Ezekiel 8:5-6 (NLT) “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Son of man, look toward the north.’ So I
looked, and there to the north, beside the entrance to the gate of the
altar, stood the idol that had made the Lord so angry. ‘Son of man,’ he said, ‘do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great sins the people of Israel are doing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even greater sins than these!'”
Ezekiel was led in the spirit to see the different idols that had invaded
the temple. This Scripture describes the first scene but he was also shown scenes of all kinds of creatures that had been carved and were being worshipped. He saw women worshipping their own god and then other men bowing down to the sun to honor the sun god. There was so much worship of these idols there was not room to worship the Lord God Almighty.
In the recent past we have seen services held in fine churches where people from different religions were there taking part in the service. Each was allowed to pray openly to his own god. All gods are not equal. The god of the Muslims, Allah, is not the one true Jehovah. Muslims would be offended if they heard someone say this. The god that Buddhists worship is not the same as Jehovah either. When you have all these religions and their gods in a church that was set to worship the one true god and let other gods in you are running Him out of there. He is a jealous god and will not be shared with other gods.
Some churches worship their pastors. They think he is so handsome,
intelligent, eloquent, etc. and he gives them what they want to hear so they end up worshipping him instead of Jehovah or his son Jesus Christ. Some churches worship a person or persons but they are dead. They pray to them thinking that those dead people will help them. These are also idols These also run the one true god out of his house.
If you belong to Jesus Christ your body is a temple. Do you have any idols that you worship that keep Jehovah or Jesus Christ out of your life? Is there something in your life that is keeping you from a relationship with Jesus Christ? Do you make excuses for not praying and reading your bible because you say you don’t have time but waste time watching television or playing on your computer? These are just two examples of things that can become gods in our lives. There are many more things that can take our time and thus become gods that take the place of God Almighty.
If you or any churches that you attend allow these idols in, you need to
repent and get rid of the idols like the following church did:
A church group in Chattanooga, Tennessee, stood around a muddy pit. The pastor read a passage from the thirty-fifth chapter of Genesis: “Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garment.”
The group began tossing various objects into the pit. Among the “strange gods” was a big alarm clock that went jangling into the hole: this was a sign that the church was done with clock-watching during future services.
In went an old television set; also a rock-and-roll record with the
impressive title “Ooba-Ooba-Ooba,” followed by several famous novels by popular modern authors. Women’s shorts and toreador pants landed on top of the stack, along with cigarette packs.
The minister of the church assured the newspaper reporters that these folk weren’t snake-handlers or weird cultists; they were plain Southern Baptists who wished to put away their idols and strip for the race on the gospel road.
-Selected
by Dean Masters
Unedited redistribution approved.
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