Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month. And all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and because of the heavy rain.
And Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have broken faith and married foreign women, and so increased the guilt of Israel. Now then make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.”
Ezra 10:9-11 ESV
Well, the exiles had 3 days and they made it. They rallied together. Assembled.
They sat – yashab (to remain, dwell) – in the rechob (courtyard) of Temple. Shuddering because of the heavy rain and the matter that al – hovered over – them.
Ezra repeated what they likely already had heard: They had maal – acted treacherously – and taken foreign wives. I thought it was interesting taken here is yashab again – to sit, remain, dwell
And that’s the core issue isn’t it? To remain and dwell in our sin. To stay connected to what broke us, to run back so we can abide in our disobedience rather than abide in Him.
Oh but you’re gonna love the solution: Make confession and do His will. Confession here isn’t what you might think it means. There is no groveling implied in the Hebrew. It is todah – thanksgiving.
And do His will? Will means favor, delight.
Obeying God in this way comes from a thankful heart for all He has done for us. And from that place it is a pleasure to obey. It is in response to the One Who has done it all.
And this One’s delight? For His people to badal – separate, distinguish themselves. To be different.
Oh, but praise, praise, praise Him that difference is from the heart. It absolutely involves changing our mind and going a different direction – the opposite way of our sin. But the source of this is internal. It comes from the Spirit in our lives as Believers. When we’re tending to these tender whispers in our own lives we have so much less desire to dive in to others’. All we can see is the growth we need and compassion for our fellow, needy saints.
I watched a beautiful portrayal of this sort of confession this week. The women of our church assembled – rallied together – and representatives from various stages of a woman’s life took the microphone and gave the rest of us an example of this Thanksgiving Confession. It was praise combined with heartfelt fears and struggles and outright agreement with sin. The Spirit’s presence was palpable.
What if we all lived in this way? With a heart of gratitude that takes all fear out of agreeing that our sin is sin. And a delight to, together, sense where He is at work and join Him in doing His will.
It seems to be how Shalom can visit our weary planet.