Return from Exile: Ezra 7-10 (7)

Pray Psalm 78.32-37.
In spite of this they still sinned,
And did not believe in His wondrous works.
Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
And their years in fear.
When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

Sing Psalm 78.32-37.
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
When troubled, they turned to the Lord’s loving face;
He met them and showed them His marvelous grace.
They spoke of their love for Him, yet in their heart
of His holy cov’nant they wanted no part.

Review Ezra 7-10; meditate on Ezra 8.25-9.3.

Preparation
1. How would you describe the contrast that appears in these meditation verses?

2. How did Ezra respond to this situation?

Meditation
In two places Scripture refers to God “taking captivity captive.” The first is in Psalm 68.18, where David recalls how God delivered Israel from Egypt and took them captive to Himself. The second—an echo and restatement of Psalm 68.18—is in Ephesians 4.8. Here, however, Paul used David’s words to refer to the exaltation of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit and all His gifts. Thus God has taken captive to Himself all those who were formerly captive to the devil and his lies.

The people to whom Ezra came had been released from captivity in Babylon. But that did not release them from their captivity to sin and self. They dawdled in constructing the temple, preferring to work on their own homes. They were briefly cowed by their enemies who made them stop working on the temple. And, rather than rejoice when the temple was finished, they grumbled because it was such a “small thing.”

They finally completed the temple, but temple worship still needed to be reinstated. This is why Ezra and his company came to Jerusalem. The people welcomed them gladly and rejoiced in celebration and worship with them, all the while knowing they were concealing an ugly secret from the servant of the Lord. No sooner had their great celebration ended than their ugly secret came to light. It took two months to negotiate terms of repentance that Ezra then administered.

The people had been released from captivity in Babylon and Persia, but they were still captive to self and sin. They would need a Redeemer greater than Haggai, Zechariah, Jeshua, Zerubbabel, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah to finally break out of sin into the true Kingdom of the Lord. Happily, Jesus came to “proclaim liberty to the captives” (Lk. 4.18), and that includes you and me. The Lord Jesus has set us free. Let us no more live in captivity to the world and its sinful ways.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Yet I AM the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt,
and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no Savior besides Me…
I will be your King” (Hos. 13.4, 10).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Rom. 8.1).

No longer captive to sin: now freely captive to Jesus Christ—forgiven by Him.
Our hearts bubbling over, full of appreciation and love—we praise Him:

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.
(Featherstone, 1862/Gordon,1876)

Resigned from sin, pardoned to serve;
captivated, we raise our voices to You—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
“We love You!” Right now, and always…to the very end (Ps. 119.112).

For reflection
1. We are either captive to sin and self or to God and Christ. Explain.

2. Obviously, it’s possible to go to church, worship the Lord, talk the Christian talk, and still be captive to sin. How can you know if that’s where you are?

3. What can you do to firm up your captivity to Jesus? How should others see that you are captive Him?

Many corruptions lurk out of the view of the most careful rulers. Some of the people disobeyed the express command of God, which forbade all marriages with the heathen, Deuteronomy ch 7. Disbelief of God’s all-sufficiency, is at the bottom of the sorry shifts we make to help ourselves. They exposed themselves and their children to the peril of idolatry, that had ruined their church and nation. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Ezra 9.1-4

Pray Psalm 78.1-7.
Thank the Lord for His faithful record of His unfaithful people. Pray that you will learn what God intends from the experience of those who returned from exile. Call on the Lord to take your heart captive day by day, and to use you in making His Good News known.

Sing Psalm 78.1-7.
(Foundation: How Firm a Foundation)
Give ear, O my people, attend to my word,
dark sayings and parables sent from the Lord,

things we have before by our fathers been told,
which we would not dare from our children withhold.

The glorious deeds of our God in His might,
and all of the works He has done in our sight,
together with all of the words of His Law,
would we on ourselves and our children bestow.

Lord, let all our children arise and declare
the truth of the Lord every day, everywhere,
and set all their hopes in God’s wonderful Word,
and never forget all the works of the Lord.

T. M. and Susie Moore 

Two books can help us understand our own captivity and lead us to seek revival and renewal in the Lord. The Church Captive asks us to consider the ways the Church today has become captive to the world. And Revived! can help us find the way to renewal. Learn more and order your free copies by clicking here and here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available free by clicking here.