Tag: repentence

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Ezra

Joy and regret

Joy and regret

In this passage, we see several things.  First, we see the restarting of sacrifices and offerings, and the first Feast of Tabernacles in years.

But we also see the start of the rebuilding of the temple.  And after the Israelites had laid down the foundation, there was great rejoicing.  In verse 11, it says,

With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:   “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. (Ezra 3:11)

At the same time, however, it says,

But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.

No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.  And the sound was heard far away.  (12-13)

Apparently, when the older priests, Levites, and family heads who had seen the original temple saw the foundation of the new temple, there was a feeling of bitter-sweetness.

Sweet because something they had loved was being rebuilt.

Bitter because its glory was nothing in comparison with what it was before.

Sometimes in our lives, we make decisions that make a mess of our lives. Through our sin, we tear apart our marriages; we ruin our health; we ruin our finances. 

When we repent, God does forgive us.  And he helps us to put the pieces of our lives back together again.  In this, there is great joy in his mercy and grace towards us.

But at the same time, sometimes we feel the pain of regret.

We see the great damage we’ve done to our relationships and to our lives, and though things seem to be coming back together, going through the process can be painful.

On top of that, what we seem to be rebuilding seems to be much less than what we originally had.

But let us not let our regret overwhelm us.  Once we’ve repented, it is not God’s desire that we focus on our past mistakes and the consequences that we have reaped.

Rather, he desires that we focus on the future, resting in his forgiveness and grace.

As we do so, he will wipe away every tear, and his glory will shine through us once again.

Paul puts it this way,

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.  (2 Corinthians 7:10)

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Daniel 3

When your life has been shattered by sin

Daniel

Shortly after Babylon fell to the Persians, Daniel remembered the words of Jeremiah saying that the exile of the Israelites would last seventy years.

With the seventy years up, it caused Daniel to hit his knees.

The interesting thing to me in this passage is that of all the Israelites, Daniel had the least to repent of. And yet he prayed for his people, in no way separating himself from them as he did so.

Instead, he counted himself among the sinners that needed God’s grace.

But in praying this prayer, I think Daniel gives us a model of how we should pray when our lives have been shattered by sin.

First, without excuse or any mincing of words, he plainly and openly confessed the sins of the people, saying,

We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.

We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. (Daniel 9:5–6)

Second, he places the reasons for their exile solely on themselves, not on God, saying,

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. (Daniel 9:11–12)

Third, he confesses that God is the one who is righteous, not the Israelites. He confessed,

For the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Daniel 9:14)

He then asked for forgiveness, not based on their righteous acts, but upon God’s mercy.

We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! (Daniel 9:18–19)

So often, when our lives are shattered by sin, we try to put the blame on anyone but ourselves.

Sometimes, we even try to blame God for our problems. We try to make God out to be unfair for letting our lives fall apart.

And even when we’re forced to admit we were wrong, we try to justify ourselves.

But as long as we hold those attitudes, we will never know God’s forgiveness, and our lives will remain shattered. All we will be left with is the bitterness of a broken life.

If we truly desire forgiveness and healing in our lives, we need to pray as Daniel did. No excuses. No mincing of words.

Just simply saying to God, “I’ve sinned. I was wrong.”

We need to admit that the reason that our lives are a mess is not because God is being unfair to us but is rather a result of our own sin.

We need to confess that God is righteous in all his judgments, and that we were the ones who were wrong.

And then, based on God’s mercy and his mercy alone, we should ask for forgiveness.

None of us deserve God’s forgiveness. None of us can earn his mercy. All we can do is humbly ask.

When we do so, God will reach down, as he did with the Israelites, forgive our sins, and make us whole.

How about you? Is your life shattered by sin? Have you been putting the blame on God? Have you been putting the blame on others?

It’s time to own up. It’s time to truly confess. For only in doing so can we find true forgiveness and healing.

Categories
Ezekiel

Accountable

Ezekiel

If there’s one thing I get from this passage, it’s that each of us stands accountable before God. The day will come when we will have to answer to him for our actions and decisions.

At this time, the Israelites were complaining by using an old proverb,

The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. (Ezekiel 18:2)

In short, “We’re suffering for our ancestors’ mistakes! Why should we be punished for their mistakes?”

But God clearly refutes this idea. He told them,

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son—both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. (Ezekiel 18:3–4)

In other words, while people may sometimes suffer from the sins of their parents (or others), each person is ultimately responsible for their own actions.

A person may be abused by their parents and suffer physically or emotionally from it. But how they respond to the sins of their parents is their own responsibility.

Will they continue in the sin of their parents or break away from it?

God then goes into a number of hypothetical questions.

He said, “Suppose a righteous man has a wicked son? Will the wicked son be deemed righteous because of his father?

“No. He will be punished for his own deeds, not blessed for his father’s.”

Then he said, “But imagine a wicked father has a son. The son sees all the wickedness that his father commits, but he himself turns from his father’s sin and lives righteously. Will I punish him for his father’s sin?

“Of course not. His father will die for his own sin. But the son will live.”

Then he brings up two other situations.

“Suppose a wicked man turns from his sin and does what is right? Will he still die? No, I will have mercy on him and forgive his sin. I will forget all the things of his past.”

But God says, “If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and starts doing evil, will he continue to live? No, he will die.”

We see this pattern throughout the history of Judah’s kings.

We have the man who turned from righteousness to do evil (Asa).

We have his son who turned from his father’s sin to do good and was blessed (Jehoshaphat).

We have Jehoshaphat’s son who turned from his father’s way to do evil (Jehoram).

We also have a king who had a good father, turned from his father’s way and did evil, and then repented (Manasseh).

What is God’s point? Why did he say all of this? The reason is found in his pleas with the people.

Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.

Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30–32)

In other words, “Take accountability for yourselves. Admit your own sin.

“Don’t blame anyone else for their sins. They will be held accountable for their sins, but you will be held accountable for yours. Instead of blaming other people for your troubles, repent from your sin.

“Ask me for a new heart and a new spirit, and I will give it. I don’t take pleasure in anyone’s death.”

Earlier in the passage, God added,

Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? (Ezekiel 18:23)

How about you? Are you blaming others for your own troubles? Are you blaming them for the consequences of your own sin?

It does no good to blame them, no matter how much they deserve it.

Instead, look within yourself. Look at your own sins. Repent of them.

And not only will God forgive you, he’ll restore you and make you new.

He’s waiting for you. What will you do?

Categories
2 Chronicles 2 Kings

Increasing our guilt

Trash

Hey!  Finally!  We’re back in the books of Kings and Chronicles…if only for a short time.

The story of Amon, son of Manasseh, is very short, but not very sweet. 

Like Manasseh, Amon got into all kinds of idolatries and unspeakable sin.  It’s amazing that he would do so, after he saw what had happened to his father.

But there was one thing that was very different between this father and son, and it’s written in 2 Chronicles 33:23.

Unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the Lord; Amon increased his guilt.

The result?  Ultimately, his own people conspired against him and murdered him.

I have to believe that there were prophets who tried to warn Amon, just as they did with Manasseh. 

But he refused to listen.  Instead, he “increased his guilt.” 

What does that mean?

I suppose one thing that it means is that he piled sin upon sin. 

When we confess our sins and repent, God washes them away and we’re given a clean slate. 

But when we don’t repent, our sins pile up just as a trash pile would. 

I remember visiting the garbage dump when I was living in Hawaii, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Another thing it probably means is that his sins got progressively worse. 

So often, when we commit a small sin, our conscience smites us, and if we repent right away, it keeps our hearts sensitive to sin and to God’s Spirit. 

But when we ignore the voice of God, our hearts become hardened and soon we can’t hear his voice, nor do we feel any guilt when we commit sin. 

The result is a heart that no longer cares when we do what’s wrong, leading to bigger and bigger sins.

A final thing it probably means is that by knowing he was sinning, he increased his guilt by sinning anyway. 

Sometimes we sin unintentionally.  It’s still sin, and it still must be dealt with, but when we sin knowingly, our guilt is much greater, and so is our accountability. 

Jesus said,

That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. 

But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. 

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.  (Luke 12:47-48)

How about you?  Are you confessing and repenting of the sin in your life?  Or are you letting it pile up in your life? 

Let us not be like Amon who increased his guilt and had to pay the price as a result. 

Let us be like Manasseh who repented and turned from his sin, and in the process, found God’s mercy.