Ezra’s Act of Repentance

Synopsis     Ezra 9:12-10:5     7/1/2020 

Many of the Israelites who had returned from Babylon chose to marry foreign wives. Even the leaders and the priests, which was specifically prohibited by the law. After he arrived, the people reported this development to Ezra.  

So, Ezra prayed to the Lord. And he wept bitterly because he feared the Lord. In this way, he acknowledged the people’s guilt.  

Many of the Israelites felt remorse at a result of Ezra’s despair. So, one of the leaders encouraged Ezra to lead the people in disavowing the marriages that had been made with foreign wives. And he vowed, along with the priests and Levites, to support Ezra’s demand that the foreign wives be sent away.  

Act of Repentance  

Sending away the foreign wives was a difficult remedy for the Israelites. The intermarrying had already happened. And these marriages had already produced children and combined fortunes.  

Ezra’s declaration was easy to say but a big thing to actually do. Divorce is never easy. And when offspring are involved, losing access to children isn’t just hard, it’s counterintuitive. It is hard to even imagine. All of this was a painful, big, deal. 

Repentance – No Going Back 

There is no “going back to the way things used to be”. Once moral failure has entered into being, it exists. Repentance isn’t wishing my evil acts away – like I could make them unexist through my remorse.  

Instead, repentance is making the choice to respond to my circumstances rightly. It is a returning to the way of Christ by accepting “what is” and making the best of that.  

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6