Ezras Stand Apart

The Lord can use a man like Ezra. What was it about Ezra that established him so powerfully in the era of rebuilding the Temple and reestablishing the Promised Land? He truly understood the fear of the Lord. 

When a report comes to him about the intermarriage and pagan associations among the people of the land, INCLUDING the priests and Levites, Ezra is mortified. 

Ezra 9:3 (ESV) As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.

He expresses such remorse that he actions are not only visible they are adopted by others. Notice how the scripture refers to these people with him:

Ezra 9:4 (ESV) Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.

Consider this in context. The common practice among the people is one of immorality. Ezra repents and humbles himself. He stands out. The rest of the community is just going about their business and there is Ezra fasting, praying and debasing himself. YET… and this is the incredible part. There are those who feared the Lord and they gathered around him.

Make no mistake, no matter how immoral a nation or community may be outwardly, there are still those who are looking for someone to lead them back to God among them all! The Church is often guilty of doing what the exiles did here - adopting the ways of the world and “fitting in”. What is needed is an Ezra who sees the spiritual rot of a generation and prays and fasts and repents for God to have mercy and change their hearts. The reasons, I believe that so many Christians are hesitant to repent is they feel they are all alone in their grief over the sin of their community. But this is where Godly men are needed. They need to stand apart from the spirit of the age and weep! They need to stand for God’s glory and God’s word in a context that has lost sight of it. This is a man God will use… and God will draw others to this man to weep and pray and fast with him. God always as the hearts of people. He simply looks for a man to lead them. 

I don’t know if you can see what I’m seeing but we are in that place once again as world. The error of our age is popular, it is praised, and it is commonly accepted. Gender is now a spectrum, a marriage can be whatever anyone wants. On top of this, drugs are being legalized, police are being demonized and our governments do little to stem the tide of rising immorality. The average movie depicts violence, sexually charged scenes in which far more women are objectified than men (3 to 1 according to statistics) and instead of leading our young people in wisdom, the school systems are parroting an entire tiktok generations foolishness. Science is a tool of control and freedom of speech is under attack. 

In our day, staying silent is the easy thing. But we need some Ezras. Someone who will raise a cry of remorse over our communities and society. I fully believe if the Ezras stand apart from the nonsense and seek God, those who fear the Lord and tremble at His Word will come out and stand with them. Lord, make us ready to do this now. Help us to reject the acceptance of our age and seek your will and ways. 

Amen.

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