2025
Godly Sorrow
Passage: Ezra 10
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
OUTLINE:
1. What happened?
2. Why this is unique?
3. What is our response?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Imagine what picture you would choose if you were asked to provide a picture of yourself for a website bio. What is your thought-process in making your choice? How do you choose what pictures of yourself to keep or delete? How do your choices reflect what you want people to see or not to see?
Read Ezra 10. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his follower? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage?
Starting in verse 2, how does Shekainah express and respond to the sin that had taken place among God’s people? In what ways does Shekainah give us an example to follow in dealing with sin and specifically communal sin?
The process of repentance and restoration that is detailed in this passage takes time. Considering verses 16-17 in particular, what practical steps are taken to live out the hope reflected at the end of verse 2, “But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.” How did this process help God’s people? What principles can we apply for how we respond and pursue restoration within God’s people – the church.
Ezra 10 is descriptive of what happened in the specific context of this point in salvation history with God’s people. While not prescriptive for us today, this passage does have important implications for us even now including: the seriousness of sin and the importance of repentance. These implications require us to investigate ourselves and take our own sin seriously. How does this passage teach us to do that? What practices or truths help you to investigate/examine yourself in a biblical view?
The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” How does Godly sorrow bring about redeemed life? How can we cultivate Godly sorrow, live into Shekaniah’s words: “But in spite of this, there is still hope”?
Consider the end of Ezra in the context of the Bible as a love story of God pursuing his people. In other places (such as Deuteronomy 7:6) God refers to his people as his treasured possession. He cares deeply for this people. Consider the extent he is willing to go to be with his people through salvation history. How does this passage being included in God’s word help us understand who God is and his love for his people? How does the reality of you being fully loved by God even as you are fully exposed in your need for him, shape your self-understanding?
PRAYER
Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30