Ob and In:
1. Repeated words: sins and shame v.6-7
I am ashamed and embarrassed v.6 (EBC) Ezra felt both an inner shame before God and an outward humiliation before men for the sins of his people, our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads v.6, our guilt extends to the heavensv.6, from the days of our fathers until this very day...our guilt was great v.7, because of our iniquities we...have been delivered over to sword, captivity...embarrassment-right up to the present time v.7
(EBC) After the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians in 605 B.C., the Jews fell successively under the Persians, Alexander the Great, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Turks, and the British. Only for about a century from the Maccabean Revolt in 165 B.C. till Pompey’s intervention in 63 B.C. did the Jews enjoy autonomy, that is, until the establishment of the independent state of Israel in 1948.
Reflection: Ezra felt the weight of sins, (even though he was not involved personally). How could we face God when we keep violating His Law? They felt as if the sins was like flood that covered over their head. From their history, they were a people of sin and embarrassment. How do I feel for myself? Am I not like them when I look back in my own personal history?
2. Put this in perspective v.8-9, Israel was still in a state of slaves, or in the state that was being punished by God. Now, it was a time of a little relief from that and they sins heavily.
briefly we have received mercy from the LORD our God v.8, has given us a little relief in our time of servitude v.8, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude v.9, to raise up its ruins and to give us a protective wall v.9
(EBC) The Jewish commentator Slotki (p. 166) observes poignantly: “A little grace had been granted by God to his people; a small remnant had found its weary way back to its home and driven a single peg into its soil; a solitary ray of light was shining; a faint breath of freedom lightened their slavery. How graphically Ezra epitomizes Jewish experience in these few words!”
Reflection: Are we aware of our situation? Do we not know that this is just a window that has been shut and reopen for a little crack? Am I aware of my brevity? Do I make the best of my life time, a life redeemed by Jesus and supposed to bring Him glory in this short life span? Am I aware of my brevity?
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