Driving God Out

Ezekiel 7-8

Ezekiel 8:6 – And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”

For better or worse, I tend to be a bit territorial. I get sort of grumpy when someone else parks in the spot that I like to park in at work. 

In high school my friends and I sat at the same spot in the cafeteria for practically four years. In my senior year, a group of underclassmen had the audacity to sit at our table. The gall! We made them get up and move. 

As a teacher, I had colleagues play a prank on me. They had the custodian let them into my room after I had left for the day so that they could completely rearrange my tables, desks, and chairs. The next day, I had an early morning meeting and wasn’t able to open up my room until just a few minutes before the bell was to ring. When I opened the door, I found all of the furniture stacked up in a corner of the room. I was almost in tears, the situation stressed me out so much! Thankfully, my first hour class understood and helped me get the room put back together. 

My experiences are the teeniest, tiniest speck of “problems” when compared to what is described in Ezekiel chapter eight. In verse six, God says that the action of the Israelites have driven Him far from His sanctuary. The glorious temple, the Holy of Holies, is where the Spirit of God resided. But because God cannot exist where evil exists, He was kicked out of His own house! Talk about audacious behavior! 

Jump forward to the New Testament with me. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says,

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.

My friends, are you living a righteous life? Are you choosing with your actions to be set aside for God’s purposes? Or are you living in rebellion? 

I’m certainly not speaking of living a perfect life, but a life that honors God with your thoughts, words, and actions? If so, then God’s Spirit is residing in you. If not, God Spirit is not residing in you. 

This is why Paul reminds us that we are not our own and we should behave accordingly, so that our bodies can remain the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

No one likes being kicked out of what they’ve claimed as their rightful space, even God, especially God. He is your Creator and has claimed your heart as His Home. Live today in such a way that invites Him to stay.  

-Bethany Ligon

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Ezekiel 7 & 8 and 1 Peter 5