We’ve all heard it said, “How could it be sin if it’s not hurting anybody?” or “How could it be wrong, if no one gets hurt?”
The internet is full of these questions, perhaps you’ve entertained the idea yourself. After all, how bad can it be if no one gets hurt?
Turning to Ezra chapter nine we read, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites…”
Reading on we see that Ezra is grieved for his people who have not only mingled with strangers from other lands, many had intermarried which was strictly forbidden in Jewish law.
In order to gain a deeper understanding of this, let’s look at this verse from Deuteronomy Chapter 7.
When the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, (Deuteronomy 7:2-3, NIV)
This commandment that was given to them before they entered The Promised Land. There’s a strong parallel here to the admonition given to us that we must leave sin behind as we enter the Spirit-filled life. We find it sprinkled throughout the New Testament, but here’s one verse that sums it up well:
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24, NIV)
Once you are free from sin, don’t return to it. Don’t entertain it. Don’t engage with it. Don’t be married to it in the sense that you carry it into your new life with Christ. Destroy it.
Ezra is a type of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament, which means that he typifies or reflects the character of the Holy Spirit in many ways. As we look at this chapter we see Ezra grieving for his people, which offers us another parallel to the spiritual life. One in which the Holy Spirit grieves over sin.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30, KJV)
When you truly love God, it’s not hard to see why The Holy Spirit is grieved. Grieved by the sin we return to. Grieved each time we try to minimize sin. Grieved by the sin that sent our Lord to the Cross.
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Tilling the Soil
Read Ezra 9 and 1 Peter 2:11-24.
Planting Hope
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30, KJV)
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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
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You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife