Ezekiel 14:2-3 Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?
Through his prophet, the LORD is setting before his people and their leaders an important principle concerning prayer.
The situation in Judah and Jerusalem was desperate – so desperate in fact that ‘some of the elders’ were prepared to eat humble pie and approach Ezekiel for help (1). Up to this point they had been very unresponsive to his message, as they also had been to the messages of his predecessors. Now they were desperate because of the dire situation they were in as a nation. But there was more required than just eating humble pie.
The problem was, as it had always been, that they had ‘set up idols in their hearts’. As a nation, we are not a theocracy as they were, but as Christians, the body of Christ, we are a theocracy, and we need to live in our democracy as a ‘light that is set on a hill’. As a nation, we are in a desperate situation spiritually, a situation that seems to be getting worse rather than better.
This ought to be a real matter of prayer for all professing Christians. But as we plead before our heavenly Father for his intervention on behalf of our nation, as we plead for a mighty work of the Holy Spirit throughout our land bringing people to repentance and faith, it is essential that we take Ezekiel’s words seriously. More than that, his words are important concerning every aspect of our prayer life, private as well as corporate.
Where do we stand as individual Christians? Have we ‘set up idols in our hearts’? Such an ‘idol’ is anything that is more important to us in our thinking than God himself. The Apostle Paul was able to declare publicly: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20) and “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
It is a searching question that we all need to ask, especially because of our relative wealth and prosperity, our relative safety and blessing, the access we have to every latest piece of technology and the time and opportunity we have to ‘play’ with it, and the degree to which the lifestyle most of us lead is enriched by entertainment and recreation. William Cowper’s old hymn, ‘O for a closer walk with God’, contains a relevant prayer: “The dearest idol I have known, whate’er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne and worship only thee.”
– Bruce Christian