Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 8:15
Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
15. turn thee yet again ] See Eze 8:6 end.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Eze 8:15-18
Turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Of sin in its aggravations
I. What is understood by the heinousness of sin.
1. That it is offensive to God, displeasing to Him, and grieving to His Spirit (Jer 44:4). It is an abominable thing before the Lord; hence it is called filthiness, uncleanness, vomit, etc., all which provoke loathing; so Rev 3:16. It is contrary to His nature and will, and gives Him displeasure and offence; and, if it were possible it would disturb His repose, as smoke doth to the eyes (Isa 65:5).
2. It is greatly offensive to God (Hab 1:13). There is no sin that God is indifferent about, none that He can pass without a mark of His indignation on it (Exo 34:7).
(1) All sin is heinous in the sight of God, namely, greatly offensive (Hab 1:13).
(2) There are degrees of heinousness. Though the sin which the blinded soul accounts but a mote is a mountain in the eyes of God and of an enlightened conscience, yet all are not alike for all that; but as some mountains, so some sins are greater than others.
II. In what respects some sins are more heinous than others.
1. Some sins are in themselves, and in their own nature, more heinous than others. Murder (Gen 4:10); oppression (Hab 2:1 l); blasphemy and contempt, of God (Exo 5:2); idolatry (Eze 8:1-18); unbelief, rejecting of Christ, and disobeying the Gospel (Mat 22:1-46; Joh 3:19; 2Th 1:8). But of all sins the most heinous is the sin against the Holy Ghost (Mat 12:31).
2. Some sins are more heinous than others by their aggravations; and the greater and more numerous the aggravating circumstances be that attend any sin, it is the more heinous.
(1) From the persons offending: the more notable they are, the more heinous are their sins; as the greater the fire is, the more mischief will it do, if it go out of its place; the greater the tree is, the more mischief will it do by its fall.
(2) From the parties offended. Let men consider whom their sins strike against, if they would see how heinous they are. For as a thrust in a leg or arm is not so much grievous as one at the heart, so is it in this case. Sins immediately against God, His Son, and His Spirit are more heinous than such sins against man, any man whatsoever (1Sa 2:25). Sins against superiors in the church, state, and family are more heinous than the same sins are if done against persons of their own rank and condition. Sins against those whom we are under special engagements and obligations to are more heinous than such sins against others we have no such concern in. Sins against the saints and people of God are more heinous than against others, because of their relation to God, as being those in all the world dearest to Him (Mat 18:6). Sins against the common good of all, or of many; for the wider the effects of one sin go, it is still the worse (Jos 22:20).
(3) From the quality of the offence. A sin may be vested with such qualities as will make it much more heinous than when divested of them. These evil qualities are many; I will reduce them to two heads. Intrinsic qualities. Thus sins against the letter of the law are more heinous than others; mother sins, which are big and bring forth many others, besides simple ones; sins consummated by action, as well as while merely in the heart (Jam 1:15); sins that are scandalous, as well as others not so; sins the injury in which to men admits of no reparation, more than that of others in which it does. Extrinsic qualities; which again are of two sorts.
(i) Being done against means whereby one might be withheld from sin (Mat 11:21-22).
(ii)
Being done against bonds one has taken on him against the sin, when men sin against purposes and resolutions of amendment, against their covenants and engagements to the Lord, whereby they are bound to stand off from such courses (Eze 17:19).
(4) From the manner of committing it. Who can imagine but sin done deliberately and wilfully and presumptuously is more heinous than sin committed through inadvertency and weakness?
(5) From the time of it, as in the case of Gehazi (2Ki 5:26). Thus sins committed on the Lords day, immediately before or after Divine worship, are more heinous than at other times. And so is sinning just after reproofs, warnings, engagements; or in a time when the anger of the Lord is going out against the land, family, or person, as Ahaz in his distress.
(6) From the place of it. Thus in a place where the Gospel is preached, sin is more heinous than elsewhere (Isa 26:10). Sins done in public before others are more heinous than those in secret; for in the former many may be defiled. Inferences–
1. Never think light of sin, nor slightly of Christ, and your need of Him, since all sin is heinous in Gods sight, and exposes the sinner to His just vengeance.
2. There will be degrees of torment in hell, though the least degree will be dreadful (Mat 11:21). (T. Boston, D. D.)
Hidden abominations exposed
Apply this passage–
I. To the world.
1. The abominations that are visible to all are exceeding great.
2. But the more we know of the world, the more wicked will it appear.
II. The church.
1. The outward court worshippers are, for the most part, exceedingly corrupt.
2. Would to God we could except from this censure the worshippers of the inner court.
III. The heart.
1. This, the Prophet tells us, is superlatively deceitful.
2. It is also, as the same Prophet informs us, unsearchably wicked.
Behold here, then–
(1) The folly of man
(2) The forbearance of God.
(3) The wonders of Redeeming Love. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
They worshipped the sun toward the east.
The spiritual discarded, the material adored
I. Strange aversion.
1. To what they were averse. The temple of the Lord. This does not mean the material building. These men were too material for that. They would never cease to glory in its architectural splendour, and there was little fear of their ceasing to regard the gold and silver by which it was enriched and with which it was adorned. They were, as myriads are today, well content to lay claim to and enjoy the material gifts of God, while they utterly disregarded the more spiritual of His mercies. In the temple God dwelt, for there was in the mysterious Shekinah light which brooded over the Ark, the symbol of His invisible, yet awful presence-to Him they were averse. They would fain have vetoed or expelled Him from His own house, for they desired not His presence. This is strange aversion. Why should they turn their backs upon God? They owed their all to Him. He beheld their fathers once as a company of oppressed slaves, crying day and night unto Him for deliverance, and with a high hand and with an outstretched arm He did deliver them. They possessed promises which were to make their future still more illustrious. Yet upon Him who had been such a Father and Friend they turned their backs. And of the law of God they might justly have been proud. It was an expression of the Infinite mind, and well worthy of its origin. This law Christ came not to abrogate, but to expound, enforce, and fulfil. And the Ark. Surely there was nothing in this to which they could reasonably be averse. It enshrined many precious memories. What shall we say of the myriads who in England today repeat these sins? The guilt of such is even worse than that of these five and twenty men. What wrong has God done them that they are thus averse to Him and to His house? What base ingratitude on the part of men to daily enjoy the precious legacy of privileges the Gospel has won, and yet turn their backs upon this their best friend.
2. By whom was this aversion expressed? Evidently by those who were considered to be the very pick and flower of the nation.
(1) These men were in the line of a godly ancestry. Not only were they children of faithful Abraham, but of the tribe of Levi. These men had received careful training, special instruction, and were in possession of a choice legacy of privileges. That upon which they turned their backs had been most dear to and most revered by their parents. This made their sin all the greater. Yet this is just the position of many who today turn their backs upon God.
(2) These men were among the most intelligent in Israel. From early life they had been educated and trained with a view of preparing them for the sacred functions they would afterwards be called upon to fulfil. Alas, it is much the same today. Many of the most educated, intelligent, and affluent in our land are utterly averse to Divine things.
(3) The position of these men aggravated their sin. They were between the porch and the altar, and were thus surrounded by every inducement to reverence Jehovah in their worship, and to lead lives conspicuous for purity. Their modern imitators have also similar environments. The claims of God, the blessings of the Gospel are brought right home to them. The word is nigh them, even in their mouths and in their hearts.
3. Can we account for this aversion?
(1) On the part of many the secret is in a reluctance to think. These twenty-five men turned their backs upon the temple of the Lord. In like manner men turn away from the claims of religion, upon the reason, upon the soul, and upon the life. They will not solemnly investigate the subject, preferring darkness to light.
(2) Others are reason proud. In their own estimation they are so wise, so scientific, so learned, that they think themselves independent of a revelation from God. Yet how often, even in their own scientific sphere, do such men mistake fancy for fact, and substance for shadow.
(3) The secret and substantial cause of this repugnance on the part of many to Divine things lies also in the condition into which sin has brought human nature. The Gospel gives a humiliating estimate of mans condition, as being radically corrupt; and its doctrine of redemption from that condition by the merit and sufferings of Christ, also the moral purity of heart and life upon which it insists, if we are ever to know a higher station, these truths are repugnant to the sinful nature of man, and hence he despises them.
II. Stupid fascination. They worshipped the sun toward the east. The sun is an object of surpassing glory. It is the most sublime material emblem of God. The Lord God is a sun–as He, the sun, is an object of resistless splendour; it is the source of life, of order, of beauty, of fruitfulness, the bright-eyed monarch of the world, the great wonder worker, seer of all the skies. But it is material and must perish. Adoration of the material and neglect of the spiritual is far too common a practice in our day; but to follow a multitude in evil-doing does not make our sin any the less great. Science and philosophy are all very good when kept in their place. But what will it avail men if they are able to define natures laws, if they know not natures God? What avail if they are familiar with all rocks, yet have never known Him who is as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land? The laws of nature are like so many windows in the dark opaque walls of this world, through which we can have a transient glance at God and eternity . . . But over these windows infidelity draws down the blinds and shuts God out. In Athens of old the human intellect obtained its most subtle skill, attuned itself to the most perfect music of human expression, and with what result? Did philosophy, art, or science lift the Athenians nearer God? Nay, the whole city was given up to idolatry. Men deified their own works, and corrupted themselves by their worship. The city became like the cesspool of the world, and has tainted the morals of successive centuries. Are nature and art destitute of moral power, then? No; yet they did not make the Athenians holy, gave them no victory over themselves, brought them no nearer to God. No objects which address themselves merely to the intellect or fancy of man can do this. Mans first wants are deeper than these can touch; he has a spirit, a soul, and only as he comes in contact with Gods Spirit can he rise; no lever but the Gospel can effectually lift up humanity. Let us first give our hearts to God, and then by Nature, as well as by Scripture, He will give us much instruction concerning Himself. He will speak to us in every primrose and daisy, and whisper to us in every breath of morning air. Demosthenes may have his inferior orations; Shakespeare his inferior histories, comedies, or tragedies; and Milton may fail in his Paradise Regained to equal his Paradise Lost; but God can have no inferior productions: Nature is as perfect as Scripture. Yet God in Christ is alone to be the object of our souls worship, and the great Sacrifice of Calvary the ground of our souls hope. (W. Williams.)
To provoke Me to anger.–
Greatness of sin
1. The greatness or littleness of sin is to be measured, not by mans, but Gods account of it. Is it a light thing to the house of Judah? They think it so, but it is otherwise. The interrogation sets out the greatness of it. Is it so? no, it is not light, but grievous.
2. To sin where God manifests His presence, and vouchsafes the means of grace and choice mercies, is a great aggravation of sin, and grievous provocation of Divine majesty.
3. Violence is a spreading sin.
4. Injustice is abomination unto God, and the more it spreads, the greater abomination it is.
5. State oppression and church corruption go together. If there be violence in a land, there will be corruptions, pollutions, abominations in the sanctuary.
6. Mens intentions to please God oft prove provocations of God. They intended not to provoke God, but returned in their apprehensions to worship God in the temple, and to please Him; not their purpose, but the event was the provocation. So in verse 6, their abominations drave God far from the sanctuary. They did not purpose and intend to drive God away, but that was the event and issue of their actions, with which they thought they pleased God. (W. Greenhill, M. A.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Besides these thou hast seen, thou shalt again see great abominations. Or if the expression be strictly comparative, then these latter wickednesses may be accounted greater, because acted in a more sacred place.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15, 16. The next are “greaterabominations,” not in respect to the idolatry, but in respect tothe place and persons committing it. In “the inner court,”immediately before the door of the temple of Jehovah, between theporch and the altar, where the priests advanced only on extraordinaryoccasions (Joe 2:17),twenty-five men (the leaders of the twenty-four courses or orders ofthe priests, 1Ch 24:18; 1Ch 24:19,with the high priest, “the princes of the sanctuary,” Isa43:28), representing the whole priesthood, as the seventy eldersrepresented the people, stood with their backs turned on the temple,and their faces towards the east, making obeisance to the rising sun(contrast 1Ki 8:44).Sun-worship came from the Persians, who made the sun the eye of theirgod Ormuzd. It existed as early as Job (Job31:26; compare De 4:19).Josiah could only suspend it for the time of his reign (2Ki 23:5;2Ki 23:11); it revived under hissuccessors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said he unto me, hast thou seen [this], O son of man?…. This shocking piece of idolatry, women weeping for Tammuz:
turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these; or, “great abominations besides these” f.
f “abominationes magnas praeter istas”, Calvin.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here the Prophet refers to another profanation of the temple, since the chief citizens of Jerusalem and those who ought to point out the way to others, prostituted themselves to impious worship, lie says, therefore, that he saw about five and twenty men, and it is probable, that there were as many as this among the first rank of citizens. But a certain number is put for an uncertain, and I think that the Prophet. was not so scrupulous on this point, or rather the Spirit of God, who showed that number in the vision; whatever it was, they not only worshipped the sun in private houses, but in the temple itself, and that not without gross and pointed contempt of God. For when they turned their back upon the sanctuary, they made a laughing-stock of God. It hence appears, that they were of so daring a front, that they openly boasted in their superstitions, and purposely polluted God’s temple. This, indeed, was monstrous, to see the elders of the city, and those practiced in the teaching and worship of the law, so alienated from all piety as to worship the sun. For this could not happen through either error or ignorance. For God in his law when he forbids the worship of the sun and stars, adds as a reason, that the whole celestial host was created for our use. (Deu 17:3.) Since, therefore, the sun is our servant and the moon our handmaid, and the stars also were created to serve us, it is preposterous to depart from the divinely ordained order, that the sun which was given us to spend his time in our service should be to us a god. Since, therefore, God has borne witness to this in his law, there was no excuse for error when the Jews adored towards the east.
Now he adds also another grosser dishonor done to God, when they turned their backs upon his sanctuary. They could, as I have said, pollute themselves at home and in conceal-merit with such defilements. But while they came of their own accord into the temple, it is just as if they provoked God by open daring, Now, when they turn their back, this is not only a foul denial but a contempt of God, as if they had said, that he was unworthy of their respect. Now, therefore, we see the whole force of the passage. But he says, turn yet again, and thou shalt see great abominations: some translate greater, as I have formerly mentioned, but I do not think it suitable. I do not contend for it, but if a reason is asked why this abomination is greater than others, it is not clear to me; hence I prefer to take it more simply in the positive degree. Nor is it an objection to this that מאלה , maleh, is added, for מ is not always taken comparatively; but as I think it means only, as if God had said, you will see other abominations besides those of which mention has been already made. But he points out the place of the temple where they worshipped the sun, namely, between the porch and the altar. This was the sign of great impiety to break into the holy place, and from thence to despise God. Now we know this to be a sign of lawful adoration, when the faithful turned their eyes to the sanctuary and the ark of the covenant, but when they turned their backs upon it, there is no doubt that they professedly wished to boast in a contempt of God and the law. It already appears, that they had adopted various and numberless forms of superstition. In Egypt they had not seen the worship of the sun, nor do we read that such worship was in use in Chaldea; but because they heard that the Persians and other Orientals worshipped the sun as a god, they imitated their custom. Therefore we see, that from these people they heaped up rites for themselves, so as to make an immense assemblage. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
15. Greater abominations It is suggestive that while the “weeping for Tammuz” in the heat of summer or beginning of winter seems to have been marked by some self-restraint; in the spring, when Tammuz with all nature was supposed to come back again to passionate life, there was scarcely any limit to the licentiousness permitted and even probably prescribed by the ritual. The lascivious worship of Tammuz (Adonis) including the wailing, etc., dates back to the Gilgamish epic 2300 B.C. in which the passion of Ishtar is set forth with many disgusting details. Even much earlier than this, the unchaste worship of Ishtar was popular at Erech and Niffur. In some ruins entire walls have been found built of phallic emblems. ( Zeits. fur Assyriologie, 6:3339. Yet, against this, see Jastrow, p. 673.) Many prayers to Ishtar are in existence like that of Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 605-562), “Enlarge my seed, multiply my offspring in the midst of my harem.” The texts have encouraged the belief that the ancient tradition was all too true, that no woman could expect the favor of the deity without the sacrifice of her chastity. In Ezekiel’s day, as in the days of Herodotus, it is probable that every native woman had to enter, at least once in her life, the temple of the unchaste goddess, and must there sit down and unite herself to any stranger who should throw her a silver coin and lead her away. (Maspero, Dawn of History, 1896, p. 640.) And this unspeakable abomination Ezekiel now sees in vision in Jehovah’s temple! Compare Milton’s description:
Thammuz came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer’s day;
Whose wanton passions on the sacred porch
Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,
His eyes surveyed the dark idolatries
Of alienated Judah.
Paradise Lost, 1: 446, etc.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.” ’
The piling up of abominations continues, and the true state of Jerusalem religiously is revealed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1098
HIDDEN ABOMINATIONS EXPOSED
Eze 8:15. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shall see greater abominations than these.
MAN is ready to complain of Gods judgments, as though they were unmerited or severe. But God will be justified in his sayings, and will overcome when he is judged [Note: Rom 3:4.]. The captives in Babylon thought that God had dealt hardly with them. God therefore gave to the Prophet Ezekiel, who was amongst the captives there, a vision of what was at that very time transacting in the temple at Jerusalem, notwithstanding the judgments that had been inflicted on them. This was the sixth year of king Jehoiakims captivity; and yet did the remnant of the people in Jerusalem continue as impenitent as ever. It was on account of their idolatries that God had given them over into the hands of the Chaldeans: yet was idolatry practised at Jerusalem in all its most hateful and abominable forms, even by the priests and elders, who ought to have exerted their authority to repress it. They laboured, indeed, to conceal their impiety from common observation; and therefore they built a wall to obstruct the common entrance into the place where they assembled: but the prophet, in his vision, spied a hole in the wall, which he was directed to enlarge, so as to get access to the door; and then on entering at the door, he saw every form of creeping things and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about, and seventy elders, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan at their head, offering clouds of incense to them [Note: ver. 711.]. Being directed then to go to another part of the temple, he saw still greater abominations, even a multitude of women sitting, weeping for Tammuz, some deified monster of iniquity [Note: ver. 13, 14.]. Then, in the passage which I have read, he was told, that, on going to another part of the temple, he should see greater abominations still. Accordingly, he went into the inner court of the temple, and there saw about five-and-twenty men, with their backs towards that part of the temple where the holy of holies was, and which was the more immediate residence of the Deity, and worshipping the sun towards the east [Note: ver. 15, 16.]. The Lord then appeals to the prophet, whether there was not abundant reason for the judgments which he had inflicted on the nation; and declares his determination to chastise them with yet greater severity; Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? Therefore will I deal with them in fury: 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 [Note: ver. 17, 18.].
In its primary sense, this passage doubtless refers only to the Jews; and to them at the period here specified. But, when we consider that the deportation of the Jewish people into captivity, their subsequent deliverance from that captivity, and their restoration to their own land, were all typical of what yet passes in the world, and in the Church, and in the heart, we feel authorized so far to accommodate the words of our text to existing circumstances, as to take occasion from them to point out the hidden abominations which may be discovered from a closer inspection of,
I.
The world
The abominations that are visible to all are exceeding great
[It is not possible to have the least intercourse with the world, and not see that iniquity abounds on every side. In truth, the whole world lieth in wickedness, or under the power of the Wicked-one [Note: 1Jn 5:19. .] ]
But the more we know of the world, the more wicked will it appear
[A person who looks only on the outward appearance of things would be ready to think that St. Pauls description of mankind is a libel on human nature. But the picture which he draws is indeed but too accurate. Men like not to retain God in their knowledge; and therefore he gives them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; who, knowing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them [Note: Rom 1:27-32.]. There is no abomination that was ever practised amongst the most abandoned of mankind in former ages, but may still be found, nearly, if not altogether, to the same extent as ever. Where Christianity has diffused its light, these deeds of darkness are kept from common observation: but human nature is the same in every age; and the god of this world exercises over it the same despotic sway as ever [Note: Eph 2:2.].]
The same humiliating truth may be applied also to,
II.
The Church
The outward-court worshippers are, for the most part, exceedingly corrupt
[Let any one dispassionately survey the principles and practices of the Church of Rome; and then say, whether the abominations of that Church will not be found abundant, in proportion as the scrutiny is minute. What is the very foundation of the whole edifice of Popery, but a compound of pride, ambition, covetousness, fraud, cruelty? The doctrine of merit is at the root of all. The heads of that Church have no object in view but to promote their own secular interests and power. They draw from the votaries of their religion all which they can by any means exact. A system of lying wonders is maintained, to delude their followers: and the most horrible cruelties are exercised towards those who submit not to their impious ordinances and institutions. The Heathen themselves are not more flagrant in their idolatries, than they who exalt the Virgin Mother above their Incarnate God.
I say these things in reference to the Romish Church, because the ear of Protestants is open to receive the truth in relation to a Church from which they have separated. But, if Protestant Churches are freed from some of the grosser abominations of Popery, are they not on a par with Papists themselves in relation to the evils from which Popery has sprung? Do we not find Protestants, whether priests or people, as secularized as any of the votaries of Popery can be? Do we not find them as full of pride, ambition, covetousness, fraud, cruelty, as Papists themselves, only not exercising these dispositions exactly in the same way? The truth is, that, amongst the generality of Christians, there is little found except the name: and that, if they had been brought up as heathens, they would have occupied much the same place in the scale of morals, as they do at this hour.]
Would to God we could except from this censure the worshippers of the inner court!
[On the two first occasions, the prophet was directed to the outer court of the temple; but, on the last, God himself, in his vision, brought him to the inner court of the Lords house [Note: ver. 16.]. Come we, then, to inspect that part of the Church which professes more of sanctity, and boasts of greater nearness to God. Are there no abominations to be found there? Are there no evil practices indulged by those who would be thought to excel in piety? It is well, perhaps, that the world do not know all that passes in the secret inclosures of the temple: for they would be far more stumbled than they are by the inconsistencies and impieties which would there be found. They do wrong, indeed, in casting reflections on religion, on account of the faults of those who profess it. To speak evil of the way of truth [Note: 2Pe 2:2.], and to blaspheme the name of God [Note: Rom 2:24.], on account of the falls of professors, is absurd in the extreme: for religion discountenances evil of every kind; and, as far as it prevails in the soul, it restrains evil. And therefore whilst I open the abominations of the inner court, I solemnly guard all against imputing them to religion, or thinking less favourably of religion on account of them. But it must be confessed, that, amongst religious professors, there are multitudes who walk unworthy of their holy profession; multitudes, who are as worldly and as covetous in their desires, as destitute of truth and honesty in their dealings: yea, and as corrupt and vicious in their practices, as the ungodly world. Those who have seen the interior of religious societies, and witnessed the proud domineering spirit of some, the conceit and forwardness of others, the bigotry of others, the hypocrisies, envyings, evil-speakings of others, the lying and dishonesty of others, the lewdness and impurity of others; in a word, those who know the most of what is called the religious world, will have seen, to their grief and shame, that the evils of the seven Asiatic Churches are far from being yet excluded from the fold of Christ: there are yet wolves in sheeps clothing, many who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; and, though professedly of the Church of Christ, are yet, in truth, of the synagogue of Satan [Note: Rev 3:9.]. God knoweth, that, in declaring these things, we would be glad to be found false witnesses, and to retract our assertions, if the truth of them were not unhappily established beyond all possibility of doubt.]
It is yet further applicable to,
III.
The heart
This, as the prophet tells us, is superlatively deceitful
[There is not any thing which we greatly affect, but the heart will find out some special reason for doing it: nor are we called to any thing that will thwart our inclinations, and obstruct our interests, but it will furnish us with some convenient pretext for declining to make the sacrifice. It has a great deal of ingenuity, in covering the malignity of what is evil, and in discharging us from the obligation of what is good [Note: Isa 5:20.]. By the substitution of a name, it operates a change in our views of any action, as much as if it changed the quality of the action itself. Under its guidance, covetousness becomes a just regard for ones family; bigotry, a holy zeal; cowardice, a prudential care. Peter thought with himself, perhaps, to benefit the circumcision, when he constrained the Gentiles to submit to Jewish ordinances; whereas he was beguiled by a fear of that resentment which the Judaizing teachers were likely to manifest, if he did not comply with their wishes: and Barnabas too, and other holy Jews, were carried away by his dissimulation [Note: Gal 2:12-13.]. There is no man who is not at times betrayed by it into some line of conduct, which, on a more calm and disinterested view of it, is found to have been injudicious: and we often find that the motives for which we gave ourselves credit were only a delusion of Satan, operating under the semblance of an angel of light [Note: 2Co 11:14.].]
It is also, as the same prophet informs us, unsearchably wicked [Note: Jer 17:9.]
[The corruptions of it are, for depth, unfathomable; for number, countless; for enormity, surpassing all conception. None but the heart-searching God himself can know it. Let any one mark, for one single day, the workings of his heart, and the thoughts which pass through it; and he will be perfectly amazed, that a creature, sensible in some measure of his obligations to God, and desirous to serve him, should, in despite of all his endeavours to purify himself, be so corrupt. But, after having accomplished the most diligent search, and renewed it ever so often, he will be very far from having attained a perfect self-knowledge; and circumstances will still arise, that shall bring fresh corruptions to light, or place their workings in a new point of view: so that, on turning again to view some corner unexplored, he shall find more and greater abominations than before.]
Behold then here
1.
The folly of man
[The Jews in the temple, having concealed themselves by a wall from the eyes of men, and practising their abominations; in the dark chambers of their imagery, supposed that they were hidden from the eyes of God also. They said, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth [Note: ver. 12.]. But God saw them, and directed the prophet how to get a sight of them also. And can we suppose that God does not see us, or that he will not record our ways in the book of his remembrance? Be it known to you, my brethren, that there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves [Note: Job 34:22.]. God knows the things that come into our mind, every one of them [Note: Eze 11:5.]; and He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart [Note: 1Co 4:5.].Settle it then in your minds, that Gods eye is over you; and never presume to do that in darkness which you would be ashamed to have proclaimed upon the house-tops.]
2.
The forbearance of God
[What does God behold! All the iniquity that is committed upon the face of the whole earth is seen by him completely, in all its bearings, and with all its aggravations. How wonderful must be his patience, that he can bear thus with us, under such an accumulated load of guilt! We wonder not that he once destroyed the earth with a deluge, or once poured fire and brimstone on the cities of the plain: the wonder is, that these judgments have not been so repeated, as utterly to destroy the whole human race. To go no further than to our own individual state: that man can know little of himself, who is not utterly amazed that he is at this moment an inhabitant of earth, and not doomed, long since, to endure all the pains and miseries of hell. Let then this patience and long-suffering and forbearance no longer be despised; but let the goodness of our God lead us to repentance [Note: Rom 2:4.].]
3.
The wonders of redeeming love
[This is the world for which God has given his only-begotten Son. This is the world for which the Lord Jesus Christ left the bosom of his Father, and came down to earth, that he might bleed and die. Nor in this whole world is there a single individual, who, if he repent and believe in Jesus, shall not find acceptance with his God. Not one should be cast out; no, not one: Though his sins were red as crimson, they should be white as snow. What wonders of love are here! Who can ever comprehend their height and depth, their length and breadth? Search into them ever so deeply, and contemplate them ever so minutely, and we will say without hesitation, Turn again, and you shall see greater wonders than these. Indeed, to all eternity will they be unfolding to us, with ever-augmented light and evidence; and to all eternity will they be to us an ever-increasing source of joy and blessedness. To contemplate them here, is the way to be filled with all the fulness of grace [Note: Eph 3:18-19.]; and to contemplate them in heaven, will be to us a fulness of glory for evermore [Note: Rev 5:8-13.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Here is a picture, which holds forth the most finished representation of all. Here are about five and twenty men, with an uncovered front, got absolutely between the Porch and the Altar; that sacred spot, where the priests, the ministers of the Lord, presented themselves before the Lord, on the days of humiliation: (See Joe 2:17 .) and as if it were not enough to withhold worship from the Lord, they turn their backs toward the temple, and their faces toward the east, to bow down to the creature of the Lord, even the sun, while standing with an unbent knee before the Creator, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. As these five and twenty men are said to be between the Porch and the Altar, there can be but little question but that they were the priests. So awful, so tremendously awful, was this abomination! And now the Lord makes an appeal to the Prophet, and shows the justice of his cause, in the vengeance that follows. And who but must acknowledge it, when he beholds all Israel, with the elders, and the women; the priests, and the people; all given to idolatry!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Ver. 15. Hast thou seen this? ] q.d., And canst thou easily believe thine own eyes? Nevertheless, these flagitious persons have the face to say, “In all my doings they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.” Hos 13:8 Say not Popish idolaters still as much?
Thou shalt see greater abominations.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Hast: Eze 8:6, Eze 8:12, 2Ti 3:13
greater: Eze 8:9, Eze 8:13
Reciprocal: Psa 8:4 – son Eze 7:20 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 8:15. The prophet is informed that he is yet to see another display of idolatry being practiced by the peopie of Judea.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 8:15-16. Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations These latter wickednesses may be accounted greater, because they were acted in a more sacred place. And he brought me into the inner court The court next the temple, namely, that of the priests. And, behold, at the door of the temple At that door through which there was an entrance into the porch of the temple, from the altar of burnt- sacrifices. Before, he saw the abominations committed in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. Were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple, &c. In contempt of God and his worship they turned their backs toward his sanctuary, and their faces toward the sun; according to the custom of the Chaldeans, Persians, and other eastern nations who worshipped the sun. Lowth thinks Hezekiah might allude to some idolatrous practice of this kind, in that confession of his, recorded 2Ch 29:6, Our fathers have forsaken him, and turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. They turned their back to God, and not the face, as Jeremiah expresses their contempt toward him, Jer 2:27. To prevent even the appearance of this, the people were commanded to come into the courts of the temple at the north or southern gates when they came to worship, that they might not, at their return, turn their backs upon God: see Eze 46:9. God ordered the holy of holies, in his temple, to be placed toward the west, in opposition to this species of heathen idolatry, which consisted in worshipping the rising sun. And the pious Jews always turned their faces toward the temple when they worshipped.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Lord made sure Ezekiel saw the women, but He also assured him that he would see even greater abominations than these things.