Ezra’s Prayer (Ezra 9:5ff)

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Ezra’s prayer (Ezra 9:5ff)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, June 14, 2026

Tony Evans shares:

It wasn’t too long ago that I was going down a one-way street, and I noticed somebody coming the other way. Obviously there was a problem. That car was going the wrong way. As I kept driving, I heard sounds all around me. After awhile it became clear that all these chorus of voices were trying to get my attention, trying to confront me with the reality that I was wrong. You see, I thought stuff was wrong with everybody else, when the problem was with me.

I suspected that there were two reasons for their concern. One is the damage that I could do to myself. The other is the damage I could do to others. They could have simply ignored it, and said, “That’s his business.” Or, they could do what they did, which is try to get my attention, because they understood that when you’re going the wrong way, somebody needs to confront you, so that you can reverse your direction.169,[1]

We are in a year-long series on prayer.

We are going to look at a passage in which Ezra prays and makes confessions for the people of Israel.

My theme today is:

Ezra prays for the people.

  1. Context:
    1. Who was Ezra?
    2. Ezra was a priest. Let me give you a little background now. In the Old Testament, Israel had their own land, kings, and government, but they didn’t follow God. Instead, they worshipped Baal. Baal was a fertility and nature god of the Phoenicians and many other cultures. Since Israel didn’t follow the True God, He gave them over to captivity. Around 586 BC, Israel was taken over by Babylon. The people were taken captive. Daniel was one of them. Then, eventually, Persia conquered Babylon, and God looked on Israel with favor, and the king of Persia decided to let the Israelites return to Judah and rebuild the Temple (Ezra 3). Ezra was a Jewish priest who led a group of people back to Judah.
    3. There was a time when Ezra had to go back to Persia. Then Ezra returned to Jerusalem a few months before this happened.
    4. According to the traditional view, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the seventh year (Ezr 7:8) of Artaxerxes I (458 BC), followed by Nehemiah, who arrived in the king’s 20th year (444; Ne 2:1, 11).[2]
    5. In Ezra 9:1-4, he returns and realizes the people of Israel married foreign women. They were never supposed to marry outsiders.
    6. Intermarriage was forbidden in Deut. 7:3–4 because it led to idolatry (see Ezra 9:11–14). Separation prefigures the need for uncompromising allegiance to Christ (Matt. 10:34–39; Luke 14:26–33; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).[3]
    7. Prior to the Israelite exile, intermarriage with foreigners was one of the things that led them into idolatry.
    8. Once they intermarried, they began to follow foreign gods.
    9. In verses 1-2, there were two accusations:
    10. (1) They had not separated themselves. (2) They participated in the abominations of the foreign nations. The issue not only concerned intermarriage, but also communal purity and idolatry (Ex 34:11–16; Dt 7:3–4).[4]
    11. This brings us to our passage. 
    12. Ezra 9:3 (ESV)
    13. 3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.
    14. These were traditional signs of grief in Israel and other nations.
    15. Ezra 9:4–6 (ESV)
    16. 4 Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. 5 And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 6 saying:
    17. “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
    18. Ezra is sitting in grief.
    19. In 1 Kings 11:1-13, we see Solomon’s downfall. But in the first few verses it specifically says that his foreign wives led him astray.
    20. Think about this: Ezra is tasked with leading people back to Jerusalem and rebuilding the Temple. Yet, they are back in the same sins that brought them down.
    21. Ezra is in grief over the people’s sins.
  2. How much does sin bother us?
    1. Let’s go deeper:
    2. Are we bothered because of the sin?
    3. Or because, in our opinion, or preference, it bothers us? Many times, the lines get blurred.
    4. I knew a church that was discerning sanctuary seating. They were considering pews versus chairs. The pastor said he really didn’t care which was chosen. A man came in and got really angry. He yelled and pounded his fist on the table, “They must be pews.” That is a preference issue. It is not a biblical issue.
    5. On the other hand, there are biblical issues, but we may think of them as preferences. This can cause us: 1) not to be bothered. Or, 2) to be grieved because of our preferences and not because of the holiness of God.
    6. Sin is cosmic treason.
    7. Sin breaks God’s heart.
    8. Does sin break our hearts?
    9. What about sins of omission? These are not doing things we should do for the Kingdom of God.
    10. Psalm 66:18 (ESV) If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.
    11. Habakkuk 1:13 (ESV) You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…
    12. God is holy.
    13. How do we react to sin?
    14. Do we grieve? Do we go to the Lord?
  3. Ezra prays to the Lord, confessing the faithlessness of Judah and the faithfulness of the Lord.
    1. The faithlessness of the people of Judah (9:6–7, 10–15)
    2. Their past sins (9:6–7):
    3. Let’s re-read verse 6: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.
    4. Ezra is going before the Lord like a priest. He is confessing their sins to the Lord.
    5. Ezra’s priestly prayer of intercession and confession is like Daniel’s (Da 9:1–20) and Nehemiah’s (Ne 1:4–11), in that he used plural pronouns that identified himself with the people’s sin, even though he did not participate in it. The use of “we,” “our” and “us” demonstrates Ezra’s understanding that the sin of the few is sufficient to contaminate the many.[5]
    6. He is ashamed.
    7. He didn’t commit the sins, but he owns them.
    8. I like what one sources shares:
    9. The train of thought in this prayer is as follows: I scarcely dare to lift up my face to God, through shame for the greatness of our misdeeds (v. 6)…[6]
    10. Ezra was sitting and contemplating the sin for hours. Now, he confesses.
    11. He makes no excuses. He is humble.
    12. Ezra 9:7 (ESV)
    13. 7 From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today.
    14. He is now speaking to the Lord about the past. He understands they were taken into captivity because of these sins.
    15. The faithfulness of the Lord (9:8–9):
    16. Ezra 9:8–9 (ESV)
    17. 8 But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. 9 For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.
    18. Ezra is grateful that the Lord has shown favor.
    19. God has left them a remnant.
    20. What is he referring to?
    21. Though they were conquered, the Lord left them a remnant. Israel didn’t cease to exist.
    22. God gave them a “secure hold” with His holy place. What does that mean?
    23. Literally, Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.[7]
    24. God is letting them come back and rebuild.
    25. In verse 9, the Lord continues to share that they are slaves, but the Lord has given steadfast love before the king of Persia…
    26. Notice, Ezra gives all credit to the Lord.
    27. Even though the Jews were still subject to the Persian Empire, Ezra recognized that God had blessed them and given them new life as a religious community. The word for “wall of protection,” gādēr, is generally used of a fence or a wall around a vineyard. Ezra here was not talking about the Jerusalem wall but about God’s protection for the Jewish community.[8]
  4. Their present sins (9:10–15)[9]
    1. Ezra 9:10–15 (ESV)
    2. 10 “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, 11 which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. 12 Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ 13 And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, 14 shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
    3. He ends this prayer as he began.
    4. He is talking about the sins of the people.
    5. He still uses the plural, “we.”
    6. “We” have…
    7. They have forsaken God’s commandments.
    8. NAC: He mentioned some of these commands in vv. 11–12 and referred to various passages (Lev 18:25ff.; 2 Kgs 16:3; Deut 7:1–3; 11:8; 23:6; 2 Kgs 21:16; Isa 1:19), thus testifying to the unity of Scripture. We must know God’s Word so we can heed the warnings that are applicable to the present dangers. We need to remember that God has given specific ethical commands that should be followed in order to do his will.[10]
    9. They intermarried, but they were told not to do this.
    10. We spoke about this.
    11. They weren’t to make treaties with the people of the land.
    12. In verse 13, he shares that God punished them less than their sins deserved.
    13. God gave them a remnant.
    14. In verse 14, he asks, “Shall we break Your commandment again…? That seems like a shocking question, one that anticipates a positive answer. It seems as if he is really saying, “How could we!!!”
    15. He fears that God will not allow the remnant to continue.
    16. God is not capricious like human beings; his anger is his just reaction to disobedience and evil.[11]
    17. Notice how he ends-
    18. 15 O Lord, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.”
    19. He is appealing to the Lord as just.
    20. If we read on, in Ezra 10:1, the people join him in confession.
    21. The confession was contagious.
  2.  Applications
    1. Do we pray in humility?
    2. Does sin break our hearts?
    3. Do we give all credit to the Lord?

In 2023, Asbury University had another revival. In the 1970’s, there were revivals at Asbury. Sometimes revivals are contagious. Sometimes confession is contagious. That happened in 2023 during the Asbury Revival. That also happened in Ezra 10:1. The people joined in repentance.

Let’s pray for revival here.

Prayer

 

[1] Tony Evans, Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2009), 66.

[2] Kenneth L. Barker, ed., NIV Study Bible, Fully Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2020), 752.

[3] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 818.

[4] J. Brian Tucker, “Ezra,” in The Moody Bible Commentary, ed. Michael A. Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2014), 650.

[5] John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Ezr 9:5–15.

[6] Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 4 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 74.

[7] Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ezr 9:8.

[8] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 153–154.

[9] H. L. Willmington, The Outline Bible (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999), Ezr 9:5–9.

[10] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 154.

[11] Mervin Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, electronic ed., vol. 10, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1993), 155.

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