Sustained Freedom Part #3 "Seriously"

 

   

           As one that has had to hand down consequences for wrong behavior, I have struggled with lining up the consequence to the action. I have made mistakes being too lenient, as well as too harsh. In these situations, I have been blamed for the suffering caused by the consequences as if I had committed the wrong act. In this situation, I had to remind people that the choice to do wrong was theirs to make. Therefore, the consequences are their responsibility. I believe in the basic principle, that those who do wrong are responsible for suffering the consequences.

            When we find ourselves in these situations, we may be tempted to blame God for the consequences of our sin. Our culture is indeed one of blame. Do so, reveals that we often fail to understand the gravity of sin and the damage that is causes. In a world of compromise and the abuse of grace, may we take sin more serious.

            To learn how to do so we may turn our attention to the final four chapters of the book of Ezra. Here we are taught that taking sin seriously believes that Godly freedom is the freedom to obey God. In chapter seven, the Jews were once again free to follow the law of God and rebuild the temple. God’s hand was upon then granting permission and provision to return home and rebuild. The rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple, may be rebuilding our lives today. God’s hand is upon us and He has resources on through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

            Moving to chapter eight, we see taking sin seriously acts out Godly freedom in practical ways.  Chapter eight tells the story of how their freedom was enacted through a journey back to Jerusalem. They appointed wise leaders (V.15-20), humbled themselves through fasting (V. 21-23), acknowledged their dependence on God’s guiding hand (V.22), and made offerings in repentance of their sin (V.24-36). Though our taking sin seriously may look different than theirs it must be enacted in very practical ways. The failure to do so will result in a lack of growth. These practical steps must be applied with consistency or we will experience what the Jews experienced as recorded in chapter nine.

            In chapter nine, we see that not taking sin seriously results in the repletion is sin. Here, the Jews used their freedom to return once again to the sin that destroyed the previous generation. Being that some of that previous generation had returned with them shows their stubbornness to learn from the past. People today are quick to blame previous generations, but slow to learn from their examples. Our church is to be one that does the opposite. May we take responsibility for our own sin, and be quick to learn from our past generations.

            Arriving at chapter ten brings us to a place of much difficulty. Difficult because the consequences of sin seem very hard and almost unimaginable. However, we view this account, we learn that not taking sin seriously brings great suffering. In dealing with such difficult passed we must first as if it is descriptive of prescriptive? Though it is hard to conclude, most indicate that it is descriptive and heavily influences by cultural and issues of prophetic implication.  One way to deal with this passage is to ask why would Ezra agree to this action? The following are some potential answers.

            Ezra’s concern was the purity of the Messianic line. He knew that God had promised to being about the Messiah through the Jewish race and compromising national purity would put that in danger. Note that Ezra is human being an subsequently puts undue pressure on himself to accomplish what God promises.

            Ezra may have also feared that the worship of other god’s would return the nation to captivity. This was a real fear because that is exactly what had happened to the previous generation. Ezra was willing to lead in painful ways in order to protect the future and the mission of God. Another associated issue was the Persian system of land rights. If the national race and become mixed, land ownership may have been removed from the Jewish people.

            Finally Ezra’s understanding of the law caused him to accept this advice because it seems to be a more merciful option. The Jewish law (Exodus 20:3-6 and Deuteronomy 6:14-15) states that idolatry is punishable by death. Ezra had been given permission by the Persian king to follow the Jewish law (7:6). Ezra chose the more merciful act of separation rather than death.
            Today, we must deal with the issue of this passage in light of the New Testament and the fulfilled promise of the Messiah. Now that the Messiah has arrived and completed the work on the cross, things changed. How do we handle this in light of the New Testament. National boundaries were set for the provision of the Messiah, now all are one in Christ (Galatians 3). Now, 1 Corinthians 7:13-14 is now applied to marriages.

            With all this in mind, we can draw at least two conclusions. First, don’t blame the punisher for the punishment. Take responsibility for the consequences of your sin. Yes, they are painful, but pain is a great teacher. Secondly, we cannot redefine sin because we dislike the consequences. This is a very grave problem occurring in today’s church. May there be a revival of taking sin serious.