Many Christians in the CRT/Woke camp are fond of acting as if racism is the #1 sin. They also like to remind us that countries (well, America, at least) can be guilty of corporate sin, and that God can and will punish people (well, ancient Israel and modern America, at least) corporately. They’ll point to the corporate prayers of Ezra, Daniel and Nehemiah to prove that corporate sin is a real thing. They’ll shout from the mountaintops that because of the her past sins of flagrant racism and present sin of systemic racism, America is obviously Enemy#1 in God’s eyes, ripe for divine judgment. Apparently even the corporate prayers/confessions of a modern day Ezra, Daniel and Nehemiah can’t save the nation from this doom.
Or so they would have us think.
Some of us might be interested in reading the (whole) book of Ezra to get a better understanding of his corporate prayer of confession in ch 9. Here are some interesting highlights:
- He was deeply grieved about his nation’s sin (v3-5). Israel’s sins included:
- interracial marriage with pagans (v2,10-11) *
- tolerating the abominable sins of the Canaanites (v11-12), and marrying Canaanite women
- They (the Israelites of Ezra’s day) were slaves to the Persian throne (v9) [and they would stay under the Persian yoke for another 100 years till Alexander the Great came along in 330BC ..followed by the Romans in ~50BC. In Jesus’ day, they were still under the Roman yoke (John 8:31-33)]
- They deserved their punishment from God, even though He didn’t punish them as badly as they deserved (v13)
- Their interracial pagan marriages were a great offense to God (v14)
Interesting prayer, eh?
But wait – there’s more! Our homework is not done.
We need to find out which abominable sins of the Canaanites Ezra was referring to. For this, we turn to Leviticus 20, where the sins of the Canaanites are listed. They are as follows:
- child sacrifice (v2) and tolerating child sacrifice (v4)
- consulting witches and mediums (v6)
- rebellion against parents (v9)
- adultery (v10)
- paternal incest (v11-12)
- homosexuality (v13)
- familial polygamy (v14)
- bestiality (v15-16)
- sibling incest (v17)
- menstrual sex (v18)
- incest with siblings, in-laws or aunts (v19-21)
These are the sins of the Canaanites which were abominable to God (v23), and for which God “detested them” (v23), wiped them out and gave their land to Israel (v24).
Please read that list once again. Please.
And feel free to substitute “child sacrifice to Molech” with “aborting babies to the god of personal convenience”. (Different form, same telos: “my life will be better if I kill my kid”).
Does that list sound like 1820s America when slavery was alive and well in the USA?
Does it sound like 1920s America when Jim Crow laws ruled the day?
No, folks, it sounds more like 2020s America where abortion mills flush 1.2M cadavers down the drain, rebellion floods our streets, and sexual perversion (fornication, adultery, homosexuality ..and soon incest and pedophilia) is the law of the land. And unlike Ezra, we don’t blush before God about it. (Do preachers even preach against these today?)
This is what Ezra was confessing. Not the sin of racism. Not the sin of prejudice. Not even the sin of slavery.
So why do these modern Woke Folk use Ezra to point to 1820s America and 1920s America, when Ezra is lamenting the sexual deviancy prominent in 2020s America ..the same sins that the Woke Folk often tolerate?
May we be likewise grieved like Ezra, ashamed to even come before a holy God.
May God spare us the judgment we rightly deserve for TODAY’S abominable sins, and grant us mercy (v13) in our great 2020s guilt.
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* Although the race/culture of the Canaanites is highlighted in Ezra’s grief and prayer, the real issue is that the wives of these interracial marriages retained their pagan practices, thus influencing their husbands and children. The Book of Ruth (author unknown; possibly Samuel or Ezra) shows us how a God-fearing Jew is to properly marry a foreigner. Namely, one who says [+] “Stop urging me to abandon you, Naomi! For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live. Your people will become my people, and your God will become my God.” (Ruth 1:16)
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