Ezekiel 8

Ezekiel 8:1

D. The Vision of Gross Idolatry in the Temple (Chap. 8)8:1-6 The elders had to witness the judgment, which they had failed to help to avert. This often happens today, too. The Lord carried Ezekiel from Babylon to Jerusalem . . . in visions. There he saw some terrible examples of the idolatry of the people. He saw an abominable idolatrous image . . . in the entrance of the temple one which provoked the Lord to jealousy. 8:7-15 The second thing the prophet saw was in the court of the temple. The elders of Judah were assembled there each with a censer in his hand, worshiping vile pictures portrayed all around on the walls. The third sight was at the north gatethe women were . . . weeping for Tammuz, a Babylonian deity. The vegetation supposedly dried up when he died. 8:16-18 The fourth instance of idolatry was in the inner court of the temple, where about twenty-five men, representing the priests, were worshiping the sun and following the lewd practices of that cult. The reference to the “branch” or “twig” (v. 17) is obscure. To put the branch to the nose may have indicated contempt or scorn for God. The branch may have been an obscene phallic symbol. It is often unsaved religious leaders who grab the headlines by their ungodly behavior and outrageous heresies; but God sees, and He will have the last word.