“While Ezra prayed and made this confession, weeping and lying face down on the ground in front of the Temple of God, a very large crowd of people from Israel—men, women, and children—gathered and wept bitterly with him.”
Ezra 10:1 NLT
Ezra was willing to be public with his humility and confession. What he did was visibly tasteful, societally rude and generally uncomely, but it was righteous. Since we know what Ezra is was praying, we can also conclude that it was humble and lacked any sort of piousness. There are many Christians who would gladly stand before any venue, armed with a cause and anger in their desire to effect change. In rage, they would pick up their picket signs and look outside themselves to find fault and blame. N warmly, they would reject relationship with those that they struggle against, believing the other image bearers of God to be worthy of condemnation in a way that they aren’t. Ezra’s example doesn’t simply show us what a godly protest can look like, but also shows us the results. Because of this protest done with humble intercession, even children were moved in their hearts to join in the confession process. We should consider Ezra’s example the next time we feel compelled to dissent.
JOSH McGARY. COM 