Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me:


Ezekiel 14:1-5


14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4 Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. 5 I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’


Today’s title is “Woes for the Divided Hearts”


Jesus was meek and gentle as He Himself said. He expressed great compassion for all those who suffer either from diseases of poverty. He wasn’t judgmental toward any kind of sinners. He accepted them as they are. But Jesus showed His anger expressively toward the religious leaders of His time such as high priests, Pharisees, and Sadducees. We see such an example of His anger in Matt 23:33. He says to the teachers of laws and Pharisees “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”. We see here the completely different side of meek and gentle Jesus. But that was a rather consistent attitude of God toward the religious leaders whose hearts are not wholeheartedly devoted to God. They usually have a pretense of faith but no genuine fear and love for God. Their hearts are preoccupied with different idols other than God. God has expressed the greatest anger and frustration toward such hypocritic minds throughout the bible. Today’s passage is one of such examples that God expressively reveals His abomination against the hypocrisy of religious leaders. Some of the elders came visiting Ezekiel apparently asking for God’s wisdom and blessings. They obviously had the outward appearance of piety. But God knew what’s in their hearts. They set up multiple idols in their hearts. What were they thinking? Did they think that God would not know their idolatry? Did they think God would not mind if they serve God and idols together? Either way, God takes it as a great insult to His power and integrity. Such divided hearts is worse than a flat denial of God. Indeed such hypocrisy of religious leaders at the time of Jesus rejected and crucified the Son of God. No wonder why God is so furious against such hypocrisy. Unfortunately one of the prominent spirits of our time is such hypocritic multiplicity of religion. Those who want to keep the biblical purity of faith are often criticized as “narrow-minded or old-fashioned”. We might be compelled to compromise and go with the flow from all directions. But God is looking down and searching if there is anyone whose heart is wholeheartedly devoted to Him. It will be wonderful if He found in us such wholehearted devotion to Him. Are you keeping purity and integrity of your faith in God?