Ezekiel 14:1-5: a reflection

1Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 3“Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them? 4Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him there according to the multitude of his idols, 5that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.”’

Some of the elders of Israel come to sit before Ezekiel, apparently to inquire of God through him. But God sees what they are hiding: These men have taken their idols into their hearts, he says, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. They come outwardly to seek God, while inwardly cherishing idols. And God says he will answer them according to their idols, exposing the divided hearts they thought they could conceal.

Notice what God sees: idols in the heart. These were not, at that moment, bowing to statues; they were sitting respectfully before the prophet, seeking a word from God. But their hearts harbored idols, rival loves and loyalties cherished alongside their outward seeking of God. And God is not deceived; he sees the idols we carry in our hearts even as we go through the motions of seeking him. We cannot truly seek God while cherishing rival loves within.

That is a searching word for our own approach to God. It is possible to come to God outwardly, in prayer, in worship, in seeking his guidance, while harboring idols in the heart, loves, loyalties, ambitions, or attachments we have quietly set up as rivals to him. God sees them. And a heart divided between him and its idols cannot truly seek or find him. Ask God to show you the idols you may be carrying in your heart even as you seek him. Do not come to him harboring rival loves. Remove the heart-idols, and seek him with an undivided heart.

Lord, the elders came to seek you while cherishing idols in their hearts, and you saw through them. Search my own heart for the idols I may harbor even as I come to you, the loves, loyalties, ambitions, and attachments I have set up as rivals to you. Do not let me seek you with a divided heart. Show me my heart-idols, and help me remove them, that I may seek you truly, with an undivided heart. You alone deserve the throne of my heart.