They Told A Lie

Ezekiel 8:12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’

Title A Lie and A Truth

Hello to all my readers. As I read through the Bible twice this year (Once reading) and (Once listening), I came across a verse that stuck with me. I was listening to the book of Ezekiel, and the above verse, reveals one truth and one lie. Not that these two cancel each other out, no matter what other religious zealots believe. However, it is in Israel’s lie to itself that I want to write. When we look at people’s wrong view of God, it has not changed much even though thousands of years have passed. Then I want to answer why Israel and modern man still believe such a fanciful lie about God.   

This is a dark time in Israel’s history. They had taken the temple of the one true living God and turned it into a center of worship for the sun god. This is something that God opposes found in Exodus chapter twenty. This verse of inspired scripture was not written in a vacuum, but it was a revelation and a warning to all who dare do the same.  

Judah was not only worshipping the sun. The streets were full of bloodshed of their children being sacrificed to Molech. This is how wicked and depraved a human heart can become. These hearts are no different from an unconverted person today. However, idol worship and child sacrifice may be a little more sanitized. Let’s look at the verse and the lie they, corporately, believed. 

One lie

The Lord asked if Ezekiel had seen one of the priest’s rooms inside. Their pictures in their rooms were the fruit of their depraved hearts. God said make no idols of things found on this earth or in the seas. Yet they were bowing down in worship to the very thing God warned about. This was not the worse part of their brokenness. A good Jew who read the Holy Scriptures always knew that God was omniscient -he knows everything. He has never learned anything. He has known all things at all times for all eternity. However, look at how far removed the priest of Israel had become.

They thought they were doing all this worship and hanging these pictures in their priest’s chambers without God knowing anything about what was happening. Sin numbs humans to the truth that is obvious in the scriptures. How many people in our present culture think that just because they do something behind a locked door or send something through an encrypted email service, they will never get caught? That is not working too well for even the political elite right now. Much less is mankind trying to hide sin from an all-powerful, omniscient God.

However, this is the lie mankind told itself while running from the one true living God throughout all human history. God cannot see or hear what I am doing. Please don’t take my word for it. Look at the text in verse twelve.

 “For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

They said with their own mouths, “ The LORD does not see us”. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie. I was witnessing to a guy that was my workout partner in the gym. He looked at me one day and said, “ Tommy, there is no way God sees everything I do.” This is the heart of Israel in this text. God does not see me. This comforts the lost that there is hope that all their dirty little secrets will not be exposed. However, there are no secrets to God. He has known all things for eternity. It will all be revealed on the day of Judgement. This is why we all need to flee to the mercy found in Jesus through saving faith. Wow!

Sin may pervert people’s views of God but does not pervert what God knows about people. This is the beginning of the fear of the Lord. Nevertheless, in Israel’s statement, they did give a truth also. This I will discuss in the next section. 

A truth

Why had God abandoned them? Israel and modern man are thousands of years apart but still the same. How? Mankind chooses to worship other false gods and has godless rulers over them. This is why God abandoned Israel; they did not take God’s warning of the curses that would be brought to bear on them if they worshiped other gods. Here we have Israel reaping the benefits of their choices of leadership and worship. The lesser gods and distorted view of worship did not benefit them as they thought, but it brought punishment and temporary destruction to them as a nation. Idol worship and having lesser kings rule over you will always lead to external destruction. Some nations in history slide faster then toward implosion than others. This false view of the worship of God is still present in our world today. The only thing that separates mankind today from two thousand years ago is time. The hearts are still the same.   

This is how some in society see God. He does not know all things. This is what some say, “There is no way God sees everything that goes on today, and even if He did, he would just want us all to be happy anyway.” These words have come from many lost people’s mouths over the years.  This should grieve us because this lie is here to try to undermine a solid theological truth- God is omniscient. Not only is god omniscient, but He also reveals standards that everyone knows are universally true.

I will share in the next section how we can use the brokenness of mankind and use it at a springboard to show them their need for this God who knows all. If you want to become a monthly champion to receive all of the whole article content, go to our champion community and learn how to help us take the gospel to the nations and benefit yourself with content that will encourage and train you to share your faith. Until next month go and proclaim the gospel to see a life transformed.