A Remnant’s Remorse (Part 2)
One Year Bible (Aug. 9)
Ezra 8:21-9:15
A Remnant’s Remorse (Part 2)
Perhaps you have heard the statement, “Good news travels fast.”
Well, Bad News travels even faster!”
Tel-e-graph. Tel-e-phone. Tel-e-scope. Tel-e-photo. Tel-e-friend. Tel-e-Twitter.
Yes, juicy news about one’s private sin travels faster than a “gusher from an oil well”. Everyone wants to “grab a little piece of it”.
The whole premise of a TABLOID is built on this principle, “Encouraging Minds Want to Know”.
The question is, “Do we BUY salacious news, or do we GRIEVE over it?”
Speaking of which, “How’s it going with Will and Harry and the girls?” See what I mean?
Our story today begins with the “Good News”, “We prayed that HE would give us a safe journey and protect us our children, and our goods as we traveled.” (8:21)
Ezra began his journey of leading the REMNANT back home with prayer, but here is the next part, “For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” (8:22)
Prayer just took a serious twist into COMPLETE TRUST for PROTECTION!
We often like to cover all our bases when we pray. We make a list, enlist help, ask God… perhaps even in that order. Ezra is up against serious enemies and he could ask for help from the king to secure their safety, but he feels that the pagan nation needs to see their complete life and death TRUST in God!
What will give them the strength to do this very risky thing?
“So, we FASTED and EARNESTLY PRAYED that our God would take care of us, and He heard our prayer.” (8:23)
Whenever we pray and fast there is a certain thing that ALWAYS follows…
What do you think that is...Revival? Growth? Blessing?
Do you remember our study of Revivals?
They are AlWAYS preceded by REMORSE. REPENTANCE. And RESTORATION. These steps ALWAYS precede REVIVAL.
This my friends, means that the BAD NEWS is coming next. It has to be REVEALED RELEASED for us to be HEALED.
So, here it comes… God’s people are called to be SET-APART, SEPARATE, and HOLY to worship a HOLY GOD.
But, Ezra finds out that this REMNANT who is to be RETURNED, has NOT fully RETURNED to God’s ways.
“Many of the people of Israel and even some of the priests and Levites have NOT kept themselves SEPARATE from the other people living in the land.” (9:1)
They have intermarried with people who practice “DETESTABLE PRACTICES”.
In God’s creation of marriage, He says that “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they have BECOME ONE FLESH.”
The people who are to be “Set-Apart” for God have “BECOME ONE FLESH” with IDOL WORSHIPPERS. How can this be?
Ezra is “Utterly Shocked” and “Appalled”! He sat in mourning with his clothes torn and fell to his knees and lifted his hands to the LORD and prayed. He cried out in shame for the guilt of his people that they have received mercy but returned disobedience to their God…AGAIN.
Listen to what he says next, ‘But now we have been given a BRIEF MOMENT of GRACE for the LORD has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant… Our God has BRIGHTENED OUR EYES and GRANTED US SOME RELIEF…” (9:8)
Listen to his prayer of REMORSE for his people, “O LORD God of Israel, you are just. We come before you in our guilt as nothing but an ESCAPED REMNANT, though in such a condition none of us can stand in your presence.” (9:15)
Speaking of Good News traveling fast, and Bad News traveling even FASTER… There is no greater news than the news of TRANSFORMATION!
People will stop, look, watch, and wonder...
The very best sermon ever preached is that of a BROKEN LIFE BEING RESTORED… that my friends is the message of
“A REMNANT’S REMORSE”.
