EZRA 9:3

We will forever be grateful that Jesus stood in union with those for whom He so graciously died. His Word declares “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). As Jesus stood in corporate union with us, we must stand in corporate union with our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Let it always be crystallized in our spirits that we belong to one human race, one family, one brotherhood. We wear the same garment. We are of the same body with those who are living pure lives as well as with those who are wearing soiled garments.

In all honesty, this is the principle of restoration of the brother or sister who is overtaken in a fault (Galatians 6:1). We are called upon to remember ourselves, that we are also susceptible to the same temptations and shortcomings. This is the real principle of intercession; the intercessor must first identify with those for whom he or she is making intercession. She must see herself as one with those for whom she prays. She feels that the compromise is her compromise, that the sorrow is her sorrow, the judgment is her judgment just as Moses interposed himself between the descending wrath of God and waiting Israel in Exodus 32:11-14. May the Almighty give us such compassionate hearts again! We stand not aloof from other people but truly connected to them even in their pitiful transgressions.

Ezra, the priestly scribe, offers us an important application here. He was moved to pray because of his own spiritual sensitivity, his own sense of oneness with the congregation of God and his deep concern for how far the exiles had drifted away from their spiritual roots and heritage. His deep sense of grief is represented in the description “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 astonished” (Ezra 9:3). He sat down appalled and flabbergasted so much so that when others saw how intensely moved he was by the apostasy of the exiles, other spiritually sensitive people joined him in his penitence and grief for the sins of the people (v4).

The prayer Ezra offered was a corporate prayer. The spiritually sensitive leader pours out the cry of many hearts. His or her prayer becomes the prayer of the people. Ezra was not personally compromised in the sin which he was led to rebuke, but he nevertheless said “. . . I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face unto thee my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens” (9:5, 6). Note the words “our iniquities and our trespass.”

The uncompromised intercessor must never lose his sense of identity with those for whom he is praying. We are still members one of another, even if some have compromised the standards of holiness. When Ezra confessed, note the impact he had upon the people. It resulted in a phenomenal revival and transformation of many hearts (Ezra 10:3). We confess all our sins, even those for which we are not personally guilty. We continue praying for one another. We need more uncompromised intercessors in the Church of God – just like Jesus, just like Ezra! Especially on this Pentecost Sunday! The sins of those who have been carried away affect us all (v.4).