Dealing with Moral Depravity in a Covenant Community: Lessons from Ezra 9

DEALING WITH MORAL DEPRAVITY IN A COVENANT COMMUNITY: LESSONS FROM EZRA 9

By Ezekiel Kimosop

INTRODUCTION

Today's study focuses on Ezra 9. You may perhaps recall that during our study of Ezra 7-8, we learned that Ezra was a priest and a scribe. He was among those who were taken into captivity during the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in 586BC.

The first group of returnees that was led by Zerubabbel left for Judah in 538BC. The focus of their ministry was the reconstruction of the Jerusalem temple which had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. This team faced lots of resistance from the enemies of God's people  and the works were intermittently stopped but the temple works were finally completed and the temple was dedicated (Haggai 1-2; Ezra 5-6).

Given his access to the royal courts, Ezra was perhaps a high ranking official at the imperial courts in Persia. He had a personal vision to serve God's people. He sought to study and to teach God's word to a society that had forgotten God's ways. Ezra was passionate about his calling (Ezra 7:10).

The journey to Jerusalem took four months on foot (Ezra 7:9). Ezra could have accessed royal military horsemen and chariots but he chose to trust God for protection, having confessed His faithfulness (Ezra 8:22-23). Ezra's journey is described in greater detail in Ezra 8:15-36.

MORAL DECAY IN JUDAH

In Ezra 9, the man of God was confronted with a reports that broke his heart. His society was steeped in moral corruption. They had intermarried with the heathen Canaanite people in violation of God's command to Israel. This was perhaps just the tip of the iceberg. There could have been worse tales of moral excesses that were not captured in the passage! 

Ezra broke down in the presence of God and mourned for a full day. tearing the robe and plucking hair and beard demonstrated great sorrow (9:3).

He took time to absorb the shock and to internalize the scope of the moral corruption in his society. Notice the impact of his reaction on those among him who trembled at God's word. They joined Ezra in mourning (9:4).

This sad situation drove him to the second stage; the action point. This is a critical step for every child of God who is burdened by grief.

EZRA'S PRAYER

Ezra sorely wept before God because the burden in his heart was unbearable. Notice the structure of his prayer. The first portion is dedicated to the corporate admission of sin. Ezra identified himself amongst his fallen society as he outlines the depth of sinfulness which preceded the captivity period and incorporated the kingship era. 

The sin and rebellion of the people had pervaded the entire society including the priesthood of which Ezra was part (9:6-7). He acknowledged the window of grace by which God permitted the returnees back to Judah (9:8) and the fact that God graciously sustained them through the captivity period (9:9). 

In Ezra 9:10-14, Ezra now turns to the gist of his petition. He recognizes the agony of the sin and rebellion of his people and pleads for God's unmerited grace for them. 

Ezra pleaded with God to spare the people from His holy wrath. He perfectly understood the import of God's wrath on a society given the captivity experience he suffered in Babylon and Persia.

Ezra's prayer spills into Ezra 10:1-2 where its impact on the gathering is recorded. 

MORAL LESSONS 

We learn from this passage of Ezra 9 that no one is immune to moral depravity, not even the religious class. When a covenant community strays from the paths of God, it is only a matter of time before they fall into moral ruin. Their spiritual alertness is progressively numbed by the enemy as they slide into disobedience.

We also learn that it takes the pain and conviction of an individual to lead a community to revival. A lost society can only be led back to the beaten path by men of conviction who drive them back to the old religion of truth that they had forsaken. 

Revival therefore begins with a single individual who is sick and tired of the wickedness and rebellion in his community of context and who is brokenhearted even as David was (Psalm 51:10-17). His weeping will never be in vain.

This passage also speaks to ou fallen society of today. Just the other day we were confronted as a nation with media reports of teenagers who engaged in orgies in the name of birthday celebrations in a home. These teens were completely oblivious of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the scorch of teenage pregnancies in Kenya. I won't be surprised to learn that some of these teenagers are from our Christian homes, children that we raised in Sunday school but who have taken the path of moral ruin.

The global media revolution has brought with it a curse on our modern society. Internet porn and narcotic sites are fast sellers among our young people today.

On the flip side, our political class is gripped with insatiable greed for power and many would do anything to gain or control political influence even at the expense of the economic and social wellbeing of the country. Some are totally immune to the suffering of the common folk.

This is evidence of a rotten society where the James Bond movie slogan "Live and Let Die" appears to aptly resonate. We have sunk so low such that the moral voice of the Church and the religious class at large has been muffled and ignored on matters of national importance.

Ezra chose to take radical steps in seeking a solution for the moral decay in his society. He believed that God's powerful hand would break the moral decay. He began with God and finished with God. Unless we begin with God, we won't overcome the troubles afflicting our families and society at large. Christ is the answer to our depraved world.

Are you perhaps lamenting about the societal decay around you? Begin with personal spiritual revival! Weep for your family, your neighborhood, your nation that God may restore us from the moral slide.

Prophet Jeremiah was grieved by the moral depravity in his society. He quips "My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city" (Lamentations 3:51).

CONCLUSION

Jeremiah wept; Ezra wept; Nehemiah wept; Esther wept; Daniel wept. There are countless other men and women of God who stood out in their day and touched the heart of God. Finally, and most significantly of, Jesus wept...

We too should weep for the daughters of our Jerusalem of context, our fallen nation; the very people among whom we dwell. Don't wait for a large group to gather around you in order to weep. Start right where you are.

God is looking for the Ezra's of today, the Jeremiahs, the Daniels, you and I to stir up the spiritual and moral revolution. Just as happened in Ezra's prayer, others will catch up the burden and they too will pray. 

God laments in Ezekiel 22:30-31 saying "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God."

We should arise and take our positions while the window of God's grace remains open, before God shuts the door as He did in the days of Noah (Gen. 7:16). 

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Our next lesson will be drawn from the study of Ezra 10. We shall learn about the impact of Ezra's prayer on his immediate community and the steps that he took in addressing the moral decay. 

Shalom

© Ezekiel Kimosop 2020