The Glory of God leaves

INTRO

Good morning everyone, if you have your Bible today, you can turn to Ezekiel 8 where we will be going all the way to chapter 11. Don’t worry, we won’t be reading everything and unfortunately, we won’t be able to cover everything. Otherwise we would be here until thanksgiving. However, we will see the big theme of what God is communicating through Ezekiel to his people. I hesitate to say this because I know the significance of what I am about to say, but this is probably one of the top three hardest parts of Ezekiel to read. If you want some deep, heavy teaching, well buckle up because it is about to come at ya. Not because of what I have to say but just for what is being communicated in the Word. However, before you pack up and leave because you would rather have a ted talk, I will let you know that we will end in hope. Despite the heaviness, there is a hope. But before we even get to the text, let’s pray.

BODY

1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. 3 He put out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.

So, it has been about a year and a half since Ezekiel had his first vision of God by the chebar canal. The one of the glory of God with living creatures and eye ball wheels, remember that? Okay, so God visits him again and this time he sends a messenger of a sort, which was a first in scripture. We see this in Daniel, Zechariah and then in Revelation with John, but Ezekiel get’s to experience it first. Now, there is a lot of debate if Ezekiel just saw these things or if God actually transported him to Jerusalem. I have my opinions but I let you come to a conclusion on your own. But he ends up, or sees, depending how you view this, in Jerusalem in the temple.

This could have been really exciting for Ezekiel because he was training to be a priest! I don’t know how to communicate the possible excitement he had showing up here but then the devastation he had when he sees what is going on in this temple. The only metaphor I have is, say you were training to be a cook all your life and then the dream kitchen that you were going to be working in for the rest of your life was now being used as a mortuary. Something that was supposed to be full of life, delicious smells, and light is now dark, cold and full of death. This would defile a kitchen, would it not? Like, no cook would say, hmmm, I can work around that and just cut my chicken up over here. And there are 5 ways this temple is defiled.So let’s see what Ezekiel sees here.

5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”

So the first thing to point out is this saying that God says to Ezekiel in verse 6. He says, “Do you see what they are doing?” is not God checking his vision. This is like us saying, did you see what they just did!? This is ridiculous! How could they do such a thing? This is God being astounded by the actions of the people. And rightfully so because what is in temple court right next to the alter where they are to sacrifice their sins?

The first defilement that Ezekiel sees is an Image/idol of jealousy

Can anyone remind the room the first two commandments of the the ten commandments? You shall have no other gods before me. And you shall make yourself an idol. Boom, here they are doing both in the very temple that God created so that they could be in his presence. Now you might think, “isn’t jealousy a bad thing? Why would God be jealous?” That would be fair, but let’s take this metaphor of what is happening a little deeper. Say you built a house for you and your spouse and you had a rule that only you two would live in that house together. Because God, when he put those commandments into place was entering into a covenant relationship with Israel. And then you pull up the house and you look in the front door way where your spouse usually would be meeting you from coming home. But your spouse is holding onto someone else, very intimately. What kind of emotion would you have. That is a glimpse into what is going on here between God and Israel. He bound himself to them, in covenant faithfulness. And they are sleeping around. In the house that he built for them to experience his presence. And we are only at the first stop. Are you ready for what is next?

7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9 And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel.

I want to pause here because this is extremely significant even though we havn’t gotten to what is happening in the room yet.

The second defilement that Ezekiel sees is engraved creatures on the walls and more idols.

Does anyone know what kind of creatures should have been engraved on the walls of the temple? The Cherubim, the living creatures. The guardians of what is holy. Yet here we see the things that God created, things like Genesis 1 language of creeping things and beasts. And these things were not there because they thought they needed to change the wallpaper, they were gods of other nations including Egypt. The worshipped these beasts and creeping things. So on the walls of the temple, cultural gods were being engraved. Hmmmmm. I’m glad that doesn’t happen in churches today, right. That was me being sarcastic. So not only are they worshipping these gods, they are actually more gods there. Ezekiel doesn’t even list all of them he just says all the idols of the house of Israel. And who is worshipping them? Let’s keep reading.

11 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13 He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”

The third defilement that Ezekiel sees is the elders/leaders of Israel worshipping the false idols and believing the Lord does not see them.

So not just everyday people in Jerusalem worshipping false gods. The leaders, the priests. Even Jaazaniah! Who we really don’t know exactly who he is but some believe he was a faithful guy during the time of Jeremiah but somehow he turned. We don’t know, but what we do know is something that I think it is good to pause here and see a deadly equation that is happening here that can still happen today.

Deadly equation: Idol worship + Isolation + foolish company = lies formed and believed.

So the idol worship looks different that it does today, but it still happens. It can even happen in the house of the Lord, like it is happening in this text. We can come in and bow down to our desires and our will rather than actually coming to bow down before the Lord. The we walk out of here in isolation with no life group, no accountability, and live our lives behind a little screen. And even if we do have a community around us, if they are unable to push back on us, rebuke us, say to us “hey you are being an idiot” because of the way you are living and the life you are pursuing, it will create a mindset that breeds lies like what these elders were believing. God doesn’t see me and who cares anyway, he has forsaken us anyway. Who cares if I keep sleeping around, who cares if I don’t actually read his word, who cares if I keep looking at porn, who cares if I… you fill in the blank. Well if you are a believer, HE CARES. And what is good for you is today, he is calling you out because he loves you, and cares about you, and wants you to know he does see and he does care. But it also means to have a time of repentance and tear down these idols of self focus, self desired and selfishness that are killing you.

The hope is coming I promise, but we still have some harder stuff to sit through.

14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”

The fourth defilement that Ezekiel sees is passionate worship for a false god.

Tammuz was a Babylonian fertility god whose annual death in the autumn is connected with the dying of all the crops. The ritual mourning for Tammuz in the fall summons him back to life in the spring. So, picture this if you are Ezekiel. You see an idol, creatures on the wall, elders worshipping false gods, and now women weeping in an act of a way of worship for once again another false god. And yet the people of God can’t even show any kind of remorse for their sin towards Yahweh. This would be a great definition of uneducated worship. A way to show passion but for the wrong god. It had to make Ezekiel sick to his stomach to witness all of this, yet, there is more.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose. 18 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.”

The fifth defilement that Ezekiel sees is 25 men worshipping the sun.

Now this may feel small or not as extreme as the other ones, but look at where Ezekiel is. It is in the inner court. The spot just before the Holy of Holies where only priest could go in. This is the spot that Ezekiel was training up to be in and maybe one day be a high priest and go into the Holy of Holies. So the men here are priests now attending to the worship of yahweh but to the sun. The thing that they were explicitly told not to do in Deuteronomy 4:19. This had to make Ezekiel sick, right? Like what in the heck has happened to this beautiful place that was to be there for God and man to commune.

But did you see the interesting turn that God says in verse 17? He says they are committing abominations (the stuff in the temple) but also they are filling the land with violence. So what is happening in Jerusalem is basically a free for all. If you want to worship this god go ahead. And if that god says you should sacrifice a baby, go ahead. And if that god says you can kill because it will help the crops better, then go ahead. This brings us to an important link seen throughout all the Bible.

Who you worship determines how you will treat people.

So not only is the temple being defiled, so is the land and the people. And God has had enough. He not only has brought about exile he also needs to bring justice for the people who have broken covenant with him.

So, for the sake of time, we won’t be able to read through chapter 9, 10, and part of 11. But I do want to encourage you to read through them and I want to give you a small outline of what does happen so you know how we are going to get to our next spot in Ezekiel.

OUTLINE OF 9-11

Chapter 9: God pronounces judgment on the people of Jerusalem. He puts a seal on those who are against the abominations. But kill everyone else. Ezekiel does cry out (something he was not supposed to do remembering chapter 2) to ask God if he is going to kill off all of Israel. God basically says, what they are doing is unacceptable.

Chapter 10: God’s glory starts to leave the temple. A description like Ezekiel 1 happens about God’s glory.

Chapter 11: Ezekiel transported again to the east gate where he confronts/prophesies apathetic leaders.

So, if you have your Bible turn to Ezekiel 11 starting at verse 14. This word from God comes in a very hopeless time. I hope you can feel the weight of this because, like I said, this is a worst moment for Ezekiel than the exile. The very presence of God is leaving the temple and Jersualem. That is huge. But isn’t it just like God to give hope in an incredibly difficult time? Let’s read what he says.

14 And the word of the LORD came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’ 18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

So the incredible hope is that God will return the people back from their exile. And he is going to give them one heart, and a new spirit so that they can actually follow him. That is great! but how? And how is that going to happen especially since the glory of God, the very presence of God is now leaving the temple? How in the world is this rebellious people going to have this heart change and new spirit put into them with God’s presence gone from the place that he decided to dwell?

ENDING

Before I answer that, even though I’m sure most of you know the answer, I think it is important to not just rush past the first part of this message. The idolatry that the Israelites were doing in the temple was disgusting not just because of the acts, but also because of the place. And while we can maybe talk about how idols have crept into the church, we need to remember, you and I are the temple now. You and I now have the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, being fully God, can be grieved from our actions of idolatry.

So the question I have for you today before we move into our time of communion, is this:

ARE THERE IDOLS IN YOUR TEMPLE (LIFE) THAT SHOULD NOT BE THERE?

Are there things stealing your worship, your affection, and your attention from jesus that you know they are foreign objects?

And if so, praise God that he is revealing them to you. Because we know that he has come to set us free and not destroy us but to forgive us and fill us again with His Spirit so that we can worship him.

So as we enter into this time of communion, remember that God’s presence is with us, he has filled us, His life death and resurrection brought us a new heart and new spirit so that we can follow Him. He give us hope through Jesus, through forgiveness and through filling us against with his presence. May that be so in all of our lives today. Before I give instructions for communion, let’s pray.