I‘ve recently been reading the book of Ezra. If you don’t know much about Ezra, here are a few details about him I found: “Though Ezra is not one of the more widely known figures in the Bible, he played a vital role in the spiritual health of the Jewish people. He spent his life as a priest, serving the Israelites during their exile in Babylon and as they returned to Jerusalem.” “This prophet of God was also an intercessor, actively seeking the Lord’s mercy for himself and others. He knew the power of confession and repentance to reawaken faith, something he longed for the Jewish people to experience.” *
Ezra was appointed to lead the second group of Israelites out of their exile in Babylon back to settle in Jerusalem. The temple had already been rebuilt by the first group that had been sent, but he discovered after arrival that their spiritual life was suffering because so many of them had broken God’s law by intermarrying with pagan peoples, which led them to worship false gods. When he discovered this he was terribly distressed & chapter 9:4 (most translations) says he was “appalled.”
For some reason, the thing that then caught my attention was 9:5-6 (NASB): “But at the evening offering I stood up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God; and I said, ‘My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.’”
I can just picture in my mind this prophet of God on his knees, with his arms spread wide & his eyes cast to the ground – unable to even lift his eyes to heaven because of the shame he felt for the egregious sins of the people. He himself wasn’t even involved, but their sin weighed on his spirit so heavily he didn’t feel like he could face God. That seems to be an overwhelming weight to carry.
Ezra was passionate about the laws of God & the importance of following those laws. He spoke to the people about the kindness & faithfulness of God then reminded them of God’s protection: “he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.” (Verse 9c NIV) He was successful at persuading them of their failures & convinced them to commit to doing what was necessary to “clean the slate.” That turned the page on their sin so that they could move forward in victory.
So how about all of us today? How do we handle ourselves when we fall into sinfulness? Do we feel the full weight of what we’ve done so that we fall to our knees with our arms outstretched grieving to the point that we can’t lift our face to God out of shame? That picture from Ezra is a strong example of seeking forgiveness when we are appalled at the sins in our lives.
There is no doubt that when we think, say or do something sinful we may feel a conviction in our spirit. It’s a clear feeling of what we did wrong with possibly a prompting of what needs to be done to remedy the issue that caused the conviction. The Holy Spirit is trying to correct us. With His guidance as we make the necessary corrections, our hope will be restored.
Ezra makes the resolution seem simple – “Now therefore make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do what pleases Him.” Ezra 10:11 (MEV) We need to repent as soon as we realize what we’ve done and remember that once we repent, we are forgiven. It doesn’t matter how simple or how serious our failures are.
On the other hand, Satan will do all he can to keep us in bondage to our guilt. He will try to bring you under condemnation by confusing your thinking about your sin, causing your joy to evaporate & leave you feeling hopeless. He’ll try to make you feel like the worst of the worse. But never forget, he is the father of lies – so do not believe him! Because, once we’ve asked for forgiveness, we don’t have to wallow in that guilt any longer. “He doesn’t punish us as our sins deserve. How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth! How far has the Lord taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance from east to west!” (Psalm 103:10-12 CEV)
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (Psalm 32:5 NLT) “So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty.” (Romans 8:1 ERV)
Dealing with shame is simply a matter of confession & believing what His Word tells us about our forgiveness – that in Jesus we are free! Free to live in peace & in joy with hope abounding.
Written by Karran Martin – October 17, 2024
[All bold emphasis is mine]
Karran's Korner 
Amen!
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Amen!
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There is therefore no condemnati
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