How Long?

June 14

“The LORD also said to me: ‘Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.’” Ezekiel 23:36-39

What vile things these people were committing on God's holy Sabbath days! They worshipped idols, sacrificed their children, even burning them in the fire, and afterward, they presented themselves at the Temple services. That is horrifying! God specifically mentions that they did these things on the Sabbath—on His day. It shows how far idolatry will take a person, imposing its will on the actions of an individual.

We need to be very careful about this. These people were guilty of the common sin of idolatry—syncretism, the blending of the world's way with God's way. God, of course, does not accept it as true worship. How could He? The Israelites would attend services, supposedly in honor and out of respect for the Creator God after killing their children in the fires of Molech!
In Ezekiel 20-23, where a brief overview of the relationship between God and Israel is presented, idolatry and profaning the Sabbath are specifically named nine times as the major reasons God drove Israel into captivity.

— John W. Ritenbaugh


Can we see ourselves in this sin, America, in this sin of idolatry? If we can’t, it’s because we have drunk the ‘cool ade’ and are totally deluded as to how far we’ve come away from the precepts of God’s Holy Word the Bible and how far we’ve fallen from the faith that made us great.

How many lovers have we taken since we believed?
How many children have perished in the abortionists’ clinics?
How many idle words have crossed our lips in criticism of the holy things of God?
How much money have we lavished upon temporal pleasures while those who know Christ not remain without the Word of Truth for lack of funds?
How often have we declared ourselves to be believers in Jesus Christ while allowing ourselves to be totally without restraint regarding our self-indulgence?

How many?
How much?
How ofen?

How long can the Almighty ignore our sin?
How long?