No Distinction

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is not cleansed or rained upon in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 

And her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 22:23 – 31, ESV).

As I was reading this passage a few mornings ago, I was particularly struck by the following:

“Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things.  They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”

What does it mean that Yahweh is “profaned among them”? We know, from earlier in Ezekiel, that demonic idol worship was taking place in the Temple in Jerusalem. We know that, as a result of this profanity, the Presence of Yahweh departed from the Temple.

Did anyone notice when the Presence of Yahweh left the Temple? Does anyone notice today when the Presence of Christ is no longer with us? Do we know what Ichabod means and looks like (1 Samuel 4:21)? When the Testimony of Christ, the Gospel, has been used as a plaything, treated as religious and spiritual merchandise, chanted as an incantation – can anyone discern it? Does it matter? Or, are our senses dulled to the point that we no longer make a distinction between the clean and unclean, between the profane and holy?

To be sure, many congregations want to be affirmed in their uncleanness. To be certain, many of us are willing to trade the holy for the profane if that will bring more people to the pews – we believe the lie that if we attract people by importing idols into the Temple that we can later recover the ground we have lost and gradually introduce the holy back into our teaching and preaching. This is delusional. The unholy will eat our very souls, corrupting our hearts and minds and destroying godly judgement and discernment.

When we cease to obey God’s Word, and instead make excuses for our sin, for it is indeed sin when we do not receive the grace of God and obey His Word; when we justify our disobedience, when we invite others to participate in our disobedience and tell them that God understands and approves of their sin – certainly this is profaning God.

Concerning Yahweh’s Sabbaths; the Sabbaths portray our One True Sabbath, Jesus Christ; for when we come into Christ we rest in Christ (Hebrews Chapter 4) as God’s Word does it work deep within us. Therefore, we profane the Sabbaths when we look to anyone and anything other than Jesus Christ for our salvation and way of life; as we see in Hebrews 12:2, we are to always be “looking unto Jesus.”

Why is Jesus no longer enough for the church?

Will we be intercessors who “stand in the breach”?

Will we teach the difference between the holy and the profane?

Will Jesus Christ be our all-in-all?

Will we go outside the camp, bearing His reproach (Hebrews 13:12 – 14)?