The nation has been restored and God’s glory has been revealed. However, the nation had compromised in their practices. The men had taken foreign wives outside of God’s people. This was diluting their commitment to God. Ezra is a broken leader. (vs. 1). He rents his clothes and hits the ground! Why are so many of our leaders not like this? We see holiness, compassion and commitment. Ezra was leaving himself vulnerable. The people could see his reaction. Even kids were coming out to see.

1 – The identification of the people (vs. 2-4)

The people identified what Ezra was illustrating. Ezra confronts the situation. Notice four things:-

• Confession – There is a response of confession from the people.
• Hope – There is still hope for the nation by confessing their sins to God.
• Repentance – They repented of their own sins. This was more than just words. The response seems extreme as the foreign women and children were to be packed off. However, the compromise had to end.
• Encouragement – There are times we need to encourage people to a higher level. The leaders need to lead.

2 – The leader’s response (vs. 5-11)

Notice the response of Ezra.

• Discipline – Ezra calls them together while he goes off to weep and pray for the people. He breaks his heart some more.
• Mourning – Ezra is mourning for those people who need to come back to God.
• Rebuke – Those who did not turn up for this meeting were chucked out! No apologies would be accepted. It was too important. The rain was lashing down. The news was not going to be good! The people were under the anger of God. The people have been unfaithful to God.
• Exhortation – Ezra exhorts them to honour God and separate themselves.

3 – The priority of obedience (vs. 12-17)

God wants obedience.

• Corporate responsibility – The response is made together.
• Mercy – They realise that Ezra is right in what he has been saying. God is speaking and they need to listen so they he will show them mercy from His great anger.
• Strategy – They come up with a strategy. They investigate each case and ruthlessly root out those who have sinned. They then name them and shame them.

This shows how serious God takes sin and sometimes it takes drastic measures to get away from sin if we are going to return to follow God.

Categories: Ezra