SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/20/2011
9:17:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“We
have Sinned”
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: Ezra 9:5-7
Message of the verses: “5
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; 6 and I said, "O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up
my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our
guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7
"Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great
guilt, and on account of our iniquities we, our kings and our priests have been
given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity and
to plunder and to open shame, as it is this day.”
It
was my intention to include these verses in yesterdays SD, but it did not work
out that way. This section “we have sinned” is the first sub-point
under the second main point in Dr. Wiersbe’s outline for this last chapter in
his commentary on Ezra “Be Heroic.” He
has entitled this second main point “Concern:
a privileged people.”
I
have heard it said that the one thing that we have learned from the past is
that we have not learned anything from the past and this is the case for these
returning exiles who had been punished for their sins by giving them into the
hands of the Babylonians and not they are repeating some of the same sins that
they committed that put them in the position they are in now.
If
you look closely at how Ezra wrote this confession you will see that like
Daniel and Nehemiah he included himself in his confession before the Lord, for
he uses the words “our iniquities” and
not their iniquities. Like Daniel and
Nehemiah, Ezra knew that he was a sinner thus the title to this sub-point “we have sinned.” Another reason Ezra includes himself is
because the nation of Israel was one covenant nation before the Lord, and the
sins of one person affected all the people.
If you look back on the story of Achan when he sinned by taking articles
from Jericho that were forbidden, that sin affected the entire nation of Israel
for they not only lost their first battle with AI, but they lost thirty-six men
in that battle. Joshua acted nearly in
the same way that Ezra is acting in this situation. This same principle applies to the local church as can be seen in 1Cor.
5:6-8 “6 Your boasting is not
good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7
Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact
unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let
us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Dr. Wiersbe writes “Unless sin is dealt with,
the whole assembly becomes defiled.”
In
verse six it can be seen that Ezra is too ashamed to lift his face before the
Lord. “"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying,
’God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14
"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the
other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles
himself will be exalted,’” (Luke
18:13-14). Ezra and this tax
collector were greatly embarrassed over their sin and you can see it in how
they prayed, by not even looking into heaven.
Jeremiah writes the following about those who would soon be taken into
captivity, “"Were they ashamed
because of the abomination they had done? They certainly were not ashamed, And
they did not know how to blush; Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down," Says the
LORD,” (Jeremiah 8:12). One can look
at life in 21st century America and see many things on TV that are
sinful and there are few if any blushing over this and other things that are
going on. Sin is a serious thing, and
according to Hebrews, Moses refused “to
be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure
ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Sin has its pleasures, but it is only for a
season. Dr. Wiersbe writes the
following: “When a nation
turns sin into entertainment and laughs at what ought to make us weep, we are
in serious need of revival.”
One
of the reasons that these exiles could not see their actions were sinful was because
they had grown up in Babylon where sin was the normal thing to do, and now when
they move to Jerusalem they still had those sinful habits, similar the
generation that was taken out of Egypt in the Exodus. When Paul was in Athens that is recorded in
Acts 17 it can be seen that he grieved over the sinfulness that he saw.
I
will conclude this section with a quote from Dr. Wiersbe that is a fitting
ending: “The spiritual history of
Israel, summarized in Ezra 9:7, is living proof that privileges bring
responsibilities, and that much is required from those to whom much is given
(Luke 12:48).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As a NT believer in Jesus Christ I have been
given much, and I am not speaking of material blessings, but spiritual blessings. Right before Jesus died on the cross He said “It is finished” and the Greek word
that is translated here means “paid in
full” and was stamped on the paper of someone who had just finished a
prison term, meaning his dept had been fully paid. This opened up the privileges for NT
believers as the things in the OT were only shadows of what was real. Like Jesus said in Luke 12:48b “From everyone who has been given much,
much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask
all the more.” Privilege brings
about responsibilities.
Another
thing that I must think about is how I deal with sinfulness, not only in my
life, but what I see around me. Will I
be like Ezra and Paul or will I go with the flow and not be too embarrassed
lift my face to the Lord in repentance because of sin? This is a good question for me to ponder this
day.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Psalm 139:23-24 are the verses for my step of faith
today: “Search me, O God, and know my
heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And
see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
2.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a
steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain
me with a willing spirit.”
7/20/2011
10:15:27 AM
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