7/18/2011 8:31:01 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Contamination: A sinful people
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Ezra 9:1-2
Message of the verses: “1 Now when these things had been completed, the princes approached me, saying, "The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, according to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites. 2 “For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the princes and the rulers have been foremost in this unfaithfulness.’”
Today’s SD begins the last chapter in Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s commentary and the last two chapters of the book of Ezra. As mentioned in earlier SD’s I follow the commentary of Dr. Wiersbe as an outline in doing my Spiritual Diaries and read commentary from his “Be” series books to aid me in understanding the Scriptures. I also look, from time to time at other scholars such as John MacArthur and others who have commentaries on the Online Bible program. www.onlinebible.org
This forth chapter in “Be Heroic,” Wiersbe entitles “The Grace of God,” and it covers the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezra. There are four main points in the outline with several sub-points under the main points. The key to understanding what is going on in these chapters of Ezra is as follows. After arriving in Jerusalem some lay people came up to Ezra and told him some sin that some of the civil and religious leaders were committing. How Ezra deals with this problem is an example of how believers are to deal with sin today. Peter quotes Lev. 11:44 in his letter which says “Be holy; for I am holy.”
There was nothing wrong with these lay people coming to Ezra and reporting that some of the civil and religious leaders were breaking the Law of God for their disobedience to this Law could ruin the holy race that God has chosen, and this could stop the coming of the Messiah if this continued. God had told the children of Israel not to marry people outside of their race for they were holy and set apart to the Lord.
As far as these lay people exposing this sin to Ezra there was not a problem with that for they were not gossiping, but telling Ezra the truth about a problem that was very serious. Their concern over this sin was sincere. In the NT letter to the Corinthians Paul speaks of something that a woman name Chloe had told him concerning the sins that these Corinthian believers were committing and he does not rebuke her for telling exposing their sins.
The first sub-point is entitled “Disobedience” and it covers the first verse of Ezra nine. The law that these men broke is mentioned above and it can be seen in Exodus 34:15-16 and Deuteronomy 7:1-6. The law was any Israelite men marrying people of the land of Canaan and these peoples are mentioned in verse one. If Israel would have been obedient in ridding the land of these people as God had instructed them before they entered the land this problem would not have taken place. One can look at the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ and Ruth will appear in it as one of four women, but Ruth was a foreigner along with Rahab. There is a difference here for the men of Israel could marry women outside of the woman of Israel if they were not from the land of Canaan and if they came to believe in the God of Israel, something that can be seen in the lives of Rahab and also Ruth.
The last sub-point in this section is entitled “Defilement” and it covers verse two of Ezra nine.
It would be a good time to explain some things about the children of Israel and why God called them a “holy nation,” and what was the reason for God to call them and to keep them separated from the other nations of the world. They were not called a holy nation because they were better than anybody else, but because God had called them. There is a large difference here for this reflects on God and that is the point here. Genesis 12:3 reads as follows: “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” “Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’” This is Genesis 28:14 which repeats what God had said in Genesis 12:3. God would use the nation of Israel to bless all the families of the earth. How would that happen? I can mention three reasons why the nation of Israel has blessed all the families of the earth. The first reason is that they have given to the families of the earth the knowledge of God. The second is that they have given to the families of the earth the Word of God, and the third way they have blessed the families of the earth is giving them the Messiah, Jesus Christ to become a sacrifice for their sins. These were three good reasons to keep the Jewish race pure.
According to Malachi there were actually Jewish men divorcing their Jewish wives in order to marry women from Canaan. This was breaking two of God’s laws.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: “Be holy for the Lord God Almighty is Holy,” is the name of a wonderful hymn that I have heard and also sung. That is what the Lord has called all believers to be and that is surely a difficult thing to do, and impossible without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Wiersbe quotes an old Pastor from Scotland in many of his books and it seems like that quote will fit in here. “The Christian life is a series of new beginnings.” The Christian life is impossible without the grace of God, but when I have a choice of keeping the laws of God that I am suppose to keep, as I am not talking about the ceremonial laws, I am to keep them, and when I fail I am to confess my sins before the Lord who will forgive me according to 1John 1:9.
Just as the nation of Israel was to remain pure the Church today is to do the same and there are some passages in the Scriptures that speak to what a believer is to do to confront sin. Matthew 18 is spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ on confronting sin in the Church. 1Timothy 5 speaks of what to do when a leader (Pastor Elder) sins.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Psalm 139:23-24
2. 1John 1:9
3. Ephesians 6:10-18
4. Philippians 4:11-13
5. Romans 12:1-2
6. Proverbs 3:5-6
7/18/2011 9:25:06 AM
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