The Lord never leaves suddenly, but gradually. The Spirit of God is first grieved then finally quenched. This seems to be the meaning of Prophet Ezekiel’s visions. He says:
“And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.” (10:4)
“Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house.” (10:18)
“And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.” (11:23)
He first saw the glory of the Lord in the Temple; then, he saw it leaving the Holy of holies and heading towards the threshold of the house, before finally exiting the city. What a tragedy! But what could have caused this unfortunate situation?
Ezekiel 8:5-ss, “I lifted up mine eyes… and behold, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. 6 And he said unto me,… seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but thou shalt again see yet other great abominations. 7 And he brought me to the door of the court; …10 So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel… every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then said he unto me,… hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, the Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the land. 13 He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this…? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty five men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.”
The glory of the Lord’s presence left because of what was taking place within the Temple’s courts: witchcraft (creeping things and horrible beasts), the worship of the Sun and Tammuz (a Phoenician deity whose worship was associated with very licentious rite)s. It was way too much!
We all stumble in many ways (Ja 3:2): it is human. But when a person or a church decides to make sin their travelling companion, then there really is a problem.
During a certain period of grace, the presence of the Lord continues to linger and cohabit with filth (see Eze 8:3-4): that’s when the opportunity to repent must be seized. Afterwards, the Kabod subtly starts to draw away, beginning with the sanctuary.
At an individual’s level, it first departs from the heart, then from the conscience and then, people harden themselves.
At a community level, it starts with the Leadership, then the elders and finally deserts the people. That’s how we end up with perfect Christians who sing, preach and attend weekly devotions mechanically. God has long gone or better still, unbeknown to them, they have left Him somewhere and have continued their journey by themselves.
I remember an incident that happened to my father when I was a child. He had asked a driver to take him to the village which was then, about 5 hours from the Capital City. Halfway, there was an unavoidable stop of 30 to 45 minutes. When it was time to go, the driver started the car and left my father on the spot. He drove for more than an hour before realizing that his boss was not there. Making a U-turn, he began searching for my father on the road, asking passers-by whether they had not seen somebody falling out of the car! The funniest thing is that all the while, he says he was talking, was getting no answer, but kept on talking until he finally decided to check why his boss was this silent and then, turned to look behind !!!
Now and then, some people do feel that something is definitely wrong; but they are either too coward or too proud to say it; so, they pretend and deceive the rest to believe that the glory of God is there indeed. Sadly enough, at the end, it is the city or the nation that will have to carry the can.
The Laodiceans were naked; meanwhile, they thought they were clothed. They lived in darkness so thick that they did not even realize they had lost their sight. They believed they were rich whereas unbeknown to them, their (spiritual) bank had closed down. They were convinced that the Lord was still on the Throne but had not noticed – because of their blindness – that He had left and was now outside, knocking at the door and waiting for them to open it.
As long as there is life, there is hope; and as long as there is life, it is always possible to do right and better. When the people finally pulled themselves together after tasting the wrath of God, Ezekiel saw His glory coming back in the Temple from the East and filling it up again. It was like the noise of many waters…(Eze 43:2-7; 44:4).
The King of Glory will make His entry back into our lives, our families and our Churches if only we would open Him the door: that is our certainty.
Have a wonderblessed week in His Glorious Presence.
PS: A special tribute to my dear husband who tirelessly proofreads and amends the english articles. May he be highly favoured and richly blessed by Christ Our Lord.
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