231029 Ezekiel 14: Idolatry's Opposition to God | The Idolator's Insincerity | Danger in Disingenuous Devotion | Mind Idols | What are we worshipping? | idolatry and insincerity | What Word Will We Hear? | Insincere Expectations

Mark Organ

Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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INTRODUCTION

Jeremiah 42:1–6 | 1 Then all the commanders of the military forces, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great approached 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication come before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, that is for all this remnant, because we remain but a few out of many, as your own eyes now see us, 3 that Yahweh your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.” 4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to pray to Yahweh your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole message which Yahweh will answer you. I will not keep back a word from you.” 5 And they said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message with which Yahweh your God will send you to us. 6 “Whether it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God to whom we are sending you, so that good may come to us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God.”

Jeremiah 42:10–14 | 10 ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I have relented of the calamity that I have done against you. 11 ‘Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for I am with you to save you and deliver you from his hand. 12 ‘I will also show you compassion, so that he will have compassion on you and return you to your own soil. 13 ‘But if you are going to say, “We will not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, 14 saying, “No, but we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a trumpet or hunger for bread, and we will stay there,”

Jeremiah 42:18–43:7 | 18 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “As My anger and wrath have been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a curse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.” 19 Yahweh has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, “Do not go into Egypt!” You should clearly know that today I have testified against you. 20 For you have only led yourselves astray; for it is you who sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, “Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” 21 So I have told you today, but you have not listened to the voice of Yahweh your God, even according to all that He has sent me to tell you. 22 So now, you should clearly know that you will die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to sojourn. 1 But it happened that as soon as Jeremiah, whom Yahweh their God had sent, had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God—that is, all these words— 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are speaking a lie! Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to sojourn there’; 3 but Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us to give us over into the hand of the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon.” 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces and all the people did not listen to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces took the entire remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations to which they had been banished, in order to sojourn in the land of Judah— 6 the men, the women, the little ones, the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— 7 and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh) and went in as far as Tahpanhes.

MAINPOINT

ROADMAP

PRAYER

CONTEXT

SERMON

I. Idolatry Inhibits Inquiry (v1-3) Paganism Prevents Prayer | Iniquitous Elders About to Ask

1 Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be inquired by them at all?

Notes

K&D v1-11 announces to the elders that God will not allow idolators to inquire of Him but will answer all who do not turn from idolatry with severe judgments and will even destroy the prophets who venture to give an answer to such inquirers v1 These are actual Israelites not deputies. v2-11 Assumes that they have come to ask but instead tells them what the state of their heart

NAC v1-11 those who patronize false prophets share in the judgment against them

The stumbling block is idolatry - specifically idolatry within the heart

v3 גִלּֽוּלֵיהֶם֙ - Dung pellet

Questions

Is it permissible to inquire of God when He is not the God we worship?

Cross References

Isaiah 1:14–15““My soul hates your new moon festivals and your appointed times, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Indeed, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.”

Observations:

Idolatry: A short and sweet definition: An idol intrudes between us and God, An idol incites us against God, and an idol will entice us away from God. Mark it: Idols come between people and their Maker. Mark it, idols force disobedience to God’s good Laws. Mark it: Idols seduce us to sacrificially give up what is the Lord’s alone. Understand this, that these symptoms can indicate idolatrous inclinations within our hearts and need to be diligently watched for: Unrepentant idolaters will angrily defend their idol, and they do not, will not, and can not constrain their idol

II. Adonai’s Appropriate Answer (v4-5)

4 “Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer in light of it, in light of the multitude of his idols, 5 in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from Me through all their idols.”’

8th Grade Paraphrase

v4 So tell these idolators what I tell you, “any idolatrous Israelite with idols in his heart, has right in front of him his sin. If he should come to the prophet of the Lord for inquiry, I Myself will answer him, not forgetting his many idols.” v5 The purpose of this is to drag capture the hearts of the people of Israel, everyone who is separated from Me because of idolatry.

Notes

NAC: A battle for the minds and hearts of Israel is being waged

K&D: Not gross idolatry but the idolatry of the mind, mentally busy with mind idols and unable/unwilling to put out of his mind

It seems like there is some ambiguity in the text as to what verse 5 means. Does it mean to further separate Israel from Yahweh or to draw them to Yahweh. My first inclination based upon context is that the purpose of this is to further separate Israel from Yahweh.

It seems like it is appropriate via verse 8 that the separation is intended against all who set their hearts against God which is in contrast to verse 11 which says that the house of Israel may no longer defile themselves - there seems to be a both and not either or in our text

Cross References

Proverbs 1:17–18“For it is no use that a net is spread In the sight of any bird; But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.”

2 Timothy 2:19“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, “THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS,” and, “EVERYONE WHO NAMES THE NAME OF THE LORD is to DEPART FROM WICKEDNESS.””

Zechariah 7:12 ““And they made their hearts diamond-hard so that they could not hear the law and the words which Yahweh of hosts had sent by His Spirit by the hand of the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of hosts.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11–12 “And for this reason God sends upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness.”

6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Turn back and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 “For anyone of the house of Israel or of the sojourners who sojourn in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I, Yahweh, will be brought to answer him in My own person. 8 “I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am Yahweh.

8th Grade Paraphrase

v6 Because of this, tell these idolatrous Israelite leaders what I tell you, “Repent! Turn back! Turn away! Turn your focus away from these horrific detestable things! v7 Any Israelite, or even a resident alien, who strays from Me, and establishes idols which are no gods in his heart - his very sin is before him. If that idolater comes to the prophet to ask anything of Me for himself, I, Myself will answer him. v8 His idolatry is so serious, I will take a hostile posture against that man for the purpose of making him an obvious sign and his name a by-word, his name to be remembered as shameful shorthand for idolatry’s embodiment. Furthermore I will utterly remove him from My covenant people - all for the ultimate purpose of teaching you that I am the Self-Existent God - not those idols that they are worshipping

Notes

NAC: A Double imperative - It is actually 3 imperatives שׁוב Turn

Set My face - context of ten mentions in Leviticus (3x Defilement Lev 20.3-6)

A Definition: Repentance doesn’t stop at remorse. Repentance is not a simple “sorry” Repentance agrees with God about the sin, the sinner and the need of a Savior. Repentance is a gift from God graciously given and must be received to be realized Acts 11:18“And when they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”” Acts 5:31““This One God exalted to His right hand as a Leader and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Repentance reconciles with the wronged - making amends, recovering at all possible what was damaged. Luke 19:8“But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have extorted anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.””

Cross References

Isaiah 55:6–7 “Seek Yahweh while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to Yahweh, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

Jeremiah 35:15 ““Also I have sent to you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying: ‘Turn now every man from his evil way and make good your deeds, and do not walk after other gods to serve them. Then you will inhabit the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me.”

IV. Partners in Punishment (v9-11) Shared Iniquity | The Purpose In Purging Paganism | Sovereignly Enticed

9 “But if the prophet is enticed to speak a word, it is I, Yahweh, who have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10 “They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be, 11 in order that the house of Israel may no longer wander from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions. Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,”’ declares Lord Yahweh.”

Paraphrase

v9 However, if the prophet is enticed to lie by using the name of Yahweh, surely I, Yahweh, will set Myself against him through enticing him and will destroy him utterly from Israel. v10 Assuredly they will suffer punishment for their sin, and not only them but indeed also the one who inquired by them, because their sin is the same, v11 the purpose of this is so that the house of Israel may no longer wander astray from Me, or continue in their defilement by their transgressions. The end result will be that they are My people and I shall be their God, declares Adonai Yahweh

Note

Neither Author nor Approver of Sin

NAC: Punishment with purpose - purging of paganism from the people’s hearts returning them to covenant relationship with Adonai

K&D Calvin, “it teaches that neither imposters nor frauds take place apart from the will of God” - this cannot happen apart from people admitting evil unto themselves

Observation:

Sharing in the judgment: Deuteronomy 13:1–5““If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us walk after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you to find out if you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. “You shall walk after Yahweh your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has counseled rebellion against Yahweh your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to drive you from the way in which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”

Chasing health and wealth idols, pursuing another gospel via the new apostolic reformation false prophets comes with a steep price tag - they share in the penalty to be levied on false prophets - the judgment is the same as that mentioned in the second half of our text today

Cross Reference

Isaiah 66:4 “So I will choose their punishments And will bring on them what they dread, Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did what was evil in My eyes And chose that in which I did not take pleasure.””

Jeremiah 4:10 “Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.””

Ezekiel 11:18–20 ““When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. “And I will give them one heart and give within them a new spirit. And I will take the heart of stone 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. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.”

Zechariah 13:3 ““And it will be that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken falsely in the name of Yahweh’; and his father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.”

Hebrews 12:11 “And all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful, but to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

2 Peter 2:15 “Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,”

ELABORATION/EXPLANATION 850BC - 250yrs prior

1 Kings 22:19–23 “Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. “And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said this while another said that. “Then a spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “And Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You shall entice him and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ “So now, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; but Yahweh has spoken calamity against you.””

CONCLUSION

1 Peter 2:1–12 | 1 Therefore, laying aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have TASTED THE KINDNESS OF THE LORD. 4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES UPON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” 8 and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE.” They stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling they were also appointed. 9 But you are A CHOSEN FAMILY, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul, 12 by keeping your conduct excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good works, as they observe them, glorify God in the DAY OF VISITATION.

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8th Grade Paraphrase

v1 Some Israelite leaders have come before Ezekiel for a word from the God of Israel but before they could speak v2 God spoke to and through Ezekiel and this is what He said. v3 “Son of man, these men are idolators, I am not their God. At all times their sin is before them, so does it make sense that I should be asked anything from them?

Deuteronomy 18:22““When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

John 9:31 ““We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him.” HUMAN OBEDIENCE IS A KEY COMPONENT TO COMMUNION

2 Kings 1:16 “Then he spoke to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but shall surely die.’””

Isaiah 1:4 “Alas, sinful nation, People heavy with iniquity, Seed of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have forsaken Yahweh; They have spurned the Holy One of Israel; They have become estranged from Him.”

Isaiah 1:15 ““So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Indeed, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.”

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their mouth And honor Me with their lips, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their fear of Me is in the command of men learned by rote,”

Can we worship God and another god - will God be pleased with such worship. Should the Maker of human hearts suffer them to be filled with idols?

John 9:20–25“So his parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” Therefore, a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.””

John 9:26–30“So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to listen again? Do you want to become His disciples too?” And they reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from, and He opened my eyes.”

John 9:31–35““We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered and said to him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out. Jesus heard that they had put him out, and after finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?””

worthy of worship

Mark 8:34–38 | 34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

1 Kings 21:25–26“Surely there was no one who sold himself to do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. And he acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”

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