Ezekiel 8

Ezekiel 8 OF In chs 8-11 Ezekiel recounts a new series of visions. The purpose of these visions is to show that the divine judgments against Judah were justified. A year and two months have elapsed since the call vision (cf. Ezekiel 1:3 and Ezekiel 8:1). At the time this series of visions was received, Ezekiel was in the 420th day of his symbolic siege of Jerusalem. He was at this time lying on his right side depicting the judgment for Judah’ s iniquity (cf. Ezekiel 4:6). These visions of Jerusalem’ s judgment were most appropriate at this time.

This section of the book can be divided into three major units: (1) the degradation of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:1-18); (2) the destruction by the Lord (Ezekiel 9:1 to Ezekiel 10:22); and (3) the declarations by the prophet (Ezekiel 11:1-25).

In ch 8, after describing his visionary transmigration to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:1-4), Ezekiel relates the terrible abominations that were being practiced in the holy city (Ezekiel 8:5-16). He concludes this section with a brief announcement of judgment (Ezekiel 8:17-18).ASCENT OF THE PROPHETEze_8:1-4A Vision of God (Ezekiel 8:1-2) Circumstances of the vision (Ezekiel 8:1): It came to pass in the sixth year, inthe sixth month, in the fifth day of the month when I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. At the time Ezekiel received these visions, a company of elders of Judah was sitting before him. Apparently these leaders had retained their rank and prestige in the exilic community. They were sitting before Ezekiel as his students. Perhaps they had come specifically to inquire about the state of affairs in the homeland. The initial rejection that Ezekiel met seems now to have given way to respect, at least among these elders.

His antics of the previous year were fascinating. Auditors were drawn as by a magnet to Ezekiel’ s house.

Perhaps these men had been coming for months. During the course of the prophetic lesson, the hand of the Lord fell upon Ezekiel. The verb fell, used only here, marks the suddenness and power of the experience on this occasion. Focus of the vision (Ezekiel 8:2): I saw, and behold the likeness of the appearance of a fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward-fire; and from his loins and upward like the appearance of brightness, like the luster of glowing metal. In his trance-like state, Ezekiel saw again the divine person who had appeared to him initially atop the heavenly throne-chariot. In the present passage, Ezekiel has taken a step back from anthropomorphism of Eze 1:26-27 by focusing only on the dazzling appearance of fire and hasmal that characterized the lower and upper parts of the visionary body.

The glory of the Lord is seen now in the glow of fire, without the milder, more hopeful brightness of the rainbow mentioned in Ezekiel 1:28. The cherubim are absent in the present vision.

What Ezekiel sees is but a likeness of the ineffable glory, an image of the Unseen.Transmigration to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:3-4) Description of the transmigration (Ezekiel 8:3 a): He stretched forth the form of a hand, and took hold of me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and brought me to Jerusalem in divine visions… Carefully avoiding anthropomorphism, the prophet describes how the divine figure put forth the form of a hand out of that blazing glory. Ezekiel felt as though he were being lifted up by a lock of his hair. At the same time, he felt the Spirit gently lifting him from the earth to mid-air. Both the hand and the Spirit are metaphors for him who can either be imagined nor described. The actions of the hand serve to underscore the reality of Ezekiel’ s feeling of physical removal from his home.

No physical transmigration of Ezekiel to Jerusalem takes place in this passage. God, of course, could have transported Ezekiel to Jerusalem in the body.

But the words in divine visions (lit., visions of God) prove that all that follows took place mentally. Further indication that these experiences were in the realm of the visional is found in the nature of what Ezekiel saw in Jerusalem— much of which cannot be taken literally— and by actions that hardly seem to be physically possible (e.g., Ezekiel 8:8). Thus Ezekiel was transported in spirit, not in body to Jerusalem.

Destination of the transmigration (Ezekiel 8:3 b): unto the entrance of the gate of the inner court that faces north where the seat of the image of jealousy that causes jealousy was located. To understand the visions of ch 8, one must be familiar with the geography of the temple area. Solomon’ s temple stood on Mount Moriah, along with the royal palace complex. The temple had its own courtyard (called the inner court) as did the palace. But the entire complex of buildings on Mount Moriah was surrounded by a walled courtyard known as the great court or outer court.

After his visionary transmigration, Ezekiel found himself in the familiar precincts of the Jerusalem temple. To be more precise, he was set down in the outer court in front of the northern gate that led to the inner court. This was one of the most conspicuous spots in the temple complex. Prior to the reforms of King Josiah, this had been the seat of the image of jealousy. This image may have been the graven image of Asherah that King Manasseh had erected (2 Kings 21:7). This image provoked God to jealousy because he alone is God (Exodus 20:1-3) and his name is Jealous.

Discovery of the transmigration (Ezekiel 8:4): Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain. On the very spot where once the image of jealousy had stood, Ezekiel saw the glory of God. This is the same vision of God’ s presence that he had seen previously in the plain (Ezekiel 3:23) and at the river Kebar (Ezekiel 1 : Iff.). The idea is that the Lord already had deserted the holy of holies; but because of the reforms instituted by Josiah, the glory of God had not yet completely abandoned the temple. OF Eze_8:5-16 There are two views as to what Ezekiel is seeing in ch 8. Some think he is seeing what is going on in Jerusalem at that very moment. This means that various forms of public idolatry were being tolerated in Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah. The problem with this view is that no public apostasy during the reign of Zedekiah is attested in the books of Kings, Chronicles or Jeremiah. In fact, Jeremiah 44:18 seems totally incompatible with the notion that pagan practices had been officially introduced following Josiah’ s reformation. The decline after Josiah (Jeremiah 7:1-15), however, and the political pressures of those desperate days quite conceivably could have led to the adoption of such foreign religious practices.

Another view is that ch 8 is a symbolic picture of the false beliefs that held sway in Jerusalem “ though they may have had only a restricted public expression." The four abominations here mentioned represent what is known to have been the false religious tendencies during the last century or so before the exile. According to this view, each of the abominations mentioned represents the religious deviations of a different section of the Jerusalem community.

Whichever view regarding the abominations of ch 8 is correct, this much is certain: the holy city had been desecrated by the most reprehensible pagan abominations. The fact that Jeremiah did not inveigh so heavily against pagan influences in the temple should not cause scholars to question the evidence here. Ezekiel’ s account has the ring of sober reality. Robert Pfeiffer, himself a critical scholar, regards the temple visions as the most genuinely historical part of the book of Ezekiel. The Lord provided Ezekiel with a guided tour of the temple. He pointed out to the prophet four abominations: (1) the image of jealousy (Ezekiel 8:5-6); (2) the secret animal cult (Ezekiel 8:7-13); (3) the Tammuz cult (Ezekiel 8:14-15); and (4) the worship of the sun (Ezekiel 8:16). Image of Jealousy (Ezekiel 8:5-6) Location (Ezekiel 8:5): He said unto me, Son of man, set, I ask you, your eyes to the way of the north. Behold, north of the altar gate was this image of jealousy in the entrance. Ezekiel was told to look to a place outside the temple courtyard into the greater court. There he saw another image of jealousy. Such an image was an outrage. Israel’ s God was provoked by all images (Exodus 20:3-5). The presence of the image in the vicinity of the temple provoked the Lord to jealousy; i.e., the desire to vindicate his own exclusive rights.

The image was associated with popular religion, for it was located outside the northern gate of the temple in the great public court. The old Canaanite paganism was flourishing in Jerusalem, though perhaps without official support. The image was probably the Canaanite goddess Asherah. It may be that they were thinking of this goddess as the wife of Yahweh. If so, the image of jealousy represents Canaanization of Israelite worship. This debased concept must have dominated the popular mind in Jerusalem, although the image had not been officially reinstated in the temple.

Interrogation (Ezekiel 8:6 a): He said unto me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? [Do you see] the great abominations that the house of Israel are doing here that I should go far away from my sanctuary? Divine interrogation called the prophet’ s attention to men worshiping before the image. Such practices justified, yea compelled, God’ s withdrawal from the temple. Declaration (8:6b): But you will yet see greater abominations. The image of jealousy was only the tip of the iceberg. Ezekiel would soon see worse things. Secret Animal Cult (Ezekiel 8:7-13): Instructions from the Lord (Ezekiel 8:7-9): He brought me unto the entrance of the court. I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. (8) He said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall. When I dug in the wall, behold, a door. (Ezekiel 8:9) He said unto me, Go in, and see the evil abominations that they are doing here. Ezekiel was now led onward, as through successive stages of an inferno of idolatry. He was first escorted through the door of the gate that opened from the inner to the outer court. This court was surrounded by chambers or cells (Jeremiah 35:4). There he discovered a hole in the outer wall of the temple (Ezekiel 8:7). This hole he was told to enlarge until he could crawl through it. Digging is still a metaphor for searching out the truth.

Inside the side chambers of the temple, Ezekiel saw a door that was used by those who were involved in illicit worship (Ezekiel 8:8). The divine voice commanded Ezekiel to pass through the door so that he might observe firsthand the abominations secretly being practiced by the leaders of the nation (Ezekiel 8:9). Discovery by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 8:10-11) The images (Ezekiel 8:10): So I went in, and I saw. Behold, every form of creeping thing and detestable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel were portrayed upon the wall round about. How shocked Ezekiel must have been when he walked through that door! The religious perversion was worse than he had ever imagined. Upon the walls of that chamber, the prophet saw the representation of all manner of creeping things (small animals) and beasts (larger domestic animals). The figures on the walls are said to be detestable either because they were animals declared to be unclean in Mosaic law, or because of the use to which they were being put as objects of veneration. It appears that some of the leaders of Judah had adopted the Egyptian custom of animal worship.

Various Egyptian cults made idols of the cat, the crocodile, the hawk, the scarab beetle and other animals. This abomination may have come into Judah during the brief period when King Jehoiakim had been a vassal of Pharaoh Neco (608-605 B.C.). At the very time when Ezekiel is said to have had this vision, in Jerusalem King Zedekiah was making political overtures to Egypt. Perhaps this vision is setting forth the idea that some of Judah’ s leaders were looking to Egypt for spiritual and political support. Were the images literally upon the walls of the temple chambers? Probably not. The wall engravings were the outward symbols of the idol worship engraved upon the hearts and lives of the elders.

The worshipers (Ezekiel 8:11): Standing before them were seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan was standing in their midst, each man with his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense was going up. Standing before the engraved images were seventy elders of the nation. The figure seventy is probably to be understood in contrast to the twenty-five of v 16. Perhaps both figures are to be taken symbolically. Virtually all the elders were involved in this idolatry, whereas a smaller percentage of the priests had taken the final plunge into apostasy in v 16. The seventy are probably not to be understood as any official governing body. Acting as their own priests, these leaders were offering to those pictorial gods the incense that none but the sons of Aaron were to offer, and that none but Yahweh was to receive. Jaazaniah is singled out for special mention because of the prominence of his family. He was the son of Shaphan, the scribe who played such an influential role in the reform efforts of Josiah (2 Kings 22:10 f.). Jaazaniah must have been the proverbial black sheep of this otherwise godly family (Ezekiel 8:11). In the actions of the seventy elders, there is a combination of “ secrecy and despair.” These men were ashamed openly to go back on the covenant made under Josiah; but they had opened their hearts to the idolatries and memories of the past. They were not successful in hiding their abominations. Five hundred miles away, Ezekiel knew what they were doing. Revelation by the Lord (Ezekiel 8:12-13) A question (Ezekiel 8:12 a): He said unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each in his chamber of imagery? The tour of the inner temple chambers ended with a question and a declaration by the Lord. To underscore the tragedy of this scene, the Lord asked the prophet if he had observed what was taking place in those private chambers. Two additional details are added in Ezekiel 8:12. The elders were practicing the pagan rites in the darkness. Furthermore, it is pointed out that the pagan rites were being performed individually, as well as collectively, by the elders, each in his chamber of imagery.

Apparently each worshiper had his own private cubicle where the Egyptian rites were performed An explanation (Ezekiel 8:12 b): For they are saying, The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land. The Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, revealed to Ezekiel the inner attitudes of those apostate elders. They affirmed (in their heart, if not openly) that the Lord (Yahweh) did not see their actions. By this they meant either (1) that God was not omniscient; or, what is more likely, (2) that God was totally disinterested in the affairs of His people. The very name of their leader, Jaazaniah—the Lord is listening— should have warned them that God heard their blasphemous boasts.

A declaration (Ezekiel 8:13): He said unto me, Again you will see yet greater abominations that they are doing. What was being done secretly, bad as it was, did not compare the abominations that were practiced openly. The apostate elders also held to the belief that the Lord has forsaken the land of Judah (Ezekiel 8:12). To them Yahweh was no more than a local deity who had abdicated. They were free to do as they pleased without fear. They saw in the tragedies that recently had befallen the land abundant proof that God had abandoned his people.

Why continue to worship a God who will not care for his people? Such is the logic of the carnal mind. Sorrows should not cause a man to question whether God has forsaken him, but rather whether he has forsaken God. The first phase of Ezekiel’ s tour of the Jerusalem temple ended with the assurance that other abominations were yet to be observed (Ezekiel 8:13). Tammuz Cult (Ezekiel 8:14-15) Location (Ezekiel 8:14 a): He brought me unto the door of the gate of the house of the LORD that was upon the north; The prophet was next conducted into the inner court in front of the northern gate of the temple.

Observation (Ezekiel 8:14 b): Behold, there the women were sitting weeping over Tammuz. Ezekiel observed a group of women weeping for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14). This is the only reference to this ancient Babylonian cult in Palestine. Tammuz (or Dumuzi) was the son and/or lover of Ishtar. He was a vegetation god. A myth taught that he died and went to the nether world each fall, only to make his return to the land of the living in the spring. As the vegetation withered and rivers dried up, the annual death of Tammuz was lamented with public dirges. Women joined Ishtar in mourning her dead lover in the intense drought of summer. The fourth month of the Hebrew calendar bears the name Tammuz. Ezekiel’ s vision, it will be recalled, dates to mid-summer when Palestine is parched by the summer sun.

Tammuz worship survived into the Middle Ages and vestiges of it can still be observed among the Yezidis of Kurdistan. Women seem to have led out in religious exercises in this period of biblical history. Women were the most conservative element in Oriental religious life. If the women of the nation had fallen into the cesspool of filthy idolatry and false theology, could there be any hope for the nation?

Declaration (Ezekiel 8:15): He said unto me, Son of man, do you see this? You will again see yet greater abominations than these. As terrible as it was to find the women of Judah participating openly in such perverse practice, the prophet was still to observe greater abominations.

Worship of the Sun(Ezekiel 8:16): Location (Ezekiel 8:16 a): He brought me unto the inner court of the house of the LORD. Behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar… In the final phase of his temple tour, Ezekiel was brought again into the inner court. This time, however, he was brought from the northern gate to the eastern side of the temple between the porch and the sacrificial altar. This was a sacred area to which only the priests had access.

Observation (Ezekiel 8:16 b): [There] were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east. Ezekiel discovered twenty-five men facing the rising sun and worshiping before it. Facing eastward, their backs were toward the temple of the Lord. This was not merely the debasing of Yahweh worship by linking it with pagan ritual. This was the outright rejection of Yahweh and the enthronement of the Babylonian god Shamash, the sun god. By their actions these men were proclaiming that the gods of Babylon had defeated Yahweh. The heavenly body that should have reflected the glory of God was actually detracting from his glory.

That those participating in this sun worship were priests and/or Levites is reasonable to assume. In Ezekiel 9:6 they are called elders, so they must have held senior standing. Ezekiel estimated that about twenty-five were participating in the sunrise service. If there is any significance in this number, it may be as follows: twenty-four of the men may represent the twenty-four priestly courses (1 Chronicles 24:4-19) with the high priest at their head. The thrust of the passage is that apostasy prevailed in the ranks of the priesthood as well as among the tribal leaders and women. 1. OF Eze_8:17-18 The Human Provocations(Ezekiel 8:17) Ezekiel questioned (Ezekiel 8:17 a): He said unto me, Have you seen, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they are committing abominations that they have done here? Judah was ripe for judgment. The abominations practiced throughout the land were viewed by most as a light thing. But to the Lord they were a provocation. Do you see this, son of man? suggests that Ezekiel was a little uncertain in his own mind as to the necessity of the judgment that he had been preaching (cf. Jeremiah 5:1-3).

Judah charged (Ezekiel 8:17 b): For they have filled the land with violence, and they have provoked me still more. Behold, they are putting the branch to their nose. The breakdown in devotion to God led to social chaos. The people had filled the land with violence. Proper theology must undergird proper morality. Such social injustice only provoked the Lord that much more. “ If the root of faith is severed, there can be no fruit of righteousness." Commentators vie with one another in the ingenuity with which they attempt to explain the charge that they are putting the branch to their nose (Ezekiel 8:17). Certainly some grossly offensive act is intended. Brownlee suggests that the branch was cedar, a symbol of immortality associated with Tammuz and Ishtar. Holding the cedar under the nose would be an effort to inhale the life­giving powers of the deity. Rabbinic tradition lists this phrase among the few deliberate emendations of the ancient scribes. The original reading was, “ They put the branch to my nose.” If this reading is correct, then thrusting the branch of cedar under Yahweh’s nose identifies him openly and explicitly as the dying and reviving fertility god.

Saggs offers another proposal. A bundle of Tamarisk branches was held up to the nose at daybreak, as hymns were sung to the rising sun.

The Divine Wrath (Ezekiel 8:18): Therefore, also I will deal with them in fury; my eye will not have compassion, nor will I take pity. When they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. On the basis of the evidence presented in ch 8, God had no alternative but to deal with these people in fury. Compassion for the nation was out of the question. Prayer will be useless. No matter how loudly they cried, He will not hear them (Ezekiel 8:18). The day of grace was over; the day of wrath had come. Ezekiel Chapter EightVerse 1 EZEKIEL’S JOURNEY' TO (Ezekiel 8-11) Ezekiel's prophecy in these four chapters "form a connected whole."[1] (1) There is presented in chapter 8 a detail on the horrible defilement of God's temple by apostate Israel, which God forewarns will cause the removal of his presence from it (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/6" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:6</a>). (2) The supernatural ministers of instruments of Israel's punishment appear in Ezekiel 9. (3) The cherubim make preparatory movements to depart the Temple in Ezekiel 10; and (4) the actual departure of God's presence from the Temple occurs in <a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/11/22" class="green-link">Ezekiel 11:22-25</a>. The one topic here is the defilement of the Temple and God's removal from it. THE TEMPLE DEFILED AND THE WARNING OF GOD'S REMOVAL OF HIS FROM ITGod revealed to Ezekiel the abominations and detestable things going on within the precincts of the sacred Temple itself. Some have mistakenly interpreted this chapter as a composite of all of the various idolatries practiced previously to the times of Ezekiel; but the better understanding of it indicates that all of the abominations and detestable things going on in this vision were actually being practiced in both the Temple and throughout Israel right up until the very capture and destruction of the city. Of course, there had been reforms under Josiah; but Jehoiachim had quickly restored all of the abominations of Manasseh's evil reign. It would frustrate the very purpose of the vision to apply it to Israel's past history and not the current conditions when the city fell. <a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/1" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:1-4</a>"And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire, and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glorying metal. And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoked to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the image that I saw in the plain.""In the sixth year ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/1" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:1</a>). "This date appears to be August-September, 592 B.C."[2] For a list of all the dates given in Ezekiel, see our introduction. Beasley-Murray calculated the interval from the first vision that came to Ezekiel at the river Chebar as "fourteen months";[3] however, Plumptre stated that it was only thirteen months.[4] There are too many uncertainties regarding ancient dates to leave much room for dogmatism. Cooke explains how these different calculations are made.[5]Moshe Greenberg, a very able scholar, has calculated that the long period when Ezekiel lay upon his side ended just "three weeks before the date given here."[6]"And the elders of Judah sat before me ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/2" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:2</a>). "This indicates that Ezekiel did indeed have a certain amount of prestige with the exiles. Here he sits in his own home, and before him the elders of Judah have come apparently for counsel and information."[7]Watts has outlined what he believed to be the reason for this visit of the elders to Ezekiel. Ezekiel's prophecies had reached Jerusalem, leading to the outright despisal of all the exiles. The exiles were separated from the privileges of the Temple; the remainder of the people in Jerusalem told the exiles to forget about their confiscated property which then belonged to the remnant in Jerusalem, who in their own estimation were the favored of the Lord (11:15). This arrogant attitude of the citizens of Jerusalem had reached the exiles, who were grieved and distressed by it. Therefore they presented themselves before the prophet Ezekiel to learn what he had to say about the situation.[8]"A likeness as of the appearance of fire ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/3" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:3</a>). Although the word "man" does not appear in this text, it is clearly a human figure in the vision, as indicated by the mention of the likeness of a hand, and of "his loins." This is what the marginal reference here has, "the appearance of a man enthroned," of course, a representation of God Himself. "In the visions of God ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/3" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:3</a>). All of the things mentioned here were seen "in this vision." Ezekiel was not bodily transported to Jerusalem. His vision was possibly like that of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, where it is recorded that the apostle was caught up into the third heaven, "whether in the body or out of the body," he did not know. Apparently the elders of Judah were in Ezekiel's house when this vision occurred to him, and presumably they were there when it ended, and Ezekiel explained it to them. "The image of jealousy ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/3" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:3</a>). We do not know exactly what that image was; but it makes no difference. Any image whatever would have served to provoke God to jealousy over his apostate people. It was here called "the image of jealousy," because of God's reaction to it. "Behold, the glory of the God of Israel ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/4" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:4</a>). How surprising it is that the image of God's glory Should have been visible at all in the Temple. It is a comment upon the mercy and forbearance of God that even at this late date and in spite of the horrible apostasy of the rebellious people, God still allowed this image of himself to appear in the house dedicated to his name. There are four abominations mentioned in the balance of the chapter, where they appear in an ascending order of offensiveness to God. Verse 5 "Then said he unto me, Son of man, Lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entrance. And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But thou shalt see yet again other abominations."THE IMAGE OF "The image of jealousy in the entrance ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/5" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:5</a>). There are almost as many guesses as to the identity of this idol as there are authors discussing it; but we should not overlook the fact that the identity of the idol is immaterial. Any idol, made contrary to the Mosaic Law was offensive to God; and the placement of such an abomination within the sacred precincts of the Temple itself was an outrageous desecration. The guess as to the idol's identity which is most popular among the writers we have consulted is that it was an idol with an altar to the Ashera, Ashteroth, Astarte, or some other female fertility goddess of the ancient Canaanites. The worship of such idols was vile, licentious, depraved and disgusting. "That I should go far off from my sanctuary ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/6" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:6</a>). A better rendition of this was given by Eichrodt. "They are committing great abominations here to drive me from my sanctuary."[9] God's removing his presence from the Jewish Temple is the principal theme of Ezekiel 8-11. Here the reason for that removal is clearly tied to the abominations practiced there by the apostate children of Israel. Verse 7 "And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door. He said unto me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censor in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark? every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land. He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do."THE WORSHIP OF BEASTS; AND THINGSThe best comment we have found on this is in <a href="/bible/parallel/ROM/1/22" class="green-link">Romans 1:22-23</a>. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." That was Paul's comment on what took place among the pre-Christian Gentiles; and here we find that ancient Israel had fallen into the same wickedness. All of these animal figures, worshipped as idols, were derived from ancient Canaanite paganism, from Baylonian, and from Egyptian sources.[10]"Elders ... censors ... cloud of incense ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/11" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:11</a>). It was unlawful for the elders to offer incense in the Temple, a function belonging only to the sons of Aaron; and even they were forbidden to offer the sacred incense to a pagan idol. "Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/11" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:11</a>). There were a number of men of this name in the Bible, and one of them had aided in the reforms of Josiah. If this was the same man, he had failed to remain loyal to the Lord. This vision of so many elders offering incense to pagan gods is thought by some to be a "Representation of the widespread guilt of the whole nation in their clandestine worship of pagan idols."[11] Nevertheless, it appears in this vision that the worship was taking place in the Temple. "The paganism visible in this vision does not appear to be any kind of blending of paganism with the true worship of God; but, on the other hand, "It was unalloyed idolatry practiced by the defectors from the true faith in God."[12]Verse 14 "Then he brought me to the door of Jehovah's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these."THE WORSHIP OF "Behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/14" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:14</a>). The worship of this ancient god reaches back into antiquity as far as 3,000 B.C.; and it featured numerous combinations, contradictions and uncertainties. The cult apparently had its variations in several nations. Among the Greeks it was the worship of Adonis and Aphrodite; among the Egyptians it was known as the religion of Osiris and Isis; and in Babylon, it went under the names of Ishtar and Tammuz. Tammuz, a very attractive and beautiful shepherd was killed by a wild boar; and he was featured as the spouse of Ishtar, the sister of Ishtar, the son of Ishtar, or the lover of Ishtar. Upon his death, Ishtar (or Aphrodite, or whoever) went to the underworld to reclaim him from death. The period of mourning, usually forty days, ended with Tammuz' triumphant return to life. The mythological basis of this tale was the death of vegetation in winter and its return in spring. The time of celebrating his return was usually observed at the time of the summer solstice (June 21). Because of this the fourth Babvlonian month was named Tammuz, the name that was adopted into the Jewish calendar for their fourth month (June-July). Plumptre has commented upon the prominent part women had, especially in the corrupted worship of the Jews. They wove hangings for the worship of Ashera (<a href="/bible/parallel/2KI/23/7" class="green-link">2 Kings 23:7</a>), and they also burned incense to the Queen of Heaven (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/44/9" class="green-link">Jeremiah 44:9</a>; Jeremiah 15-19). "This goddess was probably Ashteroth."[13]The mourning period, whether long or short, was always followed by the most uninhibited, wildest celebration, amounting to as vulgar an orgy as could be imagined. "Human sacrifice, castration, sexual indulgence, etc. formed part of the rites."[14] The weeping women, gazing upon the naked statue of Tammuz (or Adonis), in time worked themselves into a frenzy of passionate desire. John Milton penned these lines regarding it. The love-tale infected Zion's daughters with like heat, Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led, His eyes surveyed the dark idolatries Of alienated Judah. - Paradise Lost, 1:446. Canon Cook stated that "The great popularity of this ancient cult rested in the fact that it inevitably led to unbridled license and excess."[15] Feinberg added that, "The worship of this god was connected with the basest immoralities. With the greatest abandon, women gave themselves up to the most shameful practices. Immorality and idolatry are inseparable twins throughout the history of the world."[16]One might have wondered if Ezekiel could have seen anything else more shameful than this group of women weeping for Tammuz; but <a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/15" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:15</a> at once warned Ezekiel that "greater abominations than these" he would yet behold. (Note: we have not cited our source for every statement in this glimpse at the worship Tammuz; but we have given a composite of the opinions of F. C. Cook, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, C. L. Feinberg, Anton T. Pearson, G. A. Cooke, E. H. Plumptre, and others). Verse 16 "And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah's house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O Son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abomination which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in wrath; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."WORSHIP OF THE SUN BY THE PRIESTSHere is the climax of the abominations witnessed by Ezekiel in the vision. The heads of the twenty-four courses of the sacred priesthood, led by the High priest, making up the "twenty five men" mentioned here, were not only worshipping the sun, but they were doing so in the very temple of God, with their backs turned upon the sacred temple of Jehovah! Keil pointed out that this was not the worship of Adonis, or any other sun-god, but, "The worship of the heavenly bodies, against which Moses had warned the people (<a href="/bible/parallel/DEU/4/19" class="green-link">Deuteronomy 4:19</a>; <a href="/bible/parallel/DEU/17/3" class="green-link">Deuteronomy 17:3</a>)."[17]"They put the branch to the nose ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/8/17" class="green-link">Ezekiel 8:17</a>). "Assyrian reliefs identify this gesture as an act of reverence and worship."[18] "Sun worshippers held branches or bundles of twigs from certain trees to their mouth, that they might not contaminate the sun with their breath."[19] From this, it appears that the fallen Israelites had adopted sun-worship with all of its variations and embellishments. Cook understood Ezekiel's use of "nose" instead of "mouth" here as designed to represent the practice, "In contemptuous and derogatory terms."[20] "Many scholars favor the translation of this place as, They send a stench to my nostrils.’"[21]

Ezekiel 8:1

Ezekiel 8:1. Sixth year is dated from the year that Jehoiachin was taken off his throne and taken to Babylon, at which time Ezekiel also was taken. According to Ezekiel 1:2-3 Ezekiel began his writing after he had been in Babylon five years, hence the present chapter was written after he had heen there six years, Elders comes from ZAQEN and Strong defines it with the single word ‘‘old." The elders among the Jews is a term that has an indefinite meaning. The original law of Moses makes no provision for them as an official or ruling class, but later they became a very influential group. Sometimes the word is used with ref-erence to age and at other times it refers to the leaders or representative men. The context must determine the meaning of the word in each case.

Ezekiel was about to be given an important communication from the Lord and he was sitting in the presence of these elders. Though they were in the land of captivity, they had not lost their “seniority” among the Jews. Hand , . . fell upon me means that God took charge of the prophet to display before him a vision concerning the people of Judah.

Ezekiel 8:2

Ezekiel 8:2. God never appears In person before fleshly man, but doeB the work through a spiritual representative, Such a personage was sent to Ezekiel for the momentous occasion at hand. (See a similar incident in Revelation 1:14-15.)

Ezekiel 8:3

Ezekiel 8:3, Spirit lifted me up and in the Visions are important keys to the meaning of this verse. By them the reader will understand that Ezekiel never actually left Babylon at all, and this most be constantly kept in mind or great confusion will result. The prophet saw the things described in a vision right while he was bodily in Babylon, in the same manner in which John saw things in Heaven while he was bodily in the Isle of Patmos. Image of jealousy means an idol, and it is called by this name in the sense of Exo 20:5, where God forbade the making of any image to worship because He was a jealous God.

Ezekiel 8:4

Ezekiel 8:4, God’ s glory would certainly be inside the gate of Jerusalem since that was the capital of the nation that belonged to Him. In the plain refers to the events described in chapter 3: 22.

Ezekiel 8:5

Ezekiel 8:5. The idolatry of ancient times consisted of three principal forms, and all objects of false worship were under one or more of the three. One was the worship of manmade idols, another was the worship of invisible or imaginary beings, and the third was that of things in creation. The first were made of metals, wood and stone; the second consisted of such as Baal, Ashtoreth, Tamrauz, etc., and the third included animals, rivers, living trees, and planets . Our present chapter exhibits the three forms, and this and the preceding two verses include the first form.

Ezekiel 8:6

Ezekiel 8:6. Ezekiel had never manifested any tendency toward idolatry, and the vision which the Lord was showing to him was not for his personal benefit. But he was expected to report the scenes to his fellow countrymen and write them for the information of mankind in following generations. (The same was true of John and the book of Revelation.) That I should go far off means that God was deserting the bouse which bis people had polluted with their idols.

Ezekiel 8:7

Ezekiel 8:7, The three forms of idolatry described at verse 6 are riot treated in the same order in this chapter, which is no important item. Their description is the main thing because no special preference was observed by the idolaters. Having pointed out the first one described, in verse 5, the third one will come next in the chapter beginning with the present verse. Hole is from OHOR which Strong defines, “A cavity, socket, den.” This was a place in the wall through which one coutd see but not intended as an opening for entrance.

Ezekiel 8:8

Ezekiel 8:8. Dig is from chathar and is defined by Strong, *‘A primitive root; to force a passage, as by burglary.” When Ezekiel was brought to where he could see the hole or cavity mentioned in the preceding verse, lie was told to force his way through the wall. When he did this he was brought into sight of a door.

Ezekiel 8:9

Ezekiel 8:9, The door proved to he an entrance to an apartment containing abominations that they do here, a detestable exhibition of the unlawful worship.

Ezekiel 8:10

Ezekiel 8:10, The aforesaid abominations consisted of pictures or drawings on the walls of the apartment. These portrayals were general and included living creatures which were worshiped, as well as the other idols of the house of Israel.

Ezekiel 8:11

Ezekiel 8:11. Ancients is from the same original word as “elders” in verse 1, and the reader is requested to see the comments at that place. There were 70 of these men including Jaazaniah, who was a prominent man, and these were engaged in burning incense to their idols.

Ezekiel 8:12

Ezekiel 8:12. Despite the foolish example of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3; Genesis 8), and ignoring the clear declarations of David in Psalms 139:7-12, these corrupt elders thought they could find a material hiding place for their idolatrous practices. The Lord had indeed forsaken the place as far as any endorsement was concerned, but that, did not mean sueh a place would escape the all-seeing eye of Him.

Ezekiel 8:13

Ezekiel 8:13. God wished Ezekiel to have a complete vision of the corrupt state of the people of Judah, In a few more yeara the temple was to be demolished by the Babylonians, and the prophet should be furnished with a detailed view of conditions that provoked the Jjord to deliver his people up to such a fate.

Ezekiel 8:14

Ezekiel 8:14. This verse presents another form of idolatry to which reference was made in the comments on verse 5, that of invisible gods. Ezekiel was taken to another spot where he saw women weeping: for Tammuz. Strong’ s definition of the last word is, “Of uncertain derivation; Tammuz, a Phoenician deity,” A marginal comment is some Bibles says, “ In a lewd and idolatrous manner, lamenting the death of Tammuz or Adonis, supposed to be Baalpeor.” This comment is supported by various works of reference that I have consulted among Which is Smith’ s Bible Dictionary, from which I shall make the following quotation: “Jerome identifies Tammuz with Adonis, of Grecian mythology, who was fabled to have lost his life while hunting, by a wound from the tusk of a wild boar. He was greatly beloved by the goddess Venus, who was inconsolable at his loss. . . A festival in honor of Adonis was celebrated at Byblus in Phoenicia and in most of the Grecian cities, and even by the Jews when they degenerated into idolatry.

It took place in July, and was accompanied by obscene rites.” Much of the information on this point is drawn from mythology but. It is evident that the verse deals with the case of idolatry designated at the beginning of this paragraph.

Ezekiel 8:15

Ezekiel 8:15. The prophet is informed that he is yet to see another display of idolatry being practiced by the peopie of Judea.

Ezekiel 8:16

Ezekiel 8:16. This verse includes an item on sun worship, which is one of the three forms of idolatry mentioned in the comments on verse 5. The sun is an object of creation and is in the same class as the planets and other things of nature that were worshiped as gods first by the heathen, then by the Jews. Backs toward the temple was an insult to the Lord, for it was an attitude in which these men turned from the true God and gave their homage toward the east where they would see the sun.

Ezekiel 8:17

Ezekiel 8:17. Having given Ezekiel a full and detailed vision of the evil conditions in Judah, the Lord “puts it up to him” to form a conclusion on the subject. However, God states his own conclusion and affirms (in question form) that what Judah is doing is no light thing— it is not something to be regarded lightly. Certain trees were considered sacred by idolaters, and these corrupt men of Judah were showing their insolent contempt for the true God by exhibiting a desire to smell of such trees in connection with their worship of the sun.

Ezekiel 8:18

Ezekiel 8:18. This verse adds nothing new to the threats that God had previously made against his people. It is a summing up of the conclusions already formed and uttered with the emphasis that is implied in such a frequent repetition.