7 Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9 And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11 Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”
As God leads Ezekiel to see “still greater abominations” (see v. 6), he has to do a little digging. What they were doing in public was bad enough, but they didn’t leave it there. In public, they still claimed to worship God, but in private, all these leaders were worshipping all sorts of animals and idols. They thought that somehow they could hide their evil deeds from a God who is all powerful and all seeing.
It sounds kind of ridiculous when we put it that way, but people still do it today. Our minds somehow trick us into thinking that no one is watching, but that’s a pretty ridiculous thing to say when, again, God sees everything everywhere. I know I’ve been guilty of that, and I suspect there probably isn’t anyone who could claim otherwise. So what then, are we to be scared and afraid, because God is watching our every deed?
Certainly, we should fear and respect Him enough to not let our false ideas sway us into complacency. But even more, we should see this as motivation to avoid the double-minded trap that James spoke of (1:8). That’s no way to live, and indeed is a place of fear and anxiety. There is also another side to this that I don’t want to leave unspoken.
Because God sees it all, that also means He is watching over us. Right now, and in an hour, and later today, and when we lay our heads down, and when we wake up in the morning. All the time, He is watching, to take care of His children, lest they stumble and fall–and even when they (we) do, His hand reaches down, ready to pick us back up again.
Remember then, we can’t pull the wool over God’s eyes, and we shouldn’t want to. If you’ve been leading a double life, seek God and ask Him to cleanse your heart. I think we all should do that anyway. Then, thank Him for leading and guiding us, and especially for watching out for us and taking good care of us. His hands are unfailingly strong, and He has promised to be with us always. That’s pretty amazing!