Heavenly Father we praise you. We lift up this word before you and we ask you to write it on the tablets of our heart. We ask Lord, that you would take this word and make it life to us. Let it perform every purpose in which you are sending it forth to accomplish.
Lord, bring the priestly anointing upon every vessel that who reads and hears this Word. Take the blood and anoint every ear as the word of God comes forth so that if there is anything in our life that is impure, or unsanctified, or not of You, that it would be cleansed and delivered. Heavenly Father, take the oil, anoint every ear to understand and to hear.
Holy Spirit, we release you and ask you, to bring the application of this Word in our lives. Individually, speak to us through this message. May we leave our place in this level, as different people, knowing that we have had a visitation with God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Open to Ezekiel 14:1-5 KJV
14 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me and sat before me.
2 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols.
5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Idols in his heart. Notice He is not talking about outward idols.
Now, the Lord says, according to their idols, I am going to answer them, I am going to let them be deceived because they have these idols in their heart.
Now, the one thing we want to notice here is that the Lord says in Ezekiel 14:5, “…because they are estranged from me, through their idols.”
The word ‘estranged‘, in Hebrew, is a word that means unrelated. He says, “They are unrelated to me now, because of idols in their heart.”
When we allow idols to come into our hearts, there comes an unrelatedness through blocks, that prevent us from being joined to the Lord.
No More Building the Blocks that Cause Separation Between You & the LORD
Whenever an idol was erected in a high place in the Hebrew Scriptures, (aka The Old Testament), there was always a wood grove erected or a stone grove erected. This represents a block and this word, ‘idol‘ is not referring just to the carved image, but it is referring to the block.
A block is an obstacle. That word, ‘idol‘ in this particular instance in the text means obstacle.
The obstacle that has estranged you from intimacy with God is an idol.
What are the obstacles that have prevented you from operating in faith? Have you built up such a wall of separation that it looks like the wall belongs there?
Are there obstacles that have prevented you’re going forward in God? An obstacle that has prevented you from using your faith creates a wall of separation and distance between you and the LORD. Can you identify the obstacle(s) that has prevented you from operating in obedience to what God has told you to do?
Elevating Beyond the Literal…
Idols in the heart, are not necessarily what we would call a carved image, not necessarily what we would call a graven image.
God is addressing his people through Ezekiel here today, and He is speaking about idols in the heart that create a blockage.
This is what we need to know about the blocks that have estranged us and caused a condition of being unrelated, lacking nearness to God.
We become united to God through His Spirit. We know we have that relatedness to God because our character becomes like God’s character.
Achieving the Highest Level of Spiritual Intimacy
When we are flowing in the things of God. When we are flowing in intimacy with God.
When we have that intimate communication with God, we have communion face to face with Him.
Now, looking back at Ezekiel 14:4, the scripture teaches us that there is a stumbling block before their face.
When a stumbling block is present, there is no such thing as being present before the Face of God. Where there is a stumbling block, there is no such thing as operating in the Character of God.
You see, the character of God is the Face of God. The Character of God exists in kind with His attributes. This is the Face of God.
God desires that all of us would have communion with Him… with his character, with his attributes, with His glory, with his mercy with his forgiveness with his graciousness. That which is in our heart, which is an obstacle, that is where we need to possess discernment in order to know, recognize and/or identify the obstacles that exist within us that are preventing us from coming into divine communion with the Presence of GOD.
Assignment: Examine your heart. Remove every obstacle that is blocking your relationship with God. Cut down the groves that are limiting your connection and communion with God. No more self-inflicted spiritual sabotage. It’s time to move forward!
Author: Rev. Yvette Malveaux
