Revival in our opportunities
Revive us again series
Ezra 9:1-15 (KJV)
1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity (a-fin-i-tee) with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?
15 O LORD God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.
• The book of Ezra is the chronological successor to II Chronicles.
• At the end of II Chronicles, Judah had been finally captured by Babylon.
• Fifty years after capture Ezra writes -
• Ezra records the beginning of the restoration and return of captive Israel to their home land.
• In some ways, there are parallels to the return of modern Israel to its homeland.
• During the seventy year interval of the official exile, God inspired several prophets to write.
• Jeremiah completed his prophecies from the land of Judah including Lamentations.
• Ezekiel wrote his prophecies during this time as a captive within the Babylonian empire.
• Daniel also wrote from Babylon.
• Meanwhile back in Palestine, the small number of Jews not taken to Assyria or Babylon had intermarried with gentiles forming the nucleus of the later race of Samaritans.
• The land was little by little being claimed by neighboring gentile peoples.
• Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. The Temple was gone
• And little was left of what once was the proud nation of Israel.
• God had judged His people for their backslid, sinful condition.
And yet when you think about Israel and their SIN – you see a God that is willing to forgive and to restore.
Lamentations gives us the “weeping” of Jeremiah – because of the sad state of Israel in their sin -
Lamentations 3:19-25 (KJV)
19 Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.
20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.
21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
:: THE MERCIES OF GOD :: THE GRACE OF GOD :: THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT GOD GIVES US TO DO THE RIGHT THING
As long as there is breathe – there is opportunity to make right choices. For your family and your life.
A new year. A new day. A new hour. Gives us a new opportunity to make right decisions.
:: The decisions that we make in our life are more important that the time that we live
:: God gave Israel opportunity
8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, (He was bringing them back and setting them back in Jerusalem) that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
:: God had given Israel opportunity to do it right
1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV)
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (God will give you opportunity to do right)
:: He had been gracious to the Children of Israel
:: He had allowed a remnant to return to Jerusalem
:: To continue His Work – to build a wall; to build the temple; and to do the work
of God
:: to give them reviving – to give them opportunity.
Why revive us again? All of us need to be revived in some area in our life. There is not a soul here tonight that does not need some reviving!
1. Ezra`s Observation
a. Israel’s course
Ezra 9:1-15 (KJV)
1 Now when these things w czxc5hxere done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.
3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.
He learned that the restored remnant had intermarried with pagan people of the nations round about Jerusalem.
This was a dir Ωf2vwscd 3ect violation of God’s Law
Deuteronomy 7:3 (KJV)
3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
2 Corinthians 6:14 (KJV)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
:: But they did not listen to the Bible
:: They knew more than God`s Word – we want to do it our way
:: They is where they were 50 years ago – this is why they were exiled in the first place
• Their decisions – determined their direction – their direction their destination
• They were making WRONG DECISIONS
Your life tomorrow will be the direct result of the decisions you make today.
B. Israel’s Consequence
5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God,
6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
:: This is why we have had so much sorrow
:: This is why we have so much pain
:: This is why we have so much hurt – because we sin against you!
Ashamed and blush to lift my face to you – we need to be ashamed at sin (Sin is not a joke – it is a cancer that destroys peoples lives - souls)
2. Israel’s Opportunity
verse13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds,(70 years of exile) and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;
Opportunity does not cancel consequence
There is Mercy but there is still TRUTH
Psalm 85:10 (KJV)
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
They still paid the price for their sin – 70 years in exile (sons separated from dads and mothers)
David still paid the price for his sin. There was still consequence. Yet their was grace (David should have been killed) Sin still brought pain. It always brings pain.
Consequence (Mercy) They did not get what they deserved. They accepted their consequence.
Genesis 3:13 (KJV)
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
:: God’s plan never conflicts
:: You cannot say “well I cannot be a good Christian because of the wife you gave me – or the children that you gave me – or the JOB that you gave me”
:: Ezra accepted responsibility
God gave them a great deliverance. God gave them an opportunity to do it again.
Ezra is saying ’’Lets not make the same mistake again”
God gave us grace – God gave us a reviving – an opportunity to please him
Separate ourself from this sin. And OBEY HIS WORD!
The right time to do the right thing is always right now.
Recent reports indicate that George Washington, if he were alive today, would owe a huge library fine.
New York City's oldest library has a ledger that indicates George Washington never returned two books he borrowed in 1789.
We can imagine trying to pay off 220 years of overdue fees. Some have estimated that, adjusting for inflation, the fines would exceed $300,000. Naturally, the library is not expecting payment of the fines, but the staff wouldn't mind getting the books back.
We may never know why the president never returned the books. Maybe he wanted too – but he never got another opportunity!
Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
:: Make good use of the opportunity that God gives us
:: Now is the opportunity to make things right in relationships
:: Now is the opportunity to forgive that person in your life
:: Now is the opportunity to confess that sin
:: Now is the time to come and pray for those love ones that need the Lord
:: Now is the time to come and makes things right with your walk with God
:: Now is the year to live for God
:: Men, this year to stand up for the Lord in your family
:: this year change
:: this year of victory
:: this year is the year of spiritual growth!
:: GOD HAS GIVEN US HELP; GOD HAS GIVEN US OPPORTUNITY
:: LETS MAKE RIGHT DECISIONS!
Bernard Berenson, an internationally famous art critic, had a zest for life. Even when he was in ill health, he cherished every moment. Shortly before he died at age 94, he said to a friend,
