Super Bowl 2013, part 6
by our anonymous Really Good News reporter
Going back to Mary, we find that God has seen fit to birth His Son out of the “seedbed” of rebellion, bitterness and witchcraft. Also, according to 1Samuel 15:23, if we have stubbornness it shows our iniquity and idolatry.
Our tongue is called a “tree of life” in Proverbs 15:4. Since Jesus said that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, then it appears that these characteristics are simply the “husk,” within which the “botanical” seed of Christ will remain hidden in our hearts until the completion of the hour of the great purification.
As this happens, perhaps there will be a “great falling away” of the husk, since it will no longer serve any purpose. We believe that Katrina gave us the external version of that which is occurring internally in our hearts.
Now we come to the very important matter of heart idolatry and dung. Dr. Stephen Jones’ booklet, The Laws of Wormwood and Dung
addresses this connection in the fourth chapter of Ezekiel when the prophet was told to eat food cooked with dung. The following two paragraphs are taken from page 11 of Dr. Jones’ booklet.
“These passages teach us the contrast between good food and dung. God’s Word is the good food; man’s traditions, that which proceeds from his rebellious heart, are only dung. Those who eat food cooked with dung are those who believe in God, who do eat God’s Word, but they mix it with the dung of men’s traditions, men’s understanding of God and His Word. This is one of the most basic moral problems of all time.
The Hebrew word for “idols” is gillul, which is just a slight variation of galal (dung). Ezekiel is really telling us that idols are dung. Dung was the popular euphemism for idols.”
As Dr. Jones points out, idols and dung are virtually the same word and as we follow the etymology of each word we end up at the same root in Hebrew, which is Strong’s #1556, galal.
What is an idol? Idols are generally thought of as objects that are worshipped as gods, but are really false images of the true God. The Golden Calf that Israel built at Mt. Sinai is a classic example. But idols today are more subtle and are represented by anything that causes us to view God’s nature in a way that is not true. Following is a list of idol definitions from Webster’s New World Dictionary.
-
- an image of a god, used as an object or instrument of worship
- in monotheistic belief, any heathen deity
- any object of ardent or excessive devotion or admiration
- a false notion or idea that causes errors in thinking or reasoning
- anything that has no substance but can be seen, as an image in a mirror.
Heart idolatry really means that a person has a false image of God if he/she worships that image, even though the individual believes their image is correct. An idol is actually a false image of God’s nature and relationship with mankind and the person that holds this image in their heart will reproduce that image out of their mouths.
One example of an idol involves the question of whether God is going to save all of mankind, or if only a portion are saved and spend eternity in heaven. Some believe that those who “don’t make the cut” are subjected to a fiery, burning hell that never ends, with no chance of repentance. If that is not really the truth, then that is an idol.
Conversely, if those who believe that God is saving all mankind and that His love and mercy extends beyond the time of our earthly existence in our present bodily forms and if these people are presenting images of God that are not true, then these folks have heart idolatry in these areas.
The bottom line is this; both of these viewpoints cannot be correct. One of them is presenting a false image of God’s nature and plan for mankind and is therefore classified as an idol of the heart by Biblical definition, according to Ezekiel. Because idols and dung come from the same root word, then an idol in the heart really means that the affected person has dung in their heart that is in need of removal in order to set that individual free and release them into the sweet fragrance of the Son. (To be continued.)