Sitting alone in his house, a form of a man appeared in front of him. The form of a man reached out, took a lock of his hair, and lifted him to a place somewhere between heaven and earth.
In a vision, this form of a man took this individual to the city of Jerusalem, to one of the most conspicuous places of the temple. There he saw the glory of God.
When this form of a man spoke, he said, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are coming here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
This is the scene proclaimed to us by the prophet, Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 8 and 9. What follows is one of the most disturbing scenes of perverted worship in the Bible.
Ezekiel was told to dig in a wall and there he would see the “vile abominations” that were being committed. There was “every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel” (Ezekiel 8:10 ESV). He also saw seventy elders of the house of Israel and what they were doing in the house of the Lord.
With each scene in his vision, Ezekiel was told, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.” Each scene was filled with sinful acts against God.
The seventy elders were offering incense, but not to God. He saw women “weeping for Tammuz,” a false god. Next he saw twenty-five men worshiping the sun.
The form of a man then told Ezekiel, “Therefore I will act in wrath. 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).
This is one of the saddest scenes followers of God can imagine. Here are the people of God defacing the temple of the Almighty God with drawings of idols. They are offering incense, weeping over a strange god, and bowing to the sun as though these were their Creator.
In chapter 9, the executioners of these idol worshipers are sent into the city. Six men are dispatched to pass through the city and identify the men who are mourning over these abominations. Those not identified as faithful to God are to be killed.
The men begin with the seventy elders. As they begin the slaughter, Ezekiel cried out to God. He said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” (Ezekiel (9:8).
God’s answer comes quickly. “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see’. As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads” (Ezekiel 9:9-10).
Over and over Israel and Judah were warned. God’s mercy allowed them chance after chance to be obedient to Him. They would repent, then they would fall back into idolatrous worship.
Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
I fear there are many who believe they can live as they please, and God’s mercy will continue to give them time to live the life they choose. They will say to God, “I did many good works. I worshiped on special days. I gave clothing to Goodwill. I helped out my neighbor. Isn’t that enough?”
God’s answer will be as it was, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we can do things in worship that God did not authorize. We need to remember the words of another great prophet of God: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
When we pervert our worship to God, adding to, taking from, or replacing items of worship, we are just like the nations of Israel and Judah. Our punishment will be no less severe than it was for God’s people in the Old Testament.
Jesus gave instructions about our worship. He said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). If our worship is not done in the right way and for the right reason, our worship is vain. Vain worship is not acceptable to God.
God will do to us what He did to the Israelite nation. He will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).
Sandra Oliver