Rock Bottom

Ezekiel 24

When I was young, my parents smoked cigarettes. It seemed that most people smoked back then. Cigarettes can be terribly addictive. I recently asked someone who stopped smoking over 40 years ago if they ever had a desire to do it again and their answer surprised me. “Everytime I smell a cigarette I want one.” It reminded me of an episode in the sitcom Frasier when one of the characters on the show was trying to quit smoking and wanted Frasier’s help. So, he brought this character to his home where he and his family could help.

One scene unfolds at the dinner table:

You're wrestling with an unhealthy and disgusting habit.
It isn't disgusting. It's wonderful.
Oh, now, tell me: what is so wonderful about smoking?
Everything.

And she goes on to describe the experience in such a seductive manner that everyone around the table is craving a cigarette. It serves as a great example of the seductive nature of sin. It provides a cheap thrill that captivates only to capture you.

Israel’s history shows their struggle with an addiction to idolatry. They have times of great repentance, such as under Hezekiah or more recently under Josiah. Josiah followed Manassah, who was arguably the most wicked king in Judah’s history. He was the one who erected the image of jealousy in the temple gate and setup altars on high places throughout Israel to foreign gods. He offered some of his own children as sacrifices to these gods and led Israel to do the same. It had become part of their lifestyle; part of their culture. When Josiah came, he turned things around. He removed the image of Jealousy and the many idols that had found their way into Jerusalem and the temple. He tore down the altars on the high places to the foreign gods and spread ashes upon all of them to desecrate them so they couldn’t be used again. And he reinstituted the proper offerings in the temple and led the people to participate and celebrate the great feasts that commemorated the mighty works of God in their history. It was a great moment. But after his death, these addictions were too powerful to the people of Judah and they reverted back to them.

He cleaned up the outside cultic practices of the nations, but he was not able to remove the inclination on the inside to worship these foreign gods. Our inclination to sin runs deep and no matter how hard we try and clean up our lives; no matter how many reforms we embrace; no matter how many resolutions we make, our fundamental nature still plagues us and the idols of this world still hold us captive. It is a devastating reality to face.

It begs the question: is there any hope to break free from our addictions? From our idolatry? Yes there is, but only if God intervenes. It is beyond our efforts. But it is drastic and it is terrifying. It is the message that Ezekiel has been given to preach to the exiles in Babylon. It was such a terrifying message that they have refused to believe it even though he has repeated it in so many different ways. What was that message? Jerusalem has to die. Our only hope lies beyond this death.

What we see in this chapter is the devastating necessity of God’s wrath to be poured out. This should give us a wake-up call as to the way we choose to live today.