Ezekiel 14:3, commentary and pictures

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart means inward idolatry without images, when love of worldly things, pleasure in unrighteousness, pride, luxury, selfishness and display hold the affections and receive the devotion due to God alone, and the stumblingblock of iniquity is the causes of sin kept before the face and eyes that obstruct the way to God. Those who cherish such idols cannot rightly or sincerely seek an answer from God while holding them, for their inward worship estranges them from Him and leaves them in spiritual darkness, and He answers them according to their idols with the heart closed against truth, love, entreaties and promises. Even when the outward life looks devoted, the love of the Saviour is not there and Christ is not in the soul the hope of glory, so self excludes the Holy Spirit, the enemy finds a stronghold, spiritual life decays and the church is weakened. Unless the idols and stumbling blocks are deliberately put away by withdrawing the affections from human and earthly things and setting them on things above until the love of Christ pervades the soul, those who cherish them will not be acknowledged as sons and daughters of God and will have no place on the Lord's side. Greater light and privilege bring greater accountability, and the rebuke falls especially on teachers, educators and managers whose own heart-idolatry makes truth offensive, so they leaven others against it, place the stumbling block before them, and reject reproof until they are separated from the work.

Heart Idols Described

Ezekiel 14:3 teaches an inward idolatry that needs no carved image, for love of worldly things, taking pleasure in unrighteousness, and joining in the works of darkness set up an idol in the heart. Pride and luxury do the same, becoming heart-idols that stand as a stumblingblock of iniquity. Selfishness, pride, and love of display are likewise idols set in the heart, and where they are cherished spiritual life decays and the church is weakened and turned from God.

To set up such an idol is to let mere human objects and earthly things hold the affections, erecting an inner temple where they are worshiped with the devotion due to God alone. This includes idolizing and worshiping a human being in the heart even while denying it, a course that blinds the mind and sets a corrupting example leading many others to worship the same person, especially guilty when the one worshiped lives marked with selfishness, pride, and love of the world. It also includes making a husband an idol, coming between him and God and placing him in trying places where he cannot sustain spirit and influence without sacrificing principle.

The stumblingblock of iniquity is the causes of sin kept before the face and eyes, obstructing the way to God while a person still professes to seek Him. For those who have entered covenant with God and committed themselves to Christ, worldly amusements, vanity, and pursuit of display become such inward idols and obstructions when Christ's righteousness is rejected and God's law is refused. It is also set before the eyes when men in ambition and high ideas of their own importance insist on their own way instead of receiving God's ideas and plans, cherishing wrong principles and rejecting reproof.

Vain Seeking of God

Those who set up idols in the heart and keep the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face cannot rightly seek an answer from God while they cling to those things, and their inquiry is insincere so long as they hold them. Loving worldly things, taking pleasure in unrighteousness, and joining in the works of darkness are the setting up of such idols and stumblingblocks. That inward idolatry estranges them from God and separates them from Him, leaving them without true spiritual life. It leaves them in spiritual darkness, unable to discern the obstacles in their way and to remove them.

The Lord answers such inquirers according to their idols. The idol set up within erects a temple where human and earthly things hold the affections and receive the devotion due to God alone, and it leaves no room for the Spirit of God or the truth. The heart is thus closed against the truth, not impressed by it nor sanctified by it, and stays proof against revealed love and pity and compassion, against the most touching entreaties and earnest invitations mingled with the most free and ample promises. If any idol is in the heart Jesus cannot be entertained there, for every breath of self stains the character and excludes the Holy Spirit.

Even when the outward appearance looks like the life of a devoted Christian, the Heartsearcher knows the love of the Saviour is not there, the foundation of spiritual character has not been laid, and Christ is not in the soul the hope of glory. Professed love for Jesus then exercises no controlling power over will and inclination, because the truth has not subdued and sanctified the heart. The enemy finds a stronghold there, spiritual life decays when the influences provided to preserve and strengthen it are withdrawn, and the church is weakened and turned from God by selfishness, pride, and love of display cherished as idols within. Idolizing and worshiping a human being in the heart, even while denying it, blinds the mind and sets a corrupting example that leads many others to worship the same person, with special guilt when the one worshiped lives a life marked by selfishness, pride, and love of the world.

Call to Put Away Idols

Unless the idols set up in the heart and the stumbling block of iniquity put before the face are deliberately put away, those who cherish them cannot rightly or sincerely seek an answer from God while holding them, and they will not be acknowledged as His sons and daughters. Loving worldly things, taking pleasure in unrighteousness, and joining in the works of darkness are the setting up of such idols and stumbling blocks. To set up idols in the heart is to let mere human objects and earthly things hold the affections, erecting an inner temple where they are worshiped with the devotion due to God alone. That idol leaves no room for the Spirit of God or the truth, closes the heart against the truth, engrosses the affections so the heart is not impressed and delights not in Him who is love, and stays proof against revealed love, pity, entreaties, invitations and promises, so that even when outward appearance looks like devoted Christian life the foundation of spiritual character has not been laid, professed love exercises no controlling power over will and inclination, and the enemy finds a stronghold there. Unless the affections are withdrawn from human and earthly things and set on things above, there can be no place on the Lord's side.

Removal comes only by expelling evil through getting more and more of Jesus and less and less of self, until the love of Christ pervades the soul and opens the door of the heart to His attributes, so that abounding grace and love make the fruit borne wholly good. If any idol is in the heart Jesus cannot be entertained, for every breath of self stains the character and excludes the Holy Spirit, and God claims the undivided and supreme affection as His own by purchase. Making a husband an idol comes between the soul and God and places him in trying places where he cannot sustain spirit and influence without sacrificing principle, while pride holds in a vice from doing what ought to be done to free the soul from guilt. Idolizing and worshiping a human being in the heart, even while denying it, blinds the mind and sets a corrupting example that leads many others to worship the same person, and is especially guilty when the one worshiped lives marked with selfishness, pride, and love of the world. The wound it brings cannot be healed by zeal in talking and writing or by confession in general terms, but only by thoroughly probing the wound to the bottom and removing the evil, for every covering over an uncleansed wound makes the outbreak more incurable.

Greater light and religious privilege bring greater accountability for those who have entered into covenant with God. For baptized Christians, worldly amusements, vanity, and pursuit of display become inward idols when they reject Christ's righteousness and refuse to follow God's law. Those who knowingly turn from that light face more severe judgment than people who have never known God or His law.

The verse rebukes the teachers of this age who have set up idols in the heart and put the stumbling block before the face, so that God will not be inquired of by them. Their heart-idolatry makes the Sabbath and the near coming of Christ offensive to them, so they create prejudice bitter as gall, tell falsehoods, wrest the Scriptures in explanation, leaven the people against the truth, confuse uninformed minds with multitudes of false theories and false interpretations, represent Seventh-day Adventists as deluded fanatics, prophesy smooth deceits and cry peace, leaving the multitude believing their report and at ease in Zion, and being accepted as truth by those who do not study for themselves they become blind leaders of the blind. Its image of the stumbling block of iniquity also applies to educators who reject God's plain word, whose teaching and example place an obstacle before others and blind them so that those who should walk in the light instead walk in darkness. Men connected with the management of God's work set the stumbling block before their eyes when in ambition and high ideas of their own importance they insist on their own way instead of receiving God's ideas and plans with unquestioning faith and obedience, cherishing wrong principles and rejecting reproof so that appeals and warnings have no more effect than Christ's messages had upon the Pharisees, manifesting the same exacting and intolerant spirit as the ruling Pharisees. Those who continue in that path face the same judgments that fell upon the Pharisees, and unless converted will be separated from the work.