The Babylonians had conquered Judah already back in 605BC when Daniel and others were taken captive. They had to return twice after that to suppress Jewish uprisings. Ezekiel was taken into exile in 597BC after the first uprising and nine years later Jerusalem would be destroyed completely after yet another uprising. Three years before the destruction of the temple Ezekiel received this vision to prepare him and the people for what was about to happen. It was unthinkable to them that God would allow his sacred dwelling place to be desecrated and destroyed. What God shows Ezekiel here is that his people had already desecrated it themselves. They had not done so overtly, but by things done in secret. They had continued to observe the prescribed forms of worship in the temple, but behind closed doors they were hedging their bets by worshipping idols as well. To worship something is to entrust oneself to it. It is one thing to take the title of ‘Israelite,’ or ‘Christian’, but another to actually give this title substance. It is not that we need to do anything or live up to some great standard. God just wants us to trust him and receive from him rather than drawing our security from other things. We might say that we belong to Jesus, but what dreams and goals are we pursuing in the back rooms of our hearts? It is those hidden agendas, the things we won’t admit to ourselves, that tend to rule our lives. The first step to freedom is recognising what really rules us.
Ask God to show you if there is anything in your heart that is misleading you.
Read Ezekiel 8
