Ezra Grieves the Sin of God’s People against Gods Commands
Intro: Well good morning friends and visitors. My name is Matt Johnson and today we continue our study of Ezra – which is now a bit anticlimactic. The Jews are coming home. But their hearts have not really changed.
Prayer: Well friends, do we really comprehend the awfulness of sin? Do we grieve sin – like Ezra in this passage today? (PAUSE) I believe one of the most serious problems in the western church today is our doctrine of sin. We don’t believe sin is that serious. We have swallowed the secular humanist worldview that human beings are essentially good. Even “Christians” constantly tell me that people are essentially good. This is the secular humanist worldview. It says any problems we perceive in people are fairly minor and can be fixed primarily through education. Sin is not that serious…
Today, I believe many people will find Ezra’s response to Israels sin a little over the top. Ezra – tears his clothes, pulls out his hair, is appalled in his spirit and weeps bitterly because Gods people have been marrying unbelievers. Oh dear! How evil. The Jews have been marrying non-Jews. Now on a scale of 1-10, with one being not that bad and ten being horrendous – how would you rate the sin of a believer marrying a non-believer? (PAUSE)
Well, first of all we must be clear that this is sin. The Bible is clear that there is no fellowship between light and darkness. The Bible tells us not be yoked with unbelievers. It tells us that if a widow remarries the man must be a Christian. Now I’ll spend time next week – speaking about the why’s (and what if’s) of Christians marrying non-Christians. But on a scale of 1-10 – how serious is this sin? Is this a sin we should seriously grieve OR is Ezra just being melodramatic? I mean is sin really this serious?
A week ago – we had Joanna Howe’s Pro-Life Movement come and speak about abortion. The details of late term abortions are so horrific that most Christians do not want to know. This past week the Netherlands even publicly admitted that they euthanised a two-year old child that suffered from epilepsy. So we now terminate children in the womb and outside the womb. But do we grieve? Or do we still buy the secular lie that man is essentially good?
As you know paedophilia happens in our community far more than we want to admit. Stats say it happens to 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 4 boys. It’s terrible. But do we grieve? Or do we still repeat the humanist mantra that people are essentially good. Today paedophilia is even finding an “almost” legal loophole in Australia. The Australian Federal Police reported that they had to respond to 91 child marriages in 2023-24 and 118 child marriages in 2024-25. These are the ones they know. But there are now concerns that some of these child marriages may be swept under the carpet because of new religious phobia laws that protect a certain religion. But do any of us really grieve? Or do we repeat the mantra man is essentially good?
Sal Grover and Kirralie Smith have recently lost significant battles over the simple truth that a woman is a biological female. They both lost. They both carry huge legal debts. But does anyone grieve this evil or what it’s doing to women’s sport? I could say the same about transgender operations happening to children. Hama’s raping children and killing women on October 7. (Even the UN has now admitted Hama’s used sexual violence as part of their terror program. You can google it. Even AI will answer that one truthfully. But no one really grieves like Ezra does in this passage today over the horrors of sin.
Point 1: Ezra is Appalled at all the Jews Marrying Unbelievers
Show: Ezr.9:1-3 (READ)
Explain: Well please notice that the chapter begins with the words “after these things had been done…” Last week, in Ezra 8 – we heard about all the prodigal Jews coming home from Babylon to Jerusalem. It was like Hallelujah. The Jews have finally come home to God. But the whole coming home is a bit of anticlimax – because shortly after this – Ezra discovers they’ve brought Babylon and false religion with them.
Certain Jewish leaders tell Ezra that the priests and the people have married Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. Now the name that doesn’t really belong in this list is the Egyptians. Apart from the Egyptians, the other 7 nations are the people groups that God told the Jews not to marry and not to befriend when they first entered the Promised Land. Let me show you what God told the Jews in Deut.7:1-5 (Slide 3; READ). Now please notice – the reason God forbid friendship and intermarriage is (verse 4) they will “turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you”. These people will corrupt you.
But when the Jews entered the Promised Land they thought they knew better than God. So they showed mercy, entered treaties and married them – even though God said no. They didn’t think a multicultural, multispiritual society was a problem. I mean some of the people were like relatives. The Ammonites and Moabites were descended from Lot’s incestuous relationships with his daughters. So yes their a bit funky and some of them have six fingers. But they’re still essentially good people. Really?! The Old Testament makes it quite clear that these marriages and the political treaties they entered with idolatrous foreigners was a big, perhaps even the main contributor to Israel’s downfall. King Solomon’s foreign wives that led Israel into idolatry, which was accompanied by sexual immorality and the bloodshed of babies which led to God’s people going into slavery (1Kngs.11:1-3).
The key problem was actually Israel’s acceptance of false, idolatrous religion, culture and practice. They didn’t see the pagan nations and their conduct as a serious or corrupting problem. So God’s people allowed these pagans to live alongside them (in idolatry and immorality) and the longer they lived among Gods people, the more they corrupted Gods people (by diluting Gods truth). Before the Jews knew it – they were participating in their idolatry, celebrating their sexual immorality and sacrificing their children to demons. That’s what multiculturalism and spiritual pluralism did to Israel. So in the end – God said enough is enough and sent His people into slavery in Babylon.
Now thanks to Gods mercy (and faithfulness to His promises) God brought the Jews home after 70 years. But no sooner are they home – than Ezra discovers – the very sin that led them into exile in the first place is still taking place. The Jews are entering into treaties and marrying idolatrous foreigners. Now let’s be clear that the problem is not racial purity, but spiritual purity. Right from the beginning non-Jews were included among Gods people. Anyone, from any country or religion – who was willing to repent of their sin, renounce their demonic, idolatrous spirituality and convert to Judaism was welcome. In fact, Jesus’ own genealogy includes many people who were not racially pure Jews. But in the Old Testament God demanded a monoculture and a monospirituality that was decisively Jewish. Anyone who wanted to join Gods people had to accept Gods law, Gods morality, God’s holy days and Gods approved ways of worship. Nothing else could be tolerated.
Now the fact that the Egyptians are included among the 7 deadly nations – tells us that the problem isn’t exclusively these particular 7 nations. The inclusion of the Egyptians – now tells us – that a spiritual, corrupting influence exists with any and all nations that reject the true God and continue their pagan spirituality. So as soon as Ezra brings the prodigal Jews home, he turns around and discovers the very problem that took the Jews into Babylon in the first place, is still present. The Jews are diluting Gods truth by embracing religious diversity.
Apply: Now these days one of Albanese’ favourite meme’s is that “Diversity is our Strength. Diversity is our Strength.” The problem is – this meme is simply not true in a sinful world. Diversity without shared truth or values simply produces fear, prejudice and hostility. Not sometimes. Always. So “diversity is our strength” is just trite, meaningless nonsense because diversity without unity has always produced anarchy. Now given that God is Trinity and God is absolute truth we know that true community requires both unity and diversity. What holds God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit together as One God in perfect unity is that they agree on what is righteous, noble and good.
Now it is this unifying righteousness, nobility and goodness that God has revealed in His Word. God’s truth (because it is intrinsically good) has the power to freely hold diverse people together in a united community without enslaving any particular minority. But truly, what now is the agreed truth holding most pluralistic, multicultural countries together? (PAUSE). Tolerance?! The pursuit of money? Is that it? No one seems to know. But when we look at England and France we know it’s becoming tenuous and the only reason I’d say it hasn’t yet become anarchy is the residual, Judaeo-Christian ethos. But in the absence of agreed truth – two things happen simultaneously that we see in Israel’s history. First, community breaks down and chaos increases. We then lose the economic and social blessings that come with agreed values, agreed law and agreed religion. But this then leads to the second thing – where some other truth (that is NOT really truth) must step into the void to restore a type of community usually through the subjection of the minority to the majority. This is because truth abhors a vacuum. So demonic truth steps in to fill the void of Gods truth always at the enslavement of those who are most vulnerable to the abuse of power.
Point 2: Ezra Acknowledges that their Sin (and Complacency) is Serious
Show: Ezr.9:6-7; Slide 4
Explain: Well given what Israel is doing – Ezra tears his clothes, pulls out his beard, admits his shame and according to the beginning of chapter 10 – weeps bitterly. Ezra says their sins are higher than their heads and their guilt has reached to the heavens. Again, is Ezra being melodramatic? Or does he recognize Gods holiness in a way that most of us do not? What we may consider a little sin – Ezra sees in a completely different light..
Please notice – the word “DETESTABLE” in both verse 1 and verse 14. Ezra speaks about the “practices” of these nations being detestable. The word “detestable” is literally the word “abomination”. When we reject Gods Truth (revealed in Scripture) we end up doing abominable things that bring desolation because they incur Gods wrath. These practices are so loathesome to God they MUST be handed over to utter destruction. Now saying the practices of the nations are detestable is NOT racism. Nor is it hate speech. It is a moral judgment simply based on Gods revealed truth. Again, let me remind you that Proverbs 6 speaks about 6 things the Lord hates, 7 things that are “detestable” to Him (Prov.6:16-18). It’s the exact same word – detestable. God hates that which is detestable and we too should hate what is detestable.
Now do you recognize the detestable things that pagans do when they reject Gods Word and do you grieve those things. What do you tear your clothes about, pull out your hair in disbelief and truly cry about in our country today? If you say NOTHING is that a comment on the perfection of our society or on the hardness of your heart? Do you realise that the mantra “my body, my right” is hateful in Gods sight. He hates it. Like, not just a little bit. It makes God furious because its leading men and women to justify the murder of innocent babies. The caste system in Hinduism is truly detestable. It denies human equality AND it creates a permanent enslavement of the many for the advantage of a few. This is not an idea conceived in heaven. It comes from the depths of hell.
The Islamic belief that paedophilia is not paedophilia if you marry the child is a detestable belief. It is evil. It is derived from perverted male desire that enslaves the weak to the strong. The same is true regarding Islam’s teaching about women. It is universally taught in Islam that a woman’s testimony does not hold the same weight as a man’s testimony under Sharia Law. Now is that legitimate? Is that a valid and good belief? Or is that another form of Satanic bondage that makes the weak a slave to the strong..,.
Friends, someone recently told me – that I often come across angry in my sermons. I’ve reflected on this because it was coming from a friend. I think they’re partially right. I am angry to the point of pulling out my hair and I am also profoundly sad to the point of weeping bitterly. I hope that my anger and sadness is truly righteous. But perhaps, not always. However, I’m also not sure I should apologise for my imperfect anger because I think a Christian who is at least hot and cold on biblical matters is better than a Christian who is luke-warm on everything.
I do grieve and I am very angry about what is happening to unborn babies. If you do the research and have the courage to look at what is actually happening, you can’t help but be angry. Too many Christians are turning a blind eye to murder and excusing murder. I grieve that seven men in Australia commit suicide every day. I grieve what pornography is doing to young people and marriages. I grieve what we now teach and do to children. You might be a little boy. You might be a little girl. You might be straight. You might be gay. You’ll need to experiment to work out who you are. If you have any comprehension of the plasticity of the brain – you’ll understand why this teaching is coming from the depths of hell. It is destroying children’s God-given identity. I grieve that truth is now treated as relative – not just by secular academics, but by people who call themselves Christian. But perhaps my biggest anger and grief is seeing what our post-modern, secular, multicultural experiment is doing to the Christian Church. We are now luke-warm and indifferent with detestable things.
We are neither hot nor cold. Just indifferent. Just luke-warm. And I am angered that so few Christian leaders speak of these dangers, point out the lies or call Gods people back to truth and holiness. Friends, I am concerned that if we do not grieve and truly get angry about what God grieves and gets angry – we may no longer be Gods people. If our hearts have become so hardened, indifferent and unmoved by the sexual abominations, idolatry and murder around us – can we truly consider ourselves sons and daughters of God?
Friends, what Ezra is doing is expressing righteous lament. Lament is a form of literature in the Bible that encourages us to express our sadness and anger towards those things that make God sad and angry. In order to keep our hearts aligned with Gods heart lament forces us to look at what sin, injustice, lies and untruth is doing to people and then express the appropriate sad, angry emotions. We must look evil fully in the face, recognize what that evil is doing and then feel the anger and sadness that is the right response to that evil. Friends, this is half the reason – I continue to attend abortion rallies. Apart from a miracle of God I don’t think my attending abortion rallies is going to save many babies. But it might yet save me AND keep my heart aligned with Gods heart. If we accept the lies of the world and we don’t actually shed tears and express anger over the false religion, sexual immorality and bloodshed in our culture – our hearts will gradually become callous, indifferent and no longer recognize evil as evil. I believe that is already happening. Good is now evil. Evil is now good AND many so-called Christians now grieve righteous things and defend evil things…
Point 3: Ezra sees the Problem of Sin, but lacks an Adequate Solution
Show: Ezra.9:13-14 (READ)
Explain: Well, Ezra recognizes that God has shown the Jews mercy and has not
punished them as they deserve. But Ezra also sees the cycle of sin is starting all over again. So we face an immediate anticlimax in Ezra and Nehemiah. The Jews have just returned from slavery and bondage in Babylon, but they are already on the trajectory that takes them back into slavery and bondage in Babylon.
Now next week – we’ll see that Ezra’s solution – is radical surgery. He exhorts Gods people to separate themselves from their unbelieving spouses and children. Ezra’s comprehension of the problem is now leading him down the path of radical legalism. Indeed – this sort of radical Jewish legalism – will come to shape the Maccabees, the Pharisees and even the apostle Paul. But even with Ezra’s radical, legalistic surgery – the knife still does not go deep enough. It doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. Jesus himself hinted at the seriousness of the sin problem, He said if your hand causes you to sin cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out. This is how seriously we must take the problem of sin. Sin is not a small problem. Sin is detestable to God and it will ultimately take us to slavery in hell – forever. Ezra sees the problem. But not the solution. So with nowhere else to turn – Ezra suggests men, women and children who are not true believers be cut off. But as we’ll see the knife still does not go deep enough.
Apply: The problem of sin – cannot simply be addressed by trying harder, being more legalistic or even radical self-denial. God told the Jews that what they needed was for God to give them a new heart and a new Spirit. As the Jews return to Jerusalem in Ezra and Nehemiah (and try so hard to obey every part of the law) we face anticlimax after anticlimax – as they continue to struggle with sin and face opposition. You almost hear Ezra saying; “O what a wretched people we are – who will rescue us from this body of death.” (Rom.7:24).
As Paul says in Romans 7; “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory (over sin) through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The Jews had to recognize this problem with sin, look beyond their return from Babylon and to the coming of the Messiah. In order to save us from an endless cycle – sin, suffering and slavery – God had to change this heart.
(GOSPEL) God did this heart change by sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. We deserve to be punished for all our sin. But in His great love for us – Jesus died on the cross – to take the punishment for everything you have done wrong. Jesus did this because he loves you. Now this means that even though you are a sinner – you can go to heaven (by faith in Jesus) because he has taken your punishment. Now when you see this and you grasp Jesus’ love for you – it begins to change your heart. You begin to fall in love with Jesus for saving you and your love of Jesus now motivates you to do things that please Jesus. This motive of love is greater than the motive of fear.
The old Jewish motivation for avoiding sin was fear, the fear of ending up in slavery again. But the new Christian motivation for avoiding sin is the love of Jesus for saving me. Love is an infinitely greater motivator than fear. But the second thing God did to save us from the slavery of sin is that God gives us the Holy Spirit when we become Christians. The Holy Spirit helps us to be holy. The Holy Spirit sets us apart as holy from the people and values of this world – so that we are not so easily corrupted. The Holy Spirit convicts us and leads us into truth. So Jesus gives us a new motivation of love and the Holy Spirit gives us a new power to overcome sin and be holy. But this victory over sin and the endless cycle of sin – is only possible through the Lord Jesus. Trying harder won’t do it. Radical surgery won’t do it. The Jews in Ezra’s day – began to realise (albeit slowly) that they still need the Messiah to save them – not just from the penalty of sin, but also from the endless bondage that comes from sin. If you are here today and you know this battle with sin and you sick of being defeated by sin – I urge you come to Jesus, accept His love, accept His Spirit – and begin to walk in true freedom…
