Idolatry
Back in captivity, Ezekiel is in his home doing the base ministry
to which God had originally called him.
While he’s in his home, some of the leading Hebrew people come to him
for spiritual direction. They see him as
a prophet, and they are in need of advice.
However, these leading Hebrew people are also worshipping false
gods. Unlike the idolatry that was
happening in Jerusalem which was out in the open, these leaders are private
about their idolatry. However, notice
that God doesn’t miss the idolatry. We
can hide idolatry from one another. We
can’t ever hide idolatry from God.
Then God asks a simple question.
God asks Ezekiel if He should even allow them to inquire of Him. For God, it isn’t a question of should He
answer their inquiry. Rather, the
question is if God should even listen in the first place.
Spend a second thinking about that for a moment. Idolatry is not just something that can cause
God to stop speaking to us. Idolatry is
something that raises the question of whether or not God stops listening to
us. That’s pretty serious. It is one thing to offend God. So long as God is listening, repentance is
possible. But how does one repent to a
God who may have ceased to listen in the first place?
Of course, I am admittedly anthropomorphizing God. God wouldn’t stop listening to a person who
is genuinely repentant. God knows our
hearts; He knows when He can listen and when He can stop listening. He knows; He’s God. But the point for consideration is still
valid. What is the effect of idolatry
other than that which pushes us to the brink of God considering whether to
continue listening to us? This is the
severity with which God sees idolatry.
God’s Response
Ultimately, God does continue to interact with these Hebrew
leaders. But God does not respond to
their inquiry. One could say that God
does not listen to them. Instead, God
gives them the message they need to hear.
God doesn’t give them what they want or about which they inquired; God
gives them what they need to hear.
What do they need to hear?
Repent! Turn away from your
idolatry! Come back to God! Trust in Him, not idols made by human
invention!
This is a tough message for Ezekiel to give. No doubt Ezekiel knows this isn’t why the
elders have come to Him. No doubt
Ezekiel would actually like to speak to their issues – whatever they might
be. Ezekiel knows that in God’s response
he is going to have to deliver a message that they did not even seek. Ezekiel will have to tell them something they
didn’t come to him to find out.
However, God knows that in the long run their idolatry is the far
bigger issue. Unless their relationship
with the Lord is made right, they will be cut off from the Lord’s people. What could ever be more important than that? Ezekiel knows this to be true as well.
Faithless Actions
The second half of this chapter is haunting. For a brief time, God steps outside of the
exile and speaks generically to all time.
If any land acts faithlessly, God will come upon them in judgment. God
will judge by famine, plague, war, wild animals, or pestilence. This prophecy applies not just to Jerusalem
but to any land in any time.
However, I find a small note of grace here. Perhaps I need to confess and acknowledge
that it is smugness that I also feel.
You see, God says that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were present in
such a faithless land that those three would only be able to save their own
life. Of course, Noah was an incredible
man of faith with respect to the story of the flood. Daniel was an incredible man of faith in many
stories. Job was a man of faith with
respect to his whole life. {Note: of course these men were not perfect
and yes, they absolutely struggled.}
Where my smugness comes in to play is the announcement that the
righteous will only be able to save themselves.
We cannot save the nation around us.
Only the nation can save itself.
The individuals can save themselves within the nation. But none of us can save the whole nation on
our own.
However, God goes a step further. Notice that God specifically
says that Noah, Daniel, and Job are not capable of saving their own sons or
daughters. The reality is that a person
is held accountable by God for their own actions. Every single one of us can choose to act
righteously or choose to act against God’s ways. Every single one of us will be held
accountable by God for our decisions.
Even parents can only go so far with their own children!
In this light, God is truly seen as righteous. Yes, He judges. Yes, God brings accountability. But what God brings is only the consequences
of our own choices. God is fair. In fact, God is more than fair. He is merciful. Yes, there are consequences. But God does not always force the full weight
of the consequences upon our shoulders.
He does spare us. He does offer
us grace and salvation from our sinfulness.
He is righteous and merciful at the same time!
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