MONTHLY NEWSLETTER April 2023 Edition With Rev. Dr. C. A. ONITIRI

Dearly beloved of God, I welcome us all to the month of April, the fourth month in the year 2023. We thank the Lord Almighty for keeping and sustaining us.

SCRIPTURE FOR THE MONTH

Our Scripture for the Month is taken from the Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 14v5. For better understanding we shall read from v1-v5.
v1:”Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me and sat before me.
v2:
And the word of the Lord came unto me saying,
v3:
Son of man,these men have SENT up their idols in their heart,and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?
v4:
Therefore speak unto them,
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Everyman of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart,and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face,and cometh to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
v5:
That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.” KJV.

THEME FOR THE MONTH: “DO YOU HAVE IDOLS IN YOUR HEART ?”

The elders of Israel( v1) were guilty of idolatry in their heart ie they were not loyal to God and His word.They spurned God’s will and desired an ungodly way of life.Therefore, God refused to guide them by answering their prayers.(vv1-3).
In a similar manner, those today who look for guidance from God will find no help from His Spirit if their hearts are filled with ungodly desires for the sinful things of the world.

The Hebrew writers assigned important functions of life to different physical organs.The heart was considered the center of a person’s intellect and spirit.Because everyone has someone or something as the object of their heart’s devotion, they have the potential of idolatry within them.
God wants to recapture our hearts. We must never let anything captivate our intenligence or immagination in such a way that it replaces or weakens our devotion to God.

In v3, God condemned the leaders for setting up idols in their hearts and then dare to approach God’s prophet for advice.
On the outside, they appeared to worship God, making regular visits to the temple to offer sacrifices.But they were not sincere.
Do you know that it is easy for us to criticise the Israelites for worshipping idols when they so clearly needed God instead? But do you also realise we have idols in our hearts when we pursue reputation, acceptance, wealth or sensual pleasures with the intensity and commitment that should be reserved for serving God?

If we read further in v7, we will see that believers who forsake God—-“which seperateth himself from me”
to pursue sinful and immoral lives, while continuing to seek religious comfort, assurance and guidance from Him make God their enemy.(v8)
He will judge and punish such people.They should either repent of and forsake their sinful ways or leave the fellowship of believers. (1Corinthians 5v5)

EXPLAINING VV4&5.
God knows that the elders of Israel in Babylon were still involved in idolatory. They found Babylon to be wealthier , more prosperous and more powerful than their own nation, and they were tempted to imitate Babylonian ways. But attempting to combine the Lordship of God with recourse to other gods was a bad idea. The gods of the Babylonians could tolerate other loyalties , but not the one Living and True God of Israel. The Ten Commandments clearly states in Exodus 20v3
“THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”(KJV)
The reason is obvious—because other gods are false, foolish and unreal.The Babylonians had so many gods that it was difficult to know which particular ones might have been most appealing in Israel at the time. Indeed excavations in Canaan had uncovered large numbers of small statuettes of Babylonian and Egyptian deities. So the elders of Israel had come to Ezekiel, not planning to submit their lives to the Lord in true faith, but to consult the prophet as if he were merely a fortune teller.
They wanted an answer to a question and then they fully intend to return to the lives they had been living. They weren’t looking for their Covenant God to speak to them His truth, considering their spiritual state you might not expect God to reveal anything to them.In this instance, however, He promised to answer their iniquity directly, although it will not be the kind of answer they were hoping for.

The Israelites were “–estranged from me through their idols–“v5b
The charge against them cwas that they have been infected by their Babylonian environment and the attractions of its idolatrous religion ,and while idolatry remains in their hearts they were necessarily estranged from God.
They were like the people in the days of Isaiah who drew qnear to God with words but not with their hearts.( Isaiah 29v13)
In Matthew15v8-9 Jesus said that the Pharisees in His days were guilty of the same sin.
Ananias and Saphira(Acts 5) and the rich young ruler in Matthew 19v19-26 are NT examples of those who looked spiritual on the outside but had idols in their hearts.
Little wonder then John closed his first letter–1John5v21 thus:
“LITTLE CHILDREN , KEEP YOURSELVES FROM IDOLS.AMEN.”

IN CONCLUSSION AND FROM JOHN’S ADMONITION ABOVE, we know that alienation:
-From God
-From the life of God
-From the law of God
-From the worship of God
-And from the affections from Him,is due to some idol or another set up in the heart or before the eyes.
Whatever we worship besides God or whatever gains ascendant in our hearts, alllienates us from God; and God will not tolerate a rival. He cannot and will not bear it. For this reason, He inflicts punishment or answers in a terrible way.

PRAYER::

May the Holy Spirit Giude us and keep our hearts true with the Living and one True God in Jesus name. AMEN.

SHALOM.

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