God bless you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:14).
Israel fell into decline when they turned away from God. The Lord had warned them of the consequence of their sin which was captivity by the hands of foreign invaders. Ezra 9:1-10:44 occurs between Nehemiah 13:3&4. This happened chronologically after the end of the book of Esther. Even after the Jews defended themselves and thwarted the onslaught of evil fomented against them by Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Many of them were still in captivity. Although some had returned to their homeland, not everyone had. Ezra spoke of their situation in Ezra 9 saying:
Ezra 9:7-10:
Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. 8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
Here Ezra is asking the Lord for a measure of revival in the bondage of his circumstances. God’s mercy had already allowed them a space of grace to repair and set up the house of God and the wall around Jerusalem. He is lamenting the fact that the hearts of God’s people had not yet forsaken the iniquity that caused them to go into captivity originally (Ezra 9:1-7; 10-15).
In chapter 10 Ezra confronted the people, and they confessed their sin and renewed their covenant with the Lord. They were back in the land, but their hearts were not right with the Lord. They needed reviving in their bondage, the bondage of their idolatrous practices, the bondage of earthly-minded, sense-knowledge people who have no appreciation or interest in the things of God.
Ezra refused to continue to live in a world of unbelief and unconcern for spiritual matters. He wanted God to revive His people so they could walk in freedom and love again. It did happen (Ezra 10:3-5). God did bring revival. He can do the same today!
God’s people were able to put the sins of their past behind them and move ahead. Zophar painted a beautiful mind picture for Job of putting the past behind him as he said:
Job 11:16-18:
Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: 17 And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning 18 And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
There is often misery in the remembrance of sin and failure. However, this precious promise in Job affords us the opportunity to dislodge every unpleasant memory we retain. There is a river that washes away all our transgressions carrying them into the Sea of God’s Forgetfulness (Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12; 19:17). Use these images to visualize the current of cleansing water which washes away all our past sins, mistakes, traumas, and defeats. As surely as the tide goes out, they are carried and buried at the bottom of the ocean.
Micah 7:19 tells us that God cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Let’s erect a no fishing sign and leave them where He left them. Let’s not dredge them up. They can be put out of sight and out of mind. The painful residue from our past can be eliminated; good thoughts can replace those that cause misery.
God grant us revival and a peaceful mind to replace a troubled one. Enjoy your day with your sins washed away.