Behind the Scenes

[Christsdaughter]

Behind the Scenes

Thursday April 7, 2011

“Ezekial 8
Idolatry in the Temple

1In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there. 2I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.£ From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. 3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. 4And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.

5Then 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.

6And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

7Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.

9And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11In front of them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

12He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’” 13Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”

14Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. 15He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”

16He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.

17He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18Therefore 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.”

In Ezekiel Chapter 8, God gives Ezekiel a vision of the idol worshipping taking place inside the temple in Jerusalem. This was the one place where the people should have been worshipping the one and only God! God first showed Ezekiel the “idol that provokes to jealousy” on the north gate of Jerusalem. Then the Lord had Ezekiel dig a hole in the wall of the temple and when Ezekiel entered, he saw crawling things, detestable animals and idols all over the walls! He also saw the elders who were the spiritual leaders burning incense each to their own idol. Their excuse for doing this was that God did not see them and had forsaken the land. Every scene gets worse and worse as God shows Ezekiel the depth of idol worship in the “Holy City” and its temple. Then the Lord showed Ezekiel a woman mourning for Tammuz and some men worshipping the sun. There did not appear to be anyone there worshipping the one and only God. God was very angry and said that He would judge them for their idol worshipping and would not spare them.

God feels the same way about many of our churches today. People may not be burning incense inside the churches or bowing to the sun (then again maybe some are), but there are many people who are not there to worship the one and only God. Some are there for entertainment purposes, social activities, to makes themselves look good, to try to earn their ways into heaven, etc. The condition of the institutional church today is just as bad as the condition of the temple in Jerusalem in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. God will come in the flesh of Jesus Christ to judge first the church and then the nations. He will judge the church first (especially the supposedly spiritual leaders) because they are leading people into sin rather than into right relationships with the one and only God.

“Ezekiel 9
Idolaters Killed

1Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand.” 2And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

5As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.

7Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Ah, Sovereign LORD! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

9He answered me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’ 10So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”

11Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”

In Ezekiel 9, the Lord shows Ezekiel how He planned to judge these people for their sins. He had one man mark the foreheads of all who had been faithful to the one and only God, but then He had six men kill the rest of them without showing any pity or compassion. The way that the Lord determined who was faithful was by whether or not they grieved or mourned over all the idol worship and evil taking place. The men began by killing the elders who were responsible for leading the people spiritually, but instead led them into sin. God holds spiritual leaders most accountable for the spiritual condition of the people. Ezekiel mourned and wept at all of the bloodshed.

Similarly, we should grieve and mourn over all of the idol worship and evil that we see today. If we are indifferent to it or even adopt any degree of it as part of our own lives, we will be punished if we do not repent. We must each take a look at our own lives prayerfully to see if we are adopting any standard that is not God’s standard and if God shows us anything, we need to repent. We must not make excuses for our adoption of such standards. Also, just as God had the foreheads of His faithful ones marked so that they would be spared, God will also mark the foreheads of His faithful ones in the End Times. Satan will place a mark on all of those who do not turn to God and they (along with Satan himself) are destined for destruction.

 

[stormdancer0]

The condition of the institutional church today is just as bad as the condition of the temple in Jerusalem in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. God will come in the flesh of Jesus Christ to judge first the church and then the nations. He will judge the church first (especially the supposedly spiritual leaders) because they are leading people into sin rather than into right relationships with the one and only God.

I believe it is a mistake to lump all churches together. Yes, there are many who have drifted away from worshiping God, and have turned into social clubs. But there are also many who have remained true to the Lord. I understand where you're coming from, but these arguments have been used to denounce all corporate worship. God clearly calls us to gather together and worship. We cannot be a part of the body of Christ without meeting with our fellow "body parts." A hand that does not coordinate with an arm and shoulder is ineffective at best, a burden at worst.

 

[Christsdaughter]

Stormdancer,

I merely said that many churches today are filled with idolatry and that God's glory is not with them. I know that there are still a few today that still worship the Lord. Please forgive me for the misunderstanding.