Ezra confesses Israel's sin
“But now, O our God, what can we say after this? For we have disregarded the commands 11 you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. 12 Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’
13“What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. 14 Shall we again break your commands and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving no remnant or survivor? 15 O LORD, God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
The facts were clear. Israel had no excuse. There was no doubt that Israel had flagrantly despised God’s law. Ezra demonstrated this by repeating the warning God had given his people. Ezra’s quotation of God’s warning is not an exact quotation of a specific Old Testament passage. Rather, it is a summary of many passages.
Most of the language of Ezra’s summary is adapted from the book of Deuteronomy. That whole book consists of Moses’ farewell sermons to Israel. These sermons warn of the terrible consequences of disobeying God’s law and promise blessings for those who obey. Many other prophets had repeated the warnings first given by Moses. But Israel disregarded the warnings and scorned the promises. The people went their own way. Truly Ezra could say, “You have punished us less than our sins deserved.” Because of his mercy and his gospel promise, God had forgiven their sins and reestablished a remnant of the nation. Incredible as it seems, in the face of all God’s goodness and mercy, the nation of Israel had returned to the same sin that had been its downfall in the past!
Who can comprehend the foolishness and blindness of sin? We must agree with the lament of Jeremiah: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (17:9). We are shocked by the stubbornness of Israel, but Ezra could pray this prayer for us too. We would do well to take his words on our own lips: “You have punished us less than our sins deserve and shown us your mercy. Shall we again break your commands?” How often we repeat the same sins over and over again, even though those sins bring grief to us and to others! How often we do things we know are wrong! How often we neglect things we know we should do! Yet God for Christ’s sake graciously forgives us, so that we can rejoice as David did:
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Praise the LORD, O my soul (Psalm 103:2,10,12,22).