7/9/26

Ezra 9:9 NASB95 “For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

Solomon Northup was a free black man in New York State in 1840. Married to Anne Northup, and with three children, Solomon was known for his talent as a violinist. In 1841, he left with two men to work as a violinist in a circus. While doing this, he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He was in slavery for twelve years, with his family not knowing where he was. However, his wife and children never gave up hope on him.

Ezra at the point of our text, is frustrated at the sin of his nation. He tells them We have been slaves in bondage yet God has not forgotten or given up on us. Our scripture text says it this way, "For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us."

After all these years of us getting what we deserve, God is still seeking us.

We, today, are in the same boat as the Israelites. We were bound to the debt of our sin from the first moment that we began to understand the accountability of our sin. However, God has also not forsaken us.

On a much, much smaller scale, Anne Northup refused to give up on her husband.

She remained faithful and kept things together in hopes that He would eventually come back.

The next part of our scripture text says, (God,) has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia.

Ezra, says God has brought Israel back from their bondage to freedom because of His lovingkindness not because of the nations' goodness.

God watched over Solomon in his bondage.

He watched over Israel in their bondage.

He watches over us in our bondage. He is always looking for ways to show his lovingkindness to us. He is faithful.

When Solomon Northup came home, his family took him in. They loved him and supported him in the freedom that had been given to him.

Ezra explains that God brought Israel back to Him. He revived them and provided power to overcome their sin.

Our text says, "To give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to restore its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem."

In the same way, God offers us the Holy Spirit to empower us to proclaim the gospel and continue to build His Kingdom.

When Solomon Northup was saved and came home, he wrote a book titled "Twelve Years A Slave." He did this to bring to light the evil of slavery in our world.

When the Israelites were saved from the slavery of exile, they went home and built a temple.

What have you done since gaining your freedom? I think we are just like Solomon Northup and the Israelites. Before you say thank you, allow me to play the part of Paul Harvey and give you the rest of the story.

I told you to start with that at the time of our text, Ezra is frustrated at the sin of the Israelites. However, it was not their sin before exile or their sin during the bondage of exile. He was upset about their sin since they had been freed by the blessing of God's lovingkindness. They had come back to the promised land and started to take wives from and give daughters to the pagans in the land. The very same groups which had led them astray in the first place. In other words, in their freedom they chose to go right back into bondage to sin.

Solomon Northup, came home free. He wrote a book. Left his family to go around the country to speak about his book. He became a drunkard and never returned to his family. In other words, he went right back into slavery, bound to sin.

His wife's obituary says this, "Anne Northup, the venerable (deeply respected) wife of Solomon Northup, the slave who was taken from bondage several years ago, and after exhibiting himself through the country became a worthless vagabond, died last week."

In His freedom according to His children, he was a worthless drifter.

So do we want to be like them? I say no. Because, we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not forsaken us, but has extended lovingkindness to us in the sight of the lost world, to give us reviving to raise up the house of our God, to proclaim His gospel and to protect us until we reach His throne room in Eternal life.

Let's spend our freedom building on the Kingdom of God.

Love Bro. Scott