This episode gives an insightful look into Ezra’s leadership during the Israelites’ return from Babylonian captivity. We analyze divine intervention through the unlikely source of King Cyrus and how it paved the way for rebuilding the temple. As we progress through the narrative, the discussion focuses on the dangers of cultural assimilation and the dire necessity of separation to maintain holiness. Concluding with a powerful call to tremble at God’s word, this episode challenges modern-day believers to reflect on their own spiritual fervor and commitment.
This took place while the children of Israel were in captivity in the land of Babylon. The kings had come, Nebuchadnezzar, and then after that we had the Assyrian kings, we had the Persian kings, and the kings of the Persians and the Medes. Remember that God had prophesied through Jeremiah and said, Judah, your time is up. Now consider this. Israel, the 10 northern tribes, had already gone into captivity 150 years before. But Judah of the two tribes, the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, had not because they did have some very good kings. such as Hezekiah, whereas the northern kingdom had no good kings. They had some of the worst ones you ever heard of, like Jezebel and Ahab. And so now, even though they have gotten by down here in the southern two tribes, they’ve gotten by for 150 years, but they also now have fallen into the same sins as their sister in the north. And time is up. And God prophesied through Jeremiah, you’re going into captivity. You are going to Babylon. You’re going into captivity and you’re going to be in captivity for 70 years. God was very specific. Amen. When you’re a real prophet of God, you’re not afraid to tell the specifics. Amen. Sometimes doesn’t give specifics and he just gives generalizations, but sometimes he’s very specific. Amen. And time will tell whether or not it was God or whether it was the prophet. Amen. And so he had prophesied you’re going into captivity for 70 years. And now the 70 years were up. And now God used a pagan king, King Cyrus. He used him and God put it on this man’s heart. Now, this man was an idolater. He did not serve Jehovah, but he was king at this time. And God put it on his heart. to allow a group of the Israelites to return back to Israel, to Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple of God that had been destroyed by his predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. You know what? Maybe we just need to read that. Hold your place in chapter 9 and go to chapter 1. Chapter 1, Ezra chapter 1 and verse 1. Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The 70 years are up. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom. And he also put it in writing, saying, thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. And he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem. which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? Well, his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Now think about this. This is a pagan king, but God can stir the hearts of pagan rulers. God can stir the hearts of pagan leaders to do what he wants to do. He holds the hearts of kings in his hands and he turns them as he turns the rivers of water however he chooses to do it. The Israelites couldn’t get up and go on their own. They had to have permission to do that. They had to have the king write a proclamation and say, if God has stirred your heart, I’m giving you leave to go. And with specific direction, go back and build the house of God, the God of heaven. Amen. And so now this is taking place. And Ezra was one that led a group back. Now, Ezra was a Levite. He was a priest and he was also a scribe, which meant he knew the word of God inside and out because he was a copyist. Amen. And so he led a group of people that were dedicated and zealous to get back there and rebuild the house of God. And it was a four month journey. They had to travel to get there. And when they got there, they began to build the house of God. But the problem was that during their assimilation, those 70 years in captivity there in Babylon, they had become assimilated with the pagan people. We read all those ites. They had mingled. That’s what the word assimilate means. They had mingled with them and they had adopted a lot of their pagan ways. Marrying their women and giving their daughters to marry their sons and their sons to marry their daughters and vice versa. Amen. Amen. and this was strictly forbidden by god from the very get-go god forbade them to marry pagan people because why we read it he wanted a holy seed he wanted a holy seed people think when they marry sinners they’re going to convert them if you don’t get them converted before you marry them what makes you think you’re going to do it afterwards They got it now. Amen. That’s why Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6. Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. It’s forbidden. This is not a racial thing, people. This has nothing to do with race. Doesn’t matter. Because I don’t know what color they were. The Amorites and the Hittites and all that. It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t a racial thing. It was a spiritual thing. Amen. A spiritual thing. That’s why it was forbidden. Not because the Jewish people were a superior race. But because God had chosen Abraham and his seed from amongst all the people of the world. He actually called them his first fruits. They were like the tithes of all the people of the world. And he was going to work through them. to bring light and truth to the gentile nations amen and so it was forbidden and here’s the thing it was a lot different in this captivity than the 400 year captivity they had been in egypt think about it they were only here 70 years and they had intermingled with the people and married and now they had become totally contaminated but when they were in egypt for 400 years that didn’t happen Why not? Because they were greatly oppressed. They were slaves. The Egyptians looked down on them. The Egyptians didn’t want to mingle with them. They stuck them out there in Goshen. They put them in their own area where they were isolated and where they were only amongst their own people. And I’m sure it wasn’t a nice place. I’m sure it wasn’t like being at the Hilton Hotel. I’m sure that it was a ghetto where things were hard and rough and tough. They worked hard all day and out in the sun making bricks. And then when they went home, they didn’t have any nice place to lay down and rest and be refreshed. It was a harsh life, but it kept them separate. It kept them isolated. It kept them from being contaminated. It kept a holy seed. My God. So that’s why God said don’t marry amongst them. And instead, they not only did it, but the chief princes, that would have been the people in the line of Judah, the tribe of Judah. And we all know that Messiah was to what? Come out of the tribe of Judah. Shiloh. Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. But the leaders had even done that. And so Ezra gathered a group of people together. And here is what it says. He gathered a group together, everyone that trembled at the words of the God of Israel. Everyone that trembled at the words of the God of Israel. I would to God that American Christians would still tremble at the commandments of God. Amen. We need to tremble at the commandments of God that stands against adultery. We need to tremble at the commandments of God that stands against ungodly divorces that are rampant in the church and even in the ministry. Amen. We need to tremble at the word of God that stands against homosexuals in the church, on the platform, in the choir, in the worship team, on the instruments. We need to tremble. Amen. We need to tremble at the word of God that says abortion and the slaying of children is an abomination in the eyes of God. We need to tremble at that. We need to tremble when whole denominations and ministers are boasting, I believe abortion is God’s work. And I support it. We ought to tremble when we see this and read this. We should tremble. It should put a tremble up our spine and a tremble in our soul when we see this. We should tremble when we see ministers performing same-sex marriages in the church. We need to tremble at the commandments of God. These are not the commandments of men. These are not the commandments of men. These are not the commandments of some prophet or prophetess or some lowly preacher like me. These are the commandments of God. And if we’re ever going to see a change in America, then the people that tremble at the commandments of God are going to have to come together. Don’t wait for the church at large. We need people that still tremble at the word of God. These are the ones that Ezra brought together and spoke to. When I was preparing this message, I stumbled on a verse that I, I know I had to read it before because I’ve read the Bible many times, but it jumped out at me. Ezekiel 23, 39 says, I’ll read it to you. For when they had slain their children to the idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it. And lo, thus they have done in the midst of my house. My God, that ought to put a tremble in somebody’s spirit. What did God say? Christians that support abortion and those who protect it and those who finance it and now those who want to make Christian taxpayers pay for it come into church on Sunday morning. And lift their hands to worship God. And God said that to me is profanity. Yeah. I know it’s heavy. I felt it yesterday when I wrote those words down. It’s heavy. But somebody sitting here today is going to tremble at the word of God. And some of you watching us. Oh my God, I just got a shiver up my back. Some of you watching us are going to tremble at the word of God because you know it’s truth. I’m just the messenger, folks. I’m only the messenger. I’m giving you straight out of the word of God. If you don’t like it, you need to talk to God. Don’t be fussing at me. Don’t rant at me. Don’t call me names to get up with God. It’s his commandment. It’s his word. Amen. Somebody ought to tremble. And they can come cavalierly into God’s house and think it’s okay. It’s okay to support the abortion of babies. It’s okay to look the other way when leaders are saying it’s all right to abort them up to the moment of birth. Have you ever been there when a baby was born? Maybe you were there for your daughter or somebody close to you and you actually were there in the birth room when that baby comes out. There’s just nothing to describe it. Amen? There’s nothing like it. You know, when Sarah gave birth to her son, Braden, that was the first time I was ever in a birth room. Well, she had to have a C-section. So first, you know, they took him and they do whatever they had to do to him and all. And then when they came into the recovery room, they marched right over and handed him to me. I wasn’t expecting that. You know, but I guess by that time, Sarah was like, uh… And I looked down at that little face and to think that he could have been aborted a couple minutes earlier. Oh, the smell. Do you love the smell of a new baby? Nothing smells like that. When you get down in their little neck, you nuzzle their little neck. Oh, that beautiful smell of a brand new baby. To think that just a few minutes earlier, he could have been aborted. Somebody ought to tremble. Somebody ought to tremble to think that church people would support such a thing. I think my Lord is a good way to put it. My God. Yeah. Ezra had to call those who still trembled at the word of God. And I’m wondering today, can we call people together who still tremble at the word of God? We’re back in chapter nine. Let’s look at verse five. And at the evening sacrifice, I arose up from my heaviness. That word heaviness there means I rose up from my fasting. I rose up from my fasting. And having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God. And said, oh, my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespasses grown up unto the heavens. Says he took off his garment, his mantle that referred to the priestly robes that he wore because he was a Levite. He said, God, I’m ashamed and I blush. I am blushing. I cannot up my face to you to pray like this. I am blushing when I consider the iniquities, the transgressions, the trespasses of my people. They are so greatly increased. They grow up into the heavens. It reminds me when God said to Abraham, I had to come down and check it out because the cry of the wicked came right up into my face. Amen. He said, I’m ashamed. Oh my God, that some in the church would be ashamed. Oh my God, the church people would be ashamed of the things and the trespasses, the iniquities taking place in God’s house. Somebody needs to blush. Somebody needs to blush because of the sexual sins that are rampant in America. You know, before they went into captivity, as I said, Jeremiah was the prophet to tell him what was coming. And when Jeremiah warned them and told them what was coming and why it was coming because of their sins, he said in Jeremiah 16, 15 and 8, 12, were they ashamed when they committed abomination? He answered his own question. Nay, they were not at all ashamed and neither could they blush. There was a time that if someone said something sexually explicit, especially if it was especially explicit and it was lewd and unsavory, people would blush. They’d say, don’t say that. Don’t talk like that. Oh, I can’t watch that. They would blush, but not anymore. Not anymore. No one blushes at the filth. The filth, the images they watch on TV, and the filth, pornography. A lot of them are watching behind closed doors on their computers. Peter said in 2 Peter 2.14, they have eyes full of adultery that cannot cease from sin. They’re watching all this pornography. And, you know, it’s increasing with COVID-19. Because people are home and they’re on their computers more at home. Amen. You know, if you are married and you’re watching pornography, you’re committing adultery. Peter said they got eyes full of adultery. And Jesus said, if you look on a woman to desire her sexually in your heart, you’ve committed adultery. That’s Matthew, the fifth chapter. So all of you people that think, well, I’m not acting it out. I’m not going and, you know, hooking up. If you’re watching it, you’re committing adultery. If you’re married. And if you’re watching it and you’re not married. you’re still committing sin. It’s sin. Amen? Let’s look at verse seven. Since the days of our fathers have we been in great trespass unto this day. And for our iniquities have we and our kings and our priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands. We’ve been delivered to the sword, meaning war, to captivity and to a spoil and to confusion of face as it is this day. That’s why we’re in the place we are right now. Verse 8. And now for a little space. Grace has been shown from the Lord. Our God to leave us a remnant to escape. And to give us a nail in his holy place. That our God may lighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we are bondmen. Yet God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God and to repair the desolations thereof and to give us a wall in Judah. and in Jerusalem. So Ezra is praying and he’s saying, God, I know that since the days of our fathers, we have continually one after another going into captivity all these hundreds of years and centuries over and over again, you’ve allowed us to go into captivity because of our great trespasses against us, because even our kings and our priests, the men of God, the clergy, the ministry, have committed these trespasses. That’s why we’ve been allowed to be delivered again and again into captivity and why we’ve been in this 70 year stretch. But now for a little space, you have shown us grace and allowed just a remnant to escape out of this captivity and bondage that we can go back to Jerusalem and rebuild your house. A little space of grace. Oh, that God will give America a little space of grace. I believe that after 9-11, God gave this nation a space of grace. And for a while, people were God-minded like they hadn’t been in a long time. And for the first time in years, churches were filled on Sunday mornings. And people were God-conscious and people were trying to get close to God and return to the old landmarks. Amen, that they had removed. And like I preached last week, get rid of the double standard. Amen. and the bag and the weights that were deceptive. But you know what? It’s almost 20 years later and America’s more wicked than she’s ever been. Amen. People have forgotten all about nine 11. Do you know that sometimes on social media at nine 11 anniversary, when they post pictures of the two towers with the fire and the smoke that some social media cover up, say it’s too violent. Shouldn’t be shown. How deceived can you be? We need to see it. We need to remember. Amen. Lord, that you would give us a little space of grace. And what did he say? That you would give us a reviving. Lord, that you would revive us again. Revive your church. Revive means to bring life back into it. Where it’s dead. He said, you’ve given us a space of grace that we could have a nail in your holy place. What does that mean, a nail in his holy place? It’s a figure of speech that means that we could go back and build the house of God. You’ve given us a space of grace and you’ve allowed a remnant to escape because King Cyrus did not dismiss every last Israelite. Only a group. And really, people don’t realize, I think it was like 500 years before they all went back over a period of time. Ezra led some, and then 13 years later, Nehemiah led some. Amen? But he was saying, you’ve given us a space of grace, and you’ve allowed a remnant to escape this bondage. that we could go back and build the house of God. And what did he say? He said, you’ve had enlightened our eyes. Oh my God, that the church would have a revival, that God would enlighten our eyes, open our eyes, that the eyes of our spiritual understanding would be enlightened, that we would see as God sees, not man sees. Man is not capable of evaluating and assessing himself. I don’t care what the politician says. What does God say about America? I don’t care what this one says and that one says. What does God say about the condition of the church? Open our eyes that we may see as God sees. And may I add, let it start with me. Let it start with me, Lord. Open my eyes. Let me see my own condition. I cannot know my own heart except you shine the light of conviction into it. Except the light of your word shines in every corner and every cranny. Amen. That God would call a people to tremble at his word. A people that would be ashamed of the sins of America and blush at their sins. And a people that would say, Lord, give us a space of grace. Revive us and open our eyes.
This episode gives an insightful look into Ezra’s leadership during the Israelites’ return from Babylonian captivity. We analyze divine intervention through the unlikely source of King Cyrus and how it paved the way for rebuilding the temple. As we progress through the narrative, the discussion focuses on the dangers of cultural assimilation and the dire necessity of separation to maintain holiness. Concluding with a powerful call to tremble at God’s word, this episode challenges modern-day believers to reflect on their own spiritual fervor and commitment.
