Should We Again Break Thy Commandments, And Join In Affinity With The People Of These Abominations?

[Walter and Deborah]

Tuesday 11-28-23 3rd. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Kislev 13 5784, 67th. Fall Day

Ezra 9

Israel Intermarries

1 Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, doing according to their abominations, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Lamentation Of Ezraa

3 And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.

4 Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.

God's Faithfulness

5 And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God,

6 And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.

7 Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

8 And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.

9 For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.

Israel Unfaithfulness

10 And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,

11 Which thou hast commanded by thy servants the prophets, saying, The land, unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

12 Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.

13 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;

14 Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?

15 O Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous: for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day: behold, we are before thee in our trespasses: for we cannot stand before thee because of this.

Love, Walter And Debbie

[tim_from_pa]

We are all human, and by temptation and weakness we break the commandments.  The more we allow God's Spirit to empower our lives, the less this will happen.  Unfortunately, there are those who would then call us "legalistic" and "trying to be saved by our works".  That's nothing of the sort.  Rather, the works results from God's Spirit the same way if one turns on the burner, the water boils (cause and effect) not the other way around - boiling water does not make the fire. That's all I think we are saying.  I do get concerned over those who do not want to keep the commandments justify breaking them "because we can't keep them".  It's still wrong, and everything stated in the Law as standards of righteousness still applies.  The difference is before Jesus Christ we tried it on our own, and as Paul stated, was futile and only showed our sinful condition.  Now, we have the Spirit.

[Who me]

19 hours ago, Walter and Deborah said:

Israel Intermarries

Could please explain the relevance of tribal intermarriage to us today?

I can see that in Israel it always led to idolatry, but just who or what are you trying to warn against.

[Neighbor]

20 hours ago, tim_from_pa said:

Jesus Christ we tried it on our own, and as Paul stated, was futile and only showed our sinful condition.  Now, we have the Spirit.

Actually  I have the covering; the covering of the shed blood of my Lord and savior Yeshua. It is by his sacrifice that I am made to be seen by God the Father as righteous, fully acceptable to Him.

With the Holy Spirit or not, my own sin is still there in thought and in deed too. I am not perfect and therefore not acceptable in the sight of God except that God has made it so. It is all of God and not of  me by any merit of my own.

[tim_from_pa]

3 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Actually  I have the covering; the covering of the shed blood of my Lord and savior Yeshua. It is by his sacrifice that I am made to be seen by God the Father as righteous, fully acceptable to Him.

With the Holy Spirit or not, my own sin is still there in thought and in deed too. I am not perfect and therefore not acceptable in the sight of God except that God has made it so. It is all of God and not of  me by any merit of my own.

Yes. exactly.

[Neighbor]

58 minutes ago, tim_from_pa said:

Yes. exactly.

Well said - Chuckle, snort!

[Know Jah]

Agree partly, Christians are not bound by the Law of Moses. However we can follow the principles of the Law. As long as we remain sinful we will continue to miss the mark of perfection.

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, Know Jah said:

we will continue to miss the mark of perfection

The "mark of perfection" always has been beyond my capacity even from within the womb of my mother. 

I cannot make that which is imperfect perfect. By definition it cannot be done. What is possible is for the reconciler to reconcile that which separates me from God because of my imperfection.

Praise Yeshua! He has made that which is impossible possible by His doing of his father's will. He has reconciled that which otherwise keeps me separated from His Father and Himself and the Holy Spirit.

[NConly]

Follow the commandments that Jesus spoke from is own mouth not the old law.

[Walter and Deborah]

On 11/29/2023 at 2:14 AM, Who me said:

Could please explain the relevance of tribal intermarriage to us today?

I can see that in Israel it always led to idolatry, but just who or what are you trying to warn against.

Just what the scriptures are saying.

Love, Walter