Abominations at the Sanctuary – Part 1

Abominations at the Sanctuary – part 1

Ezekiel 8:5 – he said to me, “Son of man, look up toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance. 6 – He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the are doing – the great abominations that the people of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? but you will see greater abominations than these!”

It all began with a statue of jealousy at the entrance to the sanctuary

Statues are fake representations of the real.  Exodus 20:4 says – “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth benearth or that is in the water below. 5 – You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

It’s insidious how the devil successfully diverted Israel away from God at the very entrance to the Sanctuary.  What about today?  It’s just as insidious how the devil can get us diverted away from God at the very entrance to our own body temples!  What entrances?  Our eyes and ears!  What we see and what we hear – do we spend more time looking and listening to things that are not God and allowing them to shape our view of reality, our view of the world, our views about each other, and our views about God?

Hebrews 11:6 says – Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

If we place faith in a fake god of our own making, how can that please the real God?  The Bible says it makes Him jealous and drives Him away and we become even more cemented in the thinking that our caricatures of God are real and the true God isn’t.  Ever get jealous when you desire the attention others get when you should be getting it?  Jesus understands!  

Don’t place statues of jealousy at the entrances to our body temples.  May the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman ring out to us as well:  “But a time is coming – and now is here – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:23-24. 

Unfortunately this was just the beginning of the abominations. Stay tuned as we read further into Ezekiel 8 this week..