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RECAP

  • Omnipresence 
  • Inner presence
  • Manifest presence 

INTRODUCTION

What pulls us away from the presence of God?

Genesis 3:8

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. (NKJV)

SCRIPTURE

Ezekiel 14:1-6

Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them? 4 “Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” 6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. (NKJV)

Idols in their hearts

Idol = Image

Exodus 20:4

“You shall not make for yourself a carved 

image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;” (NKJV)

An idol is an image, and idolatry is worshiping that image. 

Ezekiel 14:3

“Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity…” (NKJV)

Romans 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (NKJV)

You cannot live in God's presence if you have an idol in your heart.

Ezekiel 14:5

“That I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” (NKJV)

Jeremiah 3:6

The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high 

mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.” (NKJV)

Jeremiah 3:9

So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. (NKJV)

Jeremiah 3:14

“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you…” (NKJV)

Having an idol will cause you to be estranged from God. 

The reason they couldn’t hear from God, was because they had an idol in their heart.

Isaiah 59:2 

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. (NKJV)

If you have an idol in your heart, you diminish the presence of God and you amplify the influence of the idol.

Ezekiel 14:10

And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same as the punishment of the one who inquired, (NKJV)

APPLICATION

Ezekiel 14:6

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. (NKJV)

CONCLUSION

Ezekiel 14:5

“That I may seize the house of Israel by their heart…” (NKJV)