Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Ezra 9:5-15
Ezra's Admission Of Israel's Guilt Before YHWH On Behalf Of The People (Ezra 9:5).
When the time of the evening sacrifice came, no doubt feeling that this act of atonement and dedication on the behalf of the whole of Israel was a suitable time, Ezra then rose from his sitting position and fell on his knees with his arms spread out towards YHWH. This presumably indicated spreading out his hands towards the sanctuary. And then he confessed before YHWH the sin of the people in the face of God's gracious love towards them.
It was a prayer that suited the particular occasion only, not of a kind for general use, and is totally an admission of guilt. He does not even ask for mercy. He just leaves what response God will make in the hands of God. His prayer may in fact have been longer, but the gist of it is given here, for it is not only a prayer admitting guilt but is also an attempt to lead the people into similarly admitting their guilt, and that involved awakening their thoughts to the truth of the situation. He wants them to see the stark reality of what they have done>
‘And at the evening oblation I rose up from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees, and spread out my hands to YHWH my God,'
He had been sitting there with his garment and robe torn (Ezra 9:3), in a condition that demonstrated his humiliation, and it was in that condition that at the time of the daily evening sacrifice, he rose up and fell on his knees before God with his arms outstretched towards the Temple.
‘And I said, “O 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 guiltiness is grown up to the heavens.”
Praying on behalf of the people he admitted to God the shame that ‘he' felt concerning what ‘they all together' had done. (‘I am ashamed --- our iniquities'). He was so ashamed that he himself blushed at the thought of lifting up his face towards God. And this was because the sins of the new Israel, (in which he included himself), had grown and increased over their heads and their guilt had grown even up to the heavens. ‘Increased over our head' probably indicates that they had got so big that they could not be contained within themselves but multiplied over their heads before God.
Ezra accepted communal responsibility. If Israel had sinned then he had sinned. He had not taken an idolatrous foreign wife but he shared guilt with those who had because he shared responsibility for what happened in the community. This was not just an ancient belief, there was logic to it, for the community should have done something to prevent it happening.
“Since the days of our fathers we have been exceeding guilty to this day, and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to plunder, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.”
By continuing in the sins of their (pre-exilic) fathers they shared their guilt, and they also shared in what had historically happened to them. It was that that was the cause of their present condition. For it was due to ‘our' iniquities that they (Israel and its anointed ones, kings and priests) had been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, suffering the sword, captivity, plunder and total embarrassment right up to this day. These were the sore judgments described in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, the curses on those who broke the covenant, which Israel had suffered again and again through history, as the book of Kings reveals. And they were still suffering under them to some extent. The sword and plunder were a common hazard at the hands of their adversaries and of lawless bands.
This must not be interpreted as signifying that they must necessarily continue to suffer for the sins of their fathers, for the very idea behind the putting away of idolatrous foreign wives was in order to ensure God's continuing favour. Corporate responsibility did not mean that there was no way out. If they repented they would not suffer for the sins of their fathers.
‘The kings of the lands.' This may refer to the kings of the great empires, Assyria, Babylon, Persia. Nehemiah 9:32 speaks of ‘from the time when the kings of Assyria oppressed us to this day'. But Ezra may have had in mind all oppressing kings.
“And now for a little moment grace has been shown from YHWH 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.”
But while they were still not truly free and were still in bondage to the Persian empire, God ‘for a little moment' had shown them His unmerited favour and love (grace) in giving them a remnant who had escaped from exile, and were firmly established in His holy place, where God could enlighten their eyes and give them a little reviving of life even though they were in bondage. His ‘for a little moment' contained within it the hint that it might not carry on unless they truly repented.
The remnant here is not simply those who survive disaster, as the word indicated when they were in the land, but has in mind specifically those who have returned to the land as a remnant of His people. He sees the people who have returned as very much the true Israel.
‘To give us a nail (or ‘tent peg').' This may indicate that God has firmly encamped them in his holy place so that they are ‘tent-pegged' there (compare Isaiah 54:2), or that He has given them a nail as a means of support by providing them with reliable leaders (compare Isaiah 22:23). ‘His holy place' may be the Temple, or Jerusalem, or even His land. In Psalms 24:3 it indicates the Temple and it surrounds. In Psalms 46:4 it indicates the city of God.
‘May lighten our eyes.' Compare 1 Samuel 14:27, ‘he (Jonathan) dipped his rod in the honeycomb and put it to his mouth and his eyes were enlightened'. It describes the effect of good food for someone who is very hungry. Metaphorically therefore it signifies being revivified in spirit
“For we are bondmen; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended covenant love to 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 its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.”
Yet he recognised that they were still bondmen. He was under no grand illusions. Nevertheless God had shown His unmerited favour in that He had not forsaken them in their bondage, but had revealed His covenant love towards them, either in a way that could be observed by the kings of Persia, or by causing the kings of Persia to look favourably on them. And the consequence was that He (or they) had given them a reviving of life through the Law, through the setting up of the house of God, and the repairing of its ruins, and to ‘give them a wall in Judah and Jerusalem'. This last probably signified either the protection of the Persian empire, or the protection of God Himself as a consequence of His presence in the Temple among His people, rather than literal walls. The word for ‘walls' is not the usual one for the walls of a city, but rather refers to fences round vineyards. Thus it indicates that Judah and Jerusalem are God's vineyard under God's protection. ‘A wall in Judah and Jerusalem' would be a strange way to refer to the walls of Jerusalem.
“And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, which you have commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land, to which you go to possess it, is an unclean land through the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, through their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their filthiness, now therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, nor seek their peace or their prosperity for ever, that you may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.' ”
But now his question is, what is he to say ‘after this', that is after God has demonstrated His unmerited favour in this way? For unbelievably, after His goodness to them, they have done the very thing that their forefathers had done. They have allowed among them the very abominations (idols) that God had commanded them to cast out. Thus they had forsaken His commandments by allowing idols to enter into the very houses of His own people, His remnant who have returned to the land. They are turning it again into an unclean land as a result of these uncleannesses which have their source in the peoples of the land, and this in spite of God having forbidden them to take daughters from those peoples for themselves. Only by not taking these daughters will they be strong and eat the good of the land.
The citation is put together from a number of references in the Law and the prophets, e.g. Deuteronomy 7:1 - ‘the land to which you go to possess it --.'; Joshua 22:19 - ‘if the land of your possession be unclean --' (referring to a land which does not have in it the dwellingplace of YHWH); Leviticus 18:24 - ‘the nations are defiled which I cast out from before you, and the land is defiled -- for all these abominations have the men of the land done who were before you and the land is defiled --'; 2 Kings 21:16 - ‘Manasseh shed innocent blood -- until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other --'; Deuteronomy 7:3 - ‘you shall not give his daughter to your son, nor will you take his daughter to your son --; Exodus 34:16 - ‘And you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make your sons go a whoring after their gods --'; Deuteronomy 23:6 - you shall not seek their peace or their prosperity for ever --'; Isaiah 1:19 - ‘if you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land --'; see also Deuteronomy 11:8.
‘By your servants the prophets.' Moses was seen as a supreme prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 34:10). Compare also ‘his servants the prophets' in 2 Kings 21:10. See also Jeremiah 7:25, and often.
“And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, seeing that you our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant, shall we again break your commandments, and join in affinity with the peoples who do these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you had consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape?”
Ezra then drew out before God the awfulness of what they were doing. He asked God whether, in view of the fact that He had punished them less than they deserved, after all that had come on them as a result of their evil behaviour and their great guiltiness, and had given them a remnant who had returned from exile, did He really think that they would again break His commandments and join in affinity with the very peoples who did these abominations? Surely it seemed impossible. Indeed would it not mean that He would be angry with them and consume them, so that as a consequence there would be no remnant, nor anyone to escape?
In other words he recognised that the people's guilt was so great in doing what they had done, that really they could not hope for mercy any more. Having been given a second chance by deliverance, they had failed to take it. How could they then expect anything but the severest of judgment?
“O YHWH, the God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left a remnant who have escaped, as it is this day. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for none can stand before you because of this.”
Ezra does not pray for mercy. He does not ask forgiveness. He instead reminds YHWH that He is the Righteous One. In one sense that leaves them without hope because it means that He will judge righteously as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:25). But in another sense it means that He can bring to them His righteousness (Isaiah 46:13), so that in experiencing deliverance they can say, ‘Glory to the Righteous One' (Isaiah 24:16). And it is this that Ezra is hoping for but dared not ask for.
He reminds YHWH that they are left as the remnant who have escaped as a consequence of His goodness, but immediately admits that that does not mean automatic pardon. He admits that they stand before Him in their guiltiness, something which means that none of them can stand before Him.
So his cry for mercy and pardon is unspoken and he recognises that that will all depend on God's compassion as the One Who has chosen His remnant.