Ezra 9-10

Daily Devotional from Ezra 10—

Verses 5-7a
At the evening offering, I got up from my time of humiliation, with my tunic and robe torn. Then I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said:

My God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face toward you, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads and our guilt is as high as the heavens. Our guilt has been terrible from the days of our ancestors until the present…

As an American, it is difficult to understand collective thinking. When I think of sin, I think of my own guilt and shame. I only repent and confess the sin I have committed -- if even that.

Throughout scripture, individual sin exists and is spoken of, but I am always struck by the collective nature of it. Israel’s leaders often publicly repent of the sin of the entire nation. They even repent of their ancestors’ sins! Re-read that verse -- Ezra isn’t repenting of HIS sin, he’s repenting of the entire group’s sin! OUR iniquities, OUR guilt, OUR heads, OUR ancestors…

What if we could see sin as both individual and collective? Not just with those around us but with our ancestors as well? There would be much more to repent of. Just as God’s kindness leads us to repentance, our repentance will lead others to God’s kindness. And that would be entirely worth it, don’t you think?

Robin Miller