Ezekiel 11: An Affair Of The Heart
by Gordon AeschlimanToo often, we confuse doing things for God with drawing close to God. Some of us have been misled to think of God as a sort of cosmic taskmaster who measures our worth by our deeds. If our identities become wrapped up in noble plans to reach the world, ultimately—and ironically—our self-created tasks become our masters.
God has called us instead to a deep and passionate love relationship with him. Our identity is as his beloved, and all other loves and good works flow from that love. The call that recurs most often in Scripture is for us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. It should not surprise us, then, that God employs rather harsh language against Israel for betraying his love.
Read Ezekiel 11:16-21
1. God tells the Israelites that they must remove the “vile images” and “detestable idols” from the land before he works on their hearts (v. 18-19). Why do you suppose he puts that requirement on them up front?
2. What would modern-day idols and images look like?
3. What is an “undivided heart” (v. 19)?
4. Ezekiel tells us that the Lord has said of idol worshipers, “I will bring down on their own heads what they have done” (v. 21). What does this mean? Read Ezekiel 16.1-34 for a picture of God’s response to betrayed love.
5. Contrast the “undivided heart” of Ezekiel 11:19 with the picture described in Ezekiel 16:15-29.
6. List the three outcomes of an undivided heart.
7. A “heart of flesh” is an image of compassion, a tenderness that can feel the pain of the world, in contrast to a heart of stone that has no feelings. Give one example of how our loving God has softened your heart.
8. Following the decrees of God is also a consequence of an undivided heart. Describe how our loving God has led you to obedience in your life.
9. Community, a sense of belonging, also results from a heart refined by God’s love. Compare Ezekiel 11:20 to Titus 2:14 and describe God’s desire for relationship. What is the prerequisite for a deep relationship with God?
Read I John 2:15-17.
10. Ezekiel 11:19-21 is repeated, in a fashion, in I John 2:15-17. Describe three ways in which devotion to God will lead us to say no to the world.
11. What forms of infidelity are currently blocking your love relationship with God?
12. Response: Identify the influences or forces in your life that tend to make obedience and works, rather than love, the basis of your relationship with God.
Taken from Leadership in the 21st Century (a Global Issues Bible Studies booklet, and Urbana 90 resource) by Gordon Aeschliman. Copyright 1990, InterVarsity Press. Used by permission of the author.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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