9:5 In falling on his knees and raising his hands Ezra took the same posture as Solomon when he dedicated the temple 2 Chronicles 6:13 . He associates himself with the sins of the people saying 'our iniquities ...' Ezra 9:6 .

Faithful servants of God always associate themselves with those they serve rather than distancing themselves from the problem. The leaders in Jesus day did the opposite as typified by the Pharisee in the parable Luke 18:10 . The lesson is clear for us.

The princes came to tell Ezra that the Jews had intermarried with the locals, and today’s chapter is Ezra’s response. First of all he mourned, and considered what to do. Then he prayed. A long, very serious prayer (Ezra 9:6-15); and only after that, was he ready to act.

V.12 The call to separation as a people of Yahweh applies to spiritual Israel as well as it did physical Israel.  Intermarriage with unbelievers is forbidden under the Laws of Christ as well as it was for Israel (2Cor 6:14).  I wonder how many anguish today as Ezra did at the contravention of this law (v.3).

9:13 In acknowledging that God had ‘punished us less than our iniquities deserve’ Ezra is quoting Psa 103:10 A Psalm which really does highlight God’s goodness to us.

9:1-2 So when Era and the princes arrived they learnt that the dilapidation of the work of the house of God was only a symptom of a more serious malaise. The people were corrupt. We should, likewise, examine our lives. Lack of commitment to ecclesial activities and fellowship advertises a more serious problem than just not going to the meeting. Our lives are already compromised with things that we have replaced service to God with. So it is not simply a matter of whether we do things or not. If we do not it could well because we have compromised our lives so that we cannot do the things that we should. Our religion, then, becomes just a sham.

9:15 And so because of the sins of the priesthood and the people there is nothing left to do but to pray to God sand acknowledge that they could not ‘stand’ that is be justified in His sight. Notice that Ezra associates himself with the sinners even though e was guiltless in saying ‘we’.

Ezra 9:1-2 - marriages with those who do not follow the path of Christ can ruin us spiritually. Christ will be faithful to us, we have to do our best to be faithful in our "marriage" to him.

Ezra 9:8 - "...grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a 'nail' [Heb. "yathed" (3489) means "pin, stake, nail, peg" etc.] in his holy place..."; Isa 22:20-25 - vs. 20 "Eliakim" [(471) means "God raises, God sets up"] may be an echo of Christ, vs.23,25 "nail" (3489); Judg 4:21-22 - "nail" (3489) in the head a mortal blow to sin and death (Gen 3:15;Heb 2:14); Judg 5:24-27 - vs. 26 "nail" (3489), vs. 27 "hammer" (reminds of how they hammered nails into Christ), vs. 27 "feet" (perhaps an echo of Gen 3:15 - "bruise his heal"); Judg 16:14-15 - NIV "...awoke from his sleep and pulled up the 'pin' (3489) and the 'loom' (large piece of wood) with the 'fabric' (old clothes cast aside and new put on)...this is the third time (perhaps echoing the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ?)". Could these mentions of "yathed" (3489) be echos of the sacrificial crucifixion of Christ which provides us with hope?

Ezra 9:15 - "...a remnant...not one of us can stand in your presence" [we can't earn eternal life, it is a gift (Eph 2:8-9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.")].

10:1 empty vine Isaiah 5:2
10:2 spoil 2 Kings 17:20
10:4 hemlock Deuteronomy 29:18
10:6 presents 2 Kings 17:3
10:8 and they shall say ... fall on us Luke 23:20 Revelation 6:16
10:12 sow ... in righteousness Proverbs 11:18

10:1 Israel is an empty vine. Isaiah was contemporary with Hosea. Isaiah 5 presents a more detailed picture of this empty vine, which in turn becomes a pattern of Israel in the days of Jesus because he uses Isaiah 5 in Matthew 21:33 .

10:7 The cutting off of Samaria's king refers to the events recorded in 2 Kings 17:6 . It is being presented as a warning to Judah in the South.

Vs.5,15 Bethaven means house of vanity, while Bethel means house of God. Hosea uses these two in a figurative sense to illustrate that Israel had turned the house of God into a house of vanity (indicating idolatrous worship).

It seems that in outlining the tribal boundary of Benjamin, Bethaven and Bethel were two distinct places, Bethaven being near Ai (Josh 18:12,13 ).  Bethel was one of the places that Jeroboam placed a gold calf for Israel to worship.  The other place was Dan (1Kin 12:28,29). Aven was a term of contempt for an idolatrous place.  In this case, it referred to Bethel (v.8).

10:6,7  The ‘present’ and Samaria’s king being cut off have reference to an historical event. The details are to be found in 2Kin 17  which speaks of the final overthrow of Hoshea by the Assyrians.

10:8 The way in which they were to call upon the hills to cover them because of the impending judgement when the Assyrians came against Samaria forms the basis for Jesus’ warning – Luke 23:30 – when speaking of a similar judgement upon Jerusalem.

10:4 The ‘hemlock’ is another reference to the curses of Deuteronomy 28 and 29. Here it is Deut 29:18

Vs.12,13 You reap what you sow is the lesson from these two verses.  It is valid today just as it was in Hosea's time.

10:8 The thorn and thistle coming up on the altars shows that the priest were not ‘tilling the ground’ – that is doing the work that God had given them to do and as such echoes Gen 3:18

Have you noticed the picture language in this chapter? What do you think God means to say with the following?

v4 spring up like hemlock the furrows of the field

v7 cut off, like a twig in the water

v8 thorn and thistle shall grow

Sometimes we suffer, and we don't know why. Paul suffered a lot, and he knew why. He was suffering for his brothers and sisters. Yesterday in Acts we read how he ended up in Rome through his suffering. He was now in a possition to talk to, exhort, and encourage a very young church. He did this whilst in a prison awaiting the death sentence.

In v24 Paul says that he rejoices in his sufferings for them. He recognised that his sufferings were for a good cause. If Paul had not suffered, then we would not have had the letter to the Romans, or in fact any of his new testament letters.

We can suffer for one another too, taking the example of Paul, and of Jesus ( 1 Peter 2v21 ). We can do things to help one another, which actually cause us harm or discomfort in some way. The most common example of this is the discomfort of apologising to one another, or the hurt our pride suffers when we back down in an argument. We can suffer directly by being so concerned by the welbeing of one another, that we neglect our own health, or simply have no time to indulge ourselves anymore.

We can choose how much we suffer for one another. It is something we can regulate, and measure out. It is therefore something we can do with joy, knowing of the benefits our own suffering is bringing to others, and knowing that we suffer of our own freewill.

V.2 Colosse was located close to Laodicea and about 160 km east of Ephesus, in SW present-day Turkey.  The letter was written by Paul from Rome in about 62 AD. 

Paul had to counteract several erroneous beliefs which were being espoused by the Colossians.  If such error were held today, there would be a rush to disfellowship.  However, Paul was interested in correcting error not asserting self-righteousness.  This something for us to consider. 

1:12  When we despair that we are ‘good enough’ to be in the kingdom we do well to remember that it is the work of the Father – not our own strength – that makes us acceptable. His work was to give Jesus. Of course this is not to suggest that salvation is automatic. It requires work from us – but not the work of self justification through doing what we think God wants. Rather it is the work of faith. Living a life that pleases the Father because we want to please Him.

1:15 In presenting Jesus as ‘the image of the invisible God’ Paul echoes a well repeated theme in the New Testament. No man has seen God but Jesus ‘declared’ him John 1:18. However Paul is not saying that Jesus looked like God. Rather the emphasis is that Jesus behaved like God. He displayed God’s character. The implication being that so should we.

1:13    In saying we are ‘translated’ into Jesus kingdom Paul uses a word <3179> which elsewhere is translated in ways which indicate that the word means ‘moved’. We need to be careful that in resisting the wrong idea that the kingdom of God is the Christian Church today that we forget the high calling to which we are actually called now.

1:23 That the gospel was preached to ‘every creature’ echoes the language of Mark 16:15