Today as in Ezra's Day

 Deuteronomy 7:7-9 (NIV) The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors … Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. 

            Our thoughts today are still based on the Book of Ezra. The problem in Ezra’s day was an accumulation of years of infidelity as the people of God chose repeatedly to violate their covenant with God. God had repeatedly given instructions to remain faithful to him alone—monotheistic—belief in God as the one true, Almighty God. His people were to be called by his name and not to adopt the polytheistic customs of the nations around them, not to intermingle in marriage, not to join their multi-god-oriented customs. God’s people were to remain purely devoted to him.

Exodus 34:12-17 (NIV)  Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. … Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same. Do not make any idols.

Deuteronomy 6:12-16, and 7:3-4 (NIV) …be careful that you do not forget the LORD …Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God … Do not put the LORD your God to the test… [and]  Do not  intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods.

            Fast-forward to Ezra’s day:

Ezra 9:1-2 (NIV) …The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices… [They] have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.

            Now I can guess by this time you think I might be totally off-base. You are probably thinking, “That was then, this is now.” Back then, under the old covenant, races were not to intermingle. And you probably want to remind me that we are no longer under the Old Testament covenant…that now we are under the new covenant of Jesus Christ and there are no longer any cultural restrictions:

Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV)  So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

            YES! I agree! However, here’s where the “rubber meets the road” and we have the same problem today as existed in Ezra’s day. It isn’t so much a mixing of cultures or intermarriages, but it is the problem of diluting our faithfulness to the one, true, Almighty God. We water down truth. We accept things we know to be detestable to our God and make excuses for what we know is absolutely wrong. We succumb to the woke culture of the day with an “oh-well-can’t-do-anything-about-it-now” attitude. We fail to remain faithful. We fail to be steadfast. We fail to be a holy people—separated and set apart from worldly idolatry. And as it was in Ezra’s day, we allow “the leaders and officials” to lead the way in this unfaithfulness.

Ezra 9:6, 13 (NIV) I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. … What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt...

            This Easter Sunday, as you celebrate with egg hunts and party cakes; perhaps you should take time to renew your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Perhaps we all need to repent for the things which draw us away from faithfulness and steadfastness in service to the one and only, true Lord God Almighty. Perhaps it is time to shun—put away—have nothing to do with—the wokeness and watered-down-ness of the world around us. Perhaps it is time to stand up for the Christ who laid down his life for us.

Gracious Heavenly Father,

            Forgive us for failure to recognize how deep is our guilt and shame. We have forgotten you and turned away to the wokeness of the world. We have substituted your Truth and replaced it with weakened, watered-down subjectivity of whatever suits our fancy. We heed your call to repentance. Forgive us, we pray.

            In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

 

The devotional Today as in Ezra’s Day appeared first on Write From My Heart at writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com

email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com