EZEKIEL 14-15 IDOLS IN THE HEARTS OF PEOPLE2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 14-15 Idols In The Hearts Of People

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

Well, this evening we're in Ezekiel chapter 14. We'll be looking at chapters 14 and 15 and continuing our saga here as God is speaking to the prophet Ezekiel. And Ezekiel is with a bunch of other Jewish people who have been taken captive and they're in Babylon in captivity.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar is about to lay siege to the city and is going to attack it for the final time and completely destroy it in the near future. And God has been speaking that through Ezekiel and warning the people. But the problem is that the people have been listening to the false prophets and the false prophets are telling the people that Jerusalem

And so, they were going to be victorious and then the captives in Babylon, the false prophets are saying they're going to be set free and they're going to be allowed to go home. And so, they were going to be victorious and then the captives in Babylon, the false prophets are saying they're going to be set free and they're going to be allowed to go home.

And God has been speaking through Ezekiel to the captives there in Babylon that that is just not the case. The reality is it will unfold as God said. Jerusalem will be destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar will be victorious. The city will be conquered. And the rest of the people there will be either put to death or taken captive and brought back to Babylon. And of course, you know, we're reading about this happening.

after the fact, many years after the fact. And so we have the benefit of history and we can look back in the history and see indeed all of the things that Ezekiel is promising here and prophesying about actually did come to pass. And so these things are a testament to the Word of God and to the reality that God knows all things and that what He says is actually what will happen. It will come to pass just like God said it would.

Well, we pick it up in chapter 14 of the book of Ezekiel, and it starts out in verse 1 saying, Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat 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 put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them?

As we begin this chapter, we have the situation where Ezekiel is there in his house. And if you remember, back at the beginning of Ezekiel, God said, Ezekiel, I'm going to give you a unique ministry. You're just going to stay in your house and you're going to be quiet and you're not going to say anything unless I give you something to speak. And he said,

And so the people would come to Ezekiel. And so the elders come to Ezekiel. They're coming to hear from the Lord. They're coming to inquire of the Lord. Perhaps, maybe we could relate to, as some of you perhaps this evening have come to hear from the Lord. Maybe there's things going on in your life and you need direction and you want to hear from God. Well, these elders come to Ezekiel. They come...

saying we want to hear from the Lord. We want to know what God is saying. But God has something to say about what's really going on within them. And so he gives Ezekiel some insight into what's going on in their hearts. He says there in verse 3, these men have set up idols in their hearts. And so there's an issue with these elders, these leaders who have come before Ezekiel. They've come to

proclaiming that they want to hear from the Lord, but the reality is that he is not their Lord. Although he is God and they worship him, he's not the only God that they worship. He does not have his rightful place in their lives. In their hearts, they have set up idols, God tells Ezekiel.

He gives Ezekiel insight to what's going on within. This is the only way that we know what's going on within someone else. If God reveals it to us, we can't figure it out or determine it on our own. In fact, we can't even figure out what's going on in our own hearts without the help of the Lord. And so God gives this special revelation to Ezekiel and says they've set up idols in their hearts. Now this is interesting and important because

You know, often we talk about idolatry, and when we think of idolatry, we think of, you know, images, we think of statues, we think of those things, and we picture people bowing down before them. And, of course, that is indeed what idolatry is all about. But it's not...

All that idolatry is. Idolatry does not require a statue that you bow down to. Idolatry is really something that happens in the heart. And outwardly it might manifest itself as bowing down to a statue, but it can also manifest itself in other areas, like pursuing this lifestyle, or chasing after that thing, or going in this direction, which is contrary to what God has said.

The reality is that idolatry is something that happens within the heart. It results in outward practices. It results in how we live.

But it begins in our hearts. And so these elders, they might not be outwardly practicing these things. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, we were looking as God took Ezekiel to Jerusalem and showed him how the elders over there in Jerusalem were outwardly worshiping these false gods. They were outwardly practicing their idolatry.

That's not the case with these elders. They're not outwardly practicing and worshipping these things. But inside their heart, what's really going on is that God is not their one and only God. He's not their supreme passion. He's not the most important thing in their life and in their hearts. There's other things that they've set up within their hearts that are more important to them than a relationship with God.

And so God asks Ezekiel a question. He says, should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? Here they come to me, Ezekiel, and they're coming and they say, we want to hear from God. But the reality of their hearts is they're not, well, they're not 100% for God. They're divided. And they've got these other gods in their lives, these idols in their hearts. And they won't give God his rightful place.

They won't give Him full reign of their hearts and lives. And so God asks Ezekiel the question, should I let them inquire of me? Ezekiel, what do you think? Should I let them hear from me? Should I respond to them and give them direction if I am not really their God? If they're practicing hypocrisy, Ezekiel, should I let them inquire of me?

They had set up idols in their hearts. You know, and we talk about idolatry today, and I think it's important for us to consider. Are there idols set up within your heart? I don't think that any of us are bowing down to images in our rooms. Might be the case, but here in our culture, probably not. But very easily, we set up idols in our hearts. And we worship those things. And we let those things...

Take the place of God in our life. How can you tell when you've set up an idol in your heart? Well, look what God says here in verse 3. He says, These men have set up their idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity.

The thing that is the idol in their hearts is the thing that causes them to stumble into iniquity. You can tell if you've set up an idol in your heart if there is something that causes you to sin in your heart.

If there's something in your heart that causes you, that continually brings you back to a sinful activity, then that's an indication that you have set up an idol in your heart. Because you've got something in your life that continually leads you into a sinful practice, into a sinful lifestyle, but you won't deal with it, you won't repent of it, and so you just continue to practice it,

And maybe you say, well, I'm going to go to church and hear from the Lord. But then also you've got this issue going on that you just continue to live in sin. You continue to practice sin. That's idolatry. That's an idol that has been set up in your heart. And you're not willing to let it go. You're not willing to make God your actual Lord. You're not willing to give Him full reign and authority in your life.

Because you have this little idol that you're holding on to, that you've set up within your heart, and it causes you to stumble, and it continues to cause you to live in sin. And so God asks the question, Ezekiel, should I be inquired by these guys? Should I let them inquire of me? Should I respond to them? And I think it's an interesting point. Hey, if God isn't speaking to you, if you're wanting to hear from the Lord, but He's not speaking to you, you might want to check your heart.

You might want to check and make sure that there's no idols that have been set up in your heart. You might want to ask God about that. You know, you're asking for direction. Lord, I really need to know. Should I go this way? Should I go that way? And God just seems to not be answering. Maybe you need to change your question and say, Lord, is there something that I've set up in my heart? Or maybe you don't even need to ask the question. Maybe you already know. God wants to deal with that idolatry tonight.

He wants to help us to turn away from those false gods that we've set up. He wants us to inquire of Him. And He wants us to have right relationship with Him. But He will not have that right relationship at the expense of holiness. He needs our heart. He needs us to be devoted to Him. He calls us to give Him His rightful place where He is...

The passion that consumes us. Where He is the focus of our life. Where He is the center of all that we do. That is the rightful place of God in our hearts. Anything else is idolatry. Verse 4.

He says,

Because they are all estranged from Me by their idols. You see what's happening there in verse 5? The people are estranged from God. They're separated from God. How? By those idols.

You see, God isn't just trying to kill the fun and ruin our lives and that's why he says don't worship idols. No, what he's saying is if you have those idols, what's happening is you're separating yourself from me and that's not a good place for you to be. That's not where God wants us to be. We can't receive from God all that he wants to do in our lives if we've got that separation there, those idols that are keeping us from God and keeping God from us.

And so he says these idols, they've made us separated. They've come between us. And so God says, well, I'm going to deal with these idols then. I'm going to deal with those who set up these things in their hearts. He says there in verse 4, At the end, I, the Lord, will answer him who comes according to the multitude of his idols. God says those who come and say, I want to hear from the Lord.

God says, I'm going to answer them according to their idols, according to what's going on in their hearts. You ever have that happen?

You know, maybe there's a big decision on your plate. Maybe there's a bill that's coming due. There's some kind of situation and you come and you're seeking the Lord. Lord, am I supposed to move in this direction? Lord, am I supposed to go over there? And God says, hey, what about this sin over here? No, no, no, I'm not talking about that, God. No, I want to know, over here, am I supposed to do this? And God says, what about this sin over here? No, no, I'm not talking about that, God. Listen to me. Listen to me.

You ever do that? Has that ever happened to you? Am I the only one? Maybe I'm the only one. That's okay. But he says, I'm going to answer them according to the multitude of their idols. When they come to me, I'm going to deal with that. I'm not going to answer those other questions. I'm not going to deal with those issues. I'm going to deal with them according to the false gods that they're worshiping.

And if they're in rebellion against me, I'm going to deal with them according to their rebellion. If they're deceived, I'm going to deal with them according to that deception. God says, look, when you come to me, I'm going to deal with your heart. That's what God's concerned about. That's why sometimes, you know, we wonder, and why is God speaking this to us? It just doesn't make sense.

Because God's not dealing with our physical life, He's dealing with our heart. Because that's really what matters. That's what's most important. You know, we know the verse from Isaiah that God's ways are not our ways, right? As high as the heavens are above the earth.

And that's true because God is infinite and He has all wisdom and all knowledge and He knows everything and so He can do a lot of things and we're just clueless about it and we have no idea why or how or when or any of those things. But a lot of times too, God's just working in our hearts. He's working on an issue and we're like, man, Lord, this co-worker won't stop bugging me. Lord, would you just get rid of this guy? And God says, no, I'm working on your heart.

It's not about the co-worker and he needs to go away. It's about your heart. It's about what's going on within. It's about the idols that have been set up there. And I'm dealing with and I'm working in those things that are going on in your heart. And so God says, I'm going to answer when people come. I'm going to answer according to the multitude of their idols.

And we see God's purpose and His intent there in verse 5. He says, "...that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart." You see, God is interested in our hearts. And He says, what I want to do is I want to capture their heart. I want to seize their heart. And so I'm going to be dealing with those idols so that I can get their hearts, so that I can get their attention. For those who really struggle with the God of money, one of the easiest ways for God to get their attention...

is by making sure they have no money. Right? If money is your God, if money is what all you care about, and then all of a sudden you don't have it, what does God have? He has your heart. He's dealt with your God, and as a result, He's revealed your heart, and He's brought you in a position where you're calling on Him. You see, God deals with us according to those idols that we set up in our life.

He deals with us that way so that He can capture our heart, so that we can see what's going on in our heart, but also so that we can see that He's really the one that can satisfy us. God deals with us according to the multitude of our idols. What is it that's valuable to you? What is the priority of your heart? Because if there's idolatry going on there, God is going to deal with it.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And so if your treasure is in the things that are not of God, don't be surprised if God begins to shake that house and shake those treasures. If God begins to seize those things or they begin to vanish away, don't be surprised when that happens because God's protecting your heart. He's working in your heart.

Because where your treasure is, that's where your heart is. And if your heart is in those things that are not of God, guess what? Your heart is not where it needs to be. And now idols have estranged you from God. And so God says, that won't do. I won't have that for my children. And so what God does is He answers according to those idols of our hearts. He deals with us according to those things that are going on within. And then what does He call us to do? Look in verse 6.

He says,

For anyone of the house of Israel or of the strangers who dwell in Israel who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his hearts and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning Me, I the Lord will answer him by Myself. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb and I will cut him off from the midst of My people. Then you shall know that I am the Lord."

Here God goes on to say, look, if it's a stranger amongst those who are the Israelites, or if it's one of God's chosen people, one of the Jews, one of the Israelites, whether it's a stranger or whether it's an Israelite, God says, if they have these idols that set up in their hearts and they come to me or come to a prophet to inquire of the Lord, God says, I will answer that person by myself.

In other words, he says, I'm not going to speak through the prophet. I'm going to work in their hearts on my own. I'm going to answer by myself, God says. And he says, I'm going to set my face against him. That person who set up idols in his heart but goes to the Lord to inquire of the Lord, he says, I'm going to make him a sign. I'm going to set my face against him and I'll cut him off from the midst of my people. God does not put up with hypocrisy.

He doesn't just kind of wink at it and say, oh yeah, yeah, I know. You're just a man. You're just a woman. You're just flesh, dust. No big deal. No, these things that are going on in our hearts are serious and God takes them seriously. And so he says, hey, if you set up those idols but you still want to hear from me, well, guess what? I'm going to deal with you according to those idols and you're not going to like how I deal with you according to those idols.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to set my face against you and I'm going to make you a sign. You're going to be an example to everybody. Look what happens when you make that your God. Look what happens when that's the most important thing to you. Look what happens when your priorities are all out of whack. God says, I'm going to make them a sign if they come to me and seek me. And then he says, then you shall know that I am the Lord. That phrase we keep seeing in Ezekiel over and over again.

When will you know? When will I know that He is the Lord? When will we give Him that rightful place in our life and knock down those idols and turn and repent from those idols? That's what God wants us to do. There in verse 6 He says, Repent. Turn away from your idols. Turn your faces away from your abominations so that you don't become that person who has made a sign, made an example, so that God doesn't have to deal with your idols in that way.

So that God does not have to seize your heart through those means. Instead, we have the opportunity to repent, to turn away, to put those things down ourselves. We have the opportunity right now to know that He is the Lord and to knock down those other gods in our lives. We need to check our hearts. There's a lot of sheep activity, isn't there? Let it remind you that He's the shepherd and we're the sheep.

We need to check our hearts. When will we know? God says, look, I'll deal with you personally and then you're going to know that I'm the Lord. Is that how you want to know that He is God? After God has had to bring judgment because of the idolatry that's going on within? Wouldn't it be better to right now repent and to know that He's God right now and to exalt Him in your life and to surrender completely to Him?

And to knock down and turn away from those other things that are going on in your heart. Those things that you've set up in your life that cause you to stumble, that keep you from walking right with God. You know, like Hebrews talks about, you know, setting aside the things that weigh us down, that hold us back, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.

Sometimes we like to keep just a little bit of sin that easily ensnares us and then we get ensnared and then we get away and then we get ensnared and then we get away and it's just something we kind of play around with. We need to put them aside. We need to cast them off. We need to clear out our hearts and make sure it's sold out to Jesus Christ. Know right now, know tonight that He is the Lord. Let Him be the Lord. Don't put up with anything else in your life.

Having the place that God is to have. Verse 9, And if the prophet is induced to speak anything, I the Lord have induced that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. Verse 10,

And they shall bear their iniquity. The punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, that the house of Israel may no longer stray from me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, says the Lord God."

So God says, previously, He says in verse 7, I will answer that person. They come to inquire of Me, but they've got idols set up in their hearts. I will answer that person, God says, by Myself. I won't use the prophet. But now He goes on to say, but if the prophet is induced to speak, He says, I, the Lord, have induced that prophet, and I'm using that prophet to deal with the idols of their hearts.

He says, I'll stretch out my hand against them and destroy them from among my people Israel. They're going to bear their iniquity. They're going to bear the consequences for their sin. And so God says, I'm going to deal with them. I'm going to deal with them myself. And I may choose to use the prophet as part of that, but the prophet he's talking about here is the false prophets that they were going to. I may choose to use them, God says.

But the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired. They're both going to be held responsible for their actions and the state of their heart. But look again at verse 11.

Again, we see the purpose in the heart of God. He says, "...that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people, and I may be their God," says the Lord God. God's intention, His heart, His purpose in bringing judgment, in dealing with the idols of our hearts, is that we would be His people, and that He would be our God. His purpose is always restoration. Restoration.

His purpose in bringing judgment and disciplining us is always to restore us and to bring us into right relationship with Him. That's what God desires. See, again, God's not out just to make us miserable and ruin our lives, but He's desiring for us to be in right relationship with Him, which is what's best for us, for right now and for eternity. Paul tells us that godliness has...

The benefits right now, but also the benefits that will last forever. To be right with God right now is what's best for us. That's what God desires and He deals with us according to those idols that we've set up. He deals with those things that we set up in our hearts so that we would be His people. So that we would turn from those things. So that they would be knocked down. So that we would have opportunity to get right with Him. His purpose is always restoration.

And so here he's giving a chance for the people to turn back to him. Even though they've set up false gods, even though they've been deceitful, even though they're being hypocritical, God is giving them a chance to turn back. He's given them opportunity by delivering the message, but then also by dealing with those idols in their hearts. His purpose is that they would no longer stray from him. That's what God wants to do.

He wants to bring us to the point where we no longer stray from Him. Our hearts are prone to wander. We often begin to stray. And what God is doing is He's training us. He's working in our hearts so that we no longer stray. So that we stay close to Him. Right where we belong. Right where He wants us to be. Verse 12.

The word of the Lord came again to me saying,

God is talking about a land or a people, a nation that turns against God and sins against God with persistent unfaithfulness. This is not, you know, a one-time stumbling. This is not an occasional fall. But this is an insisting, willful choice to turn deliberately against God. And so he says, when a nation does that, when they sin against me by persistent unfaithfulness...

God says, I'm going to stretch out my hand and cut off its supply of bread and send famine on it. There's going to be a shortage of food. He says, even if these three guys, Noah, Daniel, and Job, even if these three guys are in that city, in this land, he's speaking just generally, he's

referring, of course, to the city of Jerusalem, but he's not just specifically talking about Jerusalem, he's speaking in general. Whenever a nation, whenever a land turns against me like that, even if these three guys were in their midst, even if these three men were living in that city or in that land that turned against God, he said they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, says the Lord God. Now, if you remember, back in Genesis chapter 18,

there's a situation where Abraham is kind of negotiating with God. As God reveals to him what's happening in Sodom and Gomorrah and that it's time for destruction to come on that city, Abraham says, well, wait a minute, God. What if there's 50 righteous in that city? Would you destroy the city if there's 50 righteous in it? And God says, no, I won't destroy the city for 50 righteous.

And then Abraham goes, well, what if there's 45, God? Would you do it for 45? Would you destroy the city even if there's 45? And they kind of go back and forth. Abraham's working him down. He gets down to 10. Lord, if there's 10 righteous, will you spare the city? And God said, yeah, for 10 righteous, I would spare the city. But of course, we know the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. There wasn't 10 righteous. And God didn't spare the city. What he did was he brought Lot

his wife and his two daughters out of the city. And then the judgment poured out upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And so there's this understanding that, you know, if there's righteous in the midst, that God preserves the land, the city, for the benefit of the righteous or because of the righteous that are within it. And so what God is speaking to Ezekiel here is countering probably what was the thought in the minds of

those captives who were in Babylon, who would think to themselves, well, there must be enough righteous men in Jerusalem to save the city. I mean, that's where the temple is, that's where the priests are, that's the people of God. There must be. It can't be true that the city is going to be destroyed as Ezekiel has been saying. There's got to be enough righteous within it that God would protect and save that city and not destroy it. And so what God is saying here is,

is that, well, here's what you've got to understand, guys. When a nation turns against me and is persistently unfaithful, he says it comes to the point where even if these three righteous men, they're kind of like, you know, hallmark of righteousness as far as the Bible is concerned. Noah, Daniel, and Job. I mean, these guys were righteous. They were right with God. They walked with God. Even if these three guys were in it, God is saying...

in that land that is turned against me, they'll only save themselves. Their righteousness doesn't cover others. Only Jesus has that capability because He was, of course, sinless. And so His righteousness clothes those who believe in Him and those who receive that offer of salvation. But as far as the nation is concerned that turns against God, if there's righteous people within the nation, God says, "Yeah, I'll take care of them. I'll provide for them and preserve them. I'll meet their needs."

But they're not going to save the whole nation. They're not going to save the whole land. I'm going to cut off the supply of bread and send famine on it. And this is what happens to Jerusalem. Now, it's not that God stops up the rains in the case of Jerusalem. How he cuts off the supply of bread is, well, the armies of Nebuchadnezzar that camp around it cut off all of its supplies.

And so it's not that there was a shortage of rain or some kind of drought. That's kind of what we think of when we think of famine. But what happens is their resources have been cut off. So famine can sometimes refer to a shortage that's man-made, that's based upon wars and battles and wars.

and things like that. And that becomes important as we get into the book of Revelation and talk about the famines that are promised there. We're going to see that a lot of those are not necessarily just that there's no rain, but that there's famine all around the world today, but it's not necessarily because there's not enough food to feed everybody.

There's other factors involved. And so God says, I'm going to cut off the supply of bread and send famine on it. And that's the result. They'll deliver only themselves, but the city, the nation, the land will experience famine.

Going on in verse 15, he says, And so God says, okay, so if this land turns against me, I'll send famine upon it.

And if it be the case that I send wild beasts upon the land, God's speaking kind of generally, kind of hypothetically here, but giving us some principles to understand, that when a land is turned against God and He sends beasts upon it, wild animals upon it, He says, these guys would not be able to save their sons or their daughters. You know, righteousness is not...

It's not genetic, but that's not the word I'm looking for. Hereditary. Righteousness is not hereditary. This amount of hair that I have, that was passed on to me from my parents. But righteousness, that can't be passed on. The color of my eyes, that was passed on to me. But righteousness, that can't be passed on. He says, if these three guys, these guys are hallmark of righteousness guys.

But they can't pass on their righteousness to their children. They can't save their... They'll be spared. God says, look, I'll take care of the righteous, but if a land has turned against me, I'm going to deal with that land and everybody is responsible to make sure that they individually, personally, are right with me. That they've dealt with those idols of their hearts. That they have right relationship with God.

Verse 17, or if I bring a sword on that land and say, sword, go through the land, and I cut off man and beast from it, even though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered. And so God says, okay, another hypothetical here, if I send a sword through this land that is turned against me,

Again, he's speaking in general terms, but he's teaching us principles. So if he sends a sword through the land that is turned against him, he says, even though these three guys were in it, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they would only spare themselves. They would be saved. They would be delivered. But neither son nor daughter would be delivered as a result of these three guys. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness, God says. Again, the righteousness...

of one person cannot cover someone else before God. Every one of us are going to stand before God. And we cannot say, "Well, my wife is pretty righteous, Lord. That's why I should be able to enter into eternity. That's why I'm covered. My parents were really religious, God." It doesn't work. Every one of us individually have a responsibility for what's going on within our heart.

And if there's idols that have been set up, and if our heart really is devoted to God, if we're really where we are supposed to be in a relationship with Him. Verse 19, Or if I send up pestilence into that land and pour out my fury on it in blood and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness. Again, He says...

hypothetical, a land that turns against me, and I send pestilence upon that land, well, Noah, Daniel, Job, these righteous men would save only themselves. Their righteousness would not cover their sons. Their righteousness would not cover their daughters. And so that pestilence that comes through, well, it's going to impact the whole land. God's going to deal with the land that turns against Him. That's something to consider for our nation.

Something to consider for the United States. Our land is more and more persisting in unfaithfulness and turning against God. And it's going to come to a point where God's going to need to deal with the United States. Maybe He'll send famine. Maybe He'll send wild beasts. Maybe He'll send the sword. Maybe He'll send pestilence and disease. But He's going to deal with sin. Our responsibility is for our own heart. We need to check our hearts.

We can't count on, well, you know, we attend a Calvary Chapel, we'll be fine. We read the Bible, we'll be fine. We need to make sure that our hearts are right before God, that we don't have idols that are set up that are separating us from God. We need to make sure that we know Him and that He knows us, that we're walking with Him in right relationship.

Verse 21, For thus says the Lord God, How much more it shall be when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence to cut off man and beast from it. So God, He's done speaking about the hypothetical. Now He's talking about the real, the reality.

He says, oh, if I send a sword, if I send a famine, you know, these four different things. But now he says to Jerusalem, they've persisted in unfaithfulness and I'm sending all four of these things upon Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem will not be spared because of a few righteous men within it. Those men who are righteous, they will be spared, they'll be taken care of.

By the way, that doesn't mean that, you know, just everything will go lovely for them. No, they're going to have difficulties. They're going to go through hard times. But God's going to take care of them. And He's going to work all things together for good as He promised. And He's going to take those things that the enemy means for evil and turn them around and bring glorious events and outcomes as a result. But what God is saying is, I've got my hand on them. I'm taking care of them. Even if it means death and they go to be with me, I'm taking care of them. I've got them covered.

But he says, those righteous men, they won't spare the city. They'll only spare their own hearts and their own selves. And so these four things are going to come on Jerusalem. Verse 22, Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. Surely they will come out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I have brought upon it. And they will comfort you

When you see their ways and their doings, and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it, says the Lord God. Here God goes on to explain there's going to be a remnant that's left. Now it's not a righteous remnant that's left from the city of Jerusalem, but there's going to be a few that survive

these four things that God is going to send upon the city of Jerusalem, those people are going to be taken captive to Babylon where the people are that God is speaking to. And he says, hey, you captives in Babylon, you're going to be comforted concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, in their mind, how could they be comforted in the destruction of their homeland, their home city? How could that be comforting to them?

Well, God says, "Look, you're going to be comforted because when they come to you, then you're going to see for yourselves how wicked they are. And then you're going to understand that my judgment is just and that I did the right thing in bringing judgment upon them." That's what God's saying here. You're going to be comforted when you see how wicked they are. Sometimes it's difficult for us to understand God's judgment, to understand why God allows certain things or works in certain ways.

But we must know that when we do not understand God's judgment, it's because we do not understand the sin that is involved. When we don't understand why God's judging so harshly and severely, when it can't make sense to us and we can't think of any scenario where that would be right and just, we need to know that God is right and just.

And what we don't understand is the depth or the gravity or the severity or the persistence of sin that is going on. You will agree with God that His judgment is right and true and holy and that He is a loving God and that He brings judgment where it is necessary when people are persistently rebelling against Him. Let's go into chapter 15, verse 1. It says,

Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

Here God asks Ezekiel an interesting question. What good is the wood from the vine?

Now, we look around us and we see wood, right? We have wood all around us. In our houses, we have wood. In our buildings, we have wood. The pulpit here is made out of wood. There's wood all around us. Wood is very useful. But how useful is wood from the vine, from grapevines? Do any of you have a bedroom set mastercrafted out of grapevine? No. No.

It's not useful to make things with. He says, look, really only the use of it is for it to be burned. You can't make a peg and hang something on it. It's not sturdy. It's not strong. You can't build stuff out of it. So what is it used for? Listen, the vine is only useful for producing fruit. There's no other use of it. It's only useful for producing fruit.

You remember in John chapter 15 where Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. Abide in me and you will bear much fruit. That is the only thing that you and I are useful for.

The only thing of value that we can produce is when we're abiding in the vine and He is producing fruit through us. If we separate from the vine, if idols in our hearts separate us from Him, and now we've detached from the vine, Jesus said, without Me, you can do nothing.

There's nothing useful. There's nothing valuable. There's nothing that we can accomplish apart from God. The only use that you and I have, the only purpose of our lives, the only meaning of our lives is to be attached to Jesus Christ and to produce fruit. That's it. That's why we exist. That is the purpose. That is the meaning. And apart from Jesus Christ, we can do nothing. We serve no purpose. We can do nothing of value. Nothing that will last forever.

The only useful thing apart from producing fruit is for it to be burned. That's it. That's all that the vine is useful for. Verse 6,

He says,

We come to the point this evening as we finish up chapter 15 that we tie it all together and we understand and we realize we need to deal with those idols in our hearts because if we persist in unfaithfulness, the only thing that's left for us is to be burned. If we persist in idolatry, the only thing that's left for us is to go out of one fire and into another fire. And then we'll know that He is the Lord.

But we don't have to come to that point where we're experiencing the judgment and the consequences for all of our rebellion against God to know that He is the Lord. You and I have the opportunity right now. The nation of Judah refused to listen. As God was delivering these messages, they refused to hear. They said, no, no way. We're not listening. Listen, today, if you will hear, do not harden your hearts.

Don't refuse what God is speaking to you. Don't refuse to receive what God wants to do within you. God is working in your life because of what's going on in your heart. Because He wants you to be plugged into the vine. He wants you to abide in Him. Because when you abide in Him, that's when you'll produce fruit. That's when you'll be fulfilled. That's when you'll be satisfied. That's when you'll experience all that God wants to do in you and through you.

But apart from Him, you cannot do anything. There's nothing of value. There's nothing that will satisfy you. And so we need to abide in Jesus Christ. We need to know right now that He is the Lord. That we allow nothing else to reign in our hearts. But that we be fully submitted to Him. And that we cast down our idols. That we repent and turn from those things in which we continually sin. And we abide in Him.

And Jesus promised, if we abide in Him, that we'll produce fruit and the fruit shall remain. You want to be involved in something that will last? You want your life to count? You want your life to matter? You want your life to have meaning? To have lasting results, eternal results? Abide in Jesus Christ. That's the only way. Abide in Jesus Christ. You and I, He says, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are like this vine. You and I are like this vine.

We can be plugged into Jesus, abiding in Him. He's our Lord. He's our Master. We're submitted fully to Him. And we can produce fruit. Or we can allow idols to be set up within our hearts that separate us from Him. We can persist in unfaithfulness and come to the point where God deals with those things in our hearts. And He brings judgment so that He can try to restore us in an attempt to open our eyes to help us see and understand how much we need Him. God wants us

to have a right heart with Him. He's reaching out to us. He says, I know what's best for you. If only you'll receive. If only you'll abide. If only you'll surrender and cast down those idols that have been set up in your heart. The worship team is going to come up and lead us in some worship. And as they do, I want to challenge you to call upon the Lord. To call out to Him and receive from Him the multitude of His mercies.

God can deal with you according to the multitude of your idols. And if you want to wait until He deals with you according to those things, that's your choice. I don't recommend it. But if you want to experience the multitude of His mercies, then you can call out to Him right now. Then you can repent and turn to Him and turn away from those things that are keeping you back from right relationship with God. You can tell...

If there's idols that are set up in your heart by those things in your life which cause you to sin, those things in your life which continually lead you down the path of iniquity, you can tell if there's idols that are set up in your heart if you allow sin to continue in your life. That's an idol and God says, get rid of it and deal with it and you say, no, I don't want to. It's too important to me. God says, then it's more important to you than I am to you. And that's an idol.

And if you don't deal with it, then I will. Because He wants to seize our heart. He wants our hearts. Let's give Him our hearts tonight, guys. Let's surrender to Him. Let Him have full reign and control. Lay down your idols. Don't be wrestling with this. Oh, this thing causes me to stumble, but I just don't want to let it go. No, let it go. It's not worth it. Give God His rightful place.

The only thing that we're good for is for producing fruit. And that happens when we abide in Jesus Christ. And if you're trying to live in both worlds, it doesn't work. It won't last. Don't persist in unfaithfulness. Let's give our hearts to Jesus tonight, guys. Let's surrender to Him as we worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.