Ezekiel 22:26, 31 ESV
Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God."
God's name has been profaned by the actions of his own people. There are three basic issues addressed in this chapter. First, God's people have gone after idols. We often hear an idol defined as anything that we put above or before God. I prefer to think of an idol as anything we look to to provide us with that which only God can provide. Only God can provide Israel with true security, yet they are looking to idols, and listening to false prophets for their security. Idolatry is still an issue. We may not bow before images of wood and stone, but idolatry is a big deal today as well. We have bought into the idea that government, money and good credit will provide us with the security, significance and satisfaction we need, but only God can truly provide those things.
The second issue Israel fell into was sexual immorality. We fall for all sorts of lies in order to justify our immorality. We say that what we do in private is no one's business. We claim that we must be true to ourselves by pursuing the sexual passions and perversions that we feel? We claim that we aren't hurting anyone, or that we're only looking, or that ... Well, we've heard them all, and they are all lies designed to excuse sin and explain away God's standards of morality. Upon closer scrutiny they all fall apart. Sexual immorality as defined by God defiles those who practice it and profanes the name of the God we claim to serve.
The third issue Israel faced was that they were taking advantage of the poor and not caring for one another. Again, we have all sorts of excuses for this one as well. We don't have the time. We don't have the resources. They are someone else's responsibility. They don't care for themselves; why should I care for them? The excuses go on and on. Meanwhile the hurting go on hurting and the name of the God we call a God of love is profaned by our actions.
Father forgive us. Forgive me. Too often I find myself practicing the very same profane activities that Israel was guilty of. May my life honor you, glorify your name and reflect you to the world in which I live.
By His grace,
Rick Weinert
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