In the book of Ezra, I noticed how he prays and grieves over the apostasy of the Jews from the law and their mingling with other peoples. In doing so, he calls these other peoples "abominable peoples," Ezra 9:14.
It cut me. Pride has never been abolished, and in essence, each people considers itself better than all others. This is a given, with which people have lived throughout their history. And this problem exists not only among peoples. Wherever two people gather, there is also exaltation. The older brother regards the younger with contempt; the long-serving employee considers the young worthless; the husband exalts himself above his wife; the wife thinks herself wiser than her husband. This list could continue infinitely, since Cain.
In this light, one might attribute Ezra's words to ordinary exaltation of one over another.
I reflected... Behind this offensive word stands something far greater than ordinary contempt. The Lord warned the Israeli people not to mingle with pagans when they approached the promised land. And not because cross-cultural ties are bad. The problem was that they were pagans who sinned without restraint, did not know God and did not wish to know Him, replacing Him with foolish and senseless statues: they would carve them from wood or other material—and then prostrate themselves before the "doll," pleading: save us, god. Such crude paganism was not only foolish but a grave insult to God, who created heaven and earth. For this reason, the Lord did not permit the mixing of Israelites with surrounding peoples, lest, becoming kin, they abandon the living God and cling to pagan foolishness, which has no justification.
Abominable sins make a people abominable. And this is true. As unpleasant as it is to acknowledge, we are all descendants of these abominable peoples: pagans, crude idolaters, and desperate sinners who refuse to know God. Though we, as representatives of different nations and ethnic groups, hold high opinions of ourselves, we must admit that in ourselves we are merely abominable sinners. Modern experts of the human soul will, of course, disagree, saying one cannot lower self-esteem, that man sounds proud. But no matter how you value an old, rusty, broken-down car—its place is only in the scrap metal yard.
Now comes the most important, amazing, and wonderful part. Ezra, to put it mildly, did not flatter us, and the subsequent generations of his kinsmen are not particularly well-disposed toward us either. But God so loved the world—and abominable peoples too—that He did not disdain us. He turned His attention to us and sent His Son to pull us out of the filth and save us!
"Did not disdain"—these are powerful words. He did not sneer at us, did not spit in our direction, did not turn away from us saying, "They are not with Me," but descended to us from the pure heavens into the very uncleanness.
We, accustomed to civilization, do not even think about where all our filth goes, but sometimes sewers become clogged and someone must descend into them. No secret here—few wish to do so. The very thought of it already stinks. "Did not disdain"—means He descended into unclean earth, cleared away our sins, and took them upon Himself. This is far more than physical suffering, which I, naturally, in no way diminish.
Thus, from these abominable peoples Christ creates for Himself a Church, His bride—this is unsurpassed grace!!!
Now we are no longer strangers, but God's own. Ponder these words! Imagine a rejected orphan adopted by the most influential family in the city—what feelings overwhelm him?! (Remember Grisha the Nameless, who became Grisha the Notable when adopted by a man named Notable?)
Me—nameless, filthy, and perished sinner—Christ found, picked up, cleaned off, and gave me a new name—Notable, that is, one who has a name, one who possesses an estate. Who am I? One representative of an "abominable people" (forgive me, my kinsmen and countrymen who think otherwise of themselves), whom God has made a representative of the chosen people, the holy nation, a people set apart as His treasure, according to the words of the Apostle Peter. How much joy, happiness, peace, blessedness is in this (oh, if only it could fit into words!), how much gratitude toward my Lord and Savior!
To the degree that we were humiliated as "abominable peoples," to that degree and far more, we are now exalted, having become God's people—such an honor!!! In this there is nothing whatsoever of our (my) merit; it is exclusively God's great grace. Glory, praise, and worship to Him.
We live, awaiting Christ, on earth defiled and sinful, where lawlessness reigns and multiplies, as Scripture affirms, not only among one particular people but across all the earth. This multiplication cannot be ignored.
Grant us, Lord Jesus Christ, that our love for You not grow cold, as we live holy and pure in this corrupt world!
