Having acknowledged and confessed their unfaithfulness, the Jews who had returned from exile made their petition to God in verses 32-37. They asked God to take notice of all the difficulties they as a nation had to endure. Their kings, princes, priests, prophets, ancestors, and all of God’s people, everyone went through much from the time the Assyrians had taken control till this present moment.
However, despite the intense hardship, they knew that God had been faithful. It had nothing to do with God’s faithfulness but everything to do with their waywardness. God on His part had been just in His dealings. They deserved what they were getting as a nation for their disobedience in not keeping God’s law. But now they resolve to turn away from their evil. They recognized that while they were in the land God had given them as He had promised, they were living as slaves to foreign powers. Having to pay huge taxes, they were now in great distress.
Israel’s national sin is the sum of the individual sins
of every generation. Bear in mind that sin is pervasive. It always affects the whole
The prayer they prayed pointed no finger at any individual but at the entire nation.
We learn from here that regardless of who had done wrong, the whole community has to own up to the wrong if corrective action has to be taken. Everyone needs
to bear the wrong for the whole. There is no time for blaming. If revival is to
come to the church, every believer needs to do his or her part. We are a body
when one part suffers, the whole will suffer. Let’s live responsibly and be accountable.
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