Ezekiel 20:1-7: a reflection

1In the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2The LORD’s word came to me, saying, 3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “I will not be inquired of by you.”’ 4“Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers. 5Tell them, ‘The Lord GOD says: “In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God;’ 6in that day I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 7I said to them, ‘Each of you throw away the abominations of his eyes. Don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire of the LORD, to get a word from God, and God's response is startling: as I live, I will not be inquired of by you. He refuses to be consulted. These are men who want guidance from God while still holding onto their idols, and God will not simply function as an oracle for a divided heart.

Notice what God wants instead of their inquiry. He takes them back to the beginning, to when he chose them, made himself known, and said plainly: each of you, throw away the detestable things your eyes are set on; do not defile yourselves with idols. Before he will be their consulted God, he wants to be their only God. The problem was never that God was silent; it was that they wanted his direction without giving him their allegiance.

That is worth examining in our own seeking. It is possible to come to God wanting answers, guidance, a word for our situation, while quietly keeping the idols, the things we will not surrender, the divided loyalties. God is not a consultant you query while your heart is elsewhere. He asks first for the thing your eyes are set on. Before you ask him what to do, ask whether there is an idol he is waiting for you to throw away. Undivided, come to him, and find him near.

Lord, you will not be a mere oracle for a divided heart. Show me the idol my eyes are set on, the loyalty I have not surrendered, and give me grace to throw it away, so that I come to you undivided and find you near.