Are we each responsible for what we allow into our hearts? Let’s look at Ezekiel 14.
What happened when some elders of Israel came to Ezekiel?
Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? (Ezek 14:1-3 KJV)
What are idols in the heart? Does that estrange someone from God?
Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I Yahweh will be brought to give him an answer in light of it, in light of the multitude of his idols, in order to seize the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from Me through all their idols.”’ (Ezek 14:4-5 LSB)
What does God say about the idols we have built in our hearts? Can politics, nationalism, money, materialism, pride, our opinions, and many other emotional issues, be idols in our hearts?
Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. For anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who reside in Israel, who deserts Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts in front of his face the stumbling block of his wrongdoing, and then comes to the prophet to request something of Me for himself, I the Lord will let Myself answer him Myself. I will set My face against that person and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will eliminate him from among My people. So you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 14:6-8 NASB)
Will both the false prophet and the inquirer be guilty of sin?
“‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” (Ezek 14:9-11 NIV)
What happens to any land that engages in persistent unfaithfulness to God?
The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: “Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord God. (Ezek 14:12-14 NKJV)
Can people piggyback on the faithful or is each blessed alone for their faithfulness?
Or suppose I were to send wild animals to invade the country, kill the people, and make the land too desolate and dangerous to pass through. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be made desolate. (Ezek 14:15-16 NLT)
Can a faithful person only decide for themselves to be true?
Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off from it man and animal’— though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only would be delivered themselves.
Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal— though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness. (Ezek 14:17-20 WEB)
Does God always have a just cause for punishing our sins?
The Lord God proclaims: How much more if I send all four of these terrible acts of judgment—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—against Jerusalem, to eliminate both humans and animals? Yet a few survivors will be left. Sons and daughters will be brought out to you.
When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil that I inflicted on Jerusalem, for all that I brought against it. Seeing their ways and their deeds will bring you some consolation, because then you will understand what I’ve done, and that I didn’t do any of these things without cause. This is what the Lord God says. (Ezek 14:21-23 CEB)
Is this principle of each being responsible for his own actions reiterated in the church?
And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do. (Rom 14:12 CEV)
Are we each responsible for what we allow into our hearts? You decide!
