When God is not Enough

Read Ezekiel 23.

In Egypt, God developed the family of Abraham into a nation.  He proved Himself over and over by demonstrating His power to protect them and care for them.  For centuries, Israel experienced the benefits of being God's chosen people.  But, God was not enough for them.

They wanted to be like the ungodly surrounding nations.  While they continued the rituals of worshiping God, they embraced the practices of the cultural false gods.  They thought they could live like the wicked world and still enjoy a relationship with the LORD.  Indeed, they sacrificed their own children to a false god and "on the same day" they came to the Temple in Jerusalem (v.39).  God compared this pollution of worship to spiritual adultery.  He will not tolerate it.

God supplied their needs and would have done more.  However, like a couple of prostitutes, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah lusted for what they could get from other nations.  In attracting political alliances, they are pictured as dolling themselves up and even sending for men to come to them (vv.40-41).  First, Israel entered into agreements with Egypt, Syria and, finally, Assyria.  But each pact took them deeper into enslavement.  Assyria turned out to be a brutal enemy that destroyed the northern kingdom.  Judah witnessed what happened to their sister in the north and learned nothing.  In fact, Judah proved to be morally, politically, and spiritually worse.

"Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring." (v.35)  But the  people surely would have responded, "Lord, we still go to the Temple and we still believe in you."  The truth is that God demands an exclusive relationship with His people.  He will not share us with other beliefs and practices.

The Apostle Paul asked, "What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God: as God said, ....'Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you..." (2 Corinthians 6:15-18)