Ezra’s “Peg Prayer”
Introduction:
- Because of the disobedience and idolatry of the Jews, God had allowed them to be taken into captivity in Babylon in 609 BC.
- God had promised through Jeremiah that after 70 years of captivity they would return to their land.
- In 539 BC, Cyrus, the king of Persia, sacks the Babylonians.
- The book of Ezra begins with the decree of Cyrus one year after coming to power, announcing that the Jews are free to return to Jerusalem.
- The book of Ezra chronicles the establishment of the rebuilding of the second temple, begun in 536 BC and completed in 516 BC.
- The book of Ezra chronicles two returns of the Jews to Jerusalem, the first return under Zerubbabel, covered in chapters 1-6, and the second return led by Ezra, covered in chapters 7-10.
- In chapter 9 we are looking at a grievous situation for the Jews…they are intermarrying with the pagan people of the land.
- Ezra has come back to bring a spiritual emphasis to the Temple and the people of Israel.
Ezra 9:1-2
- They are already losing their faith in the Lord and are melding them into the culture.
- Even the Levites, even the priests are doing it!
- This is difficult, because even the leaders of the people are falling into sin.
- Today we see great leaders and pastors compromising.
- The people are struggling because their leaders are not leading them well.
- The people are giving their sons and daughters to the pagans of the land. This is in direct contradiction to the command of God not to intermarry with peoples of the land.
- “Holy seed”…they are even jeopardizing the holy seed of the Messiah that will come.
- As they are losing their separation, they are potentially losing something much greater.
- We are called to be separate from our culture.
2 Corinthians 6:17
Therefore
"Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you."
- We are called “to be holy as He is holy”. We called to holiness in our daily lives.
- We are separated into Christ, not separated from.
Vs. 3-6
- Plucked out your hair!! That’s got to hurt…if you have brothers and sisters you know what that feels like!
- 70 years of captivity, longing to return, and they are already delving back into sin.
- Ezra is not casual about sin…we are so casual about sin today.
- Where is the fear of God? Look what’s happening: 9/11, nuclear proliferation in Iran and the Middle East…what are they thinking?
Vs. 7
- He is talking about what happens when we give up our freedom, when we give up our relationship with Christ.
- Vs. 7 - The priests and leaders are taken captive.
- When you return to the bars, to the sexual relationships, you become captive again.
- You are plundered emotionally and spiritually…we become confused and bewildered.
- You are humiliated by the life you are living if you are found out. (And you will be found out.)
Vs. 8
- God is gracious and in the midst of captivity, plunder, and humiliation, sheds His grace upon us.
- He has given us a little bit of grace in order that we might escape.
- God wants to give us a fresh revival through His grace even in our bondage…to begin to set us free.
- He says that He has given us a “peg in His holy place”:
- This peg was the big tent spike.
- This was the lead spike that the Bedouin would use for a kind of cornerstone for his large tent.
- When the stake was driven into the ground for the tent, it was symbolic that God had given that land, God had given that place to dwell in.
- God has given us a residence; a place where we can thrive.
Vs. 9
- I believe that this is prophetic of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.
- Ezra is not discouraged! He sees compromise, He sees sin.
- But then he kneels down and prays; he even takes on the sin of the people.
- He is fasting and praying…he is not discouraged!
- He is doing something about it…he knows that God can bring revival and transformation.
- “Lord you are full of grace, you are building the wall, you have given us this place, you will restore us again.”
- Ezra issues a challenge to the people of Israel:
- You have been in captivity for 70 years. You don’t want to go back to that do you?
- You have been given this “peg”, this stake in the ground.
- God has restored you…don’t go back.
- Rather, let’s continue with the destiny God has for us…
- Let’s look at Ezra’s prayer
- First, he prays, “Revive us.”
- Second, he prays, “Restore the house of our God.”
- Thirdly, he prays, “Rebuild it’s ruins.”
I Am Calling This “Ezra’s Peg Prayer”
1) Revive Us!
· Revive us out of our bondage!
· Revive in the Hebrew, comes from the word michyaah, meaning to “bring back to life, preserve life”.
· It means to “recover ourselves”.
· We are never truly ourselves until we are found in Christ, for that is who we were created to be like.
· Revival is needed because we leak, we lose our spiritual vitality.
· The gravity of life is constantly pulling us away from God: the worries of life, the worries of our family, the worries of money.
· And atrophy sets in…if we don’t constantly exercise physically, our bodies atrophy…
· So it is spiritually. If we are not seeking God and going after Him, the old bondages return! The old confusion sets in again.
· We become like the seed sown among the thorns.
Mark 4:18-19
“Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
· It’s not the big things as much as the little things that choke out passion for God.
· John Piper: “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.” (Hunger for God, p. 14)
· Ex. I have seen how quickly I can lose my passion for Jesus through too much TV, too much of a hobby that pulls me away from the Lord…
· Anything that stands in the way of discipleship is an idol.
· Ezra is praying for revival…for each of us to take these idols out of our lives!
· One author defines what revival is…
“Taking the early chapters of Acts as our paradigm…the marks of revival are an awesome sense of the presence of God and the truth of the gospel; a profound awareness of sin, leading to deep repentance and heartfelt embrace of the glorified, loving, pardoning Christ; and uninhibited witness to the power and glory of God.”
· God wants to revive each of us afresh.
· This is the cry throughout the scriptures:
Psalms 85:6
Will You not revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
Psalms 119:25
My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the High and Lofty One
Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place,
With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”
Habakkuk 3:2
O LORD, I have heard your speech and was afraid;
O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!
In the midst of the years make it known;
In wrath remember mercy.
2) Restore the House of God
· Ezra longs to see the glory of God as it was with Solomon’s Temple.
· We long to see the glory of God in the Evangelical church in America.
· God wants the American church restored to its power and majesty.
· But the church cannot be restored unless the pastorate is restored.
· We need restoration within our church.
1 Peter 4:17
For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?
· We can’t bring the good news if we are the bad news.
· We must pray for the church in America to rediscover the Word of God.
o Great denominations have abandoned the scriptures and now condone sins that would have been unheard of 50 years ago.
o Denominations are being split and destroyed for lack of knowledge…torn asunder by pastors who are not commited to the inerrancy and authority of scripture.
o A restored church would have a restored pastorate of men who are strong in the scriptures and strong in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Pray for Mountain Springs Church to be a church that can be used mightily by God for His purposes.
3) Rebuild the Walls
· God has given you a “peg” for your life.
· God has granted you favor and the grace of God and He calls you to rebuild the walls of your life.
· Where have you allowed the enemy to come in?
i. Begin to trust God again!
ii. Begin and “power bolt” your days with the “232 Restart Plan”. (Every day - Two worship songs, Three chapters of the Bible, Two Action Points)
iii. Watch over your family.
This sermon was produced at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs, with Senior Pastor Steve Holt. www.mountainsprings.org
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