When Our Promiscuous Hearts Grieve God’s Heart

Another problem is that we may be talking about the wrong things as we make disciples. Thune contends that in discipleship,

we spend all sorts of time talking about petty sins and surface issues, when the real battle is going on in the heart. You can talk about behavior and external circumstances all day, but unless you drag some heart idols out on the table, you’re just putting a Band-Aid on the problem. . . . The real question is not what we’re doing, but what god we’re worshipping. That’s why what your disciples want is much more important than what they know. (Thune, “How to Disciple”)

Likewise, Wilson exhorts, “The hottest ‘worship war’ going is the one taking place daily in the sanctuary of our own hearts (Wilson, “The Church and Idolatry”).

What God’s people did in Ezekiel’s day and we do in ours is because of what drives our affections. Like Ezekiel’s peers, we foolishly turn from the God who loved us in our worst state (Eph 2:1-4) to gods who are incapable of loving us at all. Why do we set our affections in such low places, and what can we do about it?

God Knows We Have Short-Term Memories of His Goodness Toward Us and the Wretchedness from Which He Brought Us

In order to minimize promiscuity in our hearts, we must find ways to remember who God is and what He has done for us. The Lord knows us better than we know ourselves, and He knows we are prone to forgetfulness (Deut 9:4-5; 10:12-22; 11:11-17). In fact, God made a provision so Israel could avoid the sins they are being disciplined for in this text. In Numbers 15:37-41,

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that throughout their generations they are to make tassels for the corners of their garments, and put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner. These will serve as tassels for you to look at, so that you may remember all the Lord’s commands and obey them and not become unfaithful by following your own heart and your own eyes. This way you will remember and obey all My commands and be holy to your God. I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”

God knew His people’s hearts and eyes would constantly be tempted to wander. The tassels were to be a reminder and protection for His people so they would follow God’s commands instead of their inclinations (Bloom, “No More Whoring”). The Israelites failed because they did not heed His warnings, and we are just as susceptible. What intentional reminders do we need to set in place so that we will not be easily led toward sin?

Though He Never Takes His Eyes Off of Us, God Knows We Frequently Set Our Gaze Somewhere Besides Him

A strong link exists between looking and coveting. The Israelites had eyes that lusted after their idols. The desire of the eyes has long been a source of trouble for God’s people. Consider what looking and coveting cost Eve (Gen 3:6), Achan (Jos 7:21), and David (2 Sam 11:2). We are not exempt ourselves (1 John 2:16). The question, however, is not if we will wander from God, but why we set our gaze anywhere else. Where we look is reflective of what we want.

In order for us to join the psalmist in his commitment not to set anything worthless before his eyes (Ps 101:3), we should pray Appleton’s prayer:

O God, I know that if I do not love You with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and with all my strength, I shall love something else with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. Grant that putting You first in all my lovings I may be liberated from all lesser loves and loyalties, and have You as my first love, my chief good and my final joy. (Appleton, quoted in Boa, Conformed to His Image, 196)

We no longer have tassels, but we do have a cross. Bloom encourages us to set our eyes on the cross because “it reminds us not only of God’s holy commandments, but also how he perfectly fulfilled them all on our behalf” (Bloom, “No More Whoring”). How often do we struggle with sin because we are not keeping our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:3)?

Though We May Refuse to Put Away Those Things That Lead Us Away from God, He Will Not Suffer Them Forever

One of the reasons Israel struggled continuously is because they did not put away what often drew them away from God. As Ezekiel 6 opens, the prophet is told to say,

Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. (v. 3)

A good question might be to ask why Ezekiel was preaching to the high places of Israel, but a better question would be to ask why the high places were still there.

In between the time of the tabernacle and the temple, the Israelites offered sacrifices to the Lord at specific locations known as high places (1 Kgs 3:2). After the temple was built, God’s people were supposed to worship and offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. They should have destroyed the high places, but, to their detriment, they retained them. Throughout the generations they used the high places for worship of pagan gods. Nothing good can be gained by holding on to what leads us away from God.

Are there any “high places” in our lives? Are our eyes and hearts being drawn toward God or away from God by what we allow to have influence in our lives? Are we assigning value to anything that lacks it intrinsically? Let us put away anything that draws us away from the Lord, for it will end up costing us far more than it is worth.

A Day Is Coming When Repentance Will No Longer Be an Option

Ezekiel 7:1-27

For those who use credit cards, there is a reckoning every month. Every swipe of the card has been recorded, and a debt has been accumulated. Not a cent is unaccounted. If God’s people thought God was not watching or did not care about all their rebellion, they are about to find out they were dead wrong. For Jerusalem the time has come; the day has arrived (7:12). Through Ezekiel, God declared to His people five times: the end has come (vv. 2,3,6).

God is going to pour out His wrath on His people and punish them for all their detestable practices (vv. 8-9). Doom has come on them (vv. 7,10), and one disaster after another is coming (vv. 5,26). God’s people will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priests and counsel from the elders (v. 26). In anguish God’s people will seek peace, but there will be none (v. 25). Their disobedience will not only cost many of them their lives but will also cost the next generation their land (vv. 21-24). They will not be able to buy their way out of the judgment (v. 19), and no one will be exempted (vv. 11,15). God’s wrath will be in exact proportion to the sin His people have committed (Thomas, God Strengthens, 60). If we think differently, then we lack an accurate view of His holiness and our wretchedness.

For Jerusalem the time for repentance had passed. However secure they felt in their wealth or in their worship of idols, they found their refuge to be wanting. Many in our day are seeking refuge in similar places. They are putting their confidence in what they have accumulated or what they have achieved. The judgment in Ezekiel 7 does not compare with the judgment that is coming (Ps 96:13; Matt 26:41; Rev 20:11-15). But unlike Ezekiel’s generation our peers still have an opportunity to repent and believe. Of all the things our friends and coworkers need from us today, silence with the gospel is not one of them.

Against the backdrop of Ezekiel 7, can the cross of Christ be more glorious? We are just as guilty of idolatry as Ezekiel’s generation, and we deserve every bit of the punishment they received, but Christ has taken our place. Upon Him has been laid every act of our rebellion toward God. Christ has been treated as if He were the one who sought security somewhere besides the Father. His atonement has covered every adulterous tryst we’ve committed against God with our eyes and hearts.

Plead with those around you to be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20). Don’t let them consider Ezekiel 7 and think that God will treat them any differently. Exhort them to run to the One who has borne their judgment; otherwise they will pay the price for their sin themselves. There is nowhere to find refuge from the wrath of God except for the cross of Christ.

Even in Judgment, God Remembers His Mercy

Ezekiel 6:8-9

Even in His wrath God is merciful. He told Ezekiel He would leave a remnant. Scattered among the nations would be some who will escape the sword. The remnant will not survive because they are smart, strong, or good at hiding. The remnant certainly will not survive because they are faithful to the Lord. As a matter of fact, they will loathe themselves because of the evil things they did and their detestable practices of every kind. There will be a remnant solely because God is faithful. Even in discipline He will not fully destroy His people (Deut 30:1-6). They will know that He is the Lord.

Reflect and Discuss