Good Morning “Idol Identifiers”. Today we are in Ezekiel 8.
This morning we begin a four-chapter section that explains why and how the glory of God departs from Israel’s temple. As we know, Judah had exchanged worship of The One True God for worship of false gods, gods that fed their flesh. They had even brought their twisted worship into the Temple. God finally had enough… His jealously was peaked.
But wait, isn’t jealously sinful? Not when it’s righteous. Let me explain: Coveting something we are not entitled to have is sinful jealousy. Desiring for something we have every right to possess is a righteous jealousy. So, when a man covets another man’s wife, his jealousy is sinful. When that woman’s husband reacts to the other man’s advances in jealousy, that’s righteous jealousy.
The Lord is jealous for His people, and He has every reason to expect us to give Him our affections, our worship and praise, and our faithfulness. He has given us everything!
God asks Ezekiel, “Does the house of Judah consider it a casual matter…?” In other words, they had become so used to worshiping other things… it was normal, casual.
It’s easy to look at Israel with judgment concerning their worship of idols and miss the plank in our own eyes (Matthew 7:3-5). Let us look in the mirror this morning and consider things we place before Him. Anything we put before Him or try to commingle in our worship of God is an idol.
We may not worship ancient idols but let’s think of things we ascribe glory or power to. Let’s think of things we put our faith or trust in that are NOT God Himself. Let’s think of ideologies or systems of belief that do not line up with Scripture or that feed our flesh and its desire for self security. Our human nature seeks to ascribe security to things that have no power to keep us secure - like our government.
We easily turn our focus from God to any number of other things. Think of our own abilities, strengths, talents, jobs, sports, even belief systems such as climate change that fail to recognize Gods sovereign control. Darwinian Evolution is worshiped in most public school classrooms as the origin of all that exists. Many Christians even seek to find some level of cooperation between evolution and creation. Others are more obvious; Astrology is nothing short of worship of the (supposed) powers of the stars. Have you checked your horoscope lately? (2 Corinthians 6:14) And, of course, secular humanism is the worship of the accomplishments of contemporary man (Romans 1:25).
Whatever the idol, God finds it “detestable.” Idols are a stench in His nose. Consequently, the Lord promises swift punishment. Though God’s people may cry out in prayer under their penalty, God declares that He will not hear them:
“Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” Ezekiel 8:18 NIV
God has been provoked to anger; His jealousy aroused. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Yet, He does not leave the guilty unpunished. (Exodus 34:6-7) God’s anger is not a fit of irrational temper, and His judgment is not simply ruthless and mechanical fate. Nevertheless, His anger & judgment are real, and to prove it, there comes the point where He says, “Enough!”
There will come a day when God’s patience will run out with this world. The sad fact is that while salvation comes exclusively through Jesus (John 14:6) and is offered to anyone who would accept it, many will refuse to repent and receive it. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, that He might lift you up and spare you from that terrible day.
Love you all! Dig in!
This morning we begin a four-chapter section that explains why and how the glory of God departs from Israel’s temple. As we know, Judah had exchanged worship of The One True God for worship of false gods, gods that fed their flesh. They had even brought their twisted worship into the Temple. God finally had enough… His jealously was peaked.
But wait, isn’t jealously sinful? Not when it’s righteous. Let me explain: Coveting something we are not entitled to have is sinful jealousy. Desiring for something we have every right to possess is a righteous jealousy. So, when a man covets another man’s wife, his jealousy is sinful. When that woman’s husband reacts to the other man’s advances in jealousy, that’s righteous jealousy.
The Lord is jealous for His people, and He has every reason to expect us to give Him our affections, our worship and praise, and our faithfulness. He has given us everything!
God asks Ezekiel, “Does the house of Judah consider it a casual matter…?” In other words, they had become so used to worshiping other things… it was normal, casual.
It’s easy to look at Israel with judgment concerning their worship of idols and miss the plank in our own eyes (Matthew 7:3-5). Let us look in the mirror this morning and consider things we place before Him. Anything we put before Him or try to commingle in our worship of God is an idol.
We may not worship ancient idols but let’s think of things we ascribe glory or power to. Let’s think of things we put our faith or trust in that are NOT God Himself. Let’s think of ideologies or systems of belief that do not line up with Scripture or that feed our flesh and its desire for self security. Our human nature seeks to ascribe security to things that have no power to keep us secure - like our government.
We easily turn our focus from God to any number of other things. Think of our own abilities, strengths, talents, jobs, sports, even belief systems such as climate change that fail to recognize Gods sovereign control. Darwinian Evolution is worshiped in most public school classrooms as the origin of all that exists. Many Christians even seek to find some level of cooperation between evolution and creation. Others are more obvious; Astrology is nothing short of worship of the (supposed) powers of the stars. Have you checked your horoscope lately? (2 Corinthians 6:14) And, of course, secular humanism is the worship of the accomplishments of contemporary man (Romans 1:25).
Whatever the idol, God finds it “detestable.” Idols are a stench in His nose. Consequently, the Lord promises swift punishment. Though God’s people may cry out in prayer under their penalty, God declares that He will not hear them:
“Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” Ezekiel 8:18 NIV
God has been provoked to anger; His jealousy aroused. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Yet, He does not leave the guilty unpunished. (Exodus 34:6-7) God’s anger is not a fit of irrational temper, and His judgment is not simply ruthless and mechanical fate. Nevertheless, His anger & judgment are real, and to prove it, there comes the point where He says, “Enough!”
There will come a day when God’s patience will run out with this world. The sad fact is that while salvation comes exclusively through Jesus (John 14:6) and is offered to anyone who would accept it, many will refuse to repent and receive it. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, that He might lift you up and spare you from that terrible day.
Love you all! Dig in!
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