08/06/2025
WHEN GOD WALKED OUT OF THE CHURCH
There is a terrifying scene recorded in the book of Ezekiel. One that many believers today do not even know exists. It is not about war. Not about judgment raining from the sky. Not even about exile. It is worse. It is when the glory of God… the very presence of the Lord - left the temple.
Ezekiel 10:18 says, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple…” And just like that, He was gone.
The people were still gathered. The priests were still active. The rituals were still in motion. But God had walked out. And they didn’t even realise it.
That is the terrifying reality of apostasy. It does not always begin with open rebellion. Sometimes it begins with people going through the motions. Religion without repentance. Doctrine without awe. Worship without reverence. And over time, they no longer notice when God leaves. Because they’ve learned how to run the system without Him.
This is not just an Old Testament story. This is happening right now.
There are churches today where the seats are full, the lights are on, the music is loud, and the mood is just right. But God is not there. He has left. Not because He is unwilling. But because they no longer tremble at His Word. They want Him to serve their brand. To fit their agenda. To bless their programs. But they do not want Him to rule.
The book of Revelation shows us this again. Jesus speaks to the church in Laodicea and says, “You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). They thought they were doing well. But Christ was standing outside, knocking.
He was not inside the church. He was outside it.
This is the scandal of many modern ministries. They measure success by numbers, influence, and engagement. They host conferences. They launch campuses. But they do not mourn over sin. They do not preach repentance. They do not make room for conviction. They have mastered performance, but lost the presence.
They forgot what Moses once said. “If Your presence will not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). Moses would rather remain in the wilderness with God than enter the Promised Land without Him.
And they have forgotten another word… Ichabod.
When the ark of God was captured by the Philistines, and the priesthood lay in ruin, Eli's daughter-in-law named her son Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:21). The name itself meant that God’s presence had left. Not because He was defeated. But because the people had treated His holiness lightly. They assumed His presence would follow their corruption. It didn’t.
That is what the true church must say again.
We do not want a ministry that works without the Spirit. We do not want sermons that entertain but never wound. We do not want a church that knows how to grow an audience but has no burden for holiness. We want Him. Nothing else will do.
God is not impressed by strategy. He is not looking for men who can fill seats. He is looking for those who tremble at His Word (Isaiah 66:2). He is looking for worship that is pure. For doctrine that is not tampered with. For leaders who weep over sin. For people who would rather be broken in truth than comforted by a lie.
There is a kind of religion that still uses the Bible but no longer bows to it. There is a kind of worship that sings about Jesus but does not follow Him. There is a kind of church that keeps all the external forms, yet the glory has departed. And no one notices.
It happened in Ezekiel’s day. It happened in Laodicea. It happened in Shiloh. And it is happening again.
We must not assume God’s presence just because the system is working. We must ask ourselves, “Has God already walked out, and we’re still carrying on as if nothing happened?”
The most terrifying judgment on a church is not persecution. It is abandonment.
When God gives them over. When the lampstand is removed. When He says, “I will not go with you.”
Brother, sister… examine everything. Because the greatest tragedy is not an empty building. It is a full building where God is absent.
Let us be a people who would rather tear it all down than keep going without Him.
Let us not settle for activity without His presence.
Let us seek His face until the glory returns.
Because if He is not among us, nothing else matters.
He, who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Jeremiah Knight
The Reformation Resurgence
