You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution—your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.” [Ezekiel 23.49]
Does it alarm God's people that they are so overwhelmingly powerless in the earth today?
It should.
Does it concern God's people that they indistinguishably suffer all the same curses as the world?
It should.
Does it leave a void in God's people to hear the popular "faith" message of some religious groups but not see that faith actually fulfilled?
It should.
Does it cause an unsettling abstraction (watering down) of faith in God's' people to hear the otherwise "bad-things-can-happen-to-good-people" message of other (opposing) religious groups even though the Bible promises mountain-moving miracles for the faithful?
Does it???
It should!
Powerlessness, curses, unfulfilled faith, and abstract faith are all conditions that the BIBLE, in its whole story, links to unfaithfulness to God - to spiritual prostitution - to the worship of idols.
What's more, the BIBLE, in its whole story, points God's people to Jesus, Who, when He came to earth, demonstrated faith as it should be, among those who would give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Him. The only curses Jesus suffered were those that He, in undiluted faith, CHOSE to suffer on behalf of those who believe!
When we suffer curses, it is NOT an expression of God's love for us but an expression of God's justice. Curses are the "rumble strips" of life that tell us we are not on the right path and need to make a correction (repent). And, this is where idolatry enters... Instead of correcting to avoid the "rumble strips" we pay idols to mitigate not only the "rumble strips" but also the catastrophic "ditch" that lies beyond. Instead of humbly recognizing the implications of the rumble strips and making corrections, we seek solutions for the discomfort caused by the rumble strips and what lies beyond them, telling ourselves that rumble strips are just "the way of life." In fact, so much money is exchanged today to mitigate the discomfort of these "rumble strips" that has made for himself enormous industries to handle it all... Some of the largest of these industries are finance, insurance, medicine and technology.
Idol industries all offer God-less solutions for God-invoked problems. "Problems" are curses (see Deuteronomy 28.15-68) whose design signals a need to repent. In this way, idol industries are prostitutes paid for services God intends for His people to come to Him for (starting with repentance and continuing in undiluted faith in Christ). But prostitutes don't care about repentance and faith - all prostitutes want is the money. Of course, religion doesn't teach this, but the Bible does! And, boy, does it! The Bible's prophets were unrelenting in their outrage against idolatry because of the filthy prostitution it is.
The more God's people turn to idols, the more God turns away from them (because God will not "behold" (look upon) idols). The end result then for "God's people" is powerlessness. The end result leaves God's people indistinguishable from the God-less world.
Should not God's people, because the Bible speaks so much against idolatry, understand that idolatry IS the problem today? Should not all the various religious denominations and sects humbly recognize their powerless condition? Should not "the Church" distinctly represent God in all His power and glory in the earth today? Why does the Church focus more on looking like the world then (to "bring them in") instead of like Jesus? The answer is the same as always: because of spiritual prostitution - idolatry that runs unchecked among those who should most abhor it.
God's people, in their powerless condition today, are living under the full penalty for their spiritual prostitution, AND THEY ARE NONE THE WISER. And, until they understand that God is indeed the Sovereign LORD and yield to Him as such in following Christ (giving up their own way, taking up their cross), they will never enjoy the glorious power and distinction of God's Kingdom on earth, let alone in heaven.
Too much? Consider the story of Oholah and Oholibah that precedes the subject verse of this article (Ezekiel 23.1-48). Go ahead and read about the 'fondling of breasts' that led to all manner of prostitution... God has never tolerated idolatry, and, Jesus did not come so He ever would! That is precisely why Jesus laid out the verbal gauntlet:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24]
We can all wish it wasn't so, but it does not change God's Word. God did not preserve all the Biblical texts decrying idolatry just to say, "Never mind!" Jesus did not relieve mankind of the task of avoiding idolatry, but rather, put hyper-focus on it. "Give up your own way" leaves no room for any idol including, the original idol of "self."
The "cursed" powerless condition of the Church today (regardless of every abstract claim otherwise) is everything Ezekiel 23.49 above says it is: the full penalty for prostitution - the worship of idols. Following Jesus, on His terms alone, is the only remedy.
Father, Your Word is relentless on the subject of idolatry. No wonder people are content to remain ignorant of it! Let there be an undaunted return to Your Word among Your people - not a focus on extra-biblical books and literature (no matter how well-meaning) - but a hunger and thirst for Your Word as it is preserved today in the Bible. May Your people find the strength there to give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Jesus - to Whom all of Your Word points us. So be it.
