Ezekiel 8

CHAPTER 8THEME: Vision of the glory; temple destroyed because of defilementWe now come to the second major section of the prophecy of Ezekiel. In this division of the book the complete captivity of Jerusalem and Israel will become a reality, and the glory of the Lord will depart from the temple in Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 8:1

VISION OF THE GLORYIn chapter 8 Ezekiel has another vision of the glory of the Lord. The vision transports Ezekiel to Jerusalem, and God’s glory appears in the temple at Jerusalem. The question always arises: Was Ezekiel actually transported to Jerusalem? I will give you my viewpoint, but this is an issue on which no one can be dogmatic and on which few agree. One answer to the question is that Ezekiel simply saw a vision and he saw it there by the river Chebar. A second explanation is given that Ezekiel literally went to Jerusalem and walked around and saw all that he records here. I do not accept either of these interpretations. I believe that Ezekiel’s experience was very similar to the experiences that the apostles Paul and John had. Paul said that he had been caught up to the third heaven (2Co_12:1-3). It is my feeling that that occurred at the time he was stoned in Lystra in the Galatian country and was left for dead. I believe he actually was dead and that God raised him from the dead, and that at that time he was caught up to the third heaven. John also, as recorded in Revelation 4, was caught up into heaven. In this I feel John is a picture of the Rapture of the church, in which all true believers will be caught up to be with the Lord.

Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation frequently mention “the church,” but after John’s experience in chapter 4, the church (the “called-out body”) is no longer mentioned. She is now the “bride” of Christ, the church which is no longer on the earth but is with her Lord. Therefore, I see John’s being caught up into heaven as a picture of the Rapture. Ezekiel was actually caught up as Paul and John were, but I do not think that the people at Jerusalem and of the surrounding area were aware that he was there. We are not dealing with the natural, and I cannot offer you a natural explanation. God caught him up, and what happened was supernatural. Ezekiel was sitting among the elders. I imagine it was a pretty doleful crowd there.

Ezekiel 8:2

This is very similar to a part of Ezekiel’s vision recorded in chapter 1. That tremendous vision of the glory of God is the basis of every vision in the Book of Ezekiel, and I personally think it is the basis of the Book of Revelation.

Ezekiel 8:3

“And he put forth the form of an hand.” God is a Spirit; He doesn’t have a hand like I have. But when the Scripture tells me that the fingerwork of God is in the heavens then I am able to understand, because I could not understand how God could make the world without a hand. Scripture uses our own finite terms to aid our understanding of the infinite. “And he took me by a lock of mine head.” You will remember that Ezekiel had shaved himselfhis face and his headbut that had been about a year before this, and his hair has had time to grow out. God took him by the hair of his head. “And the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem.” Ezekiel was actually caught up and removed by the Spirit of God to Jerusalem. Whether or not his body went along with him is a point I will not argue about, but I rather think it did. Ezekiel’s withdrawal to Jerusalem is not something new in Scripture. Elijah also was caught up (2 Kings 2), and in the New Testament we read of Philip: “And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing” (Act_8:39). Philip was removed bodily, and that is exactly what happened to Elijah and possibly to this man Ezekiel. “To Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” I believe this “image of jealousy” may be a reference to the idol which Manasseh put in the temple (see 2 Kings 21; 2 Chron. 33) which was an abomination and a blasphemy. Perhaps that old idol had been pushed into a corner and forgotten for awhile, but now in Ezekiel’s day it has been pulled out, and the people who should have turned to God in repentance are again worshiping that idol. In chapters 8-10 of Ezekiel we are going to see the gradual withdrawal of the glory of the Lord from the temple and from Israel. I feel that the glory actually departed back during the reign of Manasseh and that Ezekiel is given a vision of that here. I know that most expositors of Scripture feel that the glory left at the time of the Captivity, but I do not feel that is accurate. If the glory did not leave during the exceedingly evil reign of Manasseh, I cannot see any other period in Israel’s history which would cause the glory, the presence of God, to leave. In this chapter we do not have the complete vision of the departure of the glory. Here we see the glory, and then, because the people did not turn back to God, the glory lifted up from the temple and went out over the city to the east and waited there. It will not be until chapter 10 that we will see the final departure of the glory. I do not think there is any evidence after the reign of Manasseh that the glory of the Lord was in the temple. This vision was given to Ezekiel to show that God is merciful. He was loath to leave and was ready to save the people of Israel if they would turn to Him. God is merciful, and God is love. But He is also a righteous and just God who cannot permit evil in His universe. He cannot permit that which is contrary to Himself. Today, God cannot save us by our righteousness or our perfectionwe have none to present to Him. He cannot accept anything less than righteousness. He therefore had to provide a redemption for man, and we must come His way through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we do not, we have an old nature that is in rebellion against God, and God is not going to permit that in His universe, any more than a policeman should harbor a criminal in his home.

Ezekiel 8:5

TEMPLE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF DEFILEMENTThe temple is defiled. The people are no longer worshiping the living and true God but are breaking the first two commandments.

Ezekiel 8:7

If Ezekiel is over there just in his spirit, how in the world could he crawl through a hole? How does a spirit dig a hole? If he were a spirit, he wouldn’t need to dig a hole. I believe he was there bodily, and he dug a hole and was apparently brought down into a basement or a cave. What does he find down there?

Ezekiel 8:10

These people are worshiping the creature rather than the Creatorthis is as low as they could go. Man will turn to this type of thing when he has absolutely repudiated the living and true God. This is what they were doing in Egypt at the time of the Exodus; they were worshiping every kind of beast. That is the reason the plagues upon Egypt were aimed at the different gods of Egypt. In Romans 1 we read: “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God…. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever …” (Rom_1:21, Rom_1:25).

This means that Israel has sunk down to the level of the nations round about her, and she is no longer a witness for the living and true God. For this reason, He will destroy the temple.

Ezekiel 8:11

You see, they have dismissed God. They said He was not watching them. And those today who say that God is dead are really trying to say that God is not looking at us, that we are not responsible to Him, we owe Him nothing and may do as we please. That is what Israel was doing. They were apparently worshiping this idol, and they were doing it in secret. Talk about a secret lodgethey sure had one in the temple there. My friend, in this day the believer’s body is God’s temple on earth. Is He pleased by what He sees going on in our minds and hearts?

Ezekiel 8:13

“There sat women weeping for Tammuz.” This was an awful thing that was going on. Tammuz was the Babylonian Dumuzi, the god of spring vegetation. He died in the fall and winter and went down to the netherworld to be revived again each returning summer. The worship of this god was practiced in Phoenicia and spread to Greece, where Adonis was Tammuz’ counterpart. These weeping women were celebrating the death of this god; his worship was actually the worship of nature and connected with it were some vile and immoral ceremonies.

Ezekiel 8:16

The greatest of all the abominations was the worship of the sun. This was happening right in the temple between the porch and the altar. They can sink no lower than this.

Ezekiel 8:17

“And, lo, they put the branch to their nose.” There are many ways of interpreting this; Jewish commentators of the past have said that it speaks of shocking, low, and degrading religious rites. Perhaps it could be compared with a man “thumbing his nose” today. This is what they were doing to God! God now expresses His anger

Ezekiel 8:18

Israel has stepped over the linethey can go no lower than this. God will now judge them. My friend, God loves you and will save you if you will come to Him by faith and trust Christ as your Savior. God also judges, and He is a holy and righteous God, and He makes no apology for it. We can say with Paul, “…Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid” (Rom_9:14). God is right in everything He does; if He judges, He is right to do so. It will be quite a revelation to this generation when it is shown that it is wrong and God is right. God will judge sin.