Tuesday, January 25, 2022
“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?” (Ezekiel 14:2,3 KJV).
Look at their heart problem!
Decades ago, a pastor friend was doing missionary work in a foreign country, among a people steeped in heathen religion and superstition. He and his ministry companions happened upon a house wherein they found one lost man who was most eager to hear what they had to tell him concerning “Christianity.” As they began sharing the Gospel of Grace with him, he responded quite enthusiastically, “Oh yes, I will believe in Jesus!” However, when they explained to him “Jesus” was not “just another statue” he could put on his shelf, but that Jesus was supreme and would not “share his shelf” with other “deities,” the man invited these Christian missionaries to leave his home. When we think critically about his situation, his problem was not idols on his shelf but rather idols in his heart. The idols in his heart (the sickness) led to the idols on his shelf (the symptoms).
Now, let us read today’s Scripture in context: “[1] Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. [2] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [3] Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? [4] Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; [5] That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.”
Remember, Israel’s problem is not idols in their hands but rather idols in their hearts….
333 Words of Grace 