Skip to content Serving Two Masters: The Danger of Secret Idols - Ezekiel 14-15 Mar 28 · 13 min ...more
Serving Two Masters: The Danger of Secret Idols - Ezekiel 14-15
March 28, 2025 · 13 min
God addresses the hidden idolatry within Judah's leaders, commanding Ezekiel to call for repentance and spiritual renewal.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand March 28, 2025 · 13 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
God addresses the hidden idolatry within Judah's leaders, commanding Ezekiel to call for repentance and spiritual renewal. ...more Show the full description Show less God addresses the hidden idolatry within Judah's leaders, commanding Ezekiel to call for repentance and spiritual renewal.
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Idolatry of the Heart 0:09 Morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Ezekiel chapters 14 and 15. God points to the problem of Judah's leaders idling hearts. Now these0:21 were not hearts running on at a low RPM, but hearts that were fixed upon and chasing idols. Verse 3 of chapter 14. Son of man, these men have set up0:33 their idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? Right. In0:45 this chapter, Ezekiel is visited by a group of the elders of Israel. Now these leaders, corrupted by the idolatry of their heart, came to the prophet to inquire of the lord. And0:57 I can only imagine their shock when they discovered what the writer of Hebrews said about the word of god in Hebrews 4 12. It said, for the word of god is living and active, sharper than any1:09 2 edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. You see, god saw right through the1:20 veneer of their religiosity. Alright. Let's begin verse 1 chapter 14. Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and set before me. And the word of the lord came to me saying, son of man, these men1:32 have set up their idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them?1:44 Therefore, speak to them and say to them, thus says the lord god, everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity and then1:56 comes to the prophet. I, the lord, will answer him who comes according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart because they are2:08 all estranged from me by their idols. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the lord god, repent, turn away from your idols, and2:19 turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates himself from me and sets up his idols in2:31 his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire him concerning me, I, the lord, will answer him by myself. I will set my face against that2:43 man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people. Then you shall know that I am the lord. This is2:55 serious. God does not play around with idolatry. Now these spiritual leaders have not set up idols in their homes where others could see them, but in their hearts hidden from the3:07 view of others. But god saw it very clearly, and he said it has separated you from me, and it has caused you to stumble into sin. Proverbs3:19 4 verse 23 says, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it. You know, we need to to guard against dismissing this passage or quickly3:30 passing over and saying idolatry is not an issue for us today. Matthew Henry, in his commentary in the bible, writes this. He says, or it may be understood of spiritual idolatry, those3:42 whose affections are placed upon the wealth of this world and the pleasures of sense, whose god is their money, whose god is their belly, they set up their idols in their heart.3:54 Many who have no idols in their sanctuary have idols in their hearts, which is no less a usurpation of god's throne and and profaning of his name. Little children, keep yourselves4:06 from these idols. Those that join themselves to idols separate themselves from god. Matthew 6 24 says, no 1 can serve 2 masters, for he he will either hate the 14:18 and love the other, or he will be devoted to the 1 and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. And God said he will answer them. He said to Ezekiel, he said he would answer them4:30 according to the desire of their idols. He will allow them to continue on this path of personal destruction. That's what they're looking for. They they, not God, they put the stumbling block of their iniquity before4:42 their face. They knew this was wrong. We know it's wrong. They have been told that this would lead to their ruin. But like an addicted gambler, they continue deeper into the debt of4:53 sin. The pretenders do not fool God. You can't fool God. God sees what's in the heart and he's not misled by what comes from our lips.5:05 Unless they repent and they turn away from their idolatry and their immorality and the sin that flows from it, god said he would not entertain their words. In fact, it's worse than that. He said that he would cut them5:17 off. He would destroy them. And there's also here a warning to the prophets or preachers who would tell these men what they wanted to hear. Look at verse 9. And if the prophet5:29 and if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I, the lord, have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. And they shall bear their iniquity. The5:40 punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the 1 who inquired. God was warning them that if they rejected the truth that he delivered through Ezekiel and they went to another prophet who might5:52 tell them what they wanted to hear and soothe their conscience, god would give them what they wanted to hear from the false prophet as a part of their punishment. You see, deception is the fruit of rejecting theJudgment and the Fruitless Vine 6:04 truth, and the path of deception deception leads to destruction. Second Timothy chapter 4 verse 3 says, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears will6:16 accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. Is that not happening today? And will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths, conspiracies.6:29 A note to the pastors and preachers who preach for the people and not for God. They will share in the punishment of the deceived. Now in the rest of the chapter, Ezekiel lays out6:41 4 forms of judgment that God would bring upon the nation if it persisted in its idolatry and unfaithfulness. Verse 13, son of man, when a land sins against6:53 me, notice he says, when a land this is the same thing that has happened previously even to the non Jewish nations. When a land sins against me by persistent unfaithfulness,7:05 I will stretch out my hand against it. I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these 3 men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would deliver only7:17 themselves by their righteousness, says the lord. Now notice just a moment here this, I'm gonna touch on this. This is kind of a side note. But the reference to Daniel, who was a contemporary of7:29 Ezekiel, I made reference to this at the beginning of the book. But Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, all all prophets called by God with different assignments facing different circumstances. Jeremiah was7:40 back in, Judah, put in a dungeon. Ezekiel was there in Babylon with the captives, had to cook his food over dung. But Daniel was in the in the palace of the oppressing7:52 king. Yet we see no conflict, no competition, no strife between them as Ezekiel speaks a word from the lord upholding Daniel as an example of righteousness. Now in verses8:04 13 through 20, we go back to these 4 judgments. They are listed beginning with famine. And then in verse 21, he warns of all 4 of them them coming upon them. Verse 21, for thus says8:16 the lord god, how much more it shall be when I send my 4 severe judgments on Jerusalem? Right. What are they? The sword and famine and wild beast and pestilence8:28 to cut off man and beast from it. This is going to to judge both man and beast. They would all suffer from these 4 things. So before we dismiss this as an old testament8:39 thing, 4 forms of judgment by god. Do we see those in the world today? Sword. What's the sword? It's war. It's physical attacks. It's insecurity from a physical standpoint. Famine. Do we8:51 see famine? Economic. That's the economy and scarcity of of essentials. Wild beast. We don't see that today, do we? Do this. Right?9:03 I just did it. I was just kinda curious looking. Do an Internet search of wild beast in the US, and you'll be surprised what you see. And pestilence, disease, plagues that affect people and animals.9:15 We don't have that, do we? Have you been to the store to buy eggs lately? Say can you say bird flu? We need to be watching and observing what is happening around9:27 us and not dismissing these things. What we we see the these things are happening. And just like they did in the Old Testament, in these times that we're reading about, they were dismissive of them saying they were not9:38 coming from god. You need to be prayerful about what is happening today. Verse 22, yet behold, there shall be left in a remnant who will be brought out both sons and daughters. Surely,9:50 they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it, and they will comfort you,10:00 and you shall see their ways and their doings. And you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it, says the lord. God does nothing without just cause. And when the10:12 judgment came, the sin would be exposed and the exiles in the world would see, and they all would know that he was the lord. Now chapter 15 is a very short parable10:24 of a fruitless vine that serves no purpose other than fuel for the fire. Verse 6 of chapter 15. Therefore, thus says the lord god like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest,10:35 which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. A vine serves no purpose other than to produce fruit. You don't make a house from it. You don't10:47 make furniture from it. It doesn't if it doesn't produce fruit, it's only good for fuel for the fire. Jesus actually provides application for this in John 15 verse 5. He says, I am the10:59 vine. You are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the11:11 branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. Father, we thank you for your word, and I do pray that the holy spirit would make us attentive11:24 to your word, to the principles. Lord, I know this this was a message from Ezekiel to the children of Judah, those who were in captivity, and even those back in Jerusalem in his day. But, lord, we know it has11:35 application for us, the principles, the truths that are here. Lord, I pray that we would not be like these elders of Israel that had set up idols in their hearts. Everything on the outside looked good. They were going11:47 through the motions of religion, but in their hearts were idols, and they were separated from you. And that was a stumbling block leading them into iniquity. And, lord, as a result,11:59 your judgment came upon them. Father, help us. Help us to have eyes to see what is happening in our day. Lord, may we repent personally. May we12:11 turn from our sin. May there be no idols in our lives. May Jesus truly be the lord of our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning.12:23 Until next time, keep standing on the word.12:28 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day,12:40 you can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 Idolatry of the Heart6:00 Judgment and the Fruitless Vine
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