Disobedience,
followed by humiliation and confession
Alas! as soon as he can
look into these things, he finds the law already broken,
evil already come in. The people of Israel had not kept
themselves separate from the people of the lands, and
even the princes and rulers had been chief in this
trespass. Ezra is confounded at this, and remains
overwhelmed with grief the whole day. Can it be that the
remnant, whom God had snatched, as it were, from the
fire, have so soon forgotten the hand that delivered
them, and married the daughters of a strange god? Those
who trembled at Jehovah's word having assembled with him,
Ezra humbles himself on account of it. At the time of the
evening sacrifice, he pours out the deep sorrows of his
heart before the Lord. A great multitude have their
hearts touched by grace. There is no prophetic answer, as
so often before had happened in similar circumstances;
but there is an answer from God in the hearts of the
guilty. "We have sinned," said one among them;
"yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this
thing." And they set themselves heartily to the
work. Israel is summoned, each one under pain of
exclusion, to come up to Jerusalem, and they assembled at
the time of rain, for the matter was urgent; and the
congregation acknowledge it to be their duty to conform
to the law. Under the hand of Ezra, and by the diligence
of those who were appointed to this work, it was
accomplished in two months. As for all those who had
taken strange wives, they gave their hand that they would
put away their wives: they confessed their sin and
offered a ram for this trespass.
Separation from
all who are not the people of God
Once more we find that
that which characterises the operation of the Spirit of
God, and the intervention of God among His people, with
respect to their walk and moral condition, is separation
from all who are not the people of God as they were.
Those of the priestly family who were unable to produce
their genealogy had been excluded from the priesthood as
polluted; and those among the people who were in the same
case were not acknowledged. They positively refuse any
participation in the work to the people of the land who
wished to join them in building the temple; and, finally,
with respect to their own wives, several of whom had
borne them children, they have to put them away, and to
separate themselves, at whatever cost, from all that was
not Israel. It is this which characterises faithfulness
in a position like theirs; that is, a remnant come out
from Babylon, and occupied in restoring the temple and
service of God, according to that which yet remained to
them.
God's unfailing
comfort in His compassion
Moreover, we see that God
did not fail to comfort them by His testimony—sweet
and precious consolation! But the power of the Gentiles
was there. That which appertained to authority and the
throne at Jerusalem, and to the power of ordaining, which
belonged to it, was not re-established. The public
sanction of God was not granted. Nevertheless, God
blessed the remnant of His people, when they were
faithful; and the most prominent thing, and that which
should dwell on our hearts, is the grace which, in the
midst of such ruin, and in the presence of the Gentile
throne set up through Israel's sin, could still bless His
people, though acknowledging the Gentile throne, which
God had established in judgment upon them. Their position
is clearly and touchingly stated in chapter 9: 8, 9. [1]
It is a solemn season,
when God, in His compassion, encourages and sustains the
little remnant of His people in the midst of their
difficulties; and owns them, as far as possible, after
the ruin which their unfaithfulness has brought upon
them—such ruin that God had been constrained to say
of them, Lo-ammi.
It is most afflicting to
see the people, after such grace as this, plunging again
into fresh unfaithfulness and departure from God. But
such is God, and such is man.
God's everlasting
mercy and His ways to the coming of Messiah
We must ever bear in mind
that Israel was an earthly people, and their full place
in blessing now [2]
that of the seat of God's power in righteousness upon
earth, so that their relationship to another power, now
set up among the Gentiles, was peculiar. But, if this be
borne in mind in the application of the contents to other
circumstances, the instructions afforded by this book are
extremely interesting, as exhibiting the principles of
conduct in which faith is displayed in the difficulties
connected with a partial restoration from a ruined state,
the dependence on God by which man is sustained in the
midst of these difficulties, God's own ways in respect to
His servants, and the absence of all pretensions to
re-establish what could not be set up in power. Besides
this, we have to view the Book of Ezra as giving that
peculiar display of God's mercy and ways which left the
rod of Judah subsisting till Shiloh came. No Shechinah
was in the temple; no Urim and Thummim with the priest.
But there was a sovereign intervention of God in that
mercy which endures for ever, so that occasion was given
to Messiah's coming according to the promises made to the
fathers. The judgment of the Gentile power of Babylon
carried with it the witness of a better deliverance, but
for this the full time of God's purposes was to be
awaited.
[1]
Only for 'were' in verse 9, we must read 'are.'
[2] I say "now," because,
till Samuel's time, Israel was called to be blessed in
obedience under priesthood, God being their King. But
after David's time in view of Christ, the nation became
the seat of God's power in righteousness, so far as it
enjoyed the blessing.
Ezra 9 Bible Commentary
John Darby’s Synopsis
Alas! as soon as he can look into these things, he finds the law already broken, evil already come in. The people of Israel had not kept themselves separate from the people of the lands, and even the princes and rulers had been chief in this trespass. Ezra is confounded at this, and remains overwhelmed with grief the whole day. Can it be that the remnant, whom God had snatched, as it were, from the fire, have so soon forgotten the hand that delivered them, and married the daughters of a strange god? Those who trembled at Jehovah's word having assembled with him, Ezra humbles himself on account of it. At the time of the evening sacrifice, he pours out the deep sorrows of his heart before the Lord. A great multitude have their hearts touched by grace. There is no prophetic answer, as so often before had happened in similar circumstances; but there is an answer from God in the hearts of the guilty. "We have sinned," said one among them; "yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing." And they set themselves heartily to the work. Israel is summoned, each one under pain of exclusion, to come up to Jerusalem, and they assembled at the time of rain, for the matter was urgent; and the congregation acknowledge it to be their duty to conform to the law. Under the hand of Ezra, and by the diligence of those who were appointed to this work, it was accomplished in two months. As for all those who had taken strange wives, they gave their hand that they would put away their wives: they confessed their sin and offered a ram for this trespass.
Separation from all who are not the people of God
Once more we find that that which characterises the operation of the Spirit of God, and the intervention of God among His people, with respect to their walk and moral condition, is separation from all who are not the people of God as they were. Those of the priestly family who were unable to produce their genealogy had been excluded from the priesthood as polluted; and those among the people who were in the same case were not acknowledged. They positively refuse any participation in the work to the people of the land who wished to join them in building the temple; and, finally, with respect to their own wives, several of whom had borne them children, they have to put them away, and to separate themselves, at whatever cost, from all that was not Israel. It is this which characterises faithfulness in a position like theirs; that is, a remnant come out from Babylon, and occupied in restoring the temple and service of God, according to that which yet remained to them.
God's unfailing comfort in His compassion
Moreover, we see that God did not fail to comfort them by His testimony—sweet and precious consolation! But the power of the Gentiles was there. That which appertained to authority and the throne at Jerusalem, and to the power of ordaining, which belonged to it, was not re-established. The public sanction of God was not granted. Nevertheless, God blessed the remnant of His people, when they were faithful; and the most prominent thing, and that which should dwell on our hearts, is the grace which, in the midst of such ruin, and in the presence of the Gentile throne set up through Israel's sin, could still bless His people, though acknowledging the Gentile throne, which God had established in judgment upon them. Their position is clearly and touchingly stated in chapter 9: 8, 9. [1]
It is a solemn season, when God, in His compassion, encourages and sustains the little remnant of His people in the midst of their difficulties; and owns them, as far as possible, after the ruin which their unfaithfulness has brought upon them—such ruin that God had been constrained to say of them, Lo-ammi.
It is most afflicting to see the people, after such grace as this, plunging again into fresh unfaithfulness and departure from God. But such is God, and such is man.
God's everlasting mercy and His ways to the coming of Messiah
We must ever bear in mind that Israel was an earthly people, and their full place in blessing now [2] that of the seat of God's power in righteousness upon earth, so that their relationship to another power, now set up among the Gentiles, was peculiar. But, if this be borne in mind in the application of the contents to other circumstances, the instructions afforded by this book are extremely interesting, as exhibiting the principles of conduct in which faith is displayed in the difficulties connected with a partial restoration from a ruined state, the dependence on God by which man is sustained in the midst of these difficulties, God's own ways in respect to His servants, and the absence of all pretensions to re-establish what could not be set up in power. Besides this, we have to view the Book of Ezra as giving that peculiar display of God's mercy and ways which left the rod of Judah subsisting till Shiloh came. No Shechinah was in the temple; no Urim and Thummim with the priest. But there was a sovereign intervention of God in that mercy which endures for ever, so that occasion was given to Messiah's coming according to the promises made to the fathers. The judgment of the Gentile power of Babylon carried with it the witness of a better deliverance, but for this the full time of God's purposes was to be awaited.
[1] Only for 'were' in verse 9, we must read 'are.'
[2] I say "now," because, till Samuel's time, Israel was called to be blessed in obedience under priesthood, God being their King. But after David's time in view of Christ, the nation became the seat of God's power in righteousness, so far as it enjoyed the blessing.