Ezekiel 20:39 summarizes God’s response to a faithless people. Since they prefer idols over His voice, He tells them to serve those idols.
As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve your idols, every one of you now and hereafter, if you will not listen to me, but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts and your idols (Ezekiel 20.39).
Syncretism is the term often used to describe people who claim to follow the one true God while also devoting themselves to other idols. God declares that this behavior damages His reputation.
God’s people are called to bear witness to His reality through both their confession of faith—that He is who He is—and their behavior. They are to reflect His righteousness, justice, and love.
Understanding Ancient Idolatry
To better understand ancient idolatry, it helps to read what people of that time said about their gods. In 590 BC, Ezekiel and other prominent Israelites were living as exiles Babylon.
Here is what was believed about the Babylonian god Marduk. Please take a moment to read this description; afterward, I’ll highlight some comparisons between this false god and the one true God.
The Story of Marduk
There was nothing but the primordial, Apsu, and their begetter, Tiamat, she who bore them all, their waters commingling as a single body.
Other lesser gods fought against Tiamat, but they could not overcome. So, these gods appealed to Marduk to take on the task. Marduk agreed to go to battle against Tiamat on one condition: if he was successful, the gods would make him their king.
When Marduk defeated Tiamat and her sea monsters, he took the corpse of Tiamat and fashioned it into the heavens and the earth.
Humankind was created from the blood of a lesser god named Kingu, who had acted as Tiamat’s second-in-command in the battle against the younger gods.
Babylon was built as the city of Marduk, and the gods celebrated the kingship of Marduk.
The Babylonian View of Humanity
The Babylonian view of creation and humanity was widely accepted, with the Hebrews being a notable exception.
The Babylonians believed that heaven and earth were an emanation of the gods, meaning that the natural world was not separate from the gods but rather a part of them. Even humans were thought to be created from the gods.
According to this belief, human actions and reactions were entirely dependent on those of the gods. Humans were not free to shape their own destiny; they bore no responsibility for events on earth but were merely pawns in the hands of the gods.
The Hebrew Difference
The Hebrew creation story begins with God, who creates everything. Unlike other ancient myths, He did not have to win a battle with the waters to create the heavens and the earth. Instead, He created the waters and shaped a formless mass into the world we see today.
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:1-3).
Human beings were not an emanation from the gods; rather, they are part of God’s created order, made in His likeness. This likeness includes the responsibility and authority to govern the earth as God’s stewards.
Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion . . . (Genesis 1.26).
From the very beginning, and most clearly expressed through the life and ministry of Jesus, we see that God desires a relationship with humanity.
Humans are not an emanation of the gods. They are distinct from God. Yet, He continually reaches out to them to build that relationship.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze . . . and the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3.8-9).
Furthermore, when humans fail, God holds them accountable. Across every generation, He asks, “Where are you?”
The Choice of Idols
With these contrasts in mind, it’s easy to see why God grieved over His people’s attempt to blend worship of Him with the worship of false idols from other nations. The two simply don’t mix.
When surrounded by a culture that constantly promotes its idols, it can be challenging to separate those influences from the worship and service of the one true God.
As we seek to identify potential areas of idolatry in our lives, here are some questions to consider:
Are we highly invested in politics?
Do we idolize those with wealth, beauty, or athletic skill?
What are the things we feel we cannot live without?
These questions are just a starting point. Let’s ask God to reveal to us areas of idolatry in our lives, so we can worship and serve the one true God.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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