Why Don’t People Learn?

Ezra 9:6-9

6 I prayed,

“O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens. 7 From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been steeped in sin. That is why we and our kings and our priests have been at the mercy of the pagan kings of the land. We have been killed, captured, robbed, and disgraced, just as we are today.

8 “But now we have been given a brief moment of grace, for the Lord our God has allowed a few of us to survive as a remnant. He has given us security in this holy place. Our God has brightened our eyes and granted us some relief from our slavery. 9 For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

I love the favor of God. In this chapter Ezra is tormented by the deeds of his fellow people. They had been commanded previously not to intermarry with the people of the land because they were not Israelites and worshipped everything but the one true God. Ezra realized how good God had been towards them and then to have his fellow countrymen partaking in these evil deeds was almost more than he could bear. The worst part for him was that it was the leadership who was setting the worst example by their practices. How would the others be encouraged to follow God's plan if the leaders weren't doing it themselves?

Proverbs 10:23

23 Doing wrong is fun for a fool,
but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.

Proverbs 11:14a

Without wise leadership, a nation falls

Ezra understood the following all too well:

Proverbs 14:34

34 Godliness makes a nation great,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.

What I often wonder when I look at passages such as this and wonder why these people didn't learn from their previous mistakes. I start to get into a judgmental mode and start thinking of myself on a higher plain than they were. Then reality strikes as I lose my temper over something very trivial in nature. Oops! I better watch out how I view others. There, but for the grace of God, go I. If it weren't for the grace, which Jesus so freely gives, I would probably be doing those same things. When reading these types of accounts of the children of Israel I need to keep in mind that they did not know Jesus nor did they have the benefit of having the scriptures with them. They were living in a different time and in a different place than I am so I can not expect them to have the same level of knowledge and understanding that I do. I would like to say that people have changed since the time of Ezra, but I tend to think that most of the people alive today don't act much different than they did.

Heavenly Father I thank You for Your everlasting kindness and mercy. It is only by Your love for me that I can be alive today doing what You called me to do. It is only because of the sacrifice of Your Son, my Lord and Savior, that I can come to you boldly and seek Your grace. I am truly thankful for all that You have given to me and for all that You continue to reveal to me each day while I spend time in Your Word. I praise You for You are the Great I Am. You are all that I need. I thank You that Your Word provides direction for my life and allows me the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. I am grateful for the work of Jesus on the cross for my sins and will follow Him all the days of my life. It is in His name I pray today. Amen.

Published by Erik L. Vakula
Daily Bread From the Word
Copyright © 2009 Erik Vakula, All Rights Reserved