In my previous study it was revealed to Ezra how Israel had rebelled from the Lord by intermarrying with the heathen nations, surrounding their land. Indeed, it began with the leaders, the families of the second generation, those who were born and grew up in the land of Judah. The previous generation, vis-à-vis the leaders of the land, those who were considered the upper classes, and whom the people of the land tended to emulate, though they, themselves refused to intermingle with the heathen nations (Ezra 4:1-3), they didn’t seem to hinder their children from doing so (Nehemiah 6:17-18). Therefore, the seed was sown in the land, and it culminated in the “people of Israel and the priests and the Levites” (Ezra 9:1 – the three divisions of Jewish society) had not “separated themselves from the people of the lands,’ vis-à-vis the heathen nations (Ezra 9:1).
In other words, if such a thing were to continue, the Lord would be left with no witness to evidence to the ignorant heathen what the Lord God of Israel was like. Therefore, a correction **must** be made, because the Lord had separated the children of Israel from the heathen to be his own people, and that labor **must** bear fruit (cp. Isaiah 55:11). The fruit would be seen either in the national repentance of revival in the land, or in the national repentance resulting from judgment and punishment from the Lord.[1] The choice was in the hands of the rebelling Jews. How would they receive Ezra’s call for change and their return to the Lord?
This begs the question of the possibility of Ezra’s prior knowledge of the then present condition of society in the land of Judah. Did he know that rebellion was taking place among the Jews in Jerusalem before he left Babylon? I believe he did, but, perhaps, didn’t know to what extent, to which the rebellion had grown. He must have had some knowledge of Israel’s sins, because he was particularly interested in bringing zealous Levites with him to return to Jerusalem. Remember, he had sent messengers to Iddo the Chief (Ezra 8:15-17) to send zealous men to him for the purpose of instructing the Jews in the land about the Mosaic Covenant. Moreover, he is introduced to us as a ready scribe in the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:1, 6), who “had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10). It seems to me that Ezra was well aware of the work before him, but either didn’t know the extent to which the Jews had fallen into sin (my understanding), or he simply turned from the joy of experiencing the blessings, which the Lord had bestowed upon him and those who returned with him to Jerusalem, to mourning over being reminded of the rebellion of the people in the land (Ezra 9:3).
So, at the time of the evening sacrifice, which was also a time of prayer (Acts 3:1; cp. Daniel 9:21, Psalm 55:17), Ezra stood up and fell to his knees before the Lord in his House, spreading his hands unto the Lord God of Israel (Ezra 9:5). The Jews assumed the posture of either standing or kneeling before the Lord. Kneeling was done to express one’s deep devotion (Psalm 95:6) or one’s mournful heart (Daniel 6:10; Luke 22:41; Acts 7:60), especially in times of deep humiliation, and one spread out his arms and hands, expressing his faith to receive the blessings one prayed for (1Kings 8:54).
Ezra began by expressing his utter embarrassment before the Lord for the iniquities of his people, for they had grown as high as the heavens (Ezra 9:6), perhaps indicating the sins had reached those priests who ministered to the Lord of heaven, vis-à-vis heaven being the Most Holy Place of the Temple.[2]
For, since the age of the fathers, the earliest times of the Mosaic Covenant, Israel had been rebellious and had to be put away into captivity to bring them to repentance (Ezra 9:7). Not only so, but even to this day, Israel has involved itself in the very same sins of their fathers. Indeed, it seemed as though the judgment of defeat before their enemies, death, and even being cast out of the land to live as captives in foreign lands hadn’t been enough to bring them to repentance. Therefore, Ezra expressed his shame and embarrassment before his Lord (Ezra 9:6-7), for the Lord had granted a time of grace, a littles space for repentance, and a time to renew the Covenant the people had made with him, whereby new life would be given, understanding of the heart and a reviving of the spirit (Ezra 9:8). Even in bondage, although they had been cast out of the land, yet the Lord remembered his people, showing his faithfulness to them, although they had been in nearly a constant state of rebellion (Ezra 9:9). Thus, the Lord was anxious to extend mercy to his people, as a witness to the kings of Persia, and the heathen nations under their power, that the Lord is merciful, and he was able and willing to revive his people by rebuilding his Temple and Jerusalem, the city which he has chosen, and her walls.
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[1] If the Lord had no witness to his works, he must intervene in the affairs of mankind by way of judgment, so that those who don’t know him would know of him. This is what occurred in AD 70, when the Jewish authorities had eliminated every witness to Jesus’ resurrection (see Revelation chapter eleven where the “two witnesses” represent not **two** but a valid witness, vis-à-vis two or more, judgment came in the form of destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the scattering of the Jews throughout the nations.
[2] “Heaven” is represented in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, to reach “as high as the heavens” means it involved the high priest’s family.
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3 responses to “Ezra’s Prayer and the Grace of God”
Ezra confronted Jewish assimilation and intermarriage as best he could with a losing hand.
He was very successful at the time. Of course things deteriorated over time, but his work was a success.
The sages of the Talmud hold an extremely high regard for the leadership of Ezra. He worked with a shitty hand of cards and played that hand for all it was worth.