Willing to Openly Confess Sin! - Ezra 6-10

 Ezra 9:15 (ESV Strong's)

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.”

Willing to Openly Confess Sin!

Ezra was sent back from captivity to Jerusalem to encourage the remnant to continue to build the Temple.   God had put into the heart of the foreign king to release Ezra and send with him gold and silver for the Temple.  This was such a powerful and marvelous act of God’s sovereign rule over the affairs of mankind.   However, when Ezra arrived he discovered that many, if not most, of the remnant had futures broken God’s Law by marring foreign wives and having, therefore, mixed children.   Because Messiah would come from this remnant, it was important to keep the blood lines clean.   It was important to obey God’s Word (God’s Word had forbidden that they marry woman of the land).   When Ezra hears this he falls to the ground in bitterness of heart for God’s broken Word:

 Ezra 9:3 (ESV Strong's)

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.

Verse 15 of this chapter summarize Ezra’s prayer.  He publicly confessed the guilt of the people, but included himself in this confession. Ezra is acting as the High Priest and bringing the sin of the people before God.   They would rectify this situation over the following months (by putting away those foreign wives).  Ezra would, as the High Priest, make intercession for the sins of the people.  His open confession was a picture of Christ taking on our guilt, publicly, on the cross.  We have sinned and He openly bore that sin on the cross for us.  He was not guilty of the sin (nor was Ezra), but He bore our shame and our sin, on the cross, as our High Priest.   Note what Hebrews says:

 3:1 (ESV Strong's)

1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,

Jesus, like Ezra, took to the open to confess our guilt and shame and made it His own.  The difference is that Ezra offered sacrifices for the people, but Jesus offered Himself.