Put Away Wickedness

The people in Ezra do not answer sin with excuses, but with confession, tears, and costly amendment. Their grief is not barren sorrow; it bears fruit in separation from what defiles. Zechariah shows why this severity is needed. The flying scroll goes out over the whole land, and wickedness is not a light thing that can be hidden in a house and managed. It is weighed, exposed, and carried to its own place for judgment. Sin settles in the midst of a people unless it is cast out.

So the lesson is one: do not make peace with what God has condemned. What was unlawful in Israel had to be put away; what is false, stolen, impure, or deceitful among us must likewise be cut off without delay. Repentance that costs nothing heals nothing. Ezra first falls before God, and then the people bind themselves to do what obedience requires. We also must not only lament our sins, but remove their occasions, break their agreements, and cleanse the works of our hands.

Cyprian says, "as the Lord by Moses commands, and says, Separate yourselves from the tents of these most hardened men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in their sins." And Origen, speaking of wickedness, says, "he owed many talents, seeing that he followed often the woman, who was sitting upon the talent of lead, whose name is wickedness. Zechariah 5:7-8"

Let each man therefore search his house, his table, his speech, and his bargains. The curse in Zechariah enters the house of the thief and the liar. Better to cast out one cherished evil now than to have the whole house testify against you later.