merciful
heavenly Father, thank You for the
great kindness You
have shown us by giving us time to
recognize and repent
from our crippling sins.
Help us, Lord, open
our eyes to just how serious
our current state of
disrespect really is. Remove
the blinders, Lord.
Cause us to truly see.
Deliver us from the
wolves that desire to lead us astray.
Close up their mouths
and let them reap what they have sown.
Convict us, Lord, as
only You can of the need to change
our ways to be inline
with Your will and Your word.
Let the difference be
clear between the wolves and
Your truth – which is
the only real truth.
You, Father, are the
One to whom we must surrender
our ideas of
self-supremacy. Help us to recognize them
and cast them aside
as we turn back to You.
Earthly wealth is
nothing beside You.
Keep us, Lord, from
quenching Your Spirit
that we might have
even more of You in our lives.
Forgive us for taking
Your mercy lightly. We have
been foolish, indeed.
Break our hearts, Lord, but have
mercy and do not
destroy us completely.
Shake us awake, O
Lord, and draw us back to You
to Your glory. Do not
leave us in the pit where we have
fallen to be burned
up as useless, fruitless branches;
but rather, deliver
us because of Who You are.
Do not punish us as
our sins deserve; but rather,
lead us to an
obedient appreciation for You.
We cannot praise You
from the grave, O Lord.
We cannot share Your
magnificent love from the pit.
You, Father, are the
great I AM. Help us to remember
what that means, but
do not forget that we are dust
in Your hand. Have
mercy, Father, have mercy.
We are grateful,
Father, for Your merciful, patient love.
We ask that You open
our eyes, convict our hearts,
and turn us back to
You to Your glory in Yeshua’s name,
amen and amen.
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