THE BLIGHT IN THE GOOD
Ezra 9:1-15
This is a true story about the people of Israel coming out of exile in Babylon and what they did shortly after.
We begin with interestingly noting that these people had it good, anything might be better when you're just out of exile in a foreign country, but
they literally had the favor of God on them. They rebuilt the temple and rejoiced in the feasts & festivities. All was going well and they had the leniency of the Emperor of Persia, who declared himself ruler of the world. Basically, God had given them the space to excel in whatever they wished. Natural response to that would be to give God the glory, which they did...for a while. A man named Ezra who was a scholar was leading the people in organizing their religious and social way of life. One day a report was brought to Ezra of intermarriages between the Israelites and the other tribes surrounding them. Now realize that the people were doing everything right this. It was a 9/10 situation.
How would you react to that? Brush it under the rug, maybe try justifying some things? Not Ezra, he knew a principle that later came to be written down later in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Bad company corrupts good character”.
What are you allowing in your life that's taking away your purity, your discipline or relationship stability.. what are you letting into your life to distract you from your purpose? I've had painful lessons from God that taught me to let go of certain things and people in life who weren't leading me to righteousness. This is what Ezra did after getting that report- ‘I tore my robe and my coat to show that I was upset. I pulled hair from my head and beard’. Extra, isn't it? Maybe not cause he was just from exile - a punishment from God to their ancestors for disobedience. He is fully aware of the consequences of getting pulled into intermarriages. The corruption of morals comes slightly at first. It's a slippery slope from there. I dare say that if you know the consequences of an action, you can understand his reaction. He didn't want the Israelites to be caught in a perpetual cycle of sin and redemption. He then pleads for mercy from God for them.
This serves as a marker to inspect our lives; checking if there's something that God has personally warned us off of. Don't harden your heart to instruction in the name of all justifications and excuses that are too many to mention. Don't go chasing waterfalls, it only ends up one way. If you've found yourself there, there's hope. Jesus came to free us, to wash us of all our dirt, to give good news of His saving nature. The grace to forgive and to teach us to live in the right way(Titus 2:11-14). The Holy Spirit guides us in this. Go forth allowing God to work in you.
