“Then those of you who escape [the remnant] will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols…” Ezekiel 6:9
Watching the one you love flirt with others and hide from your warm embrace or prefer to be elsewhere can feel like blows of a hammer busting rocks into splinters of rubble. A heart that loves can be broken; even the heart of God for His beloved. When our intimate relationship with Him ends in adultery, that is, when we commit an act of placing someone else or other things above Him, God experiences sorrow. Who wouldn’t grieve over a former lover? Friendship, compassion, intimate conversations – sharing with each other the deep mysteries from the heart – creates a bond that should never be broken. When one walks away from such a relationship as this, the heart of the one who loves is crushed.
“As for the beauty of His ornaments, He set it [Jerusalem] in majesty; But they made from it the images of their abominations.” Ezekiel 7:20
Why does God care that we reject Him? The answer may at first seem so simple. In earthly relationships it would be reasonable to believe that when a lover has invested time, money, and effort into the relationship, he has a right to be disappointed at being taken for granted and spurned. Yet, God who is more than a lover – He is love – has actually shaped and adorned His beloved as precious gemstones in His kingdom. He placed us above all others in His creation, even fashioning us in His image. When we darken that image, preferring the copy of a foreign shadow – another’s spirit – He is not merely disappointed, He is moved to action.
God sends to His wayward beloved teachers, preachers, healers, exhorters, and others who exemplify the Savior’s love. He may be sending you, like Timothy was sent by Paul to “…Be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity…” I Timothy 4:12
Are you, or am I the one that God is calling back from turning away from Him? Though our sin of adultery may crush the heart of God, He is not human and subject to jealous tantrums; nor will He abandon us. His godly love will cover our sin and bridge the gap between us and Him; and His Holy Spirit will swiftly respond to the true Lover of our souls, wooing us back to Him. Let us love and be loved by His agape love that never lets go.
Sixty-six books in a year 