Ezra - A Priest for the People

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Ezra 9:5-6a
“ Self-abasement ” “ mortification ” “ humiliation ” It is used only here in the OT.

In later Hebrew it meant fasting, ( “ The Scroll of Fasting ” ), a rare Aramaic document from the NT period. Thus the RSV translates “ I rose from my fasting. ”

“ With my hands spread out ” means with palms upwards ( Exod 9:29; 1 Kings 8:22; Isa 1:15 ).

Ezra’s prayer may be compared with that of Nehemiah ( Neh 9:5-38 ) and Daniel ( Dan 9:4-19 ). The following elements are included: a general confession ( v 6 ), sins of former times ( v 7 ), a recital of God’s mercy and goodness ( vv 8-9 ), a further confession of Israel’s sins ( vv 10-12 ), and a final confession of guilt and the appeal ( vv 13-15 ).

Ezra 9:6b
The first means “ I am ashamed ” as in 8:22.

The second means “ to be humiliated or confounded ” tying the pain that accompanies shame. The latter means “ to be dishonored, be put to shame ”.

Ezra felt both an inner shame before God and an outward humiliation before men for the sins of his people.

Jeremiah 8:12
“ No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush ”

Ps 108:4
“ Our guilt reaches to the heavens, but his mercy extends above the heavens “.

Ezra 9:7
Ezekiel 21:16 describes “ the sword ” ( Neh 4:13 ) of Yahweh at work as an instrument of his judgment; though the king of Babylon wielded the sword, it was actually Yahweh himself who exercised divine judgment.

“ Humiliation ” means literally “ shame ” or “ confusion of faces ” ( 2 Chronicles 32:21; Dan 9:7-8 ).

After the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians in 605 B.C., the Jews fell successively under the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks, and the British.

Only for about a century from the Maccabean Revolt in 165 B.C. till Pompey’s intervention in 63 B.C. did the Jews enjoy a self-governing state, until the establishment of the independent state of Israel in 1948.

Ezra 9:8
“ for a brief moment ” ( Gen 29:14; Lev 25:8; Deut 2:14; Acts 5:7; 19:8; Rev 8:1 ).

“Has been gracious” means a prayer for grace in all but two passages of its twenty-four occurrences in the OT.

Here in v 8 it signifies the Lord’s grace or mercy for the remnant of his people. In both cases ( “ mercy ” ).

“ A remnant ” is literally “ those who have escaped ” ( Gen 45:7 ).

“ A firm place ” is literally a “ nail or a peg ” ( Isa 22:23 ) or a tent peg into the ground ( Isa 33:20; 54:2 ).

“ gives light to our eyes ” means vitality and joy ( 1 Sam 14:27, 29; Ps 13:3; Prov 15:30; 29:13; Eccl 8:1 ).

“Relief” occurs eight times, once here and in v 9 ( “ new life ” ) where it means “ relief “ “ reviving. ”

“A little grace had been granted by God to his people; a small remnant had found its weary way back to its home and driven a single peg into its soil; a solitary ray of light was shining; a faint breath of freedom lightened their slavery. How graphically Ezra’s example of Jewish experience in these few words!”

Ezra 9:9
The Achaemenid Persian kings were favorably disposed to the Jews:

Cyrus ( 539-530 BC) gave them permission to return ( Ezra 1 ).

His son Cambyses ( 529-522 ), not named in the Bible, also favored them as we learn from the Elephantine papyri.

Darius I ( 522-486 ) renewed the decree of Ezra ( Ezra 6 ).

Darius’s son, Xerxes ( 485-465 ), granted Jews privileges and protection ( Esth 8-10 ).

Artaxerxes I ( 464-424 ) gave authorizations to Ezra ( Ezra 7 ) and Nehemiah ( Neh 1-2 ).

“ New life ” is the same word translated “ relief ” ( v 8 ).

“ To repair ” is literally “ to cause to stand. ”

“ Ruins ” “waste ” “ desolate places ”. The verb form means “ to dry up ” “ to be in ruins ” “ to lay waste ” or “ to make desolate. ”

Isaiah had prophesied that the Lord would raise up the ruins of Jerusalem ( Isa 44:26 ).

The city’s ruins would break forth into singing ( Isa 52:9; cf. 58:12; 61:4 ).

“ A wall of protection ” “ fence ” is used of a low fence around a sheepfold ( Num 32:16 ) or a wall bordering a path ( Num 22:24 ).

“ in Judah and Jerusalem ” indicates a figurative reference in the sense of “ protection ” ( Zech 2:1-5 ).

Ezra 9:10-11
On these two verses compare Leviticus 18:24-26; Deuteronomy 7:1-6; 2 Kings 17; 23:8-16; Ezekiel 5:11; Romans 3:19.

“ Polluted by the corruption ” is literally “ polluted (land), by the pollution. ”

Here it refers to both the corruption of Canaanite idolatry and the immoral practices associated with it ( 2 Chronicles 29:5; Lam 1:17; Ezek 7:20; 36:17 ).

“ impurity ”) occurs twice in Ezra.

Related Ugaritic culture reveal the degrading practices and beliefs of the Canaanites.

“ Their gods were like the Greek gods, glorified human beings, contentious, jealous, vindictive, lustful, and even, like El, lazy ”

Ezra 9:15
A proper sense of God’s holiness sheds light on our unworthiness ( Isa 6:1-5; Luke 5:8 ).

Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven I pray we feel sin is just as bad as Ezra dis and I get rid of the sin in our lives and to do this we need to rely on Your strength and the Holy Spirit’s direction. Thank You Lord.
In the name of Jesus. Amen

TGIF