Vol. 11 No.4 –December, 2013

Idols in the Heart

Dick Millwee

“Then some elders of Israel came to me and set down before me. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all’”. (Ezekiel 14:1-3)

These religious leaders came to Ezekiel to get word from God about how to deal with the sinful and chaotic condition of the nation at that time. As leaders they had the responsibility to set the spiritual example for the people and see to it that the law of God was enforced.

God responded to them through Ezekiel that they, the leaders, were responsible for the chaotic condition because God was not foremost in their hearts. He charged them with having “idols in their heart” that caused them to fail in being spiritual examples to the people and carry out the responsibilities to see that God’s law was enforced.

What is an “Idol in the heart”? It is anything that takes God’s rightful place in the heart (mind) of man. In the case of these leaders, God was not foremost in their priorities. They had other priorities (idols) that determined how they ruled. They did a lot of “God talk” but the “idols in their heart” caused them to compromise the law of God. It allowed sinful behavior to exist that pleased and satisfied them, not God. In verse 5 of the same chapter, God told these leaders that the “idols of their hearts” became the “idols” of the house of Israel and separated the people from their God who led them out of Egyptian captivity.

In verse 6 and 7 of our reading, God  told the leaders what they needed to do in order to correct the sad situation. He told them to “REPENT and turn away from their idols, and turn away from all your abominations.” He points out that those who set up a “idol(s) in their heart” set before them a stumbling block and have separated themselves from Him.

What is the lesson we are to learn from this? First of all, recognizes that an “idol in the heart“ is hidden in the heart and no one but ourselves and God sees it. One may attend church services every time the building doors are open and give the appearance of being holy, but in reality, he doesn’t “Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Outside of the church building, such leaders conduct their lives according to what is most important to them, their idol(s). In such cases, God is not at the top of their priority pole. They have put God lower down on their priority pole and thus separated themselves , by sin, from God.

Paul said to “examine yourself to see if you are in the faith” (2 Cor 13:5). Today idols come in many forms that displace our devotion to God, such as: TV , sports, money, work, hobbies, recreation, status , our appearance, etc. Let us examine ourselves honestly and see if we devote more effort and energy to these type  of things than to serving God, then we need to REPENT.

Repentance can be difficult and painful. However, remember: “the difficulty and pain of repentance brings about the joy of healing and salvation”.  “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”