(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.” He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall.” When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door. He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.” So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand; and the smell of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’” He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.””
(Ezekiel 8:5-13)
“Foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly portrayed among you as crucified? I just want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now completed in the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if it is indeed in vain? He therefore who supplies the Spirit to you and does miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Even so, Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Good News beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you all the nations will be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham.”
(Galatians 3:1-9)
There were leaders of the nation, influential people, who were blaspheming God and worshipping idols within the Temple itself. They were doing it out of the public eye. And they were doing it because they decided that God had abandoned them. God had left. So they were doing their own thing, their own way, and not worried about consequences because God couldn’t see what they were doing anyway. God was not fellowshipping with them. God was not manifesting with them. But God was not blind. God was not fooled. They had rejected Him, but He was still warning them. Still speaking through His prophets. Still calling for them to repent. He was still reaching out. They had moved and changed, but He had not.
Paul had been with the church in Galatia, and then moved on to other places. In his absence, other people also professing Jesus came in and taught other doctrine. They changed the minds of the Galatians and the Galatians had come to Paul’s attention. He was writing to them asking why they had abandoned what they knew was the truth? Why they had chosen to go a new way, a way different from what had brought them to salvation? Why they had decided that trusting in works was better than trusting in God? He was pointing out that from the beginning humanity’s relationship with God was always based in trust. That was what pleased God. That was what saved us. Believing His Word and trusting in Him. Anything else was folly. Anything else was setting up idols in the place God was meant to dwell. It was a bad idea.
Summary
Humanity hasn’t really changed. We face the same challenges. We pass or fail the same tests – teaching ourselves what we can do in Him or what we can do in ourselves. We are distracted by shiny things. And the shiniest thing is the idea that our thinking, our efforts, and our strength is what will win the day. That we can ‘earn’ our spot beside God. It is a lie. We cannot. No one can ever keep all the Law. We can never get through this life without straying in at least one way. And even one way – even once – is enough to separate us from God. It is only through Him that we get back. Only through Him that we overcome. Only through Him that we succeed. Only through Him that we achieve what God calls us to. Only through Him that we can live our His salvation. We need to believe what He says and to trust in Him. Consistently working toward constantly. He is the Way and He is there to hold our hand as we walk it out. Anything else will not succeed.
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