When Ezra returned to Jerusalem, he found that the people there had compromised and drifted away from God. To understand Ezra’s response, we must think beyond our own individualism. It might seem strange to us that Ezra would grieve and repent as though he had disobeyed God himself. But Ezra saw himself as one part of a whole. And because the whole was compromised it meant that he himself was compromised. For the Jews in this time there was no sense of ‘ME’ apart from ‘WE’. If some of the people had sinned it was understood that all of them would bear the consequence. The whole of Israel suffered when Achan sinned (Joshua 7). Daniel was godly man, but he was taken captive because of the sin of his people. We tend to think far too individualistically. The goal of individual restoration is being restored to a community orientation and to community living. God is not just restoring people; he is restoring human family. Paul describes the community of God as ‘the body of Christ’ and each member as a part of that body. If there is some compromise in one part of the body, the whole body is held back. But there is also an opportunity here. When one person leads out in repentance as Ezra does here, the attitude is catching. When one person is lit up by God, he or she then becomes a spark that ignites the whole community. This is what happens here in Ezra 9. A great revival breaks out. And it started with the repentance of one man. That could be you.
Ask God to use you to ignite the faith of those around you.
Read Ezra 10
