Ezra 9:13-14 And after all that is come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass… I propound two things: First, an indictment preferred by Ezra against Israel; secondly, his pleading it for God against themselves. In the first he remembers God's mercy and their rebellion. God's mercy is laid down in the thirteenth verse, and that three ways. First, he shows that they were not punished without cause; secondly, that God punished them less than they deserved; thirdly, that He had totally delivered them. Their rebellion is comprised in the fourteenth verse, in which there are two parts: first, the sin; secondly, the punishment. The sin is laid down, first generally, "Should we again break Thy commandments?" Secondly particularly, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations?" Then follows the punishment. First, God will be angry; secondly, there is the degree of His anger, He will not leave consuming till all be destroyed. Before we handle the particulars there are two things in genera]. The first is out of the party, which was Ezra; the second is out of the course he takes, and that is humbling himself in God's presence. I. FOR THE PARTY, it is EZRA. Ye shall read in this book that he was a man that set his heart to seek the Lord; neither did he this only himself, but sought by all possible means to incite others to follow his godly example. Had all Israel been such as he, they needed not to have feared judgments coming upon them. Doctrine: Good men, though they be at peace with God, find cause of sorrow for other men's sins. Ye shall see this proved in the Scripture. The Spirit of God calls Lot a righteous man — yet this righteous man's soul was vexed from day to day with the unclean conversation of the Sodomites (2 Peter 2:8). The like we see in Moses (Exodus 32:19). It was so with the prophet (1 Samuel 15:35). The like we see in David (Psalm 119:136). May some man say, "What were the sins of the world to David?" It is true they were none of his, yet he thinks himself bound to grieve for them, because he knew they were displeasing to his Maker. We see the same in good Jeremiah (Jeremiah 9:1, 2; Jeremiah 13:17). O blessed Saviour, Thou didst mourn for the hardness of men's hearts (Mark 3:5; Luke 19:41, 42). Use 1. It shall be to let us see the stupidity of the sons of Belial. Though they have most cause to weep and mourn, yet they live in jollity and merriment, and are mere strangers to all sadness. Some of these stick not to say, What hath any man to do to weep for their sins? and that by their impieties they trouble none but their own souls, But I tell thee, O wretch, thou troublest not only thine own house and soul, but thou troublest all Israel, thou givest the saints of God occasion to be pensive for that which makes thee jocant and glad; and happy is it for thee that there be such Noah, Lot, Samuel, and David to mourn for thee; for were it not that some did mourn for thy profaneness, thou shouldst not live again to commit it. Use 2. This may answer a common objection which is put to the saints, because they be sad. I would have you know that it is not holiness which makes them sad, but the profaneness of the world (Psalm 120:5). Use 3. Lastly, according to the practice of Ezra, though we have made our peace with God, let us mourn for the wickedness of others; every one knows what a cause there is for this. Religion is out of fashion, and none are so esteemed as fashion-mongers, they be your only men now in credit. First, it is piety to mourn for the sins of others. Shall we hear and see God to he dishonoured and not grieve for it? Piety cannot lodge in that breast where such an ill spirit inhabits. A man will and ought to grieve when his friend is wronged (John 15:15). Secondly, pity requires this duty at our hands. I read of Marcellus, the Roman, that entering a city which he had gained by composition after a long siege, he burst forth into tears; one that stood beside him demanded why he wept. Saith he, "I cannot choose but weep to see so many thousand led into captivity." Shall a heathen weep for the captivity of men's bodies? and shall not Christians mourn for their sins which are enough to enthral souls? Thirdly, if we do not mourn for other men's sins we make them our own. Lastly, we should be moved to this duty by the blessing which attends it. What saith our blessed Saviour (Matthew 5:4)? And in Ezekiel 9:4 the Lord gives command to spare them in Jerusalem, that did "sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst thereof." II. THE COURSE WHICH EZRA TAKES — and that is humbling him self by confession, weeping, and supplication. The main receipt in time of affliction is humiliation. This will appear in God's people (2 Chronicles 20:3; Ephesians 4:16; Jonah 3:5; Jeremiah 14:20; Joel 2:12). The people of God have done the same when the sword hath been amongst them; this we find in Joshua 7:6. So likewise in the case of the whole Church (Hosea 6:1). The grounds they went upon were these two: First, they knew it was God's commandment — that place in Zephaniah 2:1, 2, is notable to this purpose. Secondly, the saints were sure that sin was the cause of all their miseries; that being the Achan which troubled the whole host, and the Jonah endangering the whole ship. What shall we think of a number of desiderate wretches in the world who, when they should be humbled under God's afflicting hand, sin more and more and more against Him? This was the sin of Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:22; Isaiah 57:17). We now descend to the particulars as they were laid down. We begin with the indictment preferred by Ezra against Israel, in which is remembered God's mercy and their rebellion. God's mercy is laid down in the thirteenth verse, and that three ways. First, he shows that they were not punished without cause; secondly, that God punished them less than they deserved; thirdly, that He had totally delivered them. First, for the first particular in the gradation of God's mercy, "Thou our God hast punished us" — that is, Thou hast punished us deservedly. Tyrants will and do punish men without cause; but the Judge of all the world never proceeds to punish but when He is provoked. In that Ezra saith, "Seeing that Thou or god hast punished us." Take notice in the first place of this observation. Whatsoever is the instrument, God is the author of the punishment (Isaiah 14:7; Amos 3:6). In 1 Corinthians 11:32 St. Paul there labours to persuade the Corinthians that God chastened them; and David saith (Psalm 39:9), "I was dumb, and opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it." This may inform us what is the ground of all the impatience in the world. There be a number which repine when God's hand is upon them. What is the reason? They stick in the second causes, and look so much on the lower links of the chain, that they forget Him that hath the top of it in His hand. Secondly, here is a use of admonition. Ever look up to God in all thy afflictions. Look to Him in thy fever, in thy ague, in the plague. Lastly, when the Lord s hand is upon us, and that we would have it removed, the nearest way we can take is to have recourse to God by prayer. God doth never punish any without desert (Genesis 18:25). We should ever justify God in all the judgments He brings upon us. The saints of God have done this in all times; thus did David (Psalm 119:75). In the second place, seeing God punishes none without cause, let it teach us patience under His afflicting hand. Further, we may observe that Ezra speaks not only of sin in general, but of "a great trespass." What was it? It was the people mingling themselves with the heathen. The doctrine arising from hence is thus much. When God arises to judgment, He ever sets Himself against the foul sins of men. Wilt thou deal otherwise with God Almighty than with thy physician? When he comes to thee in thy sickness thou wilt conceal nothing from him, but tell him how it is with thee in every particular. And yet when thou comest to confess thy sins to thy God, thou concealest those capital sins which have most offended Him. (Josiah Shute, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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; |
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