Ezekiel Chapter 8
Monday, 12/29/25 at 09:54
Solitary Man
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Eze 8:1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before (paw-neem) me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell (naphal) there upon me.
We have been on quite a journey thus far. Ezekiel has been called, as God’s chosen spokesman for such a time as this. A time when the last lamp of the nation of Israel is about to be snuffed out. A time of punishments already meted out, as we have had two separate deportations, with a third and final one on the horizon. A time when the last tribe has lost sovereignty over its own land, even after most of the land has already been lost. A time when the last king of Judah is sitting on the throne. Weak and faithless, placing political concerns before spiritual ones. While this last king Zedekiah schemes and conspires as a puppet king of Babylon, Ezekiel has already been exiled to Babylon itself, along with many other prominent Jewish leaders.
After describing his call, Ezekiel gives us the first four of 50 specific words of Yehovah. And each one grew in intensity and urgency, regarding the anger of the Lord over this last tribe that still dwelt in the land. Instead of learning their lesson regarding what happened to their brother Ephraim and the 10 tribes to the north, Judah has carved a similar path. Worshipping idols, and every god of the heathen nations round about, the only difference being is that their spiritual descent has been occasionally interspersed with righteous rulers, who attempted to restore some level of devotion back to the one true god.
We now have a second date given in the text. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the date refers to the time of the start of the captivity of king Jehoiachin, which is equivalent to the reign of king Zedekiah. The 6th year and the 6th month would be around September of 592 BC. Remember that in 586 BC, Jerusalem falls and the temple is destroyed. We are less than 6 years away from the end. While God has Jeremiah prophesying in Jerusalem itself, Ezekiel is here in Babylon giving the word of God to those who have already been exiled out of the land.
We see that the prophet is living in his own house. The elders of Judah have now recognized that this man is saying something that is worth listening to, at least. The fact that they came to his house speaks of some level of interest in the man and his message. While these guests are present, the bible says that the hand of the Lord fell upon him.
This is similar language to what occurred in the first chapter. Ezekiel was given a vision of the cherubim, and the chariots of God. He will now be given a second vision, and the events that he will experience will comprise the next 4 chapters of this book.
Eze 8:2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness (dem-ooth – resemblance, similitude) as the appearance (mar-eh – view, shape, vision, pattern) of fire: from the appearance (mar-eh) of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance (mar-eh) of brightness, as the colour (ah-yin – the eye) of amber (khash-mal – bronze, polished metal).
The mention of loins takes us back to Ezekiel chapter one:
Eze 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Eze 1:27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
This verse sounds very similar to the ones above. Thus, he is being given another vision of the Holy One sitting upon his throne. Whether it is the Father or the Son is unknown. Note that he did not see his face. One such vision in a lifetime is an unbelievable honor, but to have it repeat is on an even more amazing level altogether.
Eze 8:3 And he put forth the form (tab-neeth – model, resemblance, pattern, likeness, similitude) of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit (ruach) lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions (mar-aw – from the root word mar-eh) of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north (tsaw-fone – hidden, gloomy, unknown); where was the seat of the image (seh-mel – idol) of jealousy (kin-aw – zealously envious), which provoketh to jealousy (kaw-naw – very zealously envious and jealous).
The hand of God now grabs Ezekiel by the hair, and lifts his spirit man out of his body, and takes him to Jerusalem. Some would claim that what he saw was simply a vision of himself being transported. That may be the case, but I believe his spirit was literally taken to Jerusalem, due to the way this episode is described. He felt himself being lifted into the air, and he was brought to the temple.
Some commentators say that because Ezekiel at the end of chapter 11 related all that he saw to the elders, that he never left Chaldea.
Eze 11:24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.
Eze 11:25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.
But that is because they are only thinking in the natural. Of course, his physical body never left Chaldea. The fact that the language says that the Spirit of God took him up suggests that his real self, his spirit (and soul) did travel. We’ve all heard of many examples of near death experiences, where the soul ascends above the body, and then is brought back. We have heard of sorcerers being able to astral project. The devil merely imitates what God can do. The devil does not have the sole power to do anything. While a believer should never intentionally seek out these strange experiences, these things can and do happen to some. The reason why we shouldn’t yearn too deeply for such things is that we are generally stupid creatures. What I mean by that is that we are easily deceived. The devil has been around for thousands of years. He knows all the tricks to get you to think something is of God when it is not. While we should always be open to whatever the Holy Spirit has for us, let us stick to the scriptural admonitions. We are never told to seek and covet after strange spiritual phenomena, but we are told to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of New Testament prophecy, as explained in 1st Corinthians chapters 12 through 14.
1Co 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather (the more so) that ye may prophesy.
Now we are not going to get into a teaching on the spiritual gifts. But we should always want to follow the patterns and principles of the bible. Being translated in the spirit is an exceedingly rare thing. As is talking to angels, or being taken to heaven, or to hell. While I may occasionally indulge myself in listening to some of these stories, I don’t make a habit of it, lest I eventually find myself being subtly turned away from the absolute truth of God’s word. The bible contains enough mysteries to occupy ourselves for a thousand lifetimes, does it not?
God first takes Ezekiel to an inner gate that separated the court of the people from the court of the priests. The north gate was the one where the priests went directly to the altar. The Hebrew word for north also means hidden, gloomy, unknown. This is apt, considering the subject matter of this chapter is idols. Serious idol worship can lead you to hidden knowledge, in dark and obscure areas.
The image of jealousy refers to the fact that whatever idol that these Jews had set up right on the temple precinct itself, the effect of it was that it provoked Yahweh to jealousy, as he said it would from these verses:
Deu 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
Deu 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
We know that kings Ahaz and Manasseh had set up idols in the temple. While Josiah removed all of that, these last few kings were all corrupt, and no doubt the ruling elite, the shadow government behind the throne, had convinced Zedekiah that this was a good thing. After all, diversity is our strength! And we wouldn’t want to offend the Chaldeans, would we? And isn’t it better that all foreigners feel more comfortable in our city, if they see we also honor their gods?
Sound familiar?
What this chapter will teach is the total depravity of man. We shall see that God will show Ezekiel 4 separate examples of Judah’s idolatry, each case worse than the one before.
1. idols in God’s house
2. worshipping the creation
3. women defiled in idolatry and immorality
4. worship of the host of heaven, which can symbolically represent the fallen angels, God’s enemies.
Let us recount the 1st commandment:
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The second is related to the first:
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
There is a reason these are the first 2 commandments. They are the most important ones to keep. One thing you will learn if you hang around the bible for any length of time is that God takes sins against him far more seriously than sins against each other. That is, sins against your creator are far more serious, generally speaking, than sins against your fellow man.
Perhaps you don’t like that. Maybe you don’t believe it. Maybe you think God has an ego problem.
The reason you may feel that way is that you place too high an opinion on man, and not high enough of an opinion on God. God is God, and man is man, and that is that. He created us, not the other way around. He created everything. No one else created anything. Therefore, he gets to set the rules. Take it or leave it. You can not like it, but you cannot change it.
This is why my brain cannot wrap around the reasoning of some people. They blame God for one sort of calamity or other in their life. They judge (mishpat) that God was not fair, or just, or nice, or loving, when he did (or allowed) such and such in their life. Therefore, they decide (choose) not to serve him, but rather, to stay mad at him, and perhaps even fight him at every opportunity. And somehow that seems satisfying to choose that road, or course of life.
If these same people would just stop and think of the implications of what they have decided, would they continue in their madness? Reality is reality. You may not like the way God has created this universe. You may disagree with his rules and his commandments. You may not like the fact that he throws people into hell. But are you going to cling to your mishpat, your verdict that you have passed on God, and spend all of eternity in hell, just because you don’t like God’s rules and the reality that he has created? How stupid can you get?
As the saying goes, get with the program! Accept reality. God is real. The bible is true. In the bible, and only in the bible, will you learn of God’s requirements for man. Find out what these are. And do that.
So getting back to the chapter’s theme of idolatry, we shall see that nothing angers God more than idolatry. In fact, the two biggest sins that the bible speaks of by far are idolatry and immorality. Something about those two sins puts you in a class all by yourself.
The best explanation that comes to mind is that God has created us. Nothing in all of creation compares to him. No created thing is worthy of worship. Worshipping something other than God elevates that something to the same level as God. How can anything compare to Yehovah? Do you see it? Can you understand this most basic of biblical truths? Nothing, and I mean nothing, should ever be placed in the same category as Yahweh. He is the great I AM.
As to why immorality comes a close second, I believe it has something to do with the defilement of our bodies, which are made in the image of God. We are to reflect what God should look like. Defiling our bodies with immoral behaviors disgusts God in a way that few of us comprehend. Since we are not dealing with immorality at this time, that is all I will say on that matter for now.
Eze 8:4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision (mar-eh) that I saw in the plain.
Ezekiel is now confirming that he is having an experience quite similar to the one that he described for us at the beginning of this book.
Eze 8:5 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 at the gate of the altar this image (seh-mel) of jealousy (kin-aw) in the entry (entrance).
Yehovah wants Ezekiel to look and try to share in God’s jealous anger over what he sees. When we can truly see as God sees, we will start to feel as he feels. People seek to love as God loved. We should also seek to hate as God hates. God wants Ezekiel to feel his disgust and abhorrence at what his own people are doing, especially since they’re doing it in the one place on earth that was supposed to be reserved for the real presence of God himself. Instead of revering the presence of God in their midst, they have set up a disgusting idol instead, in order to provoke the god of heaven to wrath and rage.
Commentators are divided as to which idol that may have been. Some think it was Baal, the most common and popular of the false gods. Some think it was Ashtoreth, because the story of Tammuz, which is tied in with Ashtoreth worship, is spoken of later in this chapter. The identity of the idol is not important, but the fact that the idol is there at all. God does not care to give any space in his word to the false god himself. The fact that the temple was supposed to be a light to the nations, reserved for the one true god and instead, it contains images of the same pagan gods as all other nations, says it all.
Do our churches reflect the uniqueness of our God, or are they indistinguishable from the world? Of course, the most important aspect is whether the real presence of God is in our midst. But I wish to also briefly mention another aspect of this issue. Say what you want about the medieval church, they sure knew how to build magnificent cathedrals! These are the greatest buildings ever built by man. When I look at most church buildings today, I see something that is interchangeable with a Costco warehouse.
The men of the dark ages built cathedrals to honor and glorify God. We build sports stadiums.
Eze 8:6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great (gaw-dole – insolent, older) abominations (to-ay-baw) that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off (remove myself completely) from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again (shoob ode – turn back still more), and thou shalt see greater (gaw-dole) abominations (to-ay-baw).
Yahweh has no problem interchanging the name for his people from Judah to Israel, and back again. No matter how far God has scattered his people, Israel will always be Israel in God’s mind. One of the most insidious heresies that even I briefly fell for is this slander that 96% of the Jews in the land of Israel today are not real Jews, but something called Ashkenazis. I won’t bother going into the sordid details, but suffice it to say it is just another attempt by the devil to get the church to turn on the Jewish people. I have repented of it, and if you are tangled up in it, so should you.
God wants us to see our sins. He calls them great and ancient abominations. That is, idol worship is as old as man himself. What Israel is managing to do with idols is to drive out the real presence of God from their temple. We shall see in a later chapter how the presence of God gradually departs, step by step, from the holy of holies, all the way out of the city of Jerusalem itself. This will signify the great patience and holiness of the Lord. Yehovah has the right to abandon us altogether at the first sign of unfaithfulness. But instead, he withdraws himself in stages, always looking for and hoping that we will shoob, or turn back to him, so he can return into our lives.
Have we not all experienced this effect in our own experience? We sin, and something of the sweetness of God’s presence is lost. We sin some more, and more of God seems to depart. Continue in sin, and eventually there is no sign of God in our life. The longer we go without shoobing back to him, the longer and harder it will be to regain that sweetness and intimacy that we once held so dear.
So we see idols in the temple. Do we have idols in our temple, ie, our own bodies? Are there idols where only God should reside? What resides in your soul? God?, or something else. Maybe God, and a bunch of other things. Be very careful. Put too many things in your soul, and soon there will be no room for God to dwell there!
But God is not done. He has just begun. As if idols in the temple are not bad enough, God has much more to show his prophet. Greater (gaw-dole) abominations (to-ay-baw). Gaw-dole can also mean insolent, older, exceedingly great, a proud thing, as well as great or mighty. This word can have a good or bad connotation, depending on the context. To-ay-baw, you recall, is something morally disgusting, an abhorrence and an abomination, often intimately tied in with some aspect of idolatry. To think that an actual statue of a false god in God’s holy temple is not bad enough, Yahweh says you will see greater and greater abominations as we go along.
Eze 8:7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
There is no agreement as to the precise location within the temple as far as where this door is. A Dr. Lightfoot conjectures that it is the east gate of the inner court, called the gate of Nicanor, over which was the council chamber, where the sanhedrim used to meet, and in some of the rooms near it they secretly practised idolatry, as God discovered to the prophet (see also Ez 8:11). That sounds very reasonable, as we shall see that the leaders of the people are involved with this second shameful revelation.
Eze 8:8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig (khaw-thar – force a passage as if by burglary) now in the wall: and when I had digged (khaw-thar) in the wall, behold a door.
Although Ezekiel has most likely been brought there in the spirit, his spirit man is commanded to dig and enlarge a passage in some portion of the wall, in order to expose a secret door. Obviously his spirit could not physically interact with a physical object, so this labor is something that is occurring only in the spirit realm, and God asks him to engage in this work to signify that these outwardly holy leaders of Israel had deep, dark, hidden secrets in their lives.
The basis of all hypocrisy is when you feel a need to hide some aspect of your life from the public. Millions of western Christian men engage in porn, sexual fantasy, and other unclean practices. They hide it from everyone else. Maybe that inner chamber of your heart hides a spirit of jealousy, envy, bitterness, or covetousness. How about greed, selfishness, self pity, and of course, unforgiveness?
If Ezekiel was called to force a passage into your innermost being, what would he discover there?
Eze 8:9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked (rah) abominations (to-ay-baw) that they do here.
Nothing is hidden from Yehovah. It’s bad enough that men think that they can hide the evil thoughts of their heart from God, but why do they also think that they can hide their evil deeds? Whether or not God sends a prophet to ‘dig out’ your sins, know that nothing is ever hidden from the holy one. We all fear the surveillance state that the globalists want to impose on all of us. Ironically, we all have been in a total surveillance state since we were born! Do you think there is any absolute privacy between you and God? Does he not really see all? While wicked men want this power in order to harm us, God uses this not only to ensure the wicked are recompensed, but also that the righteous may be corrected and eventually rewarded.
Sometimes God will reveal your sin to another. Sometimes he will expose you to the whole world. Here, God is not satisfied with using just one pejorative to describe these men’s actions. No, it is rah to-ay-baw – exceedingly wretched moral evil of an abominably abhorrent morally disgusting nature.
God forbid that he ever finds any one of us engaging in such behavior!
Eze 8:10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form (tab-neeth – pattern, likeness, similitude) of creeping things, and abominable (sheh-kets – filthy idolatrous) beasts (be-hay-maw), and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed (carved) upon the wall round about.
Every commentator that I perused seems to be of the opinion that these men who engaged in this practice had patterned their worship after the manner of the Egyptians, who were noted for creature worship. If we assume that this is the case, this is a graphic example of why God calls us to make a complete separation from the world. Egypt is symbolic of the carnal pleasures of this life, or our fleshly nature. In other words, vanity fair.
Have we truly let go of the enticements and temptations of Egypt in our own lives? Or if God dug through our secret walls, what would he find? Are we still enamored with the physical delights of Egypt? Do we still secretly long for the pleasures of sin, even though we know they only last for a season?
God calls them filthy idols. He also says that these are not Egyptian idols, but idols that now are of the house of Israel. That is, God’s people had made Egypt’s idols their idols.
The world has made idols of their sports teams. And their hobbies. And especially their social media accounts. Has the church made the world’s idols their own idols? Do we justify it by saying that we only spend one hour a day on social media instead of 5? So one act of fornication a month is okay, compared to the average of 10 a month that the pagan engages in? Of course, no one is saying that social media is of the same category of sin as fornication. But I am speaking of idolatry. What is portrayed on the walls of your heart? If Jesus was to look at a mural that is painted on your heart, as represented by what you mostly think upon, what would he see? Would he see the word of God, the burden for souls, thoughts of good works and believing the best of your friends? Or would he see lust, unforgiveness, doubt, unbelief, and thoughts of the worst of those closest to you? Be careful what you paint on your heart!
Eze 8:11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah (heard of Yah) the son of Shaphan (hiding as a rock rabbit), with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
Here we discover who it is that is engaged in creature worship. First of all, Paul reminds us as to what happens to those who worship the creature rather than the creator:
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
I didn’t have to reproduce the entire passage, but I believe it serves an important purpose. Most Christians think God has somehow changed in the New Testament. They point to John 3:16 and other similar passages to try and convince you that the God of the OT is not the same as the God of the new.
By now, I am sure that all of you know that that is utter rubbish.
Mal_3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Heb_13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
If God is unchangeable, then every part of his word is equally profitable in order to discover revelations about his ways and his judgments. So Romans tells us that those who engage in creature worship shall be given over to their vile passions permanently, with no possibility of repentance and forgiveness. They will progress into gross immorality, and from there into every sort of evil practice. They end up not only practising every possible act of rebellion against God, but will also encourage and applaud everyone else who does so. That is Antifa, the alphabet crowd, Democrats and Liberals, the globalists, and the cabal in a nutshell, is it not?
Let us examine this guy Jaazaniah. As some of you already know, ‘son’ in scripture can often mean grandson, or even of the lineage of, rather than an actual son. If we look at Ez 11:1, we see:
Eze 11:1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD’S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
It is more likely that the Jaazaniah in these 2 verses is the same person, and that he really was the son of Azur, and the grandson of Shaphan. It is far more unlikely that such as unusual name would be found on 2 separate leaders in Israel at the same time.
Ellicott’s commentary further states that:
The mention of his grandfather here would be appropriate, as bringing out the contrast in their characters, and showing the change for the worse that had been going on among the people. Shaphan was an officer of the court of King Josiah, and active in the reformation instituted by him (2Kings 22:3; 2Kings 22:14); while his son (Elasah) was one of the messengers by whom Jeremiah sent his prophecies to the Captivity (Jeremiah 29:3); and another son, Gemariah, was a scribe, having a chamber “in the higher court, at the entry of the new gate of the Lord’s house,” in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 36:10). At the same time his grandson, Michaiah, was sufficiently prominent at court to join in the intercession of the princes against the destruction of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jeremiah 36:11; Jeremiah 36:25); and a little later, in the general captivity of the ninth year of Zedekiah, another grandson, Gedaliah, had the person of Jeremiah given into his charge (Jeremiah 39:14; Jeremiah 40:5), and was made governor over the remnant of the people (Jeremiah 40:11). Such being the family connections of Jaazaniah, the corruption which could make him a leader of idolatry is strongly shown. [end]
What I see in the above history lesson is a sobering warning to us all. Just because Jaazaniah came from a prestigious and godly lineage, that was no guarantee that each and every offspring would continue along that line. Each soul is responsible for their own personal relationship with the Lord. It does not matter if your father was Billy Graham, each person has to decide for themselves whom they will serve. In Jaazaniah’s case, he decided to go with the flow. All the other big shots were worshipping these creatures, so ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’, was the philosophy that he (and the vast majority of people in every age) chose to do.
Only priests were allowed to offer incense. Thus, these elders were embracing the role of priests to these false gods by choosing to worship in this manner. When the leadership starts worshipping devils, you know that total destruction of the nation is not far behind.
We look at these Jews and some of us will recoil in disgust. We wonder exactly how could they have sunk so low? But let us ponder this one thing. At least they still had enough of a sense of right and wrong to know that what they were doing was not acceptable to the masses, so they engaged in their abominable practice in secret. How many of our own leaders today brazenly proclaim and celebrate their abominations in public? How many love to parade in a pride parade? How many fight for the right of children to be taken from parents, in order to cut off their genitals? How many praise Islam, and condemn Christianity?
These Judeans had nothing on us, when it came to the practice of evil.
Eze 8:12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark (khoshek – obscurity, figuratively destruction, death, wickedness), every man in the chambers of his imagery (mas-keeth – imagination)? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
As we spoke of in the previous verse, at least these still had an ounce of shame, in that they were doing these things in the dark. The language here attaches the evil imaginations in their hearts to what they were actually doing. As they imagined sin, so they eventually acted it out. That is how it usually works. You play with the evil thought. If you refuse to let it go, eventually it will turn into action.
You do not come to the conclusion about Yahweh that these apostates came to overnight. There is a process and a sequence to this. Faithlessness turns to despair, then to bitterness, then to full blown rebellion. It really comes down to doubt and unbelief, does it not? God does not answer your prayer, at least not in the way that you are expecting. You start to doubt his word, then his character. Before you know it, you have drifted off into full blown unbelief. Feelings start to trump the bible. The devil works on those feelings, transforming them from doubt into something far worse. You pass from questioning to disbelieving, then into anger and end up in full blown rebellion. You then comfort yourself with the fantasy that God does not care, he never really cared, in fact, he’s not even watching us anymore.
Theists believe along this line. They acknowledge some sort of divine presence behind creation, since no other explanation makes any logical sense. But like most, they reject the commandments and subsequent obligations of obedience that the bible teaches, and choose to believe in an aloof presence that created the universe, and then left man alone in it to figure things out for himself. You can always point to some circumstance in your life, and in the world around you, that seems to ‘prove’ that God is indifferent, or does not care. Today, it is easier than ever to create and abide in your own reality. Many millions have chosen to create their own preferred reality, and keep their noses in their internet devices 24/7, reading and watching only those things that confirm their fantasy worldview, and refusing to look at anything that would impinge on that fairy tale of their own making.
While you may comfort yourself with the idea that God does not see, or does not care, you will have all of eternity to deeply regret that you were foolish enough to embrace such an attitude.
Eze 8:13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again (shoob ode), and thou shalt see greater (gaw-dole) abominations (to-ay-baw) that they do.
Yahweh is not done yet. So far, we’ve had public idols in the temple. Next, we’ve had the eldest and supposedly the wisest of the land secretly worshipping the creation, and acting as priests to their cult. But worse things, in God’s eyes, are about to be revealed. Sort of like what we are experiencing in this evil age. Just when you think you’ve seen the worst of mankind, another story pops up that is more vile than the last.
Eze 8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz (a Phoenician deity).
This is the only place in the bible where Tammuz is mentioned. A scan of the traditional commentaries reveals that different details about this god are found. Most likely is that the myths and legends around this deity, as around all false gods, become corrupted over time. Depending on the source one accesses, you will find varying nuances in the facts surrounding the worship of this deity. I have chosen to reproduce Barnes commentary on this verse, as a representative example of the historical background that helps to shed light on what Yahweh is referring to here:
The seer is now brought back to the same gate as in Ezekiel 8:3.
It is not certain that this verse refers to any special act of Tammuz-worship. The month in which the vision was seen, the sixth month (September), was not the month of the Tammuz-rites. But that such rites had been performed in Jerusalem there can be little doubt. Women are mentioned as employed in the service of idols in Jeremiah 7:18. There is some reason for believing that the weeping of women for Tammuz passed into Syria and Palestine from Babylonia, Tammuz being identified with Duv-zi, whose loss was lamented by the goddess Istar. The festival was identical with the Greek “Adoniacs.” The worship of Adonis had its headquarters at Byblos, where at certain periods of the year the stream, becoming stained by mountain floods, was popularly said to be red with the blood of Adonis. From Byblos it spread widely over the east and was thence carried to Greece. The contact of Zedekiah with pagan nations Jeremiah 32:3 may very well have led to the introduction of an idolatry which at this time was especially popular among the eastern nations.
This solemnity was of a twofold character, first, that of mourning, in which the death of Adonis was bewailed with extravagant sorrow; and then, after a few days, the mourning gave place to wild rejoicings for his restoration to life. This was a revival of nature-worship under another form – the death of Adonis symbolized the suspension of the productive powers of nature, which were in due time revived. Accordingly, the time of this festival was the summer solstice, when, in the east, nature seems to wither and die under the scorching heat of the sun, to burst forth again into life at the due season. At the same time, there was a connection between this and the sun-worship, in that the decline of the sun and the decline of nature might be alike represented by the death of Adonis. The excitement attendant upon these extravagances of alternate wailing and exultation were in complete accordance with the character of nature-worship, which for this reason was so popular in the east, especially with women, and led by inevitable consequence to unbridled license and excess. Such was, in Ezekiel’s day, one of the most detestable forms of idolatry.
The main points seem to be that this was a god favored by women, having to do with death and rebirth. Much immorality that was practiced by women was a large part of this ritual. Specific rituals of Tammuz were centered more around June, and this vision was given in September (Ez 8:1). But this was a vision of what was going on not only in Jerusalem, but in the temple itself! Yahweh was most likely giving him a vision of what was now regularly occurring during the month of Tammuz worship. Let us not forget that pride month is in the month of June. This is no mere coincidence. We have invited Ashtoreth into our western nations, and she has revived her own worship by these practitioners of all forms of sexual abominations.
Weeping for a fallen one, a story based on myth and superstition, and all right within the precincts of the Lord’s house. I wonder how many extra biblical stories that certain denominations hold fast to, does God also consider as an abomination? To the mind of a protestant, the veneration and at times, the worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the liturgical sects comes to mind. That is not a perfect comparison, as these groups have added unbiblical ideas to a biblical character, while in Judah, they were worshipping a non biblical character, a truly false pagan god. This would be akin to inviting some spokesperson for a foreign religion into your church, and embracing their false path to god as an equally valid way to serve the divine.
There is something about having to include some form of female deity that really appeals to women, who usually make up the majority of any religious congregation. Tammuz was associated with Ishtar or Ashtoreth, the licentious abomination that demanded all sorts of lewd and unclean sexual rituals. Instead of weeping for the sins of the people, they wept for Tammuz. Instead of living holy for Yahweh, they may have been engaging in prostituting their bodies for Ashtoreth. Such is the depravity of man.
Eze 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again (shoob ode), and thou shalt see greater (gaw-dole) abominations (to-ay-baw) than these.
Yahweh is not quite done. As if the first three abominations were not enough, there is more yet to come. Sometimes the word shoob does not mean repent. It can also simply mean turn. In this case, shoob ode – turn one more time. Turn once more towards the fourth and final scene in this tapestry of evil and rebellion. Come and witness why I am so angry, and why I do what I must do.
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces (paw-neem) toward the east (keh-dem – ancient, old time, eternal); and they worshipped (shaw-khaw – prostrate, fall flat, make obeisance) the sun toward the east (keh-dem).
The inner court was the court of the priests, where they offered sacrifices, and none may enter there but themselves. The porch is the one that led into the temple, and the altar refers to the brazen altar, or the altar of burnt offerings, which was a very sacred place, and reckoned more holy than the court of the priests.
The most common opinion of who these 25 men were is that they were priests. There were 24 courses of priests, plus the high priest, which makes 25. For a summary of what may have been going on here, let’s read what Barnes has to say:
About five and twenty men – Rather, as it were five etc. This was the number of the heads of the 24 courses (shifts) with the high priest presiding over them. These then were the representatives of the priests, as the seventy were of the people. In the temple the seat of the Divine Majesty was at the west, perhaps appointed for this very purpose, to guard against the idolatrous adoration of the rising sun. Therefore the idolatrous priests must, in worshipping the false sun-god, turn their backs upon the True. The worship of the heavenly bodies was one of the earliest forms of idolatry Job 31:26-27 and was expressly forbidden in the Law Deuteronomy 17:3. In its earliest form, it was conducted without the intervention of images, the adoration being addressed to the heavenly bodies themselves: this form, continued among the Persians, seems to have been introduced afresh into Jerusalem at the time of Ezekiel. Compare, also, 2 Kings 23:11-12. The images (compare Ezekiel 6:4, Ezekiel 6:6) were probably columns set up in honor of the sun, not images in human form. This simpler mode of sunworship was soon changed. The sun, or the god supposed to preside over it, was represented as a person, whose image was set up and adored.
If this was truly the case, then the apostasy in Judah has reached its zenith. Can you imagine every priestly course, and then the high priest himself, turning their backs to Yahweh and instead worshipping the sun? Incidentally, isn’t this what muslims do today, when they turn their backs on Jerusalem and stick their hindmost part in the air, pointing themselves east toward Mecca?
But if we think this was a uniquely abominable practice of the people of God, we need look no further than the last pope, who by any account was no legitimate pope, but an imposter. He brought in every vile practitioner of every pagan religion on the planet into the Vatican. He brought in transgender freaks, and I am sure would have welcomed satanists if he thought that he could get away with it, being a satanist himself. Some of the visible denominations of our day are so sick and perverted that they defy belief. How many so called churches fly the rainbow flag during pride month? How many preach climate change obscenities? The house of God has been just as defiled in our day as it was in Ezekiel’s day.
Now this verse does not specifically say that they were all priests, but since priests were the only ones who were supposed to be in that part of the temple, it is reasonable to assume that that is who it was. But of course, since the nation had departed so far from the Torah, who knows if the leaders of the day tried to mimic king Uzziah, who thought that he was holy and qualified enough to burn incense in the temple of the Lord? At that time, he was immediately struck down with leprosy, and it never departed from him until the day of his death. Here, God decided not to do anything immediately, as he had the whole package of destructive judgment just waiting to be unleashed in a few more years. This goes to show that you can never predict with certainty as to the scope, timing, and severity of God’s recompense for sin. But whatever it is and whenever it comes, I can guarantee that you won’t like it!
Eze 8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light (trifling) thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations (to-ay-baw) which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence (khah-mawce – unjust gain, oppression), and have returned (shoob) to provoke me to anger (kaw-as – rage and wrath): and, lo, they put the branch to their nose (af – nostril, the nose, or anger as smoke from a nostril).
God now wants to summarize his feelings for these specific acts of provocation. When God asks Ezekiel if he sees these things, it’s a rhetorical statement. Of course Ezekiel sees them. But God is hoping that his servant can grasp at least a fraction of the anger and disgust that God feels, by actually observing all these abominations that all the nation is participating in, whether publicly or privately. We have covered a very public idol, that all people may or may not have worshipped. We saw the elite leadership worshipping the creature. We saw the women completely absorbed in their own favorite form of apostasy. And last but not least, we saw the spiritual leaders blaspheme the worst of all.
So shall we speculate why each instance was worst than the last? The first involved something that they allowed to be displayed in public. In their place of worship, no less. But God did not indict any one specific individual or group as being solely guilty for this. I am sure some worshipped this thing, and some did not, and some were disgusted. In any event, this seems to be a concession to the spirit of multiculturalism that has so infected and destroyed the spiritual climate of the west today.
The second group involved the leadership of their government. Rulers have a special obligation to set the example for the people. If the rulers are doing it, what’s to stop the commoners from engaging in the same things?
The third group were the women. Women had no business deciding for themselves to go and follow a different religion. Women were to always be under subjection to their husbands. For a woman to go and reject her husband’s religion of the one true god, and go after a despicable and grossly immoral false god, was the height of rebellion. I am not saying that all of these women had Torah obeying husbands, but the principle still holds true.
But before someone accuses me of being too hard on the ladies, it does appear that their husbands were well aware of their wives antics, according to this passage found in Jeremiah:
Jer 44:15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
Jer 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jer 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
These apostate women did not hesitate to rat out their men, did they?
The fourth group were the priests. These were specially chosen by Yahweh to represent him to the people, and to minister to him. They were given privileges of access to his presence that no one else had. They were to be the keepers of divine truth. For them to reject Yahweh, and instead choose to worship the sun, of all things, was the height of blasphemy.
Now that we have taken the time to reflect on the severity of the sins committed, can we not agree that this is not a trivial thing? Also, violence seems to be a trademark of this nation. Perhaps violence against the poor, the needy. Violence in robbing those in need of justice.
Do we not see violence as the default path that the left chooses? If they cannot get their way by any other means, the depraved will always resort to violence to achieve their wicked goals. Violence is the answer of someone who has no argument. Violence is the choice of those who cannot win by any civilized means.
Putting the branch to the nose has baffled all commentators. The hint that I see is that the word for nose is af, which is usually translated as red hot anger, as smoke coming out of the nostril anger. So this is some sort of saying in that era which would be akin to saying they have dug their own grave, or they have made their own bed, or that the violence they practice will be shoved into their face.
Eze 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury (khay-maw – poisonous, furious wrath): mine eye shall not spare (khoos – have compassion), neither will I have pity (khaw-mal – commiserate): and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear (shama – to hear with the intent of obeying) them.
So now that you have seen with your own eyes the behaviors and lifestyles of virtually everyone in this sin sick land, Yahweh now tells the prophet that he will repay them with poisonous, furious wrath. He vows to not spare, nor have any pity, regardless of how long and hard they cry to him when the evil befalls them. God will not shama this time, that is, he will not repent.
I am sure that even if Moses or Abraham showed up, the 2 men who are famous for changing God’s mind when it came to the unleashing of judgment, at this point in time, God is not interested in listening to their pleas.
This is a final and most important truth. You cannot simply take one story out of the bible and wilfully apply it to your situation, just because you like how it ended. Maybe God is angry with us. Well, he was angry with Israel during their wandering in the wilderness as well. But didn’t Moses talk God out of a lot of punishments? Well, yes he did. But he also could not stop other decrees, such as the sentence of 40 years of wandering, and the death of all adults. He couldn’t stop the judgment of the Lord in his own life, in that due to one error, he was not allowed to enter the promised land. So it is in this instance. God will not be talked out of this imminent judgment, regardless of what Ezekiel says. While there are times when God is looking for even one to stand in the gap (as we shall see later in this book), there are also times when it is simply too late.
Solitary Man
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