Chapter-a-Day Ezekiel 8

He said, "Son of man, do you see what the elders are doing here in the dark, each one before his favorite god-picture? They tell themselves, 'God doesn't see us. God has forsaken the country.'" Ezekiel 8:12 (TM)

I've noticed that some people have a hard time reading the Old Testament because they find it hard to understand or relate to an ancient culture. Yet, I don't think things have really haven't changed all that much. It's really the same story.

I read Ezekiel and about how the people had turned their backs on God to worship idols like Baal and Asherah. They said to themselves, "God has forsaken the country - I'll worship the sex-god Asherah." I think we do the same thing today, but in our intelligence and sophistication we've done away with the idols like Asherah and Baal - and we've gone to worshiping what they stood for - sex, carnality, selfishness - ourselves basically. "There is no god. So I'll do my own thing." No more rules. No more morals. I'll do what I want, when I want, with whom I want to do it.

At the root of it - it's still idolatry. We replace the worship of God with the worship of self.

When I read Ezekiel with this reality in mind - it becomes a lot more personal.