Ezra 10:9-14: a reflection

9Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month, on the twentieth day of the month; and all the people sat in the wide place in front of God’s house, trembling because of this matter, and because of the great rain. 10Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have trespassed, and have married foreign women, increasing the guilt of Israel. 11Now therefore make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his pleasure. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign women.” 12Then all the assembly answered with a loud voice, “We must do as you have said concerning us. 13But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand outside. This is not a work of one day or two, for we have greatly transgressed in this matter. 14Now let our princes be appointed for all the assembly, and let all those who are in our cities who have married foreign women come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God is turned from us, until this matter is resolved.”

When Ezra confronts the people over the compromising marriages that had drawn Israel from God, the whole assembly gathers, trembling and rain-soaked, and agrees that the matter must be dealt with. But they add something realistic: But the people are many, and it is a time of heavy rain; this is not the work of one day or two, for we have transgressed greatly. So they propose an orderly process, appointing leaders and setting appointed times to work through the matter city by city, until it is resolved. They did not pretend a deep, widespread problem could be fixed in a single day.

Notice the realism and patience in their approach. The problem was real and serious, and they were committed to addressing it. But they recognized that it was too widespread and deep to resolve instantly, and so they set up a sustained, orderly process to work through it over time, rather than attempting a hasty, superficial fix. They took the problem seriously enough to give it the sustained effort it required.

That is wise for our own deep-rooted problems and sins. We sometimes imagine that a moment of resolve, a single decision, will fix a deep or entangled problem, and are discouraged when it does not. But some things, entrenched habits, tangled situations, deep-rooted sins, are not the work of a day; they require sustained, patient, orderly effort over time. This is not an excuse for delay, but a recognition that real change is often a process. When you face a deep-rooted problem in your life, do not despise the slow, sustained work of addressing it. Commit to the patient process, as the assembly did, giving the matter the ongoing effort it truly requires, and trusting God to bring it, in time, to resolution.

Lord, when Ezra confronted your people, they took the problem seriously, but recognized it was not the work of one day, and committed to a sustained, orderly process to address it over time. Give me that realism and patience with the deep-rooted problems and sins in my own life. Keep me from imagining that a single moment of resolve will fix what is entangled and entrenched, and from being discouraged when it does not. Help me see that some change is a process, requiring sustained, patient effort over time, and give me the perseverance for it. Let me not despise the slow work of real change, nor use it as an excuse for delay, but commit to the patient effort these things require, trusting you to bring them, in time, to resolution.