Ezra 9 – Dealing with Sin (Pt 2)

When dealing with sin in our lives we often want to forget the past and look forward. The past is too painful. The past is the past. We want to move forward. But one principle related to dealing with sin is the necessity of looking back.

Ezra writes,

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites (Ez 9:1).

This is a list of nationalities that lived in the Promised Land from its earliest settling. Of these, it is likely that only the Ammonites, Moabites and Egyptians still existed. The list of names is not only to reveal the current sin of the People of God, but to reveal their past sin as well. Ezra acknowledges that their current sin is the very same sin that caused them to go into exile in the first place. He recognized and acknowledged the consequences of their former sin. “From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt” (Ez 9:7). Sword, captivity, plunder, and shame were the result of this sin of intermarrying and following after the gods of their foreign wives. In verse 13 Ezra refers to it as “evil deeds” and “great guilt.” He looked back and “‘fessed up” to their guilt.

After confessing their guilt, he acknowledged the righteousness of God’s judgment. Too often our real goal is not to deal with sin, but simply to escape judgment. Ezra acknowledged that not only was God right to judge them, but that “God judged us less than our iniquities deserved” (Ez 9:13). The following two truths lie at the heart of dealing with sin in our lives and experiencing victory over it.

1.     We need to be honest with God about our sin. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1Jn 1:8). God will not give us victory over sin until we are honest with him about it.

2.     We need to acknowledge the justice and mercy of God’s judgment. We receive less judgment than we deserve. In fact, in the gospel our judgment is placed on Christ and we receive none of the judgment we deserve. God disciplines those he loves (Rev 3:19), but his discipline is less than deserved.

Remembering our former sin and its consequences, and being honest about our sin and the justice of God in his discipline goes a long way toward guarding us against further sin. I have a book entitled From Nightmares to Sweet Dreams. The subtitle is: Letting the Presence of Christ Transform Our Worst Memories. In the book the author tells the stories of over two dozen individuals who have found peace through Christ after experiencing all sorts of trauma in life from sexual abuse to violence, death and witnessed suicide. It’s a fascinating read, but what struck me was the first two principles he uses with these individuals to help them find peace. He says the first thing we must do is to tell the story and then to identify the feelings and effects the event had on our lives. That is exactly what Ezra is doing in these first verses of Ezra 9.

Ezra goes back and tells the story of Israel’s sin and failure allowing himself to feel the brokenness of their sin. He looked back and then he looks down in shame. As believers we do not live in shame. We live in freedom and victory. But, when we are struggling to gain victory over a particular sin in our lives there value in looking back, remembering and acknowledging our sin, and recognizing God’s justice. Victory starts with admitting our shame and helplessness, and looking to God’s power. There is value sometimes in looking back. Our current struggle is often rooted in our past failure.