The time of grace is now. We are living in those days when God is reaching to every man of every kind no matter his sinful condition as long as there is a regret feeling inside; salvation is reaching over. This act of reaching man no matter his condition is the living definition of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor. While we do not deserve all that God has for us, it is still offered to us without any hesitation. The people of God experienced a feeling of grace when the king of Persia opened the window of grace and allowed them to build the temple of God, but it was only for a while. It is similar to God’s grace that is only temporary. Grace has to do with a period of choice where we have the option to freely run away from the enemy. With grace the enemy has no grip on us.
Ezra 9:8
And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage.
There is a group of people who are part of the escape team who are waiting for the escape to be finalized, and while they wait multitudes come and go. While we wait for the final escape impatience tends to settle in along with other tendencies of which cause us to dry up. God’s Spirit took the prophet Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones (Ez. 37:1-3). These bones were a people who like a good number of us who are waiting for the great escape either get tired of waiting, or allow other things that occupy us become dry. God’s grace is sufficient for us to revive us again similar to these people in the valley whose bones became dry. During that little time of grace in Ezra a nail was set in the holy place as a symbol of security. God’s promise that he would save them. Jesus said that he that endures will be saved (Mt. 10:22). The nails on the cross provides security of God’s saving promise.
If we endure during that little while little by little we will see that God’s saving grace is a reality, as Ezra stated “That God may lighten our eyes,”. David said this in the Psalms “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes“(19:8), meaning that what God says about grace is desirable. The idea that God can never forgive us for the things we have done or are doing is real. Many people walk through life with a hidden remorse, because of the things they have done conducting themselves recklessly and hurting others. Grace provides hope during those times when we feel trapped. The religious people in Jesus’ time felt no need to be free. They felt that their lives were complete and therefore, had no need to be set free, but Jesus thought otherwise (Jh 8:32-34). Grace brings us out of bondage when we acknowledge that we do need freeing up. The nail of grace was set before God’s people. They were in bondage for four hundred years, but had promised that he would set them free (Acts 7:7). It is God’s promise that in the little time of grace a nail of hope has been set to mark a time of our deliverance.