While sitting in his home Ezekiel the Prophet is shown by God in a vision,
of Idolatry taking place in the Temple.
This vision of the Temple is the second of the four great visions found in Ezekiel’s prophetic book. The time setting is just about September of 592 B.C. The Prophet is shown a vision of Idol worship within the Temple of God, at varies locations.
Ezekiel: 8:1-18 God shows the Prophet Ezekiel, that there was Idolatry in
the Temple of God. The Prophet, is taken, in vision and given revelations of
what was happening within the Temple were no such thing should ever be
found.
The first case of idolatry that Ezekiel
witnesses as he stands with his back to the alter of God, he is shown an "image of jealousy" .Ezk:8:5-6.
"Then he said to me, “Son of man, look
toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the
altar I saw this idol of jealousy.
And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see
what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing
here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things
that are even more detestable.”
Then he brought me to the entrance to the
court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, now
dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there."Ezk:8:5-8
God speaks, telling the Prophet that there are
"Greater Abomination" still to be revealed as the
vision unfolds.
The Living Quarters
Then the prophet is shown a wall with a hole
in it and he is told to dig through it. This particular wall, was part of the
Temple which formed a group of apartments where the Priest stayed during their
appointed shifts ministered at the Temple. This was the very private place
unseen by the public world. Ezk: 8:7-13
It is then, that Ezekiel is shown a door. As
he enters in, he sees a room of 70 men "standing in the dark",
70 which was the number of members of the Sanhedrin of Israel, the very governing council.
It is the Sanhedrin, the governing council of
Elders which bore the responsibility of prevent idolatry from occurring, yet, they
were secretly involved in it. Each one holding a censer in their hands offering
the incense to their idol in the darkness of their private place.
One of the persons whom Ezekiel now sees
is someone whom he is acquainted with.
"Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan was
standing among them".
It is implied that Jaazaniah's being among the
idolaters is an amazement to Ezekiel. It may be, that the cause of Ezekiel
surprise is that the family Jaazaniah came from the Shaphan Clan,which had been
loyal to God and supportive to the work of Jeremiah the Prophet, Jer:26:24
On the Wall
Here, however, idolatry is seen. there are
images painted or engraved on the walls, and men worshiping, and "a great cloud of incenses rises up among them" .Ezk:8:11.
It is in the hidden place behind closed doors,
where the priest lived, in private, where this idolatry is found in the Temple
of the Great God.
The astounding thing here is, that those who
are revealed as idolaters, are persons who derived their position from the
Temple itself. It was their responsibility to be the guardians of the pure
worship of God. Outwardly, they were seen in the Temple as being servants of
God, yet inwardly, secretly where they lived, they had something which they
worshiped, something they believed which was hidden from view. But God lays bare
the hidden things. The Lord God is the one who sees the heart. Deep down they
had abandoned their devotion and faith in God.
Ezk: 8:12-“ the Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land”-
They somehow, thought that God is not aware,
that this sin is hidden, they rely on being clever and their wit to cover their
sin. These men had convinced themselves that, if a problem is to found, it is
not with themselves.
They have told themselves that God was not
aware of their Idolatry. Openly they were seen publicly as having piety and
uprightness. They had all the right things to say, did that which would attract
proper attention, yet, in their private lives, behind the walls of their heart,
they were worshiping an idol(s) of their own making, right in the Holy Temple of
Almighty God.
Dedicated to Their Idol
This worship which Ezekiel witnesses, was no
casual fascination, they are not persons who have become temporally interested,
and or are just dabbling in something. These persons are given over to
their own desires. Ezk:8 “a great deal of incenses”, that is, they were devoted.
They worshiped these idols, constantly, yet they believed that it was unknown.
“the Lord does not see”
they believed, that this idolatry was hidden from view.
These men were breaking the very first
Commandment, of the Law which was the true center of the Covenant God which had
been made with their forefathers at Sinai. These men had put something before
their God, and turned to an idol(s) as the object of their devotion. God
was revealing this to his Prophet Ezekiel through the Holy Spirit.
In the spirit, Ezekiel is taken to the North
Gate of the Temple and sees erected there an idol. The Prophet is then moved
into the court, and sees
"woman weeping for Tammuz", a pagan deity from
Mesopotamia. Ezk: 8:14-15
Between the Porch and Alter
Lastly,
the Spirit places Ezekiel between the "porch and alter",
which is the place which was reserved for the Priest. Here in this place,
Ezekiel is shown a group of 25 men.
"with their backs to the temple
facing east, worshiping the sun".
It was here in this place, of all places,
where the ministry of the anointed and consecrated priesthood should be leading
in the worship of the Great God; we view the greatest offense. Ezk: 8:16
The Church
Is what we read here only history or can this happen even now? Can this be among the people of God, today, in God’s Temple, which the Church, of which we are all apart of? 2Cor: 6:16
All Christians have been made part of the Priesthood of God, do we secretly, or
worse, shamelessly conduct ourselves openly revealing a resident idol of our
hearts? Do we have a devotion to an idol? 1Pet: 2:5,9.
Is there something in our lives that we are putting before our Lord Jesus? It
could be even something that we assume is holy, or in our own minds has God's
blessing. But, in truth consumes our time and resources.
Idols can be found in unlikely or unsought for
places. Even ministry or doctrine, another person can be transformed into an
idol and given an inappropriate place in our lives and can become the object(s)
of our devotion. Are idols found behind the closed doors of our hearts in the
private place of our being?
We may not even recognize the idols that could
be set up in our lives.
The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle St. Paul
to address this very issue of idolatry in the Church as a caution to all
Christians so we might all keep our minds on Jesus above all, that we are
always in proper practical relationship with our Lord.
St. Paul writes that the Church and
idols are two non-compatible things, the worship of Jesus Christ and idols, we
can't serve both, and only Jesus is worthy of our worship.2Cor:6:16
Unseen Idol(s)
Do we have idols that we might believe
are unseen to those around us, that are hidden from public view behind a wall
of piety, where our fellow Christians may not see them, and we may tell
ourselves that no problem exist?
We can be like the 70 who worshiped behind
the wall in "the dark" and worshiped
idols “where they lived”. St. Paul implores us all not to
make idols in our lives. 2Cor: 6:16
Anything We Put First
An idol is whatever we put fist in our lives
that is what we “offer much incenses to". An Idol
can be anything, power, position, a person, a cause, or an idea, a doctrine, an
agenda.
We might tell ourselves “the Lord does not see”, that is, it is hidden from
view. We may not even be aware that it is there ourselves. Again, is there
something we are putting before Jesus Christ, something that keeps us from our
walking out the Christian life as we are called to do?
This is something all, clergy
and laity alike; all of us, must ask ourselves, especially
the clergy, are we like those who derive our identity from our
position(s) in the Temple of God?
It could be easy for any of us to do
so, we can mistake "our purposes"
for the will of God and be dedicated to fulfilling them, raising “a great deal of incenses”.
God Can Show Us
God reveled to Ezekiel his prophet that there
was idolatry in the Temple of God, his Church, and he can and will do the same
through the gift of discernment. God shows his servants, even in our times,
though we may tell ourselves “the Lord does not see”
God does see all of us.
We all need to candidly ask the Holy Spirit,
to mercifully show us any idols in our lives.
In Our Heart
Those whom Ezekiel saw are described by Jesus
in Matt: 15:8, they worship
with the mouth but the heart was far away. They walked in the
Temple courts, derived their place and position from it but unfortunately it
was all show.
If we have an idol in our heart,
something we place above our Lord, it will eventually manifest in our words and
action. Matt: 15:18-19 it is "out of the heart,"
the idol’s presence is made manifest if there is one in our heats it will be
known.
Eccl: 3:11-God set eternity in our hearts, this eternal
emptiness this longing, can only be filled with himself in the way it needs
filled; yet humanity will attempt to fill this void with something other than
Jesus.
If Jesus is ruling our hearts, it will be made evident in the fruit of our lives.
Do we have a room of idols in our hearts? It
is in the heart of humanity, where the idols are hidden away, from the eyes of
others, but not from the Lord God.
Idols Have No Value
Heb: 7:8- “what value” is there
in idols? they will pass away, they do not build up they cannot deliver us or
they bring only contention and division, they cannot deliver us nor help us in our
times of need.
The Holy Spirit calls on all Christian to
examine our hearts, is there a room of idols. Is there anything there, that we
are placing before our Lord Jesus?
No Room for Idols
All Christians, each and all of us, need to
ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to them, if we have a room of idols in the Temple
court of our lives and the Temple of the church; is there something we are
putting first above him? This speaks to us all. Let only our Lord Jesus
be the true object of our devotion and worship.
1Jhn:5:21 "Little Children,keep
yourselves from idols. Amen"
Benediction: May we each and all look
only to and be devoted both in public and in private to our Lord Jesus Christ and let
us forever be without idols, today, tomorrow and forevermore.
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Rev.Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma
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