Yes, there is hope, as is the case whatever sin that we are involved in. However heinous it might be, however degraded it might be, or however internal and hidden, however it may be disguised within the outward propriety. Whatever it might be, there is still room for hope as long as there is time. And this is what Shecaniah recognizes. This is a great sin. This threatens the people of God with distinction. And yet there is hope if we will confess, if we will repent, if we will put away our sin, if we will turn...As we repeat so many Sunday nights—God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will remove our guilt according to Psalm 103:1–22—as far as the east is from the west—the prophet's promise—he will tread our iniquities underfoot; he will bury them in the depth of the sea. As long as there is true repentance, that is the case. Matthew Henry says,
Terry L. Johnsonthe case is sad, but it is not desperate. The disease is threatening, but it is curable.I would say...the kind of reform that is necessary from the liberal wing, from all of this theological and ethical heresy that is going on—these extraordinary departures from orthodoxy—that kind of reform will only be in the church when there is repentance. And if there was repentance, God would forgive, cleanse, and revive his church.1
2 And Shecaniah the son of Jehiel, of the sons of Elam, addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this.