The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Chapters 7:10-8:16

The Foundational Principle: The Glory of God

The foundational principle of the book of Ezekiel—and of each of our lives—is the glory of God. It is of utmost importance. Last week, we examined God's prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Sin creates a specific emptiness within us. Sin cannot grant fulfillment or fullness in life. It renders us dissatisfied. The ultimate satisfying reality is the glory of God, which will be removed under His judgment.

The comparison is between the emptiness of sin and the fullness found in God and His glory. God will judge Israel according to their abominations and satisfy His judgment according to their sins. Everything they pursued in vain through sin will be taken away. God's wrath will be satisfied in a way He has not done before and will never do again. For 430 years, He showed incredible patience alongside their sins. Now, He will deal with them permanently, blotting out these sins.

Idolatry and the Remnant

Idolatry is not just making graven images—though that remains a problem today—but finding things pleasing to our senses and minds and devoting our lives to them above God. The litmus test: Are there things in your life that would crush you if removed? If you would rather die than live without them, that is idolatry.

The abominations will not remain because of God's judgment, but the remnant will. The sins of the people are non-remaining, yet God's chosen people remain.

Matthew 16:26: "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

If you gain sin and lose your life, you are non-remnant in God's judgment. You have not profited or been satisfied. Ask: What is most important to pursue? Anger? Lying? Deceit? Fornication? Altered states of mind? These are temporary, non-profitable, and lead to losing your life.

God's Judgment in Ezekiel 7

Ezekiel 7:1-3: "The word of the Lord came to me saying, 'Son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land. Now the end is upon you, and I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring all your abominations upon you. For My eye will have no pity on you, nor will I spare you, but I will bring your ways upon you, and your abominations will be in your midst. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'"

This closes the first stanza of the poem in chapter 7. Judgment brings doom, exchanging joy for wailing. When judgment comes, joy—peace and stability—is replaced by chaos and instability. Sin creates chaos, even among Christians, as in double-mindedness.

James 1:6-8: "The one who doubts is like the wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind... for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Double-mindedness—living one life for God and one for the world—brings nothing good from the Lord. God purposes His people to find happiness in Him alone, freed from distractions.

Ezekiel 7:12: "The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn, for wrath is on all its multitude."

No one maintains life by iniquity. Every problem—marriages, church, work—stems from sin. You cannot maintain life fighting God with sin. God wins. Join Him in victory.

Ezekiel 7:19: "They will fling their silver into the streets and their gold will become an abomination; their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their appetite nor can they fill their stomachs, for their iniquity has become an occasion of stumbling."

The most discouraging truth for sinners: Iniquity cannot satisfy your appetite or fill your stomach. The need for satisfaction is always there. There is no neutral ground—only those seeking satisfaction in sin (futile) or in the Lord's glory (permanent).

Pursuing sin is pointless, like chasing the wind (Ecclesiastes). Fearing the Lord—living in awe, reverence, submission, and worship—is the only non-vain pursuit.

John 7:37-38: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

The source of satisfaction is from within, through the Holy Spirit.

Israel transformed God's beautiful ornaments—the things of His creation—into pride, making idols from pride itself. All sin is idolatry, rooted in pride. They made themselves more important than God.

Ezekiel 7:20-21: "They transformed the beauty of His ornaments into pride, and they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things with it... I will give it into the hands of the foreigners as plunder."

God gives their pride to foreigners. Their holy places profaned, no peace found. They will know the Lord as sovereign Master.

Visions in Ezekiel 8: Spiritual Abominations

Ezekiel 8:1-5: "In the sixth year... the hand of the Lord fell on me... He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up... to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate... where was the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there."

Fourteen months after chapter 7, Ezekiel sees a vision, possibly pre-incarnate Christ. God shows escalating abominations driving Him from His sanctuary.

Ezekiel 8:7-12: "He brought me to the entrance of the court... 'Dig through the wall'... Every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things... were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel... each man with his censer... 'Son of man, do you see what the elders... are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images?'"

Idols are carved in hearts and imaginations. Even one generation after Josiah's reform, elders worship in secret: "The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land." No sin is private or unknown to God. Take every thought captive to obey Christ. Treat sinful thoughts as enemy invaders.

Every sin here is commitible today. Christ died to forgive these sins, staying God's wrath. Repent—change your mind about sin.

Ezekiel 8:13-16: "You will see still greater abominations... women... weeping for Tammuz... twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun."

Women weep for Tammuz, a dying god beloved by women, exchanging himself for his lover. This provokes God's jealousy. Men worship the sun, backs to the temple. Sin is too easy for Judah—they fill the land with lawlessness, provoking God repeatedly, thumbing their noses at Him.

Application: Make Sin Difficult

Invert Judah's sin:

1. Worship God privately and publicly. Is God on the throne when doors close?
2. Fill life with restraint, not lawlessness. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. The saved hate sin and practice self-denial.
3. Treat God with hospitality, sin with hostility. Sabotage future sin: "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out... better to lose one... than for your whole body to be thrown into hell" (Matthew 5:27-29). Make it hard to sin—cut off stumbling blocks. Better heaven without distractions than hell with them.

Ensure consistency between private and public you.