In the book of Ezra, we read about how the people of Israel had become unfaithful to God. They’d taken up the forbidden practices of their neighbors, the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. Ezra, a priest and scribe, was personally innocent of the sins committed by the people, but he still felt the weight of guilt and shame. He prayed, “O my God, I am utterly ashamed; I blush to lift up my face to you. For our sins are piled higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens.”4 See how Ezra acknowledged and lamented the truth
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Ezra shows us in the Bible how we grieve the sins of our community and nations past as if they are our own evesn if we ourselves are innocent of those particular sins. We identify withb the guilt and shame of our people.
