Turned From Idols To The Living God

In Ezekiel 8:1-4, The Lord shows Ezekiel a heavenly vision of Himself in His glory, then, the Lord carries Ezekiel by the Spirit from Babylon to Jerusalem into the inner court of the house of the Lord. There, the Spirit shows Ezekiel an image of jealousy that provokes God to jealousy. Ezekiel also sees the four cherubim once again that he saw previously in Ezekiel 1:4-6, 10.

In Isaiah 6:1-3, Isaiah sees seraphim at the on-start of his prophetic ministry to Israel. In Revelation 4:6-8, John the Apostle sees four winged creatures at the on-start of his prophetic ministry. What do they cry? They cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” In Exodus 25:18-22, the Ark of the Covenant box (with the ten commandments inside of it) has two winged cherubim on its lid. The point here is that when God brings His Word to bear on the world, His holy angels are present and actively involved.

The fact that angels are involved with prophetic ministry is good news for the prophet because anyone who speaks truth in an age of lies becomes a target of the devil and his minions.

I like what Elisha told his servant when an enemy army came to capture him. In 2 Kings 6:16-18, Elisha said, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then, Elisha prayed, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and “he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” Then, “Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.’ And He [the Lord] struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.”

To speak the words of Bible prophecy to the nations is a ministry that requires confidence in the power of the Lord God Almighty. This ministry requires assurance that God is holy, and that He desires holiness from us whom He created in His likeness.

In Ezekiel 8:5-6, the image of jealousy is the first abomination that the Lord shows Ezekiel.

Then, in Ezekiel 8:7-11, the Lord reveals to Ezekiel greater abominations. Seventy elders of the people have portrayed idols on the walls of the sanctuary.

In Ezekiel 8:12, the Lord told Ezekiel what these elders were saying to one another. They say, “The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.”

In Ezekiel 8:13-14, the Lord reveals to Ezekiel “women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.” Some commentators think Tammuz refers to Adonis a Greek god and others think it was Osiris an Egyptian idol. In any case, the women are more emotionally involved with idols than with worshipping the living God, the One who created and sustains the universe.

In Ezekiel 8:15-16, The Lord reveals to Ezekiel 25 men in the inner court of the Lord’s house with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun.

In Ezekiel 8:17, On top of everything else, the Lord revealed to Ezekiel, “they have filled the land with violence.”

What was the Lord going to do about all this?

“Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” Ezekiel 8:18

In Ezekiel 9:1-19, the Lord calls for six axe-man to prepare to slay the idolators of Jerusalem. He calls one of them, who has an inkhorn, to proceed them. He is to place a mark on the foreheads of the people in Jerusalem “who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” These will be spared but the rest killed.

The six angelic men carry out their orders. Seeing people die, Ezekiel falls on his face and cries out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?” The Lord replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’”

“And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, ‘Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.’ And he went in as I watched.” “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim.” “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city.” “Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?” Ezekiel 10:1-2, 6, 11:2, 13

God orders one of the six men who brought judgment on Jerusalem to take fiery coals and spread them out over the city. In Revelation 8:3-5, an angel is ordered to take fire from the heavenly altar of incense and throw it to earth. It causes noises, thundering, lightening and earthquakes on the earth. Revelation 8:3 says that this fire is mingled with the prayers of the saints. So, in these passages, God is bringing these judgments down on evildoers in answer to the prayers of His holy people.

Ezekiel expressed concern that no one would survive God’s jealous wrath against idols. The Lord responded...

“Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” Ezekiel 11:16

The Lord promised to preserve a remnant of His people. They would not have a temple in the foreign lands of their captivity, but His presence would be a sanctuary for them.

“I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” Ezekiel 11:17

When the season of captivity was over, the Lord promised to restore them to their land.

“They will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 11:18-21

When the Lord brings judgments on the world, He replaces evil with Himself.

I am so glad that the Lord doesn’t give up on us people. He loves us. He wants us to know how to love as He loves! To do right as He does right! To enjoy walking in fellowship with Him!

“So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.” Ezekiel 11:25

I pray that any idol-images in our places of worship will be removed. God is a jealous God. Think about it! Do we have any competitors with God in our houses of worship during Christmas Day and Resurrection Day services? Why would any church speak of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny during these days on which we celebrate our Messiah’s redemptive work to save us from sin and hell. Why do churches celebrate the festival of the dead (Halloween) like many pagan cultures do? To me, these are signs of a lack of jealous love for God. May the Lord open our eyes as He did for Ezekiel. May He help us to do as the Thessalonian Christians did in 1 Thessalonians 1:9... “they turned from idols to the living God.”