A House Committed to Holiness

We have seen the expression of priestly faithfulness on the part of Ezra, when hearing of the sins of the people of Israel of intermarriage, that is covenantally binding themselves to the women and false religions of the land of Canaan, he fell on his face, cried out to the Lord through prayer and fasting, admitted to the sins of his people and pleaded with the Lord for mercy. Repentance is comprised then of those parts that quiet the wrath of God, 1) admitting that you have actually sinned against God, 2) admit the heinous nature of that sin and what it deserves, and 3) plead that God might forgive and be merciful in His providence to not be so severe in His wrath. When priests do this on the part of their people, we call it mediation and intercession, but it must not stop there, the individuals who have committed the sin must also own it and repent of it that God might be merciful. Ezra 9 and 10, when taken together give us a picture of what it looks like when the whole people of God repent for their sins.