1. Dealing With Sin – Ezra 10:1-17
I. Dealing with sin starts with the right heart attitude.
II. Dealing with sin needs a plan.
III. Dealing with sin can be messy.
IV. Dealing with sin is most successful with accountability.

2. Ezra 10:1-17
Now while Ezra was praying and making confession, weeping and prostrating himself before the house of God, a very large assembly, men, women and children, gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept bitterly. 2 Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope for Israel in spite of this. 3 So now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise! For this matter is your responsibility, but we will be with you; be courageous and act.”

3. Ezra 10:1-17
5 Then Ezra rose and made the leading priests, the Levites and all Israel, take oath that they would do according to this proposal; so they took the oath. 6 Then Ezra rose from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib. Although he went there, he did not eat bread nor drink water, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles. 7 They made a proclamation throughout Judah and Jerusalem to all the exiles, that they should assemble at Jerusalem, 8 and that whoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the leaders and the elders, all his possessions should be forfeited and he himself excluded from the assembly of the exiles.

4. Ezra 10:1-17
9 So all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled at Jerusalem within the three days. It was the ninth month on the twentieth of the month, and all the people sat in the open square before the house of God, trembling because of this matter and the heavy rain. 10 Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married foreign wives adding to the guilt of Israel. 11 Now therefore, make confession to the Lord God of your fathers and do His will; and separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” 12 Then all the assembly replied with a loud voice, “That’s right! As you have said, so it is our duty to do.

5. Ezra 10:1-17
13 But there are many people; it is the rainy season and we are not able to stand in the open. Nor can the task be done in one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter. 14 Let our leaders represent the whole assembly and let all those in our cities who have married foreign wives come at appointed times, together with the elders and judges of each city, until the fierce anger of our God on account of this matter is turned away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahzeiah the son of Tikvah opposed this, with Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite supporting them.

6. Ezra 10:1-17
16 But the exiles did so. And Ezra the priest selected men who were heads of fathers’ households for each of their father’s households, all of them by name. So they convened on the first day of the tenth month to investigate the matter. 17 They finished investigating all the men who had married foreign wives by the first day of the first month.

7. Dealing With Sin Starts With The Right Heart Attitude
The sin: Breaking God's Command - Deuteronomy 7:3-4 - Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.
The leaders were “foremost” in this sin.
Application: Do we have a problem tolerating sin?

8. Dealing With Sin Starts With The Right Heart Attitude
Ezra has the right heart attitude about sin.
Joel 2:13 - Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
James 4: Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
We must recognize that sin is serious.
Application: What is your attitude toward sin? Do you hate sin like God does?

9. Dealing With Sin Needs A Plan
Shecaniah speaks up.
His own family members were guilty.
He identifies himself as one of the people.
He realizes there is hope.
Application: There is hope. God is willing to forgive you.

10. Dealing With Sin Needs A Plan
Five keys of his plan.
Arise.
Take responsibility.
We will be with you (accountability).
Be courageous.
Act.
His proposal: Make a covenant with God and put away the foreign women.

11. Dealing With Sin Can Be Messy
This was not a “pretty” or “easy” plan.
God's view of divorce is vastly different from the world's.
Malachi 2:16 - For I hate divorce,” says the LORD.
Romans 7:2-3 - For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

12. Dealing With Sin Can Be Messy?
If God hates divorce, why did Ezra agree with this plan?
This was a dilemma with two bad choices brought about by their own previous sinful choices.
Bad Choice #1 – Stay with these idolatrous wives and risk the extinction of the remnant.
Bad Choice #2 – End these relationships, which is painful, but helps ensure the spiritual purity of the nation.

13. How Do We Apply This Passage Today?
Sin is messy and can lead us into situations from which there is no good way out. Avoid it on the front side.
Do NOT use this passage as a basis for getting a divorce. It is descriptive, not prescriptive.
DO stay with your unbelieving spouse if you area already married. 1 Corinthians 7: If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away.

14. How Do We Apply This Passage Today?
Be warned! Bad company corrupts good morals!
2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
Do not date or marry an unbeliever.
Amos 3:3 - How can two walk together unless they are agreed?
Seek a spouse who will encourage and build you up in the Lord (ie: a believer).

15. Dealing With Sin Is Most Successful When There Is Accountability
They made an agreement as a group.
There is mutual accountability (verse 14).
People were chosen to supervise the process and ensure everybody kept their agreement.
Application: To deal with sin, get accountability!
Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

16. Conclusion
No matter what has happened in your past, there is still hope!
God's grace is sufficient for you.
1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.