Grace for a Little Moment

Ezra 9 shows the danger of drifting. The leaders reported that the people, the priests, and the Levites had married into the peoples of the lands and joined in their abominations. The issue in the text is faithfulness to God: the law and the prophets had warned that joining with those who worshiped false gods would turn Israel away from Yahweh, the very sin that had led to exile.

Ezra's grief was public and deep. He tore his clothes, pulled hair from his head and beard, and sat appalled until the evening offering. Those who trembled at God's words gathered to him. Then he knelt, spread out his hands to Yahweh, and prayed one of the great confessions of Scripture.

Ezra identified himself with the people and called their guilt our guilt. He described God's mercy: for a little moment grace had been shown, a remnant had escaped, and God had given them a stake in His holy place, revived them, and extended loving kindness before the kings of Persia. He made no excuse, but declared that Yahweh is righteous and that they stood before Him in their guiltiness. In the New Testament, John writes that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us (1 John 1:9).