Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 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 me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
1. the sixth month] The first vision of the prophet was in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity and in the fourth month (Eze 1:1); the present one a year and two months later. LXX. reads fifth month, and many modern scholars accept this reading, arguing that the Heb. date is due to some copyist or reader who wished to leave room for the number of days during which the prophet had to lie on his side (ch. Eze 4:5; Eze 4:9). The copyist must have been an indifferent arithmetician, for 7 (Eze 3:15) + 390 + 40 (ch. Eze 4:5-6) = 437, while a lunar year and two months, 354 + 59 = 413 days. The discrepancies between the Heb. and LXX. dates are not easy to explain.
elders of Judah ] Ch. Eze 14:1. “Certain of the elders of Israel.” The meaning appears from ch. Eze 11:25, “So I spake to them of the captivity all the things which the Lord had shewed me.” The community at Tel Abib were probably permitted to have a certain internal government of their own. In the “elders” before him the prophet sees represented not so much the captivity as the whole “house of Israel.” On “hand of the Lord,” cf. ch. Eze 1:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 3. The trance in presence of the elders. The prophet, abiding in his house (ch. Eze 3:25), was visited by the elders of the captivity among whom he dwelt. They probably came to consult him regarding the affairs at home and the prospects of the city. Thrown into a state of excitation by their words or by their presence he fell into a trance. The vision of the God of Israel again appeared to him, for this thought of Jehovah chiefly occupied his mind and led to all his other thoughts, and he was carried away in the spirit to Jerusalem; and there the manifold idolatries of the people were shewn him. Two chief thoughts appear expressed by the symbolism; first, by making the “glory” of Jehovah appear in Jerusalem the prophet points the contrast between the glorious God whom the people had abandoned and the debased forms of worship to which they had addicted themselves, and also implies that this worship was done in the face of Jehovah, “to provoke the eyes of his glory” (Isa 3:8); and secondly, when Jehovah himself shews the idolatrous practices of the people, we see, what is characteristic of the prophet, the effort to throw himself into the consciousness, so to speak, of Jehovah, and look out at things from his mind, he being who he is. It would be a mistake to regard the details here given as due entirely to literary artifice; there is no doubt a foundation of reality under them, though when in after years the prophet reflected on the facts and recorded them he gave them great expansion and embellishment.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The elders of Judah – The prophets fellow-exiles are no longer unwilling to hear him Eze 2:1-10. They sat as mourners. The message here is not as in Eze 6:2, but distinctly to Judah, that portion of the people whose exile Ezekiel shared.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Eze 8:1-4
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel.
Gods presence a reproof to His idolatrous people
Two chief thoughts appear expressed by the symbolism; first, by making the glory of Jehovah appear in Jerusalem, the prophet points the contrast between the glorious God whom the people had abandoned and the debased forms of worship to which they had addicted themselves, and also implies that this worship was done in the face of Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory (Isa 3:8): and secondly, when Jehovah Himself shows the idolatrous practices of the people, we see, what is characteristic of the prophet, the effort to throw himself into the consciousness, so to speck, of Jehovah, and look out at things from His mind, He being who He is. (A. B. Davidson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER VIII
Here begins a section of prophecy extending to the twelfth
chapter. In this chapter the prophet is carried in vision to
Jerusalem, 1-4;
and there shown the idolatries committed by the rulers of the
Jews, even within the temple. In the beginning of this vision,
by the noblest stretch of an inspired imagination, idolatry
itself is personified, and made an idol; and the image
sublimely called, from the provocation it gave God, the
IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, 5.
The prophet then proceeds to describe the three principal
superstitions of this unhappy people: the Egyptian, 6-12,
the Phoenician, 13, 14,
and the Persian, 15, 16;
giving the striking features of each, and concluding with a
declaration of the heinousness of their sins in the sight of
God, and the consequent greatness of their punishment, 17, 18.
NOTES ON CHAP. VIII
Verse 1. In the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month] This, according to Abp. Usher, was the sixth year of Ezekiel’s captivity. The sixth day of the fifth month of the ecclesiastical year, which answers to August A.M. 3410.
This chapter and the three following contain but one vision, of which I judge it necessary, with Calmet, to give a general idea, that the attention of the reader may not be too much divided.
The prophet, in the visions of God, is carried to Jerusalem, to the northern gate of the temple, which leads by the north side to the court of the priests. There he sees the glory of the Lord in the same manner as he did by the river Chebar. At one side he sees the image of jealousy. Going thence to the court of the people, he sees through an opening in the wall seventy elders of the people, who were worshipping all sorts of beasts and reptiles, which were painted on the wall. Being brought thence to the gate of the door of the house, he saw women weeping for Tammuz or Adonis. As he returned to the court of the priests, between the porch and the altar, he saw twenty-five men with their backs to the sanctuary and their faces towards the east, worshipping the rising sun. This is the substance of the vision contained in the eighth chapter.
About the same time he saw six men come from the higher gate with swords in their hands; and among them, one with an ink-horn. Then the Divine Presence left the cherubim, and took post at the entrance of the temple, and gave orders to the man with the ink-horn to put a mark on the foreheads of those who sighed and prayed because of the abominations of the land; and then commanded the men with the swords to go forward, and slay every person who had not this mark. The prophet, being left alone among the dead, fell on his face, and made intercession for the people. The Lord gives him the reason of his conduct; and the man with the ink-horn returns, and reports to the Lord what was done. These are the general contents of the ninth chapter.
The Lord commands the same person to go in between the wheels of the cherubim, and take his hand full of live coals, and scatter them over the city. He went as commanded, and one of the cherubim gave him the coals; at the same time the glory of the Lord, that had removed to the threshold of the house, now returned, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim, wheels, wings, c., are here described as in the first chapter. This is the substance of the tenth chapter.
The prophet then finds himself transported to the east gate of the temple, where he saw twenty-five men, and among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people, against whom the Lord commands him to prophesy, and to threaten them with the utmost calamities, because of their crimes. Afterwards God himself speaks, and shows that the Jews who should be left in the land should be driven out because of their iniquities, and that those who had been led captive, and who acknowledged their sins and repented of them, should be restored to their own land. Then the glory of the Lord arose out of the city, and rested for a time on one of the mountains on the east of Jerusalem, and the prophet being carried in vision by the Spirit to Chaldea, lost sight of the chariot of the Divine glory, and began to show to the captivity what the Lord had shown to him. This is the substance of the eleventh chapter.
We may see from all this what induced the Lord to abandon his people, his city, and his temple the abominations of the people in public and in private. But because those carried away captives with Jeconiah acknowledged their sins, and their hearts turned to the Lord, God informs them that they shall be brought back and restored to a happy state both in temporal and spiritual matters, while the others, who had filled up the measure of their iniquities, should be speedily brought into a state of desolation and ruin. This is the sum and intent of the vision in these four chapters.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the sixth year of Jeconiahs captivity. In the sixth month; they had been almost seven years in captivity, it was Elul, or our August.
In the fifth day of the month; the sabbath day, as Eze 1:2.
As I sat in my house; abode in my house, probably he lay on his side, the three hundred and ninety days not yet expired.
The elders of Judah, the chief of those that were now in captivity, sat before me; they were come either to spend the sabbath in religious exercises, such as the present state of affairs permitted, to hear somewhat from the prophets mouth, expounding the law or declaring their duty, or to inquire what would become of their brethren in Jerusalem, whether they should be subdued and captivated, or whether there were any good news for them from heaven, and how they should behave themselves in these sad times.
The hand of the Lord; the Spirit of prophecy exerted itself with a mighty Divine power, which enlightened me at that very time, and in that very place: see Eze 1:8.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. sixth yearnamely, of thecaptivity of Jehoiachin, as in Eze1:2, the “fifth year” is specified. The lying on hissides three hundred ninety and forty days (Eze 4:5;Eze 4:6) had by this time beencompleted, at least in vision. That event was naturally amemorable epoch to the exiles; and the computation of years from itwas to humble the Jews, as well as to show their perversity in nothaving repented, though so long and severely chastised.
eldersnamely, thosecarried away with Jehoiachin, and now at the Chebar.
sat before meto hearthe word of God from me, in the absence of the temple and otherpublic places of Sabbath worship, during the exile (Eze 33:30;Eze 33:31). It was so orderedthat they were present at the giving of the prophecy, and so leftwithout excuse.
hand of . . . Lord God fell .. . upon meGod’s mighty operation fell, like athunderbolt, upon me (in Eze1:3, it is less forcible, “was upon him”); whatever,therefore, he is to utter is not his own, for he has put off the mereman, while the power of God reigns in him [CALVIN].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], in the fifth [day] of the month,…. This was the sixth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin; the sixth month was the month Elul, which answers to part of August, and part of September. The Septuagint and Arabic versions wrongly render it, the fifth month. The fifth day of the month is thought to have been the sabbath day, which seems probable by what follows; this was just a year and two months from the first vision, Eze 1:1;
[as] I sat in mine house; in Chaldea, by the river Chebar; he was now sitting, the time of lying on his side, both right and left, being now up, even four hundred and thirty days. It was in the fifth year, and on the fifth of Tammuz, that the first vision was; seven days the prophet sat with them of the captivity at Telabib; at the end of which he was ordered to lie on his side; first on his left side three hundred ninety days, and then on his right side forty days: now reckoning from the middle of Tammuz, to the fifth of Elul in the sixth year, were but, as Kimchi observes, four hundred days; but this being, as another Jewish writer says r, an intercalated year, by the intercalation of a month, which consisted of thirty days, the whole number was completed, and the prophet was now sitting: or it may be this position is observed, because he was now teaching and instructing the people, which was frequently done sitting; [See comments on Mt 5:1]; and this in his own private house, being now in captivity, and having neither temple nor synagogue to teach in;
and the elders of Judah sat before me; to hear the word of the Lord from his mouth, the law explained, or any fresh prophecy delivered by him; or to have his advice and counsel in their present circumstances. These were the elders of Judah that were carried captive along with Jehoiachin; though some think they were those that were at Jerusalem, and that all this was only in a visionary way; but the former sense seems most agreeable; seeing this was previous to the vision, and with what goes before describes the time, place, and witnesses of the vision;
that the hand of the Lord fell there upon me; which the Targum interprets of the spirit of prophecy, which came with power upon him: it denotes the energy and efficacy of the Spirit of God in throwing him into an ecstasy, and acting upon him, and revealing to him the things he did; which are related in the following verses.
r Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 73. Vid. Kimchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Abominations of the Idolatry of the House of Israel
Time and place of the divine revelation. – Eze 8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth (month), on the fifth (day) of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; there fell upon me the hand of the Lord Jehovah there. Eze 8:2. And I saw, and behold a figure like the look of fire, from the look of its loins downwards fire, and from its loins upwards like a look of brilliance, like the sight of red-hot brass. Eze 8:3. And he stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the locks of my head, and wind carried me away between earth and heaven, and brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God, to the entrance of the gate of the inner court, which faces towards the north, where the image of jealousy exciting jealousy had its stand. Eze 8:4. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision which I have seen in the valley. – The place where Ezekiel received this new theophany agrees with the statements in Eze 3:24 and Eze 4:4, Eze 4:6, that he was to shut himself up in his house, and lie 390 days upon the left side, and 40 days upon the right side – in all, 430 days. The use of the word , “I sat,” is not at variance with this, as does not of necessity signify sitting as contrasted with lying, but may also be used in the more general sense of staying, or living, in the house. Nor is the presence of the elders of Judah opposed to the command, in Eze 3:24, to shut himself up in the house, as we have already observed in the notes on that passage. The new revelation is made to him in the presence of these elders, because it is of the greatest importance to them. They are to be witnesses of his ecstasy; and after this has left the prophet, are to hear from his lips the substance of the divine revelation (Eze 11:25). It is otherwise with the time of the revelation. If we compare the date given in Eze 8:1 with those mentioned before, this new vision apparently falls within the period required for carrying out the symbolical actions of the previous vision. Between Eze 1:1-2 (the fifth day of the fourth month in the fifth year) and Eze 8:1 (the fifth day of the sixth month in the sixth year) we have one year and two months, that is to say (reckoning the year as a lunar year at 354 days, and the two months at 59 days), 413 days; whereas the two events recorded in Ezekiel 1-7 require at least 437 days, namely 7 days for Eze 3:15, and 390 + 40 = 430 days for Eze 4:5-6. Consequently the new theophany would fall within the 40 days, during which Ezekiel was to lie upon the right side for Judah. To get rid of this difficulty, Hitzig conjectures that the fifth year of Jehoiachin (Eze 1:2) was a leap year of 13 months or 385 days, by which he obtains an interval of 444 days after adding 59 for the two months, – a period sufficient not only to include the 7 days (Eze 3:15) and 390 + 40 days (Eze 4:5-6), but to leave 7 days for the time that elapsed between Ezekiel 7 and 8. But however attractive this reckoning may appear, the assumption that the fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin was a leap year is purely conjectural; and there is nothing whatever to give it probability. Consequently the only thing that could lead us to adopt such a solution, would be the impossibility of reconciling the conclusion to be drawn from the chronological data, as to the time of the two theophanies, with the substance of these divine revelations.
If we assume that Ezekiel carried out the symbolical acts mentioned in Ezekiel 4 and 5 in all their entirety, we can hardly imagine that the vision described in the chapters before us, by which he was transported in spirit to Jerusalem, occurred within the period of forty days, during which he was to typify the siege of Jerusalem by lying upon his right side. Nevertheless, Kliefoth has decided in favour of this view, and argues in support of it, that the vision described in Eze 8:1. took place in the prophet’s own house, that it is identical in substance with what is contained in Ezekiel 3:22-7:27, and that there is no discrepancy, because all that occurred here was purely internal, and the prophet himself was to address the words contained in Eze 11:4-12 and Eze 11:14-21 to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in his state of ecstasy. Moreover, when it is stated in Eze 11:25 that Ezekiel related to the exiles all that he had seen in the vision, it is perfectly open to us to assume that this took place at the same time as his report to them of the words of God in Eze 6:1-14 and 7, and those which follow in Ezekiel 12. But. on the other hand, it may be replied that the impression produced by Eze 11:25 is not that the prophet waited several weeks after his visionary transport to Jerusalem before communicating to the elders what he saw in the vision. And even if the possibility of this cannot be disputed, we cannot imagine any reason why the vision should be shown to the prophet four weeks before it was to be related to the exiles. Again, there is not sufficient identity between the substance of the vision in Ezekiel 8-11 and the revelation in Ezekiel 4-7, to suggest any motive for the two to coincide. It is true that the burning of Jerusalem, which Ezekiel sees in Ezekiel 8-11, is consequent upon the siege and conquest of that city, which he has already predicted in Ezekiel 4-7 both in figure and word; but they are not so closely connected, that it was necessary on account of this connection for it to be shown to him before the completion of the symbolical siege of Jerusalem. And, lastly, although the ecstasy as a purely internal process is so far reconcilable with the prophet’s lying upon his right side, that this posture did not preclude a state of ecstasy or render it impossible, yet this collision would ensue, that while the prophet was engaged in carrying out the former word of God, a new theophany would be received by him, which must necessarily abstract his mind from the execution of the previous command of God, and place him in a condition in which it would be impossible for him to set his face firmly upon the siege of Jerusalem, as he had been commanded to do in Eze 4:7. On account of this collision, we cannot subscribe to the assumption, that it was during the time that Ezekiel was lying bound by God upon his right side to bear the sin of Jerusalem, that he was transported in spirit to the temple at Jerusalem. On the contrary, the fact that this transport occurred, according to Eze 8:1, at a time when he could not have ended the symbolical acts of Ezekiel 4, if he had been required to carry them out in all their external reality, furnishes us with conclusive evidence of the correctness of the view we have already expressed, that the symbolical acts of Ezekiel 4 and 5 did not lie within the sphere of outward reality (see comm. on Eze 5:4). – And if Ezekiel did not really lie for 430 days, there was nothing to hinder his having a fresh vision 14 months after the theophany in Ezekiel 1 and Eze 3:22. For ‘ , see at Eze 3:22 and Eze 1:3.
The figure which Ezekiel sees in the vision is described in Eze 8:2 in precisely the same terms as the appearance of God in Eze 1:27. The sameness of the two passages is a sufficient defence of the reading against the arbitrary emendation ‘ , after the Sept. rendering , in support of which Ewald and Hitzig appeal to Eze 1:26, though without any reason, as the reading there is not , but . It is not expressly stated here that the apparition was in human form – the fiery appearance is all that is mentioned; but this is taken for granted in the allusion to the (the loins), either as self-evident, or as well known from Ezekiel 1. is synonymous with in Eze 1:4, Eze 1:27. What is new in the present theophany is the stretching out of the hand, which grasps the prophet by the front hair of his head, whereupon he is carried by wind between heaven and earth, i.e., through the air, to Jerusalem, not in the body, but in visions of God (cf. Eze 1:1), that is to say, in spiritual ecstasy, and deposited at the entrance of the inner northern door of the temple. is not an adjective belonging to , for this is not a feminine noun, but is used as a substantive, as in Eze 43:5 (= : cf. Eze 40:40): gate of the inner court, i.e., the gate on the north side of the inner court which led into the outer court. We are not informed whether Ezekiel was placed on the inner or outer side of this gate, i.e., in the inner or outer court; but it is evident from Eze 8:5 that he was placed in the inner court, as his position commanded a view of the image which stood at the entrance of the gate towards the north. The further statement, “where the standing place of the image of jealousy was,” anticipates what follows, and points out the reason why the prophet was placed just there. The expression “image of jealousy” is explained by , which excites the jealousy of Jehovah (see the comm. on Exo 20:5). Consequently, we have not to think of any image of Jehovah, but of an image of a heathen idol (cf. Deu 32:21); probably of Baal or Asherah, whose image had already been placed in the temple by Manasseh (2Ki 21:7); certainly not the image of the corpse of Adonis moulded in wax or clay. This opinion, which Hvernick advances, is connected with the erroneous assumption that all the idolatrous abominations mentioned in this chapter relate to the celebration of an Adonis-festival in the temple. There (Eze 8:4) in the court of the temple Ezekiel saw once more the glory of the God of Israel, as he had seen it in the valley (Eze 3:22) by the Chaboras, i.e., the appearance of God upon the throne with the cherubim and wheels; whereas the divine figure, whose hand grasped him in his house, and transported him to the temple (Eze 8:2), showed neither throne nor cherubim. The expression “God of Israel,” instead of Jehovah (Eze 3:23), is chosen as an antithesis to the strange god, the heathen idol, whose image stood in the temple. As the God of Israel, Jehovah cannot tolerate the image and worship of another god in His temple. To set up such an image in the temple of Jehovah was a practical renunciation of the covenant, a rejection of Jehovah on the part of Israel as its covenant God.
Here, in the temple, Jehovah shows to the prophet the various kinds of idolatry which Israel is practising both publicly and privately, not merely in the temple, but throughout the whole land. The arrangement of these different forms of idolatry in four groups of abomination scenes (Eze 8:5, Eze 8:6, Eze 8:7-12, Eze 8:13-15, and Eze 8:16-18), which the prophet sees both in and from the court of the temple, belong to the visionary drapery of this divine revelation. It is altogether erroneous to interpret the vision as signifying that all these forms of idolatry were practised in the temple itself; an assumption which cannot be carried out without doing violence to the description, more especially of the second abomination in Eze 8:7-12. Still more untenable is Hvernick’s view, that the four pictures of idolatrous practices shown to the prophet are only intended to represent different scenes of a festival of Adonis held in the temple. The selection of the courts of the temple for depicting the idolatrous worship, arises from the fact that the temple was the place where Israel was called to worship the Lord its God. Consequently the apostasy of Israel from the Lord could not be depicted more clearly and strikingly than by the following series of pictures of idolatrous abominations practised in the temple under the eyes of God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Vision of the Divine Glory. | B. C. 593. |
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 me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me. 2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. 3 And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. 4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. 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 of jealousy in the entry. 6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Ezekiel was now in Babylon; but the messages of wrath he had delivered in the foregoing chapters related to Jerusalem, for in the peace or trouble thereof the captives looked upon themselves to have peace or trouble, and therefore here he has a vision of what was done at Jerusalem, and this vision is continued to the close of the 11th chapter.
I. Here is the date of this vision. The first vision he had was in the fifth year of the captivity, in the fourth month and the fifth day of the month,Eze 1:1; Eze 1:2. This was just fourteen months after. Perhaps it was after he had lain 390 days on his left side, to bear the iniquity of Israel, and before he began the forty days on his right side, to bear the iniquity of Judah; for now he was sitting in the house, not lying. Note, God keeps a particular account of the messages he sends to us, because he will shortly call us to account about them.
II. The opportunity is taken notice of, as well as the time. 1. The prophet was himself sitting in his house, in a sedate composed frame, deep perhaps in contemplation. Note, The more we retreat from the world, and retire into our own hearts, the better frame we are in for communion with God: those that sit down to consider what they have learned shall be taught more. Or, he sat in his house, ready to preach to the company that resorted to him, but waiting for instructions what to say. God will communicate more knowledge to those who are communicative of what they do know. 2. The elders of Judah, that were now in captivity with him, sat before him. It is probable that it was on the sabbath day, and that it was usual for them to attend on the prophet every sabbath day, both to hear the word from him and to join with him and prayer and praise: and how could they spend the sabbath better, now that they had neither temple nor synagogue, neither priest nor altar? It was a great mercy that they had opportunity to spend it so well, as the good people in Elisha’s time, 2 Kings iv. 23. But some think it was on some extraordinary occasion that they attended him, to enquire of the Lord, and sat down at his feet to hear his word. Observe here, (1.) When the law had perished from the priests at Jerusalem, whose lips should keep knowledge (ch. vii. 26), those in Babylon had a prophet to consult. God is not tied to places or persons. (2.) Now that the elders of Judah were in captivity they paid more respect to God’s prophets, and his word in their mouth, than they did when they lived in peace in their own land. When God brings men into the cords of affliction, then he opens their ears to discipline,Job 36:8; Job 36:10; Psa 141:6. Those that despised vision in the valley of vision prized it now that the word of the Lord precious and there was no open vision. (3.) When our teachers are driven into corners, and are forced to preach in private houses, we must diligently attend them there. A minister’s house should be a church for all his neighbours. Paul preached in his own hired house at Rome, and God owned him there, and no man forbad him.
III. The divine influence and impression that the prophet was now under: The hand of the Lord fell there upon me. God’s hand took hold of him, and arrested him, as it were, to employ him in this vision, but at the same time supported him to bear it.
IV. The vision that the prophet saw, v. 2. He beheld a likeness, of a man we may suppose, for that was the likeness he saw before, but it was all brightness above the girdle and all fire below, fire and flame. This agrees with the description we had before of the apparition he saw, ch. i. 27. It is probably that it was the same person, the man Christ Jesus. It is probable that the elders that sat with him (as the men that journeyed with Paul) saw a light and were afraid, and this happy sight they gained by attending the prophet in a private meeting, but they had no distinct view of him that spoke to him, Acts xxii. 9.
V. The prophet’s remove, in vision, to Jerusalem. The apparition he saw put forth the form of a hand, which took him by a lock of his head, and the Spirit was that hand which was put forth, for the Spirit of God is called the finger of God. Or, The spirit within him lifted him up, so that he was borne up and carried on by an internal principle, not an external violence. A faithful ready servant of God will be drawn by a hair, by the least intimation of the divine will, to his duty; for he has that within him which inclines him to a compliance with it, Ps. xxvii. 8. He was miraculously lifted up between heaven and earth, as if he were to fly away upon eagles’ wings. This, it is probable (so Grotius thinks), the elders that sat with him saw; they were witnesses of the hand taking him by the lock of hair, and lifting him up, and then perhaps laying him down again in a trance of ecstasy, while he had the following visions, whether in the body or out of the body, we may suppose, he could not tell, any more than Paul in a like case, much less can we. Note, Those are best prepared for communion with God and the communications of divine light that by divine grace are raised up above the earth and the things of it, to be out of their attractive force. But, being lifted up towards heaven, he was carried in vision to Jerusalem, and to God’s sanctuary there; for those that would go to heaven must take that in their way. The Spirit represented to his mind the city and temple as plainly as if he had been there in person. O that by faith we could thus enter into the Jerusalem, the holy city, above, and see the things that are invisible!
VI. The discoveries that were made to him there.
1. There he saw the glory of God (v. 4): Behold, the glory of the god of Israel was there, the same appearance of the living creatures, and the wheels, and the throne, that he had seen, ch. i. Note, God’s servants, wherever they are and whithersoever they go, ought to carry about with them a believing regard to the glory of God and to set that always before them; and those that have seen God’s power and glory in the sanctuary should desire to see them again, so as they have seen them, Ps. lxiii. 2. Ezekiel has this repeated vision of the glory of God both to give credit to and to put honour upon the following discoveries. But it seems to have a further intention here; it was to aggravate this sin of Israel, in changing their own God, the God of Israel (who is a God of so much glory as here he appears to be), for dunghill gods, scandalous gods, false gods, and indeed no gods. Note, The more glorious we see God to be the more odious we shall see sin to be, especially idolatry, which turns his truth in to a lie, his glory into shame. It was also to aggravate their approaching misery, when this glory of the Lord should remove from them (ch. xi. 23) and leave the house and city desolate.
2. There he saw the reproach of Israel–and that was the image of jealousy, set northward, at the gate of the altar,Eze 8:3; Eze 8:5. What image this was is uncertain, probably an image of Baal, or of the grove, which Manasseh made and set in the temple (2Ki 21:7; 2Ch 33:3), which Josiah removed, but his successors, it seems, replace there, as probably they did the chariots of the sun which he found at the entering in of the house of the Lord (2 Kings xxiii. 11), and this is here said to be in the entry. But the prophet, instead of telling us what image it was, which might gratify our curiosity, tells us that it was the image of jealousy, to convince our consciences that, whatever image it was, it was in the highest degree offensive to God and provoked him to jealousy. he resented it as a husband would resent the whoredoms of his wife, and would certainly revenge it; for God is jealous, and the Lord revenges, Nah. i. 2.
(1.) The very setting up of this image in the house of the Lord was enough to provoke him to jealousy; for it is in the matters of his worship that we are particularly told, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Those that placed this image at the door of the inner gate, where the people assembled, called the gate of the altar (v. 5), thereby plainly intended, [1.] To affront God, to provoke him to his face, by advancing an idol to be a rival with him for the adoration of his people, in contempt of his law and in defiance of his justice. [2.] To debauch the people, and pick them up as they were entering into the courts of the Lord’s house to bring their offerings to him, and to tempt them to offer them to this image; like the adulteress Solomon describes, that sits at the door of her house, to call passengers who go right on their ways, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither, Prov. ix. 14-16. With good reason therefore is this called the image of jealousy.
(2.) We may well imagine what a surprise and what a grief it was to Ezekiel to see this image in the house of God, when he was in hopes that the judgments they were under had, by this time, wrought some reformation among them; but there is more wickedness in the world, in the church, than good men think there is. And now, [1.] God appeals to him whether this was not bad enough, and a sufficient ground for God to go upon in casting off this people and abandoning them to ruin. Could he, or any one else, expect any other than that God should go far from his sanctuary, when there were such abominations committed there, in that very place; nay, was he not perfectly driven thence? They did these things designedly, and on purpose that he should leave his sanctuary, and so shall their doom be; they have hereby, in effect, like the Gadarenes, desired him to depart out of their coasts, and therefore he will depart; he will no more dignify and protect his sanctuary, as he has done, but will give it up to reproach and ruin. But, [2.] Though this is bad enough, and serves abundantly to justify God in all that he brings upon them, yet the matter will appear to be much worse: But turn thyself yet again, and thou wilt be amazed to see greater abominations than these. Where there is one abomination it will be found that there are many more. Sins do not go alone.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 8
WHY GOD WAS JUSTIFIED IN SENDING HIS PEOPLE INTO
CAPTIVITY
Chapters 8 to 33:20
PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD VISION OF GLORY
Verses 1-4:
Verse 1 brings events of Ezekiel’s prophecies current. It was in the sixth year, sixth month (September) and on the fifth day of the month of Jehoiachin’s captivity, Eze 1:3, a period of 7 days, 390 days, and 40 days, of the visions and prophecies of Ezekiel that the following things occurred. As he sat in his residence, in seclusion, as commanded, Eze 3:24, the elders of Israel sat before him, evidently conferring with him regarding their degree of civil liberties among their own people in captivity. For the Jews were permitted to preserve their ancient order of elders for civil liberties among their own people in captivities. As the elders sat before Ezekiel the hand of the Lord fell with emotional impact upon him.
Verse 2 opens a third vision of the glory of the Lord to Ezekiel, even as those formerly related Eze 1:1; Eze 3:13; Eze 3:22; Dan 7:9-10. He beheld again, in veiled form, the appearance of a form, as related, of a man upon the throne, Eze 1:26-27. In the vision the form one, from the loins upward, glowed as amber fire in Splendor of His calm, untroubled, heavenly majesty. And below his appearance form was like glowing fire, with judgment fire, as a judging avenger of wrong. He was the Lord of the covenant, Joh 1:18, with unapproachable majesty, 1Ti 4:16.
Verse 3 describes actions of the “glory one” from the throne, as He put forth His hand and took Ezekiel by a lock of the hair of his head. The actions were in a vision, not to be taken literally, Dan 5:5; Dan 10:10; Dan 10:18. Then the spirit of the Lord lifted him up from his house and transported him in a vision of God to Jerusalem, Act 8:39. In these visions, for revelation purposes, he was taken to the door of the inner gate, leading to the Temple from the north, a place of communication of priests from within and the common people without the court. For there was located the image of jealousy (idols) which provoked the. fiery jealousy of God, against His remnant who remained there Deu 32:16; Deu 32:21.
Verse 4 asserts that the glory of Shekinah of the Lord in the visions was yet there in the Temple, for it was there He met for approval or condemnation, the actions of His people in the land. Their abominations in the land of Israel and city of Jerusalem, were not accepted or approved by Him, to the least degree, as also described Jer 7:9-10; Jer 7:17; Jer 10:4; Jer 10:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
There is no doubt that a prophetic vision is here narrated; for the Prophet was not carried to Jerusalem, nor had he changed his place, nor were the elders of Judah before him, but he seemed to himself to be seized by the Spirit of God, that he might perceive the pollutions by which the Jews had profaned the temple. For he says, that he was at home when this vision occurred to him, and yet it was possible for him to be walking in the field. He does not, therefore, relate the thing as done, but simply teaches how God appeared, and adds the circumstances. By elders of Judah I do not understand captives, but those who were then dwelling at Jerusalem, that they should be witnesses of this prophecy, and so all excuse and pretense of mistake was taken away from them. He also expresses the time at which this vision happened, namely the sixth year, which he numbers from the exile of Jechoniah, as we saw in the first chapter. Hence an interval of a year and two months has elapsed since the first vision which was then unfolded, and the present which is now to be treated. Since, therefore, fourteen months had elapsed, God appeared again to his Prophet. This circumstance of the time is by no means superfluous, for this shows the great obstinacy of the people. The Prophet, as I have said, numbers the years from the exile of the king. But they were accustomed to count from the jubilee year; but he now renews the grief for that slaughter, when the king was treated ignominiously as a vile captive, and was harassed as a slave by the enemy. Since, therefore, the Prophet humbles the Jews by this computation of years, hence it appears how hardened was their obstinacy, as they did not grow wise though so severely chastened. But we shall see that they were seized with a prodigious madness, so that they cast aside the worship of God, they heaped together on every side new idolatries, and infected the temple with their abominations. We saw in Jeremiah (Jer 7:17, and Jer 44:17) that the worship of God was overthrown in the city Jerusalem, and in the temple itself; for they poured out libations to the workmanship of heaven — others translate, the queen of heaven, but we have shown that those places ought to be understood of all the stars — since, therefore, they offered incense to the workmanship of heaven, then they afterwards took to themselves idols and polluted themselves with the superstitions of all the nations. Our Prophet shows that they were not touched with any sense of their punishment, but that they became worse from the time when God began to raise his hand against them; for it was just as if he had begun to show himself from heaven the avenger of their superstitions. Hence we have a reason why the Prophet here mentions years and months, and even the fifth day of the month, namely, that the Jews may be held more convicted of their obstinacy, since no punishments recalled them into the way, but they wrestled with diabolical obstinacy against God. He says, the hand of God fell; by hand I do not simply understand prophecy as some do, but strength; for the sense seems too restricted to say, God’s prophecy fell — the phrase is too cold. But this is properly said of the power of God. It is just as if he professed that he did not bring forward anything of his own, because he put off, as it were, the man whilst Gods power reigned in him. Thus the power of God is opposed to all human faculties. It follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
III.FURTHER PROPHETIC ACTION IMPOSED ON EZEKIEL. CHAPS. 819
Ezekiel has recorded the circumstances in which he received his call to be a prophet, and then the signs and words by which he was to signify the doom that awaited the whole of his people, because of their clamant iniquities. Fourteen months pass over him, and no other communication from the Lord is related. At the end of that time the power of God once more affects him, and imparts to him a succession of experiences, which are all ranged under one date. As in the preceding, so in this cycle of his prophecies he begins with a vision and ends with a dirge. Here also he strives against political dreams, represents the destruction as inevitable, and points to repentance as the only way of safety.Hengstenberg.
1. VISION OF THE SINS AND JUDGMENT OF JERUSALEM (Chaps. 811)
Here we find not only a symbolical representation of the supreme glory and power of the God of Israel, but also of the procedure of the people. This is accomplished by putting Ezekiel in a kind of constraint, and that in the presence of onlookers. Did this visit of the elders cause an excitement in the sensitive prophet, and so prepare his mind for impressions from the Divine? Their visit is a significant fact. It shows that Ezekiel was no mere cipher among the units of banished Jews. Whatever had been their words and their looks respecting him, he became too much of a power amongst them to be insulted only. He was observed, and his confinement to his house was considered not as a result of ailment merely, but as a condition demanding general interest. Whether the people realised that he was a messenger of the Lord of Hosts, and the elders came sincerely to inquire what saith the Lord? may be doubted; but that this was the case after a few years is certified (chap. Eze. 33:30).
The constraint imposed on Ezekiel by the action of the Lord was that in which the external senses are apparently cast into an unsusceptible state. He was thus withdrawn from the relation to his house and the elders in which he seemed to be, and was rendered capable of receiving impressions of things far remote from his physical environment. Involuntary on his part though his state might be, there was no abeyance in the action of his chief faculties. He could internally see, hear, speak; his spirit is liberated and strengthened instead of clogged. The overruling force directs his attention to the Jews who had not been deported, and especially to the procedure of the dwellers in Jerusalem.
No indication is given of the length of time passed in his ecstasy. The elders may not have remained so long as his perception of external things was in suspense; but they may, as visional events proceed more rapidly than external. They would have seen a rigid and sudden prostration of the prophets body, and heard his ominous cry (chaps. Eze. 9:8, Eze. 11:13), and the phraseology of chap. Eze. 11:25, may be understood to mean that on his return to consciousness he described to them, as representing them of the captivity, all that had been shown to him. The supernatural being once recognised as having a place in the dealing of God with man, we ought to be open to evidence as to facts in every individual case (Campbell), and abide in the light of the messages.
(1.) A SURVEY OF THE FOUR ABOMINATIONS IN JERUSALEM (Chap. 8)
This experience of Ezekiel could be only an internal one, and was intended to make him perceptive of the ungodly ways of his contemporaries who were left in Judea.
Prelude to a view of the abominations (Eze. 8:1-4)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.Eze. 8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month. Since his first vision, Ezekiels time had been divided into 7 days, 390 days, and 40 days, in all 437 days. Reckoning up to the date here given, 14 months had passed, and, us lunar months, they would make 413 days. Were we to consider that the prophet lay on his sides for 390 + 40 days in external appearance, we should be at a loss to explain the discrepancy between 413 and 430, or else we should conclude that this ecstasy happened to Ezekiel while he lay upon his right side for Judah; i.e., he would be disturbed in the process of executing one commission by the interruption of another. As this seems improbable, we suppose that he had fulfilled his appointment in some form, but not literally. The next expression supports that opinion. I sat in my house, as he had been commanded (chap. Eze. 3:24). Keil says that the verb is used in the more general sense of staying or living in the house. We keep to the more restricted meaning, because the same verb is employed in reference to the elders. He and they were in the same posture in his house. He was not on his side; and though in seclusion, yet it was a seclusion which did not prevent his neighbours from observing him or conversing with him; and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; the civil organisation, which existed from the primitive times of Israel, was kept up among the captive Jews. The Babylonian government did not imperil its own quietness by nullifying the authority of the elders. That was allowedno doubt to the advantage of captor and captive. Some special motive must have induced these head men of Judah to wait seated in the prophets house. Its nature is not mentioned; but the communications he makes to them offer the probable clue; and the hand of the Lord fell there upon me: a sudden and palpable change in Ezekiels aspect is intimated by the word fellit is not used in the other two cases (chap. Eze. 1:3, Eze. 3:22)one of those symptoms which are chiefly observed in persons of a high-strung, nervous temperament. He was rapt out of control of himself. Under this influence the people of Jerusalem chiefly became the objects of his study, and he afterwards communicated his descriptions and denunciations to the elders of the captives. It would seem that tidings of the prophecies of Ezekiel had reached the city, and produced in the minds of its inhabitants a despisal of those who were in exile. They were separated from the privileges of worship in the Holy Temple; they must bear their troubles and not look for a return to their confiscated property; they should know that possession of the land was secured to the people remaining in Jerusalem, who were, in their own esteem, the favoured of the Lord (chap. Eze. 11:15). Reports of some such words had come to the ears of the captives. They felt aggrieved, and they presented themselves before the prophet to learn what he had to say in reference to that consequence of his prophecies, and also the course which should be taken in regard to this cynical treatment by their brethren. The answer is conveyed in the vision which Ezekiel narrates.
Eze. 8:2. And I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire, &c. The Sept. reads man instead of fire. It is a correction which is unnecessary, and may be regarded as a mistake. The earlier manifestation (chap. Eze. 1:26-27) showed indeed the appearance of a man upon the throne. That was not visible now. What was visible was that part which displayed the fire of the lower members and the brightness of the upper glowing like ore. Thus Ezekiel sees at first, below, towards the earth, the person on the throne appeared in the glowing ire of His function as judge and avenger, above in the pure splendour of His calm, untroubled heavenly majesty.Zllig.
Eze. 8:3. And He put forth the form of a hand. He whose glory was present to the prophet was not materially actingHis hand was visionary; and He took me by the front hair of my head, as if to give an unimpeded view to him by holding him so as to make him look straight before him. It was not to carry him: another agency does that; and a spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven; or, a wind lifted me up, an interpretation which may be defended on the ground that the Hebrew word, which signifies both wind and spirit, is used with a distinction when Ezekiel tells of the cessation of his ecstasy (chap. Eze. 11:24). Like Paul, he could not tell whether he was out of the body, or in the body. He knew this, that the power of the Mighty One was investing him with marvellous capabilities which needed no physical forces to sustain them. It is interesting to note that while Matthew reports our Lord as saying, If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you, Luke reports Him as saying, If I by the finger of God cast out, &c., thus illustrating, as here, the varying aspects of spiritual influence. That spiritual domination over Ezekiel placed him not at his own point of view but at that of the Lord. He saw the evils of his people, not by the insight of his own nature, but by the revealing light of God, and he condemned them as from His righteous sentences: and brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God; in this rapt condition he seemed taken to the Temple, and to the opening of the gate of the inner (court) that looks toward the north. He was on the northern face of the Temple, and at that opening which made a communication between the outer court, that of the people, and the inner court, that of the priests. That entrance to the more sacred part of the building was in the face of where is the seat of the image of jealousy: this is meant to define Ezekiels standing-place, not to define the worshipped object. The reference to it follows in Eze. 8:5. The position at the north side is indicative of the quarter from which both the sin and punishment of Jerusalem were chiefly derived, which provoketh to jealousy. Idols are an offence to the jealous, energetic God, who, as such, gives not His honour to another, and calls forth His reaction against the wrong done to His honour (Heng.). He cannot renounce His rights, and shows that He will not.
Eze. 8:4. In the place He is dishonoured He gives tokens of His power and glory: and, behold, there was the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision that I saw in the valley. The appearance of fire which Ezekiel saw in his house seems not to have shown throne or cherubim or wheels. Now that he is in the Temple, the complete glory becomes manifest to him as he had already seen it in the valley near Tel-Abib. Its presence is a sign that the God of Israel will search into all the secrets of His peoples worship, and that whatever is inconsistent with the glory of His power, wisdom, holiness, love, among those who are left in Judea, will be laid bare and denounced. It cannot be said that the practices which were thus unveiled must have been confined to the precincts of the Temple. Those various forms of unhallowed worship could hardly be going on at the same time and within its comparatively limited space; and it may be questioned if certain of them were ever transacted therein. The vision is symbolical. The mere eye of flesh did not see what was done, but a spiritual imagination did. It recognised the Temple as the centre of the national lifethe natural meeting-place for all Israelitish religious thought, and a focus for the abominations which were committed in the land. This idea is supported by the words of Jeremiah (Eze. 7:10), Ye come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations. And yet he writes (Eze. 8:17) as if they committed them elsewhere: Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? Ezekiels vision includes the four chief manifestations of evil among the people, in public and in the dark, and becomes a striking picture of the apostasy of the house of Israel.
First abomination (Eze. 8:5-6)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.Eze. 8:5. The prophet, standing by the gate of the inner court, is commanded, by a voice from the glorious appearance, to consider the idolatrous figure confronting him. And I lifted up my eyes and behold northward of the gate of the altar, standing in the outer court so that it was in the way of all who came in view of, or passed through that gate which was called the gate of the altar, probably because it led to the spot where sacrificial animals were slain, this image of jealousy at the entrance. Various conjectures are made as to the special object represented by this imageBaal, Moloch, Astarte. It is preferable to regard it as a figure which embodied in its shape the ever-working tendency to associate the worship of idols with that of the Lord God, and thus to idealise the opposition which was perceived by Him among those who trod His courts.
Eze. 8:6. Seest thou the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, they seem to pay divine homage to images as often as they pay it to me. They may not purpose the certain result of such procedure, but it cannot fail to happen, and that is in order to be far off from my sanctuary. Who is meantthe people or the Lord? Not the former, but, what is unspeakably more terrific, the latter, as was illustrated at the close of this manifestation (chap. Eze. 11:23). My glory I will not give to another; therefore He writes Ichabod on His Temple in Jerusalem: and turn again, thou shalt see great abominations.
HOMILETICS
GODS WAYS MADE KNOWN (Eze. 8:1-4)
The methods by which the Father of spirits communicates with human hearts are wrapt in symbol and mystery. We do not know how the life in plants concurs in their growth; we know that it does by the effects on them. And a man may not be able to explain how he has obtained a consciousness of God, yet unhesitatingly premise that he has the witness in himself that God has come to him and given him power.
I. He receives this power amid the ordinary conditions of life; within the walls of his own house, a sufferer under ailments, with a few companions, he realises that the Lord has visited him. He besets us behind and before, and lays His hand upon us wheresoever He will. The idea that He may affect us is sometimes a source of fear and repulsion. This is to discredit God. Why should not the possibility of His power manifesting itself to us, anywhere and at any time, be esteemed as one of the highest privileges of our life? His visits may be made:
1. In seasons of trouble. The elders and exiles, flouted by their unbanished brethren, received good from the Lord by means of His word to Ezekiel. They learned that though far from their sacred Temple they were not forgotten by its Lord; that though despised as outcasts, they knew that His prophet was among them; that their iniquities had not taken away His truth and mercy from them. The needy cried to Him, and He sent from above to alleviate their need just where they felt it.
2. In personal associations. The power that came to Ezekiel and the elders came in private. It seems to be the usual course. Prophets and apostles were specially influenced by the Lord when they were away from ordinary stated worship. This was not meant to disparage assemblies for public religious services; it was rather to signify that, if we are to learn effectively that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, we must be alone, or with two or three gathered in His name. God honours not the service but the servants, and while public means have their own place among the ordinances of His kingdom, they must not be supposed to secure for us power from on high. From the Lord we must expect grace to help in time of neednot from any mere means even though called sacred. Blessed is he that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
II. The Divine Spirit produces new experiences.
1. There are fresh impulses. The common routine of thought is broken through. The feeling of a new presence touching our inner man becomes definite. A prophet sees the brightness of a radiating glory; apostles behold the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father; any man who calls Jesus Lord has a revelation within of the light of the knowledge of His glory. All of them feel and know that they are brought into contact with a strength that is made perfect in weaknessthe impelling of the Holy Spirit.
2. There is an exaltation of heart. Ezekiel felt lifted above the ground by a spirit. Between earth and heaven he sees wider views. He moves amidst rays from God. When we have a plainer and ampler sight given to us of the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, how differently we look upon our own needs and the needs of other men. We may sigh, we may lift up longing eyes, we may bend our heads and knees, but we do so because our hearts testify that they have the Presence infinite which makes its creatures blessed. Self and the world keep our spiritual life down; but the uplifting of the Holy Spirit enables us to mount up with wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. Evermore give us this power.
3. There is a clearer understanding of the religious condition of a people. The prophet saw the abominations which the house of Israel committed, by the penetrating power of the glory of God in the Temple. Nothing like a display of the character of God to make sin appear, and to make it appear exceeding sinful. Even if we be not addicted to the same iniquities as other men may be, our standing in the light of Gods countenance will enable us to discover their sins, and so to speak of them that they shall be convicted in their own consciences that we speak the truth, that the evils which we portray are their evils. So a motive may be given for repentance towards God. We learn to cherish:
1. A certitude that God will teach His ways. Faithfulness in little opens a way for the reception of much which will demand faithfulness. Obedience to many commandments of Christ prepares for learning commandments that are yet unrecognised. They who grow in grace grow in knowledge of Jesus Christ. The variety of forms which His teaching takes does not weaken but strengthens the conviction that He will teach. So it comes to pass that multitudes of persons can avow that He who was once an unknown God is now honoured as a Father; that the Christ who was once admired is now adored as a Saviour and King; that the persons with whom they are brought into association are regarded with a heightened and distinctive sympathy. They have learned from Him who gives rest to their soul, and they trust to Him to teach them still. Whereas they were blind now they see, and they are sure that He who has opened their eyes will point out their way and inform them of all its dangers and its provisions.
2. A hope of special teaching. Unlooked-for changes, perplexities, difficulties appear. Does one revelation, does a series of instructions for ones common way of life, exhaust His supplies? No; all things work together for good. Let all things be against us, that does not show that God is unable to take us through them all. It only shows that we must not lose heart and hope; that we must wait for Him when He is not in view; that we must trust that the all-sufficiency of heavenly power and love is acting with steady force, though impalpable for a time. Now we see in a mirror darkly, but enough to satisfy us that all needed light will be shed, that human sins will not prevail against the rule of God.
VAIN WORSHIP (Eze. 8:5-6)
The spirit and truth which are needful in serving the Holy One of Israel are often absent from those who profess to worship Him. Individual worship and common worship are equally faulty as to this, and call forth the stern appeal from the great King, Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me. He thus repels the worship because
I. It is divided. The worshippers set up an image in His courts. They acknowledged Him, but He was not the only one regarded. They mingled up in what they did for Him a reference to some custom of other people, or some misapprehension of their own mind. They did not submit themselves to the inalienable rights of God. The rite or ceremony may be very attractive to the eye or ear, generation after generation may have found it agreeable, but the condemnation stamped on it is God alone is not here! Many prayers which seem earnest are not answered because they supplicate for gratification to some lust of the flesh or mind. Many a religious meeting dissolves as a vapour wherein no appearance of God is traceable, because they have not come to the Father only by Christ. Get a single eye, purify hearts by faith, search out all doublemindedness in private or public means of worship, lest God go far off, refusing to accept and hear. Beside Him there is no God, and a divided worship is worthless.
II. It belies His character. He is supreme. It is impossible for any created thing to share His sovereign authority, and any kind of worship which reverences an idol, or a form, or an idea of mans heart, must, by its very nature, be repudiated as an abomination. Who dare presume to ascend the throne of the Almighty! He is righteous. Jealousy amongst men is tainted to a greater or less degree by selfish elements. We cannot bear a thing because it somehow shadows our contracted range of view, does not let us step easily on to our own comfort. In Gods jealousy there is no element but what is true, and holy, and kind. He cannot give up such principles if He is to continue to govern the world. He maintains the integrity and dignity of His own position in the face of every free being. It is the rights of God and with them the rights of every moral being which vibrate in the words, The Lord shall be jealous for His great name; and that He should be provoked by honour given to another is to be true to the claims which human nature makes upon Him who formed it to be good. He is accessible. The image of jealousy stood in the very face of the Lords altar, as if He were to be served only after an idol had been acknowledged; as if the first step towards Him must be taken by the help of that which is not God. In Christian service we too frequently fancy that if we first pray, or read the Scriptures, or fast, we shall find the Lord easier of access. Alas for us! if we do not learn that He is nigh to all that call upon Him, that between the High-priestly Son and them nothing should intervene, that to use any other mediator is to make a movement which tends to put Him far off. Not that He does not see, does not care for the worshippers He may forsake; but that they may learn that they have treated Him as if He were a retired or an absent God. Forms of worship thus become a mere ceremonial. Darkness and deadness cover the heart, and He cannot but count vain that which by act takes from His character its authority, justice, and immediate presence.
III. It is made obvious to God-fearing men. Son of man, seest thou what they do? Dare he consider the abominations? Yes; if in obedience to the Lord. Ezekiel lifted up his eyes to see the abominations, not because he wanted to look on evil, or because he thought his soul strong enough to venture without harm among serpents; but because the Lord told him to do so. We may look upon things which offend Godbad books, besotted men and women, unscriptural practices in worshipbut we need to beware of the danger in such procedure. Many a youth has committed evil because he wanted to see what it was like. Many a worshipper has gone to look at forms of worship with which he was not familiar, and lost his power to distinguish between that mode of service which leads to Christ and that which draws away from Himbetween a fruitful worship and a vain. And if at times there does not appear sufficient ground for judging whether or not a certain worship veils the glory of Christ, the true way in which it can be made clear is to give honest answer to the question, Shall I be obeying the Lord Jesus Christ in attending on this thing? The weak conscience is defiled, the strong in the Lord is made able to stand. One goes into the lions den and is safe, for Cod sends him; many go and are torn in pieces, for their own will moves them. We touch a great principle for our guidance in worship when we say that wrong against God is plain to those who fear His great name. Yes; if he is to be fit to act as a watchman. Ezekiel looked at the image of jealousy, but it was that he might say, God will withdraw if that is honoured. Jesus ate with publicans and sinners, but it was that He might call them to repentance. And if we be disposed to observe any unholy thing, it must be with the desire so to know it that we shall see its offensiveness to God, and shall warn the men who sanction it that they are sinning against the only true God.
GODS DISCLOSURE OF SIN (Eze. 8:6; Eze. 8:13; Eze. 8:15)
The disclosure shows
I. There are degrees of wickednessgreater abominations. The longer we look the more we see. There is a sin of ignorance like PaulsI did it ignorantly in unbeliefand sins of knowledge like those who sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth. Some sins withhold the honour which is due the Lord in worship; other sins act against His laws of conduct, and prostitute the powers of manhood and womanhood in brutal license.
II. Knowledge of the degrees of wickedness is not acquired all at once. Thou shalt see greater. The first conscious sin is no evidence of other sins which will be committed by an individual. He begins to court the will to be rich, and then comes the will to lie, cheat, steal; or the desire for power, and then come deeds of injustice, oppression, murder; or neglected worship, and then they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame. The evils in churches are gradually recognised. They may be indulged in by many, and who discovers at once that the stream is tending to the wrong quarter? They may be kept from honest probing, and how can we test their danger? They may be undetected because we have been accustomed always to see them, and where is the power to show their offensiveness to the Lord? Once brought to see one allowed course in its sinfulness, we may be brought to see others also. We need to have eyes opened that we may see, and we shall find that in the lowest deep there is a lower deep still threatening to devour.
III. The light of God alone unveils the amount of wickedness. He has a time and ways of discovering what is in our hearts, what in our societies. We must look by it, walk in it if we are to remember whence we are fallen and not have our candlestick moved out of its place. Let us wait on the Lord Jesus Christ, that in His light we may see the light for our own state and the state of others. It is time for Thee to work, for men have made void Thy law.
Second abomination (Eze. 8:7-12)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.Eze. 8:7. The prophet having turned, he says, He brought me to the opening of the court; his position being changed, he must have been taken to some other door than that mentioned in Eze. 8:3, most probably to the opening which led from the outer court into unwalled space; the worshippers would thus be less exposed to observation than if they had to cross the court to the inner gate. and I saw and, behold, a hole in the wall, but too small for him to pass through, and a mode of ingress must be made.
Eze. 8:8. At the command of the Lord he dug out part of the wall, as Eastern robbers do, and, entering by the breach, behold an opening which the wall concealed, and so was known to the initiated alone. The seer has the key which opens itthe word of the Lord.
Eze. 8:9. Come and see the wicked abominations which they are doing here. Ezekiel was moving in the region of symbols. The hole; the door walled in; a secret worship by elders; a large room, within the Temple-precincts, having its walls covered with the figures of various animals representing the visible powers of nature, are all tokens that it was not a real sight he was looking onthat it was a representation of the masked and wide-spread guilt of the mass of the people.
Eze. 8:10. And I came and saw; and, behold, every form of reptiles and cattle, abomination, and, besides those animal figures, there were representatives of all the refuse idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round about. Ancient writers, and tombs opened in recent times, show how common was the practice in Egypt of decorating their walls with painted figures, while the worship of animals in that country was long the popular form of worship. It seems as if this prominence given to Egyptian habits had reference to the leanings towards that government of many among the leading men of Jerusalem, and to their efforts to bring about an alliance offensive and defensive. Allusions, in the larger prophetical books especially, prove that there was a political party among the Jews whose cry was, Let us go down to Egypt for help! Now that the Babylonian power was in the ascendancy, that party was obliged to resort to underhand schemes, to secret meetings and proceedings, with the hope, no doubt, that they might contrive, with the aid of Egypt, to get rid of the Chaldean yoke. The Jewish people were not contented with their compromises with Egypt, they also adopted other varieties of idol-worship. The new forms did not prevail so as to extirpate the old, and overwhelming superstition spread over the covenanted land. Thus did created things become an abomination. Good in themselves, they were placed by the people alongside of the Lord God, if not above Him, and became objects of His loathing.
Eze. 8:11. And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel. The number is historical (Exo. 24:1; Num. 11:16). It is not to be understood here of a standing council of the people, but of an ideal representation of them as a whole. The contrast between the present provocation of the Lord and the honour paid to Him formerly by the seventy is also to be considered. To render the contrast still more palpable between what was and what should have been, it is added, and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing in their midst; why he was so conspicuous is unknown. He was one of a family of Jewish statesmen. His father was the patriotic and God-fearing scribechancellorof King Josiah during his reforming reign (2Ki. 22:3, ff.). Another son was Abikam, who, as also his son Gedaliah, nobly stood for Jeremiah (Jer. 26:24; Jer. 39:14). Jaazaniah had apparently deserted the purer traditions of his family and become prominent among the idolatrous and Egyptian party. It is a sad but not an isolated spectacle. Righteousness does not run by a law of heredity. were standing before them, i.e., before the figures drawn on the walls, and each man with his censer in his hand, thus assuming a prerogative of priesthood, and in the posture of performing an act of worship of the highest kind. and a prayer of the cloud of incense was going up. The A. V. has a thick cloud. The only other place where the Hebrew word is found gives in its translation suppliants (Zec. 3:10). In biblical language, the ascending incense is symbolic of prayerthe twenty-four elders having each one golden bowl full of incense which are the prayers of the saints (Rev. 5:8). On these grounds we prefer to read here prayer.
Eze. 8:12. The interpretation comes. Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark: that this abomination was to be sought for in such a secrecy, while the others were seen in the open daylight, supports the idea that the former was maintained for the furtherance of occult political aspirationsaspirations which the Providence of God would not sanction: each man in the chambers of his imagery?rooms in which images were delineated. Each of the seventy had such a chamber for himselfa place in which he installed his own special favourite objects of worship. It is indicative of the addiction in private houses to the unhallowed ceremonies which the prophet beheld in the light of God. Proceedings like these gave practical expression to the thought, the Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land. They did not deny the Lords existence, they used His name; but their conduct was tantamount to reducing Him to a nonentity in the world, for it denied His knowledge and mercy. To put a fact into the terms of a popular saying is one of the features of Ezekiels style, and is a mode of intimating that the thoughts so embodied in speech were not mere hasty and transient impressions, but were the outcome of habitual choosing their own ways and forsaking those of the Lord. When such notions about Him were cherished, apostasy from Him was, not probable only, but certain. Men might live as they liked, they might despise God, they might tempt and deceive their fellowmen, no account would be demanded. God saw not. They may degrade the worship of a people, they may corrupt the moral atmosphere of a city, they may strive to promote political ends, both at home and abroad, which shall be unworthy of a high-minded people. They allow no scrupulous afterthoughts to hold them back. God has forsaken the landa nation has no God, no eternally righteous law to obey!
HOMILETICS
CORRUPTION OF TRUE WORSHIP
Account for it as philosophers may, the fact is patent that most men will worship. They are in the abyss of savagery, or they plume themselves on the summit of the highest civilisation of centuries, and at not one stage, from the lowest to the highest point of the long slope, is there a belt of which it can be said, Worship was never made within its limits. The object of such worship as is rendered may be a fetish, or a Spirit infinite, eternal, and unchangeable; but in each variation there is understood to be the existence of something in which power resides. The tendency thus universally observed, like all human tendencies, is susceptible to change of direction. As certain elements in nutritious food are adapted to build up a healthy body, so there are certain elements required in worship to meet the wants of a human being as he stands related to the Power which made him and fashioned him. As food may be used lavishly or sparingly and produce diseases incident to over-indulgence or insufficiency; or as good food may be refused and hurtful taken instead, so worship may be carried out to strengthen or weaken, to elevate or degrade the soul; or that worship which is right and true be forsaken for that which is false and destructive. The features of the latter delineated here are
I. It takes a place among purer forms. The Jewish elders, burning incense before animal figures and other objects, stood within the area of the Temple dedicated to the honour of the only living and true God. They practised their dark rites under the shadow of a holy fane. The craving for worship seeks its appeasement not only in the pure and true, and a past enlightenment does not guarantee it against a present error. In all the ages during which men have walked among the revelations of God, some amongst them have forsaken the fountain of living waters and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. The churches, taught by men who had been with Jesus and had seen the power of His resurrection, included persons who held the teaching of Balaam, ate things sacrificed to idols, and committed fornication. The present Church of Rome boasts of its unbroken succession from the simple primitive Church, yet the walls of its buildings are often covered with pictures, lights are burned at the shrines of saints, Mary is worshipped more than Jesus, and a frail man is revered as infallible! Where, too, there has been a practical protest against Papal departures from purer worship, who dare to say that no heed is paid to seducing spirits, no departure from the faith has occurred? Called Christians, counted among those who profess belief in Jesus, how many have only a name to live! How many use their position to do that which is not seemly! And spiritual worship is made to provide a room for that which is earthly and sensual.
II. It needs a close search to perceive its obliquity. The hole in the wall could excite only suspicion, but an investigation made by the breaking through could expose the corruption which was festering. It is a suggestive omen for those who would discern the times, and learn the judgment of truth respecting them. We must wait and watch in the light which Jesus sheds, follow up the questions which the Holy Spirit may prompt in regard to the meaning of our forms of worship. There are depths of Satan into which no sounding-line will be let down without some impulse; there is a hating of the light of which no estimate can be made till the Divine word measures it. The external worship of a church may be associated with for years, and not a fear startle the soul lest there should not be spirit and truth in its observance. The forms may be appropriate; but beneath them there may be no loyalty to the Christ, only a care for personal satisfaction and comfort. The pens may be filled, and filled with anything but sheep! Only He who holds the seven stars in His right hand knows and can reveal the lurking sins which offend Him and hinder the Gospel of His Son. What right-hearted man will not pray, often and expectingly, Lead me to where I can see, open mine eyes that I may see that which impinges against Thy truth and holiness and love, no matter by whom or by what numbers the evil thing is committed?
III. It manifests a voracious appetite. Several animals do not satisfy, idols of other kinds are accepted as objects for worship. As in Jerusalem, so it was in the days of imperial Romea niche was provided for the gods of all nations. Corruption spreads by its own nature. One step is not much out of the narrow way, but the line which that step begins to trace will take to far-off regions. The mystery of lawlessness, with its power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness, started on its career from the bosom of apostolic churches; and the warning-note, needed by all seekers for Gods will, is, Be not moved away from the true worship, lest you go from bad to worse, and weary the Lord.
IV. It exercises varied influences. Over the higher ranks of society. Their position and their intelligence do not act as a safeguard against a deteriorated religiousness. They are most under the claims of worldly fashion, and a fashion in worship is most likely to be potent amongst them. At any rate, church history may be adduced to show that it is not the common people but the aristocracy of a country from whom a change from a simple to a complex and sensuous ritual finds its chief support. Over the aged. The elders of the house of Israel corrupted the statutes of the Lord. The lapse of years brings trial and failures. Men get weary of the God whose command is, Be ye holy for I am holy, who allows no illegitimate indulgence to the lusts of the flesh and mind, and they go into self-pleasing causes after a lifetime of hearing a voice behind them continually say, This is the way, walk ye in it. There is no fool like an old fool! Over family associations. The chief among the abettors of corrupted worship was a man of whom it would have been said, The influences of his family will prevent him from going amongst the secret worshippers of idols. But this saying is superficial and inconsistent with facts. Our generation has seen not a few out of the families of evangelical Protestants become enthusiastic Roman Catholics or Ritualistsready to stand among them as leaders. They who should have been barriers against turning out of the way of the Lord go at the head of those who turn from it. They whose experience should have confirmed the younger in truth, encourage them to believe in lies. And this lesson is written clear to view, that subjects of the most religious instruction and the most patriotic procedure will not always be found to obey the will of God. Thus influential is the corruption of true worship.
V. It becomes paramount with its adherents. They overcome all scrupulosity in regard to the Lords Temple, and prostitute it to their debasing ceremonies. They expend money and time in maintaining them. They at length treat the living and holy God as if He paid no concern to what they did, and, having forsaken Him, speak as if He had forsaken them. They impute to Him an ignorance and a heartlessness which, if they did exist, would utterly disqualify Him from being God. So they are subjected to their own devices; they are filled with their own ways.
How strange it seems to leave the right way for the wrong! How unreasonable and unlikely it looks! But yet how familiar the case is! And it is so because men did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They have gone away backward. No eyes but Gods can detect the many forms of this apostasy, and point out the hole in the wall of religious profession which leads to abominations within hearts and within churches. His ears alone can catch the meaning of those who serve divers lusts and pleasures, who say virtually, The Lord seeth us not. I say unto you, Fear Him.
CHAMBERS OF IMAGERY
Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth (chap. Eze. 8:12).
A hall of imagery! No phrase could better describe the mind of man, and memory the painter. In colours bright or dark, in the very lineaments of joy or shame or grief, she paints every struggle of the soul; our very wishes and purposes, though unacted, are all there. We behold all the scenes of the past fixed immovably on the walls and silently smiling or frowning upon us.
What is upon the walls? Some spaces are blank, condemning our profitless days. Some, like the dark catacombs of Rome, have scenes of decay and death portrayed. Here the innocence of childhood is slowly dying; there honesty is bartered away for gain, or virtue for pleasure. It may be there are chambers in which are beheld a virtuous youth, a devout age, a divine faith triumphing over the powers of the world. But at the best there is only a mingled series of pictures. Each soul is a temple, each heart an altar, and often the unhallowed rites of another worship than that of the Lord of heaven are practised there.
We are apt to feel as if what was done in those chambers was unmarked. Darkness and thick walls gave concealment to the ancients of the house of Judah: The Lord seeth us not. Yet the angels were looking in; and to the prophet, his eyes touched with spiritual light, all became visible.
In our chambers of imagery there may be other witnesses than we think. Surely it is not a vain or unreasonable thought, that round us are spiritual beings to whose spiritual eyes the mind lies open as the scenes of the world lie open to the bodily eye. Happy if we suffer to abide in our mind only those thoughts and purposes which these spiritual beings may gladly look upon!
But if there be no other, there is one eye that looks through all the veils of time and sense. In the sight of God the mind is the seat and source of all good and evil. The purpose clothes the act with its own goodness or guilt. The same act may be disinterested or selfish; the same forms of worship a mockery or a devotion, according to the purpose. In those chambers is the real life of man, and the imaginations we indulge in take shape, and the hopes we cherish are audible prayers before the Lord who seeth, and who has not forsaken the earth.
We may enter those chambers of imagery for correction and improvement. The time comes when we must enter them for judgment. In that dread hour the memory must take a conspicuous part. In the midst of the awful congregation of the risen dead again must we pass through the halls of imagery. The silent walls shall need no voicememory and conscience shall affirm the righteous judgment of God. For that day, when the strong shall bow and the most devout tremble, may we in mercy be prepared!
Our life is founded on what is past, and every year we live the past becomes more important in its steady influence; we live in the midst of its memorials. It is the home which we build around us day by day, and according to what we make it will there be liberty or imprisonment. Each day let your deeds and your purposes be such that a new picture shall take a place on the walls that you will be glad to see. The past is fixed on the walls, we cannot take it down, but we may correct and alter. The picture of the prodigals departure has added to it the picture of his return and the fathers enduring love. Over scenes of guilt there may be arched the rainbow of the Divine mercy. Repentance may not efface the past, but it transfigures it. While bygone sins remind us of our weakness, they bring us nearer to Him whose strength saves and whose mercy forgives.Peabody (abridged).
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Chapter Six
VISIONS OF JERUSALEMS JUDGMENT
8:1-11:25
In chapters 811 Ezekiel recounts a new series of visions. The purpose of these visions is to show that the divine judgments against Judah were completely justified. A year and two months have elapsed since the call vision (cf. Eze. 1:3 and Eze. 8:1), At the time this series of visions was received Ezekiel was in the 413th day of his symbolic siege of Jerusalem,[197] He was at this time lying on his right side depicting the judgment for Judahs iniquity. These visions of Jerusalems judgment were most appropriate at this time. This section of the book can be divided into three major units: (1) the degradation of Jerusalem (Eze. 8:1-18); (2) the destruction by the Lord (Eze. 9:1 to Eze. 10:22); and (3) the declarations by the prophet (Eze. 11:1-25).
[197] The assumption here is that the year which elapsed was an ordinary year of twelve months and not a leap year of thirteen months. If a leap year was involved, then Ezekiel had this visionary experience twelve days after he ended his symbolic siege of Jerusalem.
I. THE DEGRADATION OF JERUSALEM 8:118
After describing his visionary transmigration to Jerusalem (Eze. 8:1-4), Ezekiel relates the terrible abominations which were being practiced in the Holy City (Eze. 8:5-16). He concludes this section with a brief announcement of judgment (Eze. 8:17-18).
A. The Ascent of the Prophet 8:14
TRANSLATION
(1) And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the 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. (2) And I saw, and behold the likeness of the appearance of a fire;[198] 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. (3) And 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 unto the entrance of the gate of the inner court which faces north where the seat of the image of jealousy which causes jealousy was located. (4) And behold the Glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision which I saw in the plain.
[198] Some ancient versions read man here.
COMMENTS
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.[199] They were sitting before Ezekiel as his students. Perhaps they had come specifically to enquire about the state of affairs in the homeland. The initial rejection with which Ezekiel met seems now to have given way to respect, at least among these elders. His antics of the previous year were fascinating, and auditors were drawn as by a magnet to Ezekiels house. Perhaps these men had been coming for months. During the course of the prophetic lesson, the hand of the Lord fell upon Ezekiel (Eze. 8:1).
[199] Plumptre (PC, p. 143) suggests that these elders were actually visitors from Judah.
In his trance-like state Ezekiel saw again the divine personage who had appeared to him initially atop the heavenly throne-chariot. In the earlier account Ezekiel described the one he saw as having a likeness as the appearance of a man (Eze. 1:26). The upper part of the body of the figure had the brilliance of chashmal, the lower the appearance of fire (Eze. 1:27). In the present passage Ezekiel has taken a step back from anthropormorphism by focusing only on the dazzling appearance of fire and chashmal which characterized the lower and upper parts of the visionary body (Eze. 8:2). The glory of the Lord is seen now in the glow of fire, without the milder, more hopeful brightness of the rainbow mentioned in Eze. 1:28. The absence of the cherubim in the present passage should also be noted. What he sees is but a likeness of the ineffable glory, an image of the Unseen.
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 neither be imagined nor described.[200] The actions of the hand serve to underscore the reality of Ezekiels feeling of physical removal from his home.[201]
[200] Blackwood. EPH, p 72.
[201] A conscious imitation of the present passage can be found in t h e apocryphal story of Bel and the Dragon, verse 36.
No physical transmigration of Ezekiel to Jerusalem takes place in this passage. God, of course, could have transported Ezekiel to Jerusalem in the body.[202] But the words in divine visions (lit., visions of God)[203] prove that all that follows took place mentally (Eze. 8:3). Further indication that these experiences were in the realm of the visional is found in the nature of what he saw in Jerusalem much of this cannot be taken literally and by actions which would hardly have been physically possible (e.g., Eze. 8:8). Thus Ezekiel was transported in spirit, not in body to Jerusalem.
[202] Cf. 1Ki. 18:12; 2Ki. 2:16; Act. 8:39.
[203] The word is not the same as that commonly used by Daniel (chazon) and often by Ezekiel (Eze. 8:11; Eze. 12:22-23 etc). The word here is mareh which implies a more direct act of intuition. See Plumptre. PC, p. 144. The word is again used in Eze. 11:24 and Eze. 43:3.
To understand the visions of chapter 8 one must be familiar with the geography of the Temple area. Solomons Temple stood on Mt. 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 Mt. Moriah was surrounded by a walled courtyard known as the great court or outer court. See the accompanying diagram.
There are two views as to what Ezekiel is seeing in chapter 8. Some think he is seeing what is going on in Jerusalem at that very moment. This would mean 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, Jer. 44:18 seems totally incompatible with the notion that pagan practices had been officially introduced following Josiahs reformation. But whereas the existence in Jerusalem of the various forms of pagan worship here mentioned cannot be confirmed, still the decline after Josiah (Jer. 7:1-15) and the political pressures of those desperate days quite conceivably could have led to the adoption of such foreign religious practices.[204]
[204] Carley, BPE p. 5.
Another view is that chapter 8 is a symbolic picture of the false beliefs that held sway in Jerusalem though they may have had only a restricted public expression.[205] 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 represent the religious deviations of a different section of the Jerusalem community.[206] Whichever view regarding the abominations of chapter 8 is correct, this much is certain the Holy City had been desecrated by the most reprehensible pagan abominations
[205] Ellison. EMM p. 41.
[206] The image of jealousy related to the king and people ; the animal worship related to the elders; the weeping for Tammuz involved the women and the sun worship had attracted the priests and Levites. See Taylor, TOTC, pp. 9697.
The fact that Jeremiah did not inveigh so heavily against pagan influences in the Temple should not cause scholars to question the evidence here as does Yehezkel Kaufmann.[207] Ezekiels 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.[208]
[207] Kaufmann, RI. pp. 42636.
[208] Pfeiffer. IOT, p. 538.
Ezekiel found himself in the familiar precincts of the Jerusalem Temple after his visionary transmigration. To be more precise, he was set down in the outer court in front of the northern gate[209] which led to the inner court. It was one of the most conspicuous spots about the Temple. Prior to the reforms of King Josiah this had been the seat of the image of jealousy (Eze. 8:3).
[209] The door of the gate of the inner court is called the gate of the altar in Eze. 8:5. It may be the upper gate of Eze. 9:2, the higher gate of Jer. 20:2, the upper gate of 2Ki. 15:35, and the new gate of Jer. 36:10.
On the very spot where once the image of jealousy had stood, Ezekiel saw the glory of God. This is the same vision of Gods presence which he had seen previously in the plain (Eze. 3:23) and at the river Chebar (Eze. 1:1 ff.). Because of the reforms instituted by Josiah the glory of God had not yet completely abandoned the Temple. When Ezekiel arrived at the Temple in his vision the Lord had already deserted the Holy of Holies, and Ezekiel observes His glorious presence at some unspecified part of the outer court (Eze. 8:4).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) The elders of Judah sat before me.It is plain from this that Ezekiel, as a priest, and now already known as a prophet, was held in consideration among the captives. It also appears that he lived in his own house. Judah is not used in contradistinction to Israel; but as the captives were chiefly of the tribe of Judah, so their elders were known as the elders of Judah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THIRD “VISION OF GOD” (IN JERUSALEM), Eze 8:1-4.
The dates at which the “word of the Lord” came to Ezekiel are not always given; but when the vision of God’s glory appears the time is carefully mentioned (Eze 1:1; Eze 3:16; Eze 3:22, etc.). This date shows that a little more than a year has passed since he for the first time looked upon the glorious manifestation of Jehovah. He has now finished his symbolical representation of the siege of Jerusalem and the years of captivity (Eze 4:5). He is now sitting in his house instead of lying upon his side. The heaviest task of his life, so far, has been accomplished and once more there is granted him the vision of glory to comfort him for his past trials and prepare him for the fearful vision of his people’s guilt, which was so closely to accompany it. And now the “elders of Judah” visit him. The prophet’s picture-sermon has not been without its influence. The elders, some of them at least (Eze 14:1), now look upon the silent prophet as a true seer of Jehovah, and sit before him waiting for a revelation from the prophet’s Lord.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. The hand of the Lord God fell there upon me This is not only Ezekiel’s ordinary name for the prophetic ecstasy, but it involves the thought of divine control and compulsion. Whenever this expression is used it is evident that some heavy task is laid upon the prophet against which the natural man revolts. (See Eze 1:3; Eze 3:22.) The expression being stronger here than elsewhere shows how impossible it would have been for Ezekiel of his own will to report the awful crimes and abominations of his countrymen, with the equally awful penalties which he is now compelled to picture to the elders.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And so it was 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 Yahweh fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo, a likeness of 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 the colour of shining metal.’
This occurred fourteen or fifteen months after his first call (Eze 1:1-2) in or around September 592/1 BC. His first prophetic ordeal was probably over and he was now sat in his house with the elders of Judah gathered before him. This is only the second mention of Judah (see Eze 4:6) to this point. Ezekiel’s message was generally to the whole of ‘Israel’ seen as one people. But the description was technically correct. These elders were elders of the southern kingdom.
They ‘sat before him’. They had come to seek advice or to hear what word he had from Yahweh. They had begun to recognise him as a prophet of God.
‘That the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there upon me.’ This is regularly in Ezekiel evidence of some remarkable event which will follow. He was taken over by God. It is probable that the elders saw nothing except that he was clearly in some ecstatic state.
‘Then I beheld, and lo, a likeness of 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 the colour of shining metal.’ Compare Eze 1:27. There this was a description of Yahweh, and we have no reason therefore to doubt that this too was Yahweh in vision, in the same glorious splendour as in chapter 1.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Time and Place of the Vision
v. 1. And it came to pass in the sixth year, v. 2. Then I beheld, v. 3. And He put forth the form of an hand, v. 4. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Eze 8:1
And it came to pass, etc. We begin with a fresh date. One year and one month had passed since the vision of Chebar, and had been occupied partly by the acted, partly by the spoken, prophecies of the preceding chapters. In the mean time, things had gone from bad to worse in Jerusalem. In the absence of the higher priests, idolatry was more rampant, and had found its way even into the temple. It is probable that tidings of this had reached Ezekiel, as we know that frequent communications passed between the exiles and those they had left behind (Jer 29:1-3, Jer 29:9, Jer 29:25). Directly or indirectly, Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Genesisariah the son of Hilkiah. may have conveyed a message, orally or written, from Jeremiah himself. Some such report may have led to the visit from the elders of Judah, if we understand by that term the exiles of Tel-Abib. I venture, however, on the conjecture that possibly those who came to the prophet were actually visitors who had come from Judah. Elsewhere, as in Eze 14:1 and Eze 20:1, those who thus came are described as “elders of Israel,” or the captives (Eze 1:1), “they of the Captivity” (Eze 3:15). In either case, the visions that follow gain a special significance. The prophet becomes the seer. It is given to him to know, in a manner which finds a spurious analogue in the alleged mental travelling of the clairvoyant of modern psychology, what is passing in the city from which the messengers had comeand to show that he knows it. With such facts before his eyes, what other answer can there be than that evil must meet its doom? And so we pass into the second series of prophecies which ends with Eze 13:23. It would seem as if the enquirers had kept silent as well as the prophet. We are not told that they asked anything. His look and manner, perhaps also attitude and gesture, forbade utterance. The hand of the Lordthe trance statewas in the act to fall on him (see notes on Eze 3:14, Eze 3:22). When the trance state was over, we may think of him as reporting and recording what he had thus seen in vision..
Eze 8:2
I beheld, and lo a likeness, etc. The vision opens with a theophany like that of Eze 1:1-28.; but here, as there, Ezekiel uses the word which emphasizes the fact that what he had seen was but a “likeness” of the ineffable glory, an image of the Unseen. (For “amber,” see Eze 1:4, Eze 1:27.) In this case we note the absence of the cherubic figures. It is simply the “appearance of tile likeness of the glory of Jehovah,” seen now in the glow of fire, without the milder, more hopeful brightness of the rainbow (Eze 1:28).
Eze 8:3
The form of an hand (comp. Eze 2:9; Dan 5:5). For the mode of transit, see Bel and the Dragon, verse 36. as probably a direct imitation. The touch of the “hand” was followed by the action of the Spirit, in visions which he knew to be more than dreams, visions that came from God (comp. Eze 1:1; Eze 40:2). The word is not the same as that commonly used by Daniel (chazon), and often by Ezekiel himself (Eze 7:13; Eze 12:22, Eze 12:23, et al.), but mareh, which implies a more direct act of intuition. The word appears again in Eze 11:24; Eze 43:3, and in Dan 8:26, Dan 8:27, et al. To the door of the gate, etc. From the first we trace the priest’s familiarity with the structure of the temple. He is brought, as it were, after his journey in the spirit, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looketh towards the north (Revised Version). This is identified in Dan 8:5 with the “gate of the altar.” It may probably also be identified with the “upper gate” of Eze 9:2; the “high gate” of Jer 20:2; the “higher gate” of 2Ki 15:35, built by Jotham; the “new gate” of Jer 36:10. Obviously it was one of the most conspicuous portions of the temple, where the people gathered in large numbers. And here the prophet sees what he calls the image of jealousy. The words that follow probably give his explanation of the strange phrase, not found elsewhere, though it might naturally be suggested by Deu 32:16, Deu 32:21; Psa 78:58. What this image was we can only conjecture. The word for “image” is a rare one, and is found only here and in Deu 4:16; 2Ch 33:7, 2Ch 33:15. It may have been the Asherah (the “grove” of the Authorized Version), or conical stone, such as Manasseh had made and placed, with an altar dedicated to it, in the house of the Lord (2Ki 21:3; 2Ch 33:3), or one of Baal, or of Ashtaroth, or even of Tammuz (see verse 14). As the word “grove” does not occur in Ezekiel, it may be sufficient to state that the Ashera was a pillar symbolical either of a goddess of the same name, or, as some think, of the Phoenician Astarte. The worship seems to have first become popular under Jezebel (1Ki 18:19), and took deep root both in Israel and Judah. The cultus, as in 2Ki 23:7, seems to have been connected with the foulest licence, like that of the Babylonian Mylitta (Herod; 1.199; Baruch 6:43). The work of Josiah had clearly had but a temporary success, and the people had gone back to the confluent polytheism of the reign of Manasseh. In such a state of things the worst was possible. For recent discussions on the Ashera, see Kuenen. ‘Relig. Isr.’ (Eng. transl.), 1.88; Schrader; Robertson Smith, ‘Relig. of Semites,’ p. 172; and T.K. Cheyne, in the Academy of December 14, 1889.
Eze 8:4, Eze 8:5
And, behold, etc. In appalling contrast with that “image of jealousy,” Ezekiel saw what he had not seen, as he first became conscious that he was in the court of the templethe vision of the Divine glory, such as he had seen it on the banks of Chebar (Eze 1:4-28). He was to look first on this picture and then on that, and the guilt of Judah was measured by that contrast.
Eze 8:6
That I should go far off, etc. The lesson taught was that already implied in the fact that the glorious vision and come to him from the north (Eze 1:4). The temple was already as a God-deserted shrine. His return to it now was but the coming of the Judge and the Destroyer. We are reminded of the , (“Let us depart hence”), which was heard in the darkness of the night before the later destruction of Jerusalem (Josephus, ‘Bell. Jud.’ 6.5.3) Bad begins, but worse remains behind. The prophet is led onward as through the successive stages of an inferno of idolatries.
Eze 8:7
To the door of the court. What follows suggests that the prophet was led to the gate that opened from the inner to the outer court. This gas surrounded by chambers or cells (Jer 35:4). The term for “wall” (kir) is that specially used for the wall which encloses a whole group of buildings (Num 35:4). Behold a hole in the wall. The fact was clearly significant. The worship here was more clandestine than that of the “image of jealousy.” We are not warranted, perhaps, in insisting on minute consistency in the world of visions, but the question naturally arisesHow did the worshippers enter the chamber if Ezekiel had to enlarge the hole in the wall in order to get in? We may surmise that the entrance from the temple court had been blocked up all but entirely in the days of Josiah, that the idolaters now entered it from without or through some other chamber, while Ezekiel thinks of himself as coming upon them like a spy in the dim distance of the covered passage through which he made his way.
Eze 8:10
Every form of creeping things. The words obviously paint the theriomorphic worship of Egypt, the scarabseus probably being prominent. The alliance between Jehoiakim and Pharaoh (2Ki 24:1-20 :33-35), and which Zedekiah was endeavouring to renew, would naturally bring about a revival of that cultus. Small chambers in rock or tomb filled with such pictured symbols were specially characteristic of it.
Eze 8:11
Seventy men, etc. The number was probably chosen with reference to the “elders” who had seen the Divine glory in Exo 24:9, Exo 24:10. The Sanhedrin, or council of seventy, did not exist till after the Captivity. The number can scarcely have been accidental, and may imply that the elders were formally representative. Another Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, appears in Jer 35:3; yet another, the son of Azur, in Eze 11:1. If the Shaphan mentioned is the scribe, the son of Azaliah, under Josiah (2Ki 22:3), the father of Ahikam (2Ki 22:12), of Elasah (Jer 29:3), and of Gemariah (Jer 36:10, Jer 36:11, Jer 36:12), and the grandfather of Gedaliah (Jer 39:14, et al.), all of whom were prominent in the reform movement under Josiah, or as friends of Jeremiah, and no other Shaphan appears in history, the fact that one of his sons is the leader of the idolatrous company must have had for Ezekiel a specially painful significance. He could scarcely have forgotten the meaning of his name, “The Lord is listening,” and probably refers to it in verse 12. As the climax of this chamber of horrors, the seventy elders were all acting as priests, and were offering to their pictured idols the incense which none but the sons of Aaron had a right to use, and which they offered to Jehovah only.
Eze 8:12
Every man, etc. And this, after all, was but a sample of the prevalence of the Egyptian influence. Other elders had, in the dark, a like adytum, a like chamber of imagery, like the Latin lararium, filled. with a like cloud of incense. And though the name of the leader of the band might have warned them that the Lord was listening, they boasted, in their blindness, that Jehovah did not see them; he had forsaken the temple, and had fiche elsewhere. They thought of Jehovah as of a local deity who had abdicated. They were free to do as they liked without fear. The words are worth noting further as the first of a series of popular half proverbs, in which the thoughts of the people clothed themselves (see Eze 11:3; Eze 12:22; Eze 18:2, Eze 18:19; Eze 33:10; Eze 37:11). All these imply some personal knowledge of what was passing in Jerusalem.
Eze 8:14
Behold, there sat women wailing for Tammuz. The point of view is probably the same as that of Eze 8:3, but the women were apparently in the outer porch of it, as he has to be brought to the gate in order to see them. We are led to note two things:
(1) the general prominence of women in the later idolatry of Judah;
(2) the specific character of the Tammuz worship.
Under
(1) we have the women who wove hangings for the Ashera (2Ki 23:7), those who had burnt incense to other gods, especially to the queen of heaven (Jer 44:9, Jer 44:15-19), probably, i.e; to Ashtaroth.
(2) The name Tammuz does not meet us elsewhere in the Old Testament. All interpreters, however, agree that it answers to the Adonis of Greek mythology. So Jerome translates it, and expressly states (in loc.) that what Ezekiel saw corresponded to the Adonis festivals. It may be enough to state, without going into the details of the story, that Adonis, the beautiful youth beloved of Aphrodite, was slain by a wild boar; that after his death he was allowed to spend six months of each year with her, while the other was passed with Persephone in Hades. The cultus thus became the symbol of the annual decay and revival of nature; but the legend rather than the inner meaning was in the thoughts of the worshippers. The emotions of women poured themselves out in lamentations over the waxen image of the beautiful dead youth who had perished in his prime, and in orgiastic joy over his return to life. Milton, deriving his knowledge, probably, from Selden’s ‘De Diis Syris,’ has painted the whole atone in words which may well be quoted
“Thammuz next came behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer’s day;
While smooth Adonis from his native rock
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale
Infected Sion’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.”
(‘Par. Lost,’ 1:446, etc.)
The chief centre of the Tammuz-Adonis worship was Byblos, in Syria. but it spread widely over the shores of the Mediterranean and was fashionable both in Alexandria and Athens. One of the practices of the festival, that of planting flowers in vases for forced cultivation, has been perpetuated by Plato’s allusion to “the gardens of Adonis” as the type of transitoriness. Cheyne, following Lagarde, finds a reference to the cultus in Isa 17:10; Isa 65:3 : Isa 66:17. The festival of Ishtar and Tammuz (or Tam-zi) at Babylon presented a marked parallel. Adonis is, with hardly a doubt, identical with the Hebrew Adonai (equivalent to “Lord”). Tammuz has been explained as meaning “victorious,” or “disappearance,” or “burning;” but all etymologies are conjectural. Lastly, it is not without interest to note
(1) that when Jerome wrote, the Cave of the Nativity at Bethlehem was overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz (‘Ep. ad Paul.’); and
(2) that the later Jewish calendar included the month of Tammuz, which corresponded to July. The festival seems to have been celebrated at the summer solstice. The time of Ezekiel’s vision was in the sixth month, sc. about the time of the autumnal equinox (see ‘Dict. Bible,’ art. “Tammuz”). Mr. Baring-Gould, treating the legend as a solar myth, finds the old Phoenician deity represented in the “St. George of Merrie England”. An exhaustive monograph, “Tammuz Adonis,” has been published by Liebrecht, in his ‘Zur Volkskunde’, reprinted from the Zeitschrift Deutschen Morgen-Gesellschaft, vol. 17. pp. 397, etc.
Eze 8:16
He brought me into the inner court. The last and the worst form of desecration follows. It was the “inner court” (Joe 2:17) which, after the exile, was entered only by the priests. During the monarchy, however, it seems to have been accessible to kings and other persons of importance, as in the case of Solomon (1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:64; 1Ki 9:25) in the revolution against Athaliah (2Ki 11:4-15), and Hezekiah (2Ki 19:14), and Josiah (2Ki 23:2). Ezekiel does not say that the men whom he saw were priests, though the number twenty-five suggests that they were taking the place of the high priest and the heads of the twenty-four courses of the priesthood (1Ch 24:4-19), and so symbolized the whole order of the priesthood as the seventy elders represented the laity. In 2Ch 36:14 the chief of the priests is spoken of as having been prominent in “polluting the house of the Lord.” They were seen turning their backs to the temple of Jehovah, i.e. the sanctuary. The very act was symbolical of their apostasy (2Ch 29:6; Isa 1:4; Jer 7:24). And they did this in order that they might look to the east and worship the rising sun. That, and not the temple (Dan 6:10), was the Kiblah of their adoration. The sun worship here appears to have had a Persian character, as being offered to the sun itself, and not to Baal, as a solar god. Of such a worship we have traces in Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3; Job 31:26; 2Ki 23:5, 2Ki 23:11.
Eze 8:17
For returned read, with the Revised Version, turned again. The wind seems chosen with special reference to the attitude of the idol worshippers. It may be noted that even here the prophet speaks not only of the idolatry of Judah, but of its violence also, as bringing down the judgments of Jehovah. Lo, they put the branch to their nose. The opening word expresses the prophet’s burning indignation. The act described probably finds its best explanation in the Persian ritual of the Avesta. When men prayed to the sun, they held in their left hands a bouquet of palm, pomegranate, and tamarisk twigs, while the priests for the same purpose held a veil before their mouth, so that the bright rays of the sun might not be polluted by human breath. And this was done in the very temple of Jehovah by those who were polluting the whole land by their violence. The LXX. gives, as an explanation, , as though the act was one of scornful pride (comp. Isa 65:5), the sign of a temper like that of the Pharisee as he looked upon the publican (Luk 18:11). Lightfoot takes the “nose” as the symbol of anger, and looks on the phrase as proverbial: “They add the twig to their anger, fuel to the fire;” but this has little to commend it. The word for “branch” is used in Eze 15:2 and Num 13:23 for a vine branch.
Eze 8:18
The verse serves as a transition to Eze 9:1-11. The unpitying aspect of the Divine judgments is again prominent. Such sins deserved, and could only be expiated by, the judgments to which we now pass.
HOMILETICS.
Eze 8:2
A revelation of fire.
The prophet is visited with a series of new visions under fresh circumstances. No longer walking among the weeping captives by the waters of Babylon, or standing in solitude upon the great plain, Ezekiel is now in his own house receiving a deputation of Jewish leading men, who have evidently bees impressed by his earlier prophecies, and who have come to consult him on the condition and prospects of his nation, when he is seized with an inspired rapture. The house and the visitors melt away from his consciousness, and there in the very presence of these waiting and astonished guests the prophet’s eyes are opened to a vision of God, and he is carried in imagination to scenes of sin and shame in the temple at Jerusalem. Was ever there a more unlikely time and setting of revelation? Truly the Spirit breatheth where it listeth. God may visit a soul in company as well as in solitude, in the home as well as in the temple or in the seclusion of nature. He, is ever present. The only question inWhen and how will the veil be lifted?
I. A VISION OF GOD. It is evidently a Divine appearance, a theophany, that is here portrayed. Not that man at any time can see God with the outward eye, for flesh cannot see spirit. But in vision and representative form God now manifests himself to Ezekiel.
1. The vision of God precedes the revelation of truth. It was usual for this great seer of visions, Ezekiel, to have a new series of revelations opened by some overwhelming manifestation of God’s presence. The same occurred with St. John’s visions in the Apocalypse. We must know God before we can understand Divine truth. The vision of God in the soul must come first. Then truth can be seen in his light.
2. The vision of God precedes the revelation of man. Ezekiel is about to see awful sights of sin. He must first behold the pure fire of God’s presence. We cannot know man till we see him in the light of God. The Bible that gives us our highest knowledge of God also gives us our deepest insight into man. Vague ideas of God lead to light thoughts of sin. When about to visit the haunts of wickedness, the Christian should first come into communion with God. This will help him to see the horror of sin, to keep himself from contamination, and to feel the right commiseration for the fallen.
II. A VISION OF FIRE. The Divine manifestation seems to have been in a human shape, but in one of fireburning flames below, brilliant radiance above.
1. The fire below suggests wrath against sin. “Our God is a consuming Fire” (Heb 12:29). Christ came to baptize with fire, and to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (Mat 3:11, Mat 3:12). There is a righteous indignation against sin, the lack of which would mean moral feebleness. God burns to consume all evil.
2. The brightness above suggests the supreme glory of God. The crowning characteristic of God is nut wrath. Above the fire is the serene radiance. There is terror in the holiness of God when this touches the sin of man. Yet God himself is supremely calm and beautiful. If we can rise from the flaming wrath about his feet, and behold the beauty of his countenance, we shall see on it the expression of eternal goodness.
Eze 8:3
The image of jealousy.
Ezekiel in vision imagines himself plucked up by a lock of hair and carried from the land of his exile back to Jerusalem, there to behold the abominations that are being practised in the temple of Solomon. In the sacred enclosure he sees an idol that provokes the jealousy of the true God.
I. GOD IS JUSTLY JEALOUS. The Old Testament idea of the jealousy of God has been grossly misapprehended. It has been taken as meaning that God was regarded as narrow, self-seeking, harsh. Such criticisms reveal a total misapprehension of the Old Testament position, according to which the jealousy of God is a necessity of his nature and righteousness.
1. A necessity of God‘s nature. There is but one God who fills all things. When he is represented as jealous, thin cannot be because he grudges a certain amount of honour to a rivalas Zeus might be jealous of Apollofor God has no possible rivals. The supposed rivals are not gods at all. The worship of them is the worship of empty names. God is calling men back from delusion to fact when he is jealous of heathenish worship.
2. A necessity of righteousness. Forsaking Jehovah for false gods is not merely leaving one deity for another, nor even only turning aside to vanity and a delusion. It is turning from holiness to sin. The worship of God involves purity of heart and life; idolatry means a lower moral life. For the sake of holiness God cannot endure the lower worship. It might be said that God could be worshipped under various names as “Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.” But if the lower forms of worship involve false thoughts of God and evil practices in morals, they are degrading and unendurable.
II. AN IDOL PROVOKES THE JEALOUSY OF GOD. The idol takes the place of God, sits on his throne, defiles his temple, usurps his Name and authority and worship. Anything that works in this way is an idol, and needs to be visited with the just indignation of God. Let us note some of these “images of jealousy.”
1. Pleasure. If men set pleasure first, guiding their lives by its gaudy radiance, pleasure presides over the altar of their souls. “Love not pleasure, love God,” says Carlyle; for the supreme love of the one excludes the supreme love of the other.
2. Money. This idol of gold is the modern representative of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue on the plain of Shinara hard, helpless idol, which the man who lives for money enshrines in the temple of his soul.
3. Earthly love. God does not require us to abandon human affection; on the contrary, we cannot love God unless we love man, and we]earn to love God best through the exercise of human affections (1Jn 4:20). But when a human affection is supreme and will not yield in submission to the will of God, the object of it becomes an “image of jealousy.”
4. Self-will. We may think we serve God and yet we may refuse to obey him, only working according to our own will. This also is idolatry.
5. Fixed opinions. Instead of loving truth, we are tempted to love our own ideas; wishing them to be true, we are led to regard them as such, and so to shut our minds against the correcting voice of Divine revelation. All these images of jealousy are just so many embodiments of self, the monster idol of the soul and rival of God. To cast out these images we need the true Image of the invisible God, Jesus Christ, to come and take possession of our hearts.
Eze 8:12
Chambers of imagery.
Old men who should have been the guides of the younger generation were found by the prophet to have their secret practices of idolatry in private chambers, where they kept idols unknown to the world at large. Too careful for their reputation to share in the open idolatry of the mass of the people, these venerable hypocrites aggravated their guilt by cowardly deception. Safely ensconced in the seclusion of their chambers of imagery, they revelled in the orgies of a degrading idolatry, and then appeared in the streets as sedate citizens. The shameful sin of this double living may be practised in other forms with another kind of chamber of imagery.
I. EVERY MAN HAS A CHAMBER OF IMAGERY IN HIS OWN HEART. Children and poets are possessed of the most Powerful imagination; but even the dullest, most prosaic person is haunted with visionary presences, though of the most common place order. When we retire into ourselves, we unlock the door of our chamber of imagery and look at its ghostly scenes. There hang the portraits of the past, some blurred by the dust of years, others as clear as when they were first painted by the flash of a keen experience; some distorted into painful, impossible ugliness, others rounded into equally impossible perfection. There, too, are vague shadows of the future. But the most important images are designs and wishes, favourite fancies and pet ideas. These we embrace as friends; before some of them, perhaps, we prostrate ourselves in idolatrous worship. But happily we may also find there inspiring images of noble deeds, the ideals we would strive to copy in actual life. We may have left them too long in the dim chamber of imagery. We should bring them forth and clothe them with the flesh and blood of living deeds, while the bad images had better be crushed before they reach the doorway of utterance.
II. THERE ARE DEEDS DONE IN THE CHAMBER OF IMAGERY. Lust is there, and adultery, covetousness, theft, hatred, and murder. So long as a man restrains his utterance he is tempted to believe that it matters not what he imagines. No greater delusion can be possible; for the true life is that which is lived within. While in his chamber of imagery, a man is his true self divested of the cloak of semblance which he wears when about in the world. What images does he there delight to gaze upon? The true character of the man will be determined by the answer to that question. Certainly evil images may come there unsought and unloved as painful temptations, and it is the duty of one who loves holiness to turn aside from such. But the images delighted in reveal the true self. The wickedness there planned and gloated over in evil thought is sina deed of the soul. Ultimately it must come out in the life, for the imagination of the heart colours the external conduct, Shakespeare says
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons,
Which, at the first, are scarce found to distaste,
But, with a little act upon the blood,
Burn like the mines of sulphur.”
III. IT IS A DELUSION TO SUPPOSE THAT GOD IS INDIFFERENT TO WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CHAMBER OF IMAGERY. The old men of Jerusalem comforted themselves with the notion that God did not see them, that he had forsaken the earth. This Ezekiel knew to be a monstrous delusion.
1. God looks into the chamber of imagery. There is a window in every soul, through which the eye of God gazes right down to the bottom of its most secret thoughts. He knows us better than we know ourselves. The cloak of hypocrisy is not as the thinnest veil between us and God. Now, this is of supreme interest, because, while it does not very much matter what our fellow men may think about us, God’s thought of us is all-important.
2. God will judge us for deeds done in the chamber of imagery. Knowing all, he will not judge only by what the world sees. Sins of the heart will be noted by God, and will bring down upon us his just wrath, even though the hands have been clean from iniquity.
3. The only effectual salvation must be ore that cleanses the chamber of imagery. “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” cries David, in the depth of his penitence, knowing that the outward sins he had committed have sprung from the evil of his imagination. Therefore nothing short of the new birth which Christ brings can save our souls.
Eze 8:15
Greater abominations.
As Ezekiel is taken from one chamber of idolotry to another, in his visionary visit to the temple, he finds to his horror a continuous aggravation of the abominations. This is similar to the results of a survey of the world’s sin.
I. SIN IS FOUND IN VARIOUS DEGREES OF ABOMINATION. The patristic statement that all sin is infinite, because it is an offence against the infinite God, is not found in Scripture, nor is it borne out by observation or experience. The Bible refers to various degrees of guilt; e.g. Joh 19:11. Peter’s denial of Christ was a sin; but Judas’s betrayal was a vastly greater sin. We are conscious of degrees of guilt in our own lives. It looks as though the sink of iniquity must be a bottomless pit. There are even deeper, blacker, more frightful and damnable sins yet to be reached by an abandoned soul that plunges down an unchecked descent of iniquity. No one is so bad that he can say, “I can do nothing worse than I have done.”
II. THE VARIOUS DEGREES OR ABOMINATION CANNOT BE MEASURED BY EXTERNAL STANDARDS. They are not to be determined by any graduated code of formal morality. What is a weakness in one man may be a crime in another. The father of a starving family who steals a loaflike the hero of Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’is not to be judged as the respectable promoter of rotten investments, who grows rich on the ruin of thousands of helpless people. The miserable child of the London thief, whose training has been at a school of crime, cannot be justly put into comparison with the son of a happy, prosperous Christian home. There are hereditary tendencies to evil and peculiar circumstances of temptation which beset certain people more than others. The degree of guilt varies accordingly. We cannot weigh all these conditions. Hence the advice, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”
III. ALL SIN TENDS TO AN AGGRAVATION OF ITS ABOMINATION. As Ezekiel went from one chamber to another, he came upon a continually descending series of scenes of wickedness. The worst were last. Sin is never at a standstill. It is a dark and turbid torrent that swells and blackens as it flows. The man who begins with a slight lapse from virtue is on the road to greater abominations. Herein is the danger, the fatal insidiousness of evil. If the sinner saw the whole course of his future from the first and at oncelike Hogarth’s pictures of the ‘Rake’s Progress’he would start back with horror. Yet while he lingers and toys with sin it is silently coiling about him with more and more direful entanglements.
IV. THE EXISTENCE OF VARIOUS DEGREES OF ABOMINATION IS A REASON FOR SPEEDY REPENTANCE.
1. All sin is abominable. One sin may be a greater abomination than another, but the standard of measurement is not the depth below, but the height above. The question isHow far have we fallen? notHow much further may we yet sink away from the light? A man’s sin is not one whit the less because his brother’s sin is greater in guilt.
2. The sooner we repent the easier it is to return. Sin hardens as it becomes more aggravated in evil. While the light of God is waning, the way of recovery is becoming more obscure. “Today is the accepted time.”
3. It is possible for the greatest abomination to be forgiven. The obstacle is only on one side. Christ can save the worst of sinners.
Eze 8:16
Sun worship.
When Ezekiel, in his visionary visit to the temple, came upon the last scene of horror, and beheld the greatest of all the abominations therein committed, he saw twenty-five men performing rites of worship before the rising sun.
I. SUN WORSHIP IS MOST FASCINATING. This was the most common, and perhaps also the most primitive, heathen cult. It was very prominent in the ancient Egyptian religionthe rising, the midday, and the setting sun being honoured with separate names and rites; it was the essential idea of the Canaanite Baal worship, as well as of the Babylonian religion; and it lies at the heart of the Aryan mythology in Sanscrit, Greek, and Teutonic forms. If any material object should be selected for worship, it is natural that the earth’s great source of light, power, and life should be the universal favourite. Our modern idolatries do not reach this material form, but they contain the same ideas.
1. The worship of light. This takes two forms.
(1) AEstheticism. Grace of form and tone are set up as supreme objects of admiration, to the neglect of moral goodness.
(2) Science. This is put on a pinnacle as lord of all thought and life. Now, knowledge is good, and all truth, which is the subject of science, is in itself pure, and should be pursued by men. But the exclusive cult of science is idolatry, because it is placing knowledge above obedience.
2. The worship of power. The sun is the great motive power of the universe. Latent sun heat in coal drives our steam engines. Direct sun heat lifts the water from the sea, that afterwards descends in avalanches and mountain torrents. We do not prostrate ourselves before the sun, the source of all this force, but we do magnify the virtue of the power itself. Yet material resources are not the highest good.
3. The worship of life. The sun is the great fertilizing influence of nature. The return of its warm rays awakens nature from the death of winter, and creates the new life of spring; its great heat makes the tropics to teem with swift growing vegetable and insect life. The most modern idolatry is the deification of the vital powersthe idea that, as all natural instinct is pure, the indulgence of naturalism is commendable. This is just the old Canaanite abomination.
4. The worship of the future. The sun worshipper turned to the east and hailed the sunrise. There is something fascinating and exhilarating in this anticipation of the morning. Christianity consecrates hope. But it is a mistake to believe in the future as in a fate of coming good. The future can only be good because God is in it, and blesses it.
II. SUN WORSHIP IS MOST ABOMINABLE. It includes many evil things.
1. Departure from God. The sun worshippers stood with their backs turned towards the temple. Their attitude was most significant. All idolatry must be practised with the back turned towards the truly Divine. We cannot serve the false and the true at one and the same time.
2. The degradation of God‘s greatest works. The more beautiful and powerful and fruitful the sun is seen to be, the more shameful is it that men should degrade their thought of it into idolatry. When we abuse God’s best gifts by idolizing them, we turn what should occasion our deepest gratitude and admiration for God’s goodness into an occasion for departing from him.
3. The consecration of sin. Sun worship began in adoration of the lord of day. But it descended into gross licentiousness, through the selection of the fertilizing power of sun heat as a special object of adoration. Thus sun worship became the worship of lust. This will be the inevitable effect of naturalism regarded as a religion. The worship of nature powers pure and simple involves the consecration of the lowest of those powers, so that what should be kept down as a slave claims to rule as a master, with obscene effrontery.
CONCLUSION. The rescue from nature worshipmodern as well as ancientis to be found in the revelation of One infinitely greater than nature. No wonder men who had no vision of the spiritual God selected the sunso powerful in his southern splendouras the greatest object of adoration. But we have “the Sun of Righteousness,” before whose glory all physical brightness grows pale and fades away.
Eze 8:17
Making light of sin.
I. SINNERS MAKE LIGHT OF SIN. This is a commonly observed fact. Let us see how it is caused.
1. As an attempt to excuse the sinner. This, of course, is the most obvious and palpable reason why many people try to minimize their own sin. The prisoner pleads “Not guilty” simply to save himself. The same is done even before the private bar of a man’s own conscience; for we wish to excuse ourselves to ourselves. Thus there may be no conscious deception, no hypocrisy. We may really persuade ourselves that we are not so bad as we seem to be. The wish is father to the thought.
2. By the force of habit. We grow accustomed to the worst companions if we are much with them, as we scarcely notice the ugliness of what is constantly with us, though strangers would be struck with their first sight of it. So while we become familiar with our sins, their supreme and most dreadful wickedness ceases to affect us, as the fearful sight of mutilated bodies ceases to affect hospital surgeons. The horror dies out of the aspect of wickedness, and a look of familiarity takes its place.
3. Through the influence of example. If a man stood alone in his sin, he would he appalled at the singular horror of it. But he sees it reflected in the lives of his neighbours, and, judging himself by the average standard of society, instead of taking the Law of God for his measure, he passes an easy sentence.
4. In the deadening of conscience. This is the worst and the most dangerous effect of sin. The sense for perceiving its guilt is blunted. Until conscience is reawakened by the Spirit of God, no man truly appreciates his own guilt.
II. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO MAKE LIGHT OF SIN.
1. He sees it as it truly is. God is not deceived by our excuses. He sees into the true nature of our thought and conduct with an all-searching eye, and he is perfectly true and just to judge according to fact.
2. God measures it by the law of holiness. He knows our weakness, our ignorance, our temptation; and he does not judge men as he would judge angelsof that we may be sure; for “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” But according as we have light he will estimate our conduct, measuring it against that light, and not against the darkness of our neighbours. God cannot endure iniquity. In his sight it is hideous and hateful and utterly deserving of condemnation. Let us remember that we shall not be judged by man’s standards of conventionality, but by God’s pure law of righteousness.
3. If God forgives sin, he does not make light of it. Forgiveness is not excusing evil. It recognizes the whole black guilt of it. Jesus who brought free forgiveness denounced sin itself as no stern Hebrew prophet had ventured to denounce it. In pardoning the penitent he carefully hotel that her sins were “many” (Luk 7:47). The publican is commended for his humiliation in the confession of sin (Luk 18:13). We can only judge of God’s horror of sin by the darkness and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary. God forgives sin at the cost of his own Son. The great atonement of Christ was rendered necessary because God could not make light of sin, though he desired to save the sinner. We can be saved from our sin, not by making light of it, but when we fully confess its whole guilt and shame.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
Eze 8:4, Eze 8:5
The glory of God and the image of jealousy.
In prophetic vision Ezekiel was transported from the place of exile to his country’s metropolis, and to the temple which was the very centre of his people’s religious observances. It may not be certain whether what in this vision he discerned actually took place, or whether the vision was representative and symbolical of what was occurring elsewhere in Judah and even in Jerusalem. But what an extraordinary juxtaposition and contrast is that described in these verses! One observer in one spot is brought face to face both with the splendour of the Divine manifestation and with the horror of idolatrous rites!
I. THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL. The prophet beheld an appearance of splendour, such as he had previously beheld in the plain, and had described in an earlier passage of iris prophecies.
1. This appearance was emblematical of the Divine attributes; alike of God’s power to punish and to save, and of his moral excellences, justice and truth, mercy and love.
2. This appearance was peculiarly suitable to the place where it was discerned: the temple of Jehovah was his dwelling place, and the scene of his peculiar presence, who giveth not his glory to another.
3. This appearance was a reminder that for the Jewish people there was one, and only one, proper Object of adoration and worship.
II. THE IDOLATROUS IMAGE.
1. This was doubtless a figure of one of the false gods worshipped by one of the nations in the neighbourhood of Palestine, by whom Judah had been corrupted and seduced. Which of the several idols was at that time worshipped by the Jews we are not told; and, indeed, this does not signify.
2. Whatever this imaginary deity may have been, it is certain that the attributes assigned to it were opposed to those belonging to Jehovah. Cruelty and impurity were certainly qualities attributed to this false god.
3. Thus moral degradation was involved in the worship of this image; degradation all the more signal because the Jews forsook a God of righteousness and clemency, and fashioned or accepted an imaginary deity embodying their own worst faults and vices.
III. THE INDIGNATION WITH WHICH JEHOVAH REGARDED JUDAH‘S PREFERENCE. The image was an “image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” The reasons why the idol should be so designated, why such should be the way in which it was regarded, are obvious enough.
1. Jehovah had enjoined upon the posterity of Abraham abstinence from the idolatries from which the great forefather of the chosen people had been delivered. Monotheism was the very stamp and seal of their election.
2. The very first and second commandments of the first table of the moral Law prohibited idolatry.
3. The history of Israel had been one long rebuke of idolatry, and one long warning against falling into this seductive snare.
4. The ordinances and institutions of the nation were expressly designed to act as a check and dissuasive against the sin of the surrounding and heathen nations.
APPLICATION. Apostasy from the service of the one living and true God is rendered inexcusable, and is worthy of severe condemnation, when, as in the case of Judah, and in our case, light is clear, privileges are many, and opportunities and inducements abound to be faithful and diligent in the practice of pure religion.T.
Eze 8:10
Base idolatry.
Placed, as the children of Israel were, in a very central position among the nations, they were exposed to a great variety of temptations. Circumstances must sometimes have favoured the influence of one nation, sometimes of another. Commercial intercourse, political leagues, matrimonial alliances, all had a share in determining which nation should predominate in influencing the Jewish people. And it is certain that by such influences the people were led into idolatries of different kinds. Egypt, as the neighbour of Israel upon the south, naturally came again and again into contact with the people who had been by Divine power delivered from her hands. Probably some relics of Egyptian superstition lingered for generations among the Jews, and it seems certain that efforts were made to introduce the deities and idolatrous worship of Egypt among the professed worshippers of Jehovah. This verse obviously refers to the practice of Egyptian idolatry in the capital, and in the very temple courts.
I. THE CHARACTER OF THIS IDOLATRY.
1. It was the worship of living creatures.
2. And of the lowest forms of life. This we know to have been especially characteristic of the religion of ancient Egypt.
II. THE VILENESS AND ABSURDITY OF THIS IDOLATRY.
1. It was the elevation of the creature above the Creator.
2. It was the glorification of animal in preference to spiritual life.
3. It manifested itself in the most irrational and indefensible forms which so called religion could possibly assume.
4. It lowered the worshippers to a moral level of degradation below which it was scarcely possible to sink.
III. THE GUILT OF THE JEWS IN PRACTISING THIS IDOLATRY.
1. They forsook the pure and elevating worship of the living and true God, preferring the vile to the precious, the disgusting to the sublime.
2. They acted in a manner contrary to all the lessons of their past history.
3. They rebelled against the authoritative admonitions of the Lord’s faithful prophets. In all these respects the Hebrew people were far more blamable than the surrounding nations who had been trained in idolatrous practices, and had never declined from a purer and nobler faith and worship.T.
Eze 8:12
Atheism.
In the chambers of the temple courts the prophet in his vision beheld seventy elders, representing the people of Judah and Israel, engaged in idolatrous worship. The walls of the chambers were decorated with figures of the animals to which homage was rendered. Those who by reason of character and station should have been the leaders of the people in the offices of pure religion were engaged in waving the censers of the idolatrous worship, and the thick cloud of unholy incense filed the chambers. As the prophet gazed appalled at this awful spectacle, the voice of the Lord addressed him: “Hast thou seen what they do? They say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.” Here was the true explanation of the defection of the Jewsleaders and common people alike. It was atheism which led to idolatry. And atheism is far more generally at the root of all evils in society than many superficial observers are willing to allow.
I. THE ELEMENTS OF ATHEISM. There are many who are not professedly and openly atheists, who are such in reality. They may not cast aside the Name of God, they may not openly repudiate the Law of God; but in their hearts they believe not in him. There may be recognized on their part:
1. Disbelief in the Lord’s omniscient observation of men. “They say, The Lord seeth us not.”
2. Disbelief in the Lord’s presence and activity. “They say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth.” Whoever they may be who make these assertions, and whatever their standing among their fellow men, they are practically and really atheistic.
II. THE OPERATION OF ATHEISM. It is impossible that such disbelief as that described should be without influence upon the moral nature and conduct.
1. Atheism removes the restraints from sin which belief in the Divine presence imposes. This is not the highest view to take of the question, but it is a just one; and many natures are largely influenced by the knowledge that an all-seeing God regards all their ways and thoughts.
2. Atheism removes the inspiration to goodness which belief in the Divine presence furnishes. The knowledge that a holy and omnipotent Father is ever with us, is ever ready to encourage and assist us in all our endeavours to realize our highest ideal, must needs be a factor of great importance in our spiritual life. Let this be withheld or contradicted, and how much that is best must be withdrawn along with it!
III. THE FRUITS OF ATHEISM.
1. Among these Jews at Jerusalem disbelief in Jehovah led to superstition and idolatryno unusual conjunction.
2. Very generally, atheism leads to self-indulgence and vice.
3. And it is destructive of all higher national life. Fidelity to God is fidelity to principle, fidelity to society, fidelity to the highest conception formed of human life. Infidelity to God involves the opposite of all these virtues, and abandonment to the life of interest, of ease, of pleasure; it gives power to every temptation to sin, to every evil tendency of society. Under its influence man sinks to the merely animal life, and to such mental activity as subserves that life.
APPLICATION. We are sometimes told that in speculative atheism there is no great harm; that without belief in God men may be good citizens, and may discharge honourably the several relationships of life. Without denying that, in certain instances, the influence of Christianity may for a time abide after Christianity itself has been abandoned, we have yet to look at the proper and inevitable consequences of a general abandonment of belief in God. We shall find these so terrible, that we may well watch and pray against the first loosenings of belief in the most fundamental and precious of all truths.T.
Eze 8:14
Weeping for Tammuz.
If the usual interpretation of this passage is correct, then it is clear that there had been introduced from Northern Syria into Jerusalem a superstitious practice and cultus, which was altogether alien from the beliefs and the worship proper to the nation whom the Supreme had favoured with a clear and glorious revelation of his blessed character and his holy will. It is an illustration of the weakness and proneness to err characteristic of our humanity, that a nation so favoured as Judah should borrow from their neighbours religious rites and observances utterly inconsistent with their own religion, and of a kind fitted to degrade rather than to exalt the moral life. We may observe of this special superstition
I. THAT IT SUBSTITUTED FICTION FOR TRUTH.
II. THAT IT CONCENTRATED ATTENTION UPON NATURE INSTEAD OF UPON THE AUTHOR OF NATURE.
III. THAT IT SUBSTITUTED AN IMAGINATIVE AND FANCIFUL FOR A REAL AND LEGITIMATE CAUSE OF EMOTION.
IV. THAT IT PROMOTED VICE INSTEAD OF MORAL PURITY.
V. THAT IT CONSEQUENTLY DEGRADED THE NATION THAT SUFFERED ITSELF TO BE SEDUCED BY IT.
APPLICATION. No nation and no individual is superior to the necessity of watchfulness against the contaminating influence of neighbours upon a lower moral platform, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” instead of the good leavening the evil, and so purifying the mass, the contrary may happen, and the defiling influence of error and impurity may spread. In this case there is every likelihood of the fulfilment of the proverb, “The companion of fools shall be destroyed.”T.
Eze 8:16
Sun worshippers in Jerusalem.
Although the worship of Baal and other similar deities was no doubt a corruption due to the personification of the great orb of day, it does not seem that, in this passage, the prophet intends to denounce that form of idolatry. It appears that actual sun worship, which we know to have been practised among the Persians, obtained in the time of Ezekiel at Jerusalem, though it is scarcely credible that it took place literally in the circumstances depicted in the context.
I. THE SUN WORSHIP ITSELF. Of this it is enough to say that it is creature worship, and is therefore dishonouring to the Creator who kindled the sun in the firmament, and who is himself the eternal, uncreated Light.
II. THE SUN WORSHIPPERS.
1. They included the priesthood; for the five and twenty here mentioned were doubtless the heads of the twenty-four courses, with the high priest presiding over them.
2. Their attitude was indicative of profanity and defection; they are depicted as turning their backs towards the temple of Jehovah that they might face the sun as he rose in the east.
III. THE EFFECTS OF SUN WORSHIP.
1. This superstition estranged the minds of those who practised it from the God who is Light, and in whom is no darkness at all; it rendered them indifferent to the Divine Law, and inattentive to the Divine service and worship.
2. It was the means of filling the land with abominations and violence, and this was especially the case when conjoined with the worship of the Phoenician sun god.
3. It thus became one of the many occasions for the arousing of the anger of God, and led to the retributions and chastenings which speedily came upon the ungrateful, unspiritual, and apostate people.T.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES
Eze 8:1-16
Gradual disclosure of human sin.
The prophet notes the exact date of the vision, so that, if any doubt arose, the circumstance could be verified, so long as any one of these elders survived. These details of day and month may seem to many readers needless and tedious; yet, in an earlier day, they probably served an important purpose, and may be again useful in a future age. Even now they demonstrate with what diligent care the prophet preserved the records of Divine manifestations. The three hundred and ninety days during which Ezekiel was to be a living sign were now fulfilled.
I. THE OCCASION. The occasion arose out of a visit made to Ezekiel by the elders of Israel. Genuine inquiry on the part of men is always pleasing to God. If men ask after truth from righteous motive, God is prepared to meet them. The response from heaven may not be in the mode men expect, yet some response there will be. On this occasion, too, God was honoured in the person of his messenger. It becomes us to use those channels for information which God has opened. If we are at our Sovereign’s footstool, we shall not have long to wait.
II. GOD‘S GRACIOUS MANIFESTATION. It was an act of grace that God should reveal himself to his prophet, so that through the prophet he might reveal himself to the elders. In every age God has chosen the most fitting agencies through which to manifest himself to men.
1. It was an exact repetition of a former appearance. This was to intimate that God’s designs had in no respect changed. There were the same splendours of majestythe unchangeable gloryof Jehovah; there was the same appearance of radiant fire in the loins and feet, to indicate that he was about to march through the land in righteous indignation. “Verily, a fire goeth before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about.” “For he cometh to judge the earth.”
2. A mighty energy was put forth. There was the form of a hand, by which the prophet was lifted up. From first to last we need Divine assistance. So feeble is human nature, that at every step we need gracious succour, both to learn and to do God’s will. We must be separated from earthly sceneshave elevation of mindif we would see things as God sees them.
3. Personal effort. There was place and scope for the prophet’s exertion. Man must cooperate with God. “I beheld.” Ezekiel must use his eyes. In that state of ecstasy to which he had been raised there is need for special activity. Human nature at present cannot long endure the ecstatic state. Golden opportunities such as these are brief. Therefore note well the precious lessons.
III. THE GRADUAL DISCLOSURES OF ISRAEL‘S GUILT. The glory of God was manifest in the temple.
1. In the clear light of Jehovah‘s presence we see the real character of sin. The eye of man needs the medium of light through which to discern objects; and a special revelation of God is required in which to discover the turpitude of sin. It was when God came near to Job that this exemplary man exclaimed, “I abhor myself.” It was when Christ first revealed his glory to Peter that he put up the prayer, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
2. All forms of idolatry provoke God‘s jealous anger. We take this “image of jealousy” as an allegorical representation of the many sided idolatry of Israel. Whatever forms their idolatries assumed, they all had this in commonthey usurped Jehovah’s place; they supplanted his authority. In stupendous condescension, God speaks to us after the manner of a man. As the strongest passion which fallen man knows is jealousy, so God represents this as the picture of indignant sentiment in his own breast. He sets high value on our human love. It is the most precious thing we can give him. Hence, we wound him in the tenderest part when we erect a rival in his place. This is a root sin.
3. Sin becomes most heinous of all sin when committed in the temple. God’s dwelling place on earth is designed to be a fount, whence streams of blessing may flow to every province of our human life. To defile this fount is to send a stream of pollution into the domestic, commercial, and political life of the nation. If there be idolatry in the temple, there will be idolatry in the home; there will be disorder everywhere. The sanctuary will always be a source of life or of death to the whole empire.
4. God‘s disclosures of our sin are gradual. This method has two advantages:
(1) It gives us a clearer conception of the magnitude and the degrees of sin.
(2) It serves to deepen impression, while it does not overwhelm us with despair. If we desire to know the truth respecting our sin, God’s Spirit will lead us from point to point, so that we may have an ever-deepening sense of our iniquity.
IV. THE HEINOUSNESS OF ISRAEL‘S OFFENCE.
1. Its secrecy. The prophet had to break through the wall in order to discover it. Men will often indulge secretly in sins which they are ashamed to commit openly. The censure of our fellow men is often a useful deterrent. The opinion of others is a mirror, in which we see ourselves. Every man has his “chamber of imagery” within. Idolatry in the heart precedes the idolatry of temple worship. Can we not find some image of evil painted on the wails of our imaginationsome form of mammon, or pleasure, or self? Therefore “keep thy heart with all diligence.”
2. The deceitfulness of sin. It had blinded men’s eyes to the fact of God’s presenceto the fact of certain discovery and certain retribution. A growing acquaintance with sin convinces us of its many wiles to deceive. Few men venture to sin until they forget God’s omniscience; and the habit of forgetfulness leads swiftly to atheism.
3. The sin was spread by most pernicious example. The men who ought to have been beacons and bulwarks against idolatry were pioneers in iniquity. Men holding high rank, whether in Church or in state, cannot sin as others do. Their influence is enormous, and it is inevitable that they lead others to heaven or to hell. Every station has its responsibilities. If, in Israel, the princes and elders had set a high example of pious obedience, in all likelihood the fortunes of the nation had been retrieved. If the helmsman be blind, there is small chance for the safety of the ship.
4. This sin is seminal; it soon produces a brood of other sins. Idolatry blossomed into sensual lustinto vice, disorder, and violence. The idolatries of the heathen suited the popular taste, because they did not curb natural inclination; gave a dangerous licence to every sensual and selfish passion. They who have driven from the heart the love of God are soon filled with every vile affection. They who have ceased to fear God soon cease to have any regard for others’ weal. Sin rapidly generates a swarm noxious vices. The women who wept for Tammuz at the door of the temple were, without doubt, living in shameless prostitution. To depart from God is to run into every excess of iniquity. The more we examine the matter, the more flagrant and aggravated human sin appears. Superficial observers may talk of sin as a mere bagatelle; but they who search out the matter conclude that language is too poor to describe the cursed thing. It is the heaviest calamity that can rest on a human being; worse than poverty, or pain, or ill-repute, or desertion, or death: “He is in danger of eternal sin.“D.
Eze 8:17, Eze 8:18
Men co-assessors in judgment with God.
In saving men from sin, God qualifies them for the highest offices in his kingdom. “They shall sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
I. GOD GIVES US, IN STAGES, HIS VIEW OF HUMAN GUILT. Without question, we should take very low and imperfect conceptions of sin, unless God revealed to us the facts in the moral department of existence. By such means, God condescends to train us for companionship with himself, and for high office in his realm. “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”
II. GOD SHOWS US FURTHER THE MANIFOLD EFFECTS OF HUMAN SIN.
1. Its inexcusableness. It is not committed from want of knowledge. Those in Judaea who had the clearest access to knowledge respecting God yielded to idolatry.
2. Its effect upon others. All sin is contagious; and when exhibited in the lives of learned and official personages, it has peculiar fascination. The mystic force of influence diffuses it far and wide.
3. Its penetrative power. It touches and taints every part of man’s naturebody, soul, and spirit. It defiles every department of human life and interestagriculture, commerce, literature, legislation, the household.
4. Its cumulative energy. It grows worse and worse, until every restraint is broken down, and all sense of shame is destroyed. Open defiance of God is the last phase of iniquity.
III. GOD SUMMONS OUR JUDGMENT TO ASSESS THE GUILT. God appeals to his prophet for his estimate of the case. “Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is this a light thing?’ Our judgment, our reason, our moral sensibility, our conscience, have been conferred upon us for this selfsame purpose, viz. that we should condemn what is evil and approve what is good. Under certain circumstances it is our duty not to judge; as, for instance, when all the facts of the case are not within our possession, or when sympathetic help is better than critical examination, or when our judging faculty is better exercised about ourselves than about others. Our good, and the world’s advantage, must be our guide when to judge and when not to pass a judgment.
IV. GOD DESIRES TO HAVE OUR ACQUIESCENCE IN HIS DECISIONS. He puts great honour upon men in making them partners with him in the highest offices of the heavenly state. God is no lover of monopoly. As his creatures become fitted for eminent office and honour, he promotes them. To give them pleasure is to give himself pleasure. If any of his creatures become as wise and pure and good as he is, he will not repine. He calls us his sons and daughters; and inasmuch as the relationship is real, he loves to have our companionship, ay, and our hearty approval of all that he does. When Christ shall sit as Judge, in glorious state, we are told that all the holy angels shall sit with him. And if he will come to “be admired by his saints,” he will desire to have admiration for his deeds as well as for his Person. “He shall be justified” by his people “as often as he judges.”D.
HOMILIES BY W. JONES
Eze 8:1-6
The vision of the image of jealousy.
“And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month,” etc. This and the following three chapters are one discourse, or the record of one vision. In this chapter we see how the prophet was transported in spirit to the temple at Jerusalem, and caused to behold the open and the secret idolatrous abominations of which the people of Israel were guilty. Several portions of these verses have already engaged our attention in other connections. Moreover, Eze 8:1-4 are merely introductory to the vision; but the following points may perhaps be considered by us with advantage.
I. THE ELDERS SEEKING COUNSEL OF THE PROPHET OF THE LORD. “I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me.” It has been suggested that this was on the sabbath day, and that the elders were accustomed to meet thus on that day to hear the Word of the Lord from Ezekiel, and to unite in the worship of the Lord their God. But others are of opinion that the occasion was an extraordinary one, and that they were assembled to seek counsel or comfort from the prophet. Whatever the occasion might have been, there can be but little doubt that they were endeavoring to obtain some communication of the Divine will. Thus in the troubles of their captivity, when removed from their temple, and deprived of the regular ordinances of religion, these elders of Judah seem to have been more attentive to the prophet of Jehovah than they were when they had their religious privileges in fall. When the vision had become rare, it was prized. It is our sin and loss that our blessings are often not justly and adequately valued until we have lost them wholly or in part.
“What we have we prize not to the worth,
Whiles we enjoy it; but being lack’d and lost,
Why, thee we rack the value; then we find
The virtue, that possession would not show us
Whiles it was ours.”
(Shakespeare.)
Wise and blessed are they who duly prize their good and perfect gifts while in the possession and enjoyment of them.
II. THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE PROPHET OF THE LORD. Ezekiel had been inspired previously. The Spirit of God had moved him mightily before; but now the hand of the Lord came again upon him. New services require new inspirations. Fresh duties demand for their worthy discharge fresh impartations of strength. Each day we need the renewal of grace and strength from above. We discover in the prophet a triple effect of Divine inspiration.
1. Strengthening him. “The hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.” (We have spoken of this in our remarks on Eze 1:3.)
2. Exalting him. “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem.” While Ezekiel was sitting there amidst the elders of Judah, his spirit was exalted and carried away to Jerusalem. The inspiration of God raises the human spirit above its ordinary level, stimulates it into greater and nobler activities, and renders it more capable of receiving Divine impressions and communications.
3. Enlightening him. The Spirit enlightened the prophet by quickening his spirit to perceive Divine visions, and by unfolding those visions unto him. (See our remarks on Eze 1:1, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.”)
III. THE SPIRITUAL VISIONS GRANTED UNTO THE PROPHET OF THE LORD.
1. A Vision of the glory of the Lord God. “Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance as the colour of amber Aria, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.” Thus the prophet himself informs us that this vision of the glory of God corresponds with one which he saw before, and which we have already noticed (on Eze 1:26-28).
2. A vision of the dishonour done to the Lord God. The prophet was transported in spirit “to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.” Many have thought that this was an image of Baal. Lightfoot concluded that it was an image of Moloch. Others are of opinion that it was an image of Asherah or Astarte, which is mentioned in 2Ki 21:7; 2Ki 23:4, 2Ki 23:7, and incorrectly translated in the Authorized Version “grove.” It has been suggested that it was an image of the Tammuz or Adonis mentioned in 2Ki 23:14, “and called ‘the image that provoked to jealousy,’ with special reference to the yonthful and attractive beauty of the object it represented.” The view of Fairbairn seems to us the most probable. “We are disposed to think,” he says, “from the ideal character of the representation, that it should not be limited to any specific deity. The prophet, we are persuaded, purposely made the expression general, as it was not so much the particular idol placed on a level with Jehovah, as the idol worship itself, which he meant to designate and condemn. So sunk and rooted were the people in the idolatrous feeling, that where Jehovah had an altar, there some idol form must have its ‘seat‘a fixed residence, to denote that it was no occasional thing its being found there, but a regular and stated arrangement. And whatever it might for the time bewhether it was Baal, or Moloch, or Astarte, that the image representedas it was necessarily set up for a rival of Jehovah, to share with him in the worship to which he alone was entitled, it might justly be denominated ‘the image of jealousy,’ as it provoked that jealousy, and called for that visitation of wrath, against which the Lord had so solemnly warned his people in the second commandment.” “The image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy,” is an expression which looks back to Deu 32:16, Deu 32:21 : “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.” Thus Ezekiel beheld the Lord Jehovah dishonoured by his own people, and at the gate of his own altar. And being thus dishonoured, Jehovah abandons his temple. “He said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary?” When that sanctuary has been grossly polluted with idols he will no longer dwell there. And this is applicable to the Church of Jesus Christ. If a spirit of pride, worldliness, or selfishness become predominant in any Christian community, he departs far off from it. If any idol of creed, or ritual, or fashion, or popularity be established therein, he will go far away. And this is applicable also to the human heart. If we give the devotion of our hearts to another object or objects, he will leave us. He claims our supreme affection. He will not have any rival for our love.W.J.
Eze 8:7-13
The chambers of imagery; or, secret sins.
“And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall,” etc. In the case of “the image of jealousy” the idolatry of the Israelites was open; in this case it is secret. In that the abominations were committed by the house of Israel; in this by the elders of the house of israel. The paragraph suggests several observations on secret sins.
I. THE MOST HEINOUS SINS ARE GENERALLY COMMITTED IN SECRET, These chambers of imagery, in which the elders of the house of Israel did their wicked abominations, were concealed and difficult of access. The secrecy with which their vile sins were committed is graphically set forth in the text. “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,” etc. eze-3 The idolatry practised in these chambers of imagery was the animal worship of the Egyptians. The prophet beheld “every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall.” Such idolatry indicates deep spiritual degradation, and by its influence it increases that degradation. It is fitly characterized as “the wicked abominations that they do.” Hengstenberg well says, “Every thing created, however good it may be in itself, becomes an abomination as soon as it stands with man beside, or quite about, God.” What a fall for the elders of Israel, from the elevating worship of the true and holy God to the debasing adoration of cattle and creeping things! And they must have felt the wrongness of this, or they would not have so carefully striven to conceal it. There are secret sins in the lives even of good mensins of thought and feeling that are hidden from our fellow men. Who could bear to have everything that transpires in his mind and heart exposed to the gaze of even his tenderest and best human friend; or, indeed, to any one except the merciful and holy One?
“Or what if Heaven for once its searching light
Lent to some partial eye, disclosing all
The rude bad thoughts, that in our bosom’s night
Wander at large, nor heed Love’s gentle thrall?
“Who would not shun the dreary uncouth place?
As if, fond leaning where her infant slept,
A mother’s arm a serpent should embrace:
So might we friendless live, and die unwept.
“Then keep the softening veil in mercy drawn,
Thou who canst love us, tho’ thou read us true;
As on the bosom of th’ aerial lawn
Melts in dim haze each coarse ungentle hue.”
(Keble.)
But the secret sins most analogous to those of the text are those which are practised wilfully. Could we read the chambers of imagery in human hearts, what pictures of sins tolerated, and even indulged in some, we should see, while the lives present a fair exterior! Secret impurities, veiled dishonesties, concealed jealousies and animosities, and hidden idolatries, would appear before us in appalling shapes and velours, and perhaps in astounding numbers.
II. THE MOST HEINOUS SINS ARE SOMETIMES COMMITTED SECRETLY BY THOSE WHO ARE UNDER THE STRONGEST OBLIGATIONS TO ESCHEW THEM. “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel,” etc. (Eze 8:11). (On the “seventy men of the ancients,” cf.; Exo 24:1, Exo 24:9; Num 11:16, Num 11:24, Num 11:25.)
1. The seventy elders may be viewed as representing the whole people, and thus indicating the general corruption. In accordance with this view, the entire nation is represented as having fallen from its high and holy calling into this grovelling superstition. And with comparatively few exceptions the whole house of Israel had departed from the pure worship of the Lord Jehovah.
2. The seventy elders may be viewed as showing the corruption of those who should have been most incorruptible. They were the representatives and counsellors of the people, and as such they were morally bound by advice and example to have endeavoured to keep the people from idolatrous associations, and to have main ailed in its integrity the worship of the true God; yet they fell themselves into abominable idolatries. More than once, persons standing highest in religious position have been amongst the lowest in their real character. Such was the case with the scribes and Pharisees during the time of our Lord’s life upon earth (cf. Mat 23:13-33). Exalted religious position or office is no guarantee of exalted spiritual excellence.
III. THE PRACTICE OF SECRET SINS SPRINGS FROM PRACTICAL ATHEISM. “For they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.” Here is a twofold denial.
1. Denial of the Divine observation of human life and conduct. “The Lord seeth us not.” The attempt at concealment implies the fact that they ignored the all-seeing eye. The practice of sin generally involves the overlooking or ignoring of the presence and observation of God. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Let this become a conviction, let it be realized as a solemn fact, and sin would become an impossibility, at any rate with most persons.
2. Denial of the Divine interest in human life. “The Lord hath forsaken the earth.” Their feeling seems to have been this: “God does not care for us; he is indifferent to what we do, or what becomes of us.” “As he does nothing for them, they must help themselves as well as they can.” This practical atheism is the prolific parent of secret and other sins. If man realized the deep concern of God for his well being, in that realization, he would have a most effectual restraint from sin.
IV. THE FACT OF THE EXISTENCE OF SECRET SINS DEMANDS THE EARNEST CONSIDERATION OF THE FAITHFUL SERVANTS OF GOD. “He said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here . Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery?” Thus the prophet was summoned to consider the secret idolatries which were being practised by the elders of Israel. It is important that the faithful servants of God should consider the existence and practice of secret sins:
1. To qualify them for battling with such sins. The reformer must become acquainted with the full measure and force of the evils which he would abolish, if he would succeed in his mission. And the physician, if he would overcome disease, must know it in its inner workings as well as in its outer manifestations. So also is it with him who would wage war against sin.
2. To qualify them for estimating the righteousness of God‘s treatment of sinners. To appreciate how just and true he is in all his dealings with men, it is necessary to consider the sins of mind and heart which are committed against him, as well as those of the tongue and hands.
V. THE MOST CAREFULLY CONCEALED SINS WILL ASSUREDLY BE MADE MANIFEST. God is perfectly acquainted with every one of them. Our secret sins are set in the light of his countenance (cf. Psa 90:8). The revelation to the prophet of the wicked abominations practised in the dark in the chambers of imagery, is suggestive of the unveiling of all secret sins.
1. In the present life circumstances sometimes arise which occasion the revelation of hidden sins. Afflictions sometimes strip off the mask from the face of the hypocrite. Or the near approach of death leads to the acknowledgment of concealed vice or crime.
2. In the future life there will be an awful revelation of human character and conduct. “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts.”
CONCLUSION.
1. “Create in me a clean heart, O God;” “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”
2. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”W.J.
Eze 8:14-18
Man’s provocations of God, and God’s punishment of man.
“Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north,” etc.
I. MAN‘S PROVOCATIONS OF GOD. In Eze 8:17 it is said, “They returned to provoke me to anger.” The sins mentioned in this paragraph were not the only provocations of the Most High, as the words of the clause imply. Professor Cheyne translates, “provoke me to anger again and again.” And Ewald, “exasperated me repeatedly.” The various idolatries and other sins committed by the people were so many provocations of the Lord. But as to those mentioned in the text, notice:
1. The foul idolatry of the women. “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.” The meaning of Tammuz is not certain, but the conjecture which is by far the most probable is that it is the Hebrew and Syriac name for the heathen god Adonis, who, according to the fable, was the beautiful paramour of Venus. He was said to have been killed by a bear in the chase, and afterwards to have returned to life. The worship of Adonis took its rise at Byblos, in Phoenicia. “From Byblos it spread widely over the East, and was thence carried to Greece.” It was probably introduced to the Jews front Syria. The festival of Adonis was celebrated in the fourth month. This celebration “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 formthe 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” (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). For seven days the women gave themselves up to this lamentation, chanting mournful songs to the accompaniment of pipes, cutting their breasts with knives, and either cutting off their hair as a sacrifice to the god, or presenting to him the more costly and shocking sacrifice of their chastity. Well does Fairbairn say, “This Phoenician abomination had become one of the festering sores of Judah’s disease.”
2. The idolatry of the men. “And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord,” etc. (Eze 8:16). Most expositors follow Lightfoot in regarding these five and twenty men as the presidents of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided (1Ch 24:1-31.), with the high priest at their head; and thus they look upon them as representing the entire priesthood. This, however, is by no means certain. As a matter of fact, the priesthood as a whole had never given themselves up to idolatry. Professor Cheyne says, “The number (twenty-five) is a round one, as in Eze 11:1. Had it been stated that the men were priests, we might have supposed that they were the heads of the twenty-four courses, together with the high priest. But no; they were ‘elders’ (Eze 9:6), i.e. laymen. The inner court was not closed to the laity till after the return from exile (see 1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:64; 1Ki 9:25; 2Ki 11:4-15).” But to whatever class these men belonged, they were offering provocation to God by worshipping the sun. This form of idolatry was of very ancient origin. Job declares his innocence of it (Job 31:26). It is distinctly prohibited in the Law given by Moses (Deu 17:3). In its earliest form, among the Arabians, the worship was addressed directly to the heavenly bodies, without the intervention of images. In times preceding those of the prophet this idolatry had been introduced into Jerusalem, and abolished by King Josiah (2Ki 23:5, 2Ki 23:11). But by some means it had been revived or reintroduced, and now in the days of Ezekiel was openly flourishing again. Moreover, their worship of the sun was aggravated by the posture in which it was practised. “With their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east.” The sanctuary of the Lord God was behind them, as a thing they were renouncing, while they were looking to the new object of their hope and adoration rising in the east. A still further aggravation of their sin is mentioned: “And, lo, they put the branch to their nose.” We are not certain as to the meaning of this expression. But the opinion of Hengstenberg seems to us the most probable: “The Persian sun worshipper, according to Strabo and others, held in his hand a bunch of shoots, called barsom, when praying to the sun, and applied it to the mouth when uttering prayer. This quite agrees with the rite here.” And Professor Cheyne says of this rite, “It appears to be of Persian origin; only this qualification must be made that, considered as a Persian practice, it has reference not to the worship of the sun, but to that of the sacred fire. In the Avesta we read of a bundle of branches called baresma (later writings call it barsom), which occupied as important a place in Zoroastrian worship as in the worship of these ‘five and twenty men.’ The twigs preferred for this sacred object were those of the date, the pomegranate, and the tamarisk, and the words of the Zoroastrian Scripture (Vendidad, 19:64) are rendered as follows by the latest translator: ‘Let the faithful man cut off a twig of baresma, long as a ploughshare, thick as a barleycorn. The faithful one, holding it in his left hand, shall not leave off keeping his eyes upon it.’ Thus it is not expressly stated by the Zoroastrian authorities (nor yet is it by Strabo) that the baresma was to be held to the mouth (or the nose). This, however, was the way of holding the veil called paitidana, the object of which was to prevent the impurities of the breath from passing into the sacred fire. Professor Monier Williams informs me that this at least is still in use among the Parsee priests.” By this heathenish and idolatrous practice the Lord Jehovah was insulted by his own people.
3. The social injustice and oppression. “They have filled the land with violence.” Unfaithfulness to God and cruelty to man were sins that went hand in hand amongst the people of Israel (cf. Eze 7:23; Eze 9:9). “State oppression and Church corruption go together,” says Greenhill; “in the temple were pollutions, and in the land violence. The princes and judges, they wronged men; the priests and prophets, they wronged God (Zep 3:3, Zep 3:4) If there be violence in a land, there will be corruptions, pollutions, abominations in the sanctuary; if there be superstition, idolatry in the Church state, there will be oppression, injustice, and spoil in the civil state: when the temple is a den of thieves, the land will be a den of oppressors and murderers (Jer 7:9-11).” Thus the people provoked the Lord to anger by their oft repeated and much aggravated sins and crimes.
II. GOD‘S PUNISHMENT OF MAN. “Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare,” etc. (verse 18). The nature of the punishment is not stated here; but it has already been set forth at length by the prophet, and is still further indicated in the next two chapters. Two remarks concerning it are suggested by this verse.
1. It will be the expression of his righteous anger. “Therefore will I also deal in fury.” The “therefore” indicates the close connection between the sin and the punishment. They are related as cuisse and effect (see our remarks on Eze 7:4).
2. It will be inflicted without any relenting. “Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” The former of these clauses we noticed on its occurrence in Eze 7:4. And as to the loud cries of the wicked in their distress, they are generally the mere outburst of selfishness, without a particle of true penitence or prayer (cf. Pro 1:24-31). “When Nebuchadnezzar came, besieged the city: when plague and famine increased, then they fell upon their knees and cried to God for help; as malefactors, when the judge is ready to give sentence, cry out, and importune him to spare their lives. Such prayers are the voice of the flesh, not of the spirit: forced, not free: faithless and unseasonable prayers, coming too late, and therefore unacceptable. Let men therefore not defer seeking of God till necessity puts them upon it” (Greenhill). And let us seek him, not with the selfish cries of terror, but with penitent and believing hearts. “It is not the loud voice, but the upright heart, that God will regard.”W.J.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Eze 8:1. In the sixth year, in the sixth month That is, one month after the first vision, which Ezekiel had in the fifth year of Jehoiachin’s captivity. See ch. Eze 1:2. This chapter, and the three following, make but one vision, whereof it is proper to give a general idea, that we may not too much divide the reader’s attention. Ezekiel is transported to Jerusalem, and finds himself in the Spirit near the north gate of the temple, which led on the north side into the court of the priests. There he saw the glory of the Lord, in the same circumstances as it appeared to him at the river Chebar. He was first shewn, on one side, an idol of zeal or jealousy. Hence proceeding to the court of the people, he discovered, through an opening which he made in the wall, seventy elders of the people, who worshipped all kinds of figures of animals painted upon the wall. Returning to the north gate, he saw women weeping for Adonis. As he came back again to the court of the priests, he was shewn, between the porch and the altar, men who worshipped the rising sun, with their backs turned toward the sanctuary. These are the contents of chap. 8. At the same time he sees six men enter into the court of the priests, and in the midst of them a seventh, having an inkhorn at his girdle; and immediately the Lord left his throne above the cherubims, and went and placed himself upon the gate of the temple; that is to say, at the entrance of the holy place. From this place the Lord ordered that man of the seven, who had the inkhorn, to mark, with a sign upon the forehead, those who should be spared; and the six others to put to death all who were not so marked. Instantly they begin to execute the command; and Ezekiel, having remained alone among the dead, addresses his prayer to the Lord. During this time the six men return, and inform God what they had done. These are the contents of the ninth chapter. The Lord then orders the man who was clothed in linen to take live coals from the midst of the cherubim, who till then remained in the inner court, and to strew them upon the city. He obeys, and a hand from the cherubim gave him the coals. At the same time, the chariot which bore the throne of the Lord is put in motion, rises into the air, and goes to receive the Lord, who was at the eastern gate of the temple. This is the sum of ch. 10: The prophet finds himself immediately transported to the east gate, where were five and twenty men, and among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah. God directs him to prophesy against them. He does so; he reproaches them with their violence and their crimes, and threatens them with the extremest calamities. In the next place, God speaks to him, and foretels that the Jews who reside in the country shall be driven thence for their iniquities; and, on the contrary, that those who were led away captive, and penitently acknowledged their faults, shall return, and re-possess the land. After this, the Lord rises with his chariot over the city, and goes and places himself upon the mountain which lies to the east of Jerusalem. Thus ends the vision, and ch. 11: All this pointed out the reasons which obliged the Lord to give up his people, his city, and his temple; the abominations of that people in public and in private; their crimes, and the violences which had merited this chastisement. But because the Jews, carried away captive with Jeconiah, called upon the Lord, and penitently owned their faults, while those of Jerusalem filled up the measure of their iniquity; God threatens the latter with approaching destruction, and promises the others a happy return to their own country. This is the whole economy of the vision before us, which has been greatly misunderstood by many interpreters. See Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
III. THE SUBSEQUENT EXECUTION OF DIVINE COMMISSIONS.Ch. 824
1. The Vision (Ch. 811)
1. The Abominations in the Temple (Ch. 8)
1And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth [month], on the fifth of the monthI was in my house, and the elders of Judah were before me, and there 2fell upon me the hand of the Lord Jehovah. And I saw, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of His loins and downwards, fire; and from His loins and upwards, as the appearance of brightness, as the look of the 3brightness of gold. And He stretched out the form of a hand, and took hold of me by the front hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God, to the opening of the door of the inner [court] that points toward the north, where is the seat of the [idol-] image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. 4And, behold, there the 5glory of the God of Israel, like the vision which I saw in the valley. And He said unto me: Son of man, lift up now thine eyes toward the north. And I lifted up mine eyes toward the north, and behold on the north at [northward of] the gate of 6the altar that [idol-] image of jealousy at the entrance. And He said unto me: Son of man, seest thou what they are doing? great abominations that the house of Israel doeth here, in order to be far from My sanctuary! And yet again shalt thou see great abominations. 7And He brought me to the opening of the court, 8and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall. And He said unto me: Son of man, break now through the wall. And I broke through the wall, and behold an opening. 9And He said unto me: Come and see the wicked abominations that they 10are doing here. And I came and saw; and behold every (every kind of) form of creeping things and beasts, abomination, and of all the (all kinds of the) dung-gods of the house of Israel, portrayed (painted) upon the wall round and round. 11And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing in their midst, and every one his censer 12in his hand, and vapour of the cloud of the incense rising up. And He said unto me: Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each one in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah 13seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land. And He said unto me: Yet again 14shalt thou see great abominations that they are doing. And He brought me to the opening of the gate of the house of Jehovah which was toward the north; 15and, behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. And He said unto me: Hast thou seen, son of man? Yet again shalt thou see abominations greater than these. 16And He brought me to the court of the house of Jehovah, the inner one, and, behold, at the opening of the temple of Jehovah between the porch and the altar about five-and-twenty men, their backs to the temple of Jehovah and their faces toward the east, and they bowing themselves toward the east 17before the sun. And He said unto me: Hast thou seen, son of man? Was it [viz. Eze 8:16] a lighter thing for the house of Judah than to do the abominations which they [Eze 8:5-15] have done here? for they filled the land with violence, and returned to provoke Me to anger, and [there], lo, they stretch out the vine-branch 18to their nose. And [but] I also will deal in fury; Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I show pity; and if they cry in Mine ears with loud voice, then I will not hear.
Eze 8:1. Sept.: …
Eze 8:2. Sept. and Arab. read: .Anoth. read.: .
Eze 8:3. … (Sept. and Arab. from ).Anoth. read.: , in visione. Sept, Vulg., Syr., Chald., Ar.
Eze 8:6. … . .
Eze 8:9. … .
Eze 8:12. … ,
Eze 8:14. Vulg.: plangentes Adonidem.
Eze 8:16. Anoth. read.: .
Eze 8:17. … ‘ , … ; . … . .
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
Of the abominations which come to be represented in this vision of our prophet there are four: (1) after an introduction (Eze 8:1-4), the image of jealousy, Eze 8:5-6; (2) the idolatry in the secret place of the chambers of imagery, Eze 8:7-13; (3) the mourning for Tammuz, Eze 8:14-15; (4) the worship of the sun, with a closing threatening of God, Eze 8:16-18. The common feature is the localizing of these abominations at the temple. That in this way a really existing state of things connected with the temple (Ewald) is meant to be reproducedaccording to Hv. a feast of Adonis, which had been held in the 4th month (!) at Jerusalem in the templeis just as little to be granted as it is to be denied that this or that allusion to the real state of matters may find a place here (2Ch 36:14). Disobedience toward Jehovah, in common with all Israels idolatry, could not, at all events, find a more suitable symbolical expression. For sin is a profanation of the Holy One of Israel, and therefore since He has in the temple His palace in the midst of Israel, so much the more is it a profanation of this dwelling of Jehovah, if Israels sin is idolatry, since the only place of worship for Israel was to be that connected with the worship of Jehovah in His temple-palace. Hengst. lays emphasis on the circumstance that the temple is the ideal dwelling-place of the people (Lev 16:16), and thus every sin polluted the sanctuary. So, then, here also all that was present in the land of an idolatrous character is united in a single comprehensive picture, and placed in the temple, to cry thence to God and call forth His vengeance. Neteler admits also four idolatrous symbols as a figurative delineation of the yet much more dangerous, more subtle idolatry: the first picture a representation of pride, from which the passions spring, which are reflected in the animal forms of the second picture. As pride lays waste the soul, so sensuality lays waste the bodyrepresented by the mourning of the women for Tammuz; and this lordship of nature over the spirit is completed in materialism, which holds lifeless matter to be the Absolute, and worships it accordingly. Hengst. thinks not so much of idolatry springing from aberration of the religious instinct, as rather of a homage which was paid to the world-powers, for the purpose of attaining to safety through their help without God, nay, even against God. At all events it corresponds to the symbolical character of the whole, to recognise as symbolized in the number four the realm of heathenism as that of the natural world outside the kingdom of God. (Klief.: that Israel has brought together its religious rites from all parts of the world, and spread them throughout the whole land.) The connection of our chapter with the two discourses of rebuke, in Ezekiel 6, 7, is clear, especially from the comparison with Eze 7:20 sqq.
Additional Note on Ch. 8
[A new stage of the prophetic agency of Ezekiel, and of his spirit-stirring communications to the captives on the banks of the Chebar, opens with this chapter, and proceeds onwards in an uninterrupted strain to the end of the eleventh. These four chapters form one discourse (as the preceding portion had also done, from Eze 3:12 to the close of Ezekiel 7), and a discourse somewhat more specific in its character and bearing, than the revelations previously made. The vision of the siege, and of the iniquity-bearing, described in Ezekiel 4, had respect to the covenant-people generallyincluding, indeed, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, yet so as also to comprehend the scattered portions of Judah and Israel. This, too, was the case with the vision of the shaven hair, and its foreshadowing desolations, contained in ch, 57. The burden there delivered was an utterance of divine judgments against the whole covenant-people on account of sin; because, having been planted as the witnesses and heralds of Gods truth in the midst of the nations, they had themselves fallen before the heathen corruptions, which it was their special calling to have resisted to the uttermost. Therefore, in just retribution for the betrayal of Gods cause into the enemies hands, the heathen were become His instruments of vengeance, to inflict on the whole house of Israel the various forms of a severe and prolonged chastisement. But now, in the section of prophecy which commences with Ezekiel 8, the people of Jerusalem, and the small remnant of Judah, who, under Zedekiah, continued to hold a flickering existence in Canaan, form the immediate object of the prophets message, not only as apart from the Babylonish exiles, but even as standing in a kind of contrast to them. And it is of essential moment to a proper understanding of the purport of the vision that we rightly apprehend and estimate the circumstances which led to so partial and specific a direction in the message now delivered.Fairbairns Ezekiel, pp. 81, 82.W. F.]
Eze 8:1-4. The Introduction.
The date in Eze 8:1 : in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month. (AugustSeptember.) The year is that after the captivity of King Jehoiachin; comp. Eze 1:2. (By means of such a reckoning He humbles the Jews, Calv.) The year of Israel (Winer, Realw. i. 530 sq.) is reckoned at 354 days, each of the twelve months at 2930 days. From Eze 1:1 sqq. to Eze 8:1 there are 14 months = 413 days, as a medium between 406 and 420. But we need according to Eze 4, 390 plus 40 days, to which, according to Eze 3:15, seven days more are to be added, thus in all 437 days. As it is inconceivable (so also Hitz.) that with a date so precise Ezekiel should have been guilty of an inaccuracy so easily avoided, a fourfold solution is possible. (1) Either the symbolical actions in Ezekiel 4, 5 are subjective, or a mere rhetorical turn (Hv., Hengst., Hitz., Keil): in this case every difficulty disappears. (2) Or we may include the 40 days for Judah in the 390 (comp. on Eze 4:6; Eze 4:9), and get in this way the necessary days. (3) Or the fifth year of Jehoiachin was an intercalary year of 13 months, as such usually occurred every 3 years, sometimes also even with the 2d year (J. D. Mich.); and then there are reckoned for it (Relandi, Ant. Sacr. 4. 2.) 381385 days plus 2 months (5860 days), in all, 439445 days. (4) Or, lastly, our vision falls into the 40 days for Judah (comp. on Eze 4:12), as Kliefoths view is, against which Keils objections have no force. And not only the contents, but also the circumstances accord there-with. First of all the place: in my house; comp. on Eze 3:24. does not necessarily indicate the posture as one of sitting, in contrast with lying in Ezekiel 4, since means radically: to be fixed somewhere (hence: to dwell, to tarry, to remain) and somehow; hence: to sit, also: to lie, as well as: to stand (, Eze 8:3). Then, farther, the representatives of the parties addressed, to whom the prophetic vision is directed (Eze 8:17), correspond: the elders of Judah, of the captivity. That it took place on the Sabbath, that they had come to hear a sermon, is not said. Comp. rather on Eze 3:24. According to Ewald, they were seeking comfort and advice, especially on account of the bitter contempt of the poor exiles on the part of the proud, intoxicated capital.
Additional Note on Ch. 8
[No express reason is assigned for their sitting there, though we can have little doubt that it was for the purpose of receiving from his lips some communication of the divine will. The Lord also was present, to impart suitable aid to His servant; but, lo! instead of prompting him to address his speech directly to those before him, the Spirit carried him away in the visions of God to the temple at Jerusalem, that he might obtain an insight into the state of corruption prevalent there, and might learn the mind of God respecting it. The message delivered to the elders who sat around him consisted mainly in the report of what he witnessed and heard in those divine visions; and it falls into two parts,the account given of the reigning abominations contained in Ezekiel 8, and the dealings of judgment and of mercy which were to be pursued toward the respective parties in Israel, as unfolded in the three succeeding chapters.
Now, what should have led the prophet to throw his message into such a form as this, but that some connection existed between the exiles of Chebar and the remnant in Jerusalem, which made the report of what more immediately belonged to the one a seasonable and instructive communication to the other? We formerly had occasion to notice, that among the exiled portion there were some who still looked hopefully toward Jerusalem, and, so far from believing things there to be on the verge of ruin, were persuaded that ere long the way would be opened up for their own return thither in peace and comfort. Among those also who were still resident in Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, it appears, there were some who not only looked upon themselves as secure in their position, but eyed their exiled brethren with a kind of haughty indifference or contempt, as if these had no longer anything in common with them! That it was this latter state of feeling which more immediately led to the present interview between the elders and the prophet, and the revelations which ensued, we may not doubtfully gather from the allusion made to it near the close of the vision (Eze 11:15)where the inhabitants of Jerusalem are represented as saying to the exiles, Get you far (rather, Be ye far, continue in your state of separation and distance) from the Lord; unto us is this land given in possession. As much as to say, It may well befit you to be entertaining thoughts of evil and dark forebodings of the future; your outcast condition cuts you off from any proper interest in God, and renders such sad anticipations natural and just. Abide as you arebut as for us, we dwell near to God, and by His good hand upon us have the city and land of our fathers in sure possession. It is not improbable that this taunting declaration of their own fancied superiority and assured feeling of safety had been called forth by the tidings reaching Jerusalem of the awful judgments announced in Ezekiels earlier predictions; as, on the other hand, the express and pointed reference made here to that declaration leaves little room to doubt that the rumour of it had been heard on the banks of the Chebar, and had led the elders of Judah to present themselves in the house of the prophet. For, in their unhappy circumstances, the knowledge of such thoughts and feelings being entertained toward them at Jerusalem must have exercised a most depressing influence on their minds, and could not but seem an adequate occasion for their endeavouring to ascertain the mind of the Lord as between them and their countrymen in Judea.Fairbairns Ezekiel, pp. 8284.W. F.]
According to Hengst., the rousing political intelligence had arrived, that Elam and Media have joined the coalition! As to the rest, comp. on Eze 1:3; Eze 3:22; Eze 3:14. Klief.: the hand, etc., because, again, the matter in hand was not revelation in word, but action.
Eze 8:2. The vision, going back and attaching itself to what goes before, begins, like Ezekiel 1, 3, with a theophany. Comp. on Eze 1:4-5. , from Ezekiel 1 onwards, characteristic, hence also the first impression which Ezekiel receives; comp. Eze 1:27. The Sept. read, or gave as an explanation, , of course from the mention of the loins, etc. It looked for the most part like () fire, yet there was not wanting upwards , the brighter splendour (Dan 12:3). (Eze 9:4.) As to the rest, comp. on Eze 1:4; Eze 1:27. (Ewald, Gram. 173, h, 1).
Eze 8:3. From the fire-picture there is stretched the (from , to build, to form) of a hand. As always, the figurative expression emphasized as contrasted with the spirituality of God. (Junius: the hand is the Spirit, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; comp. Mat 12:28 with Luk 11:20.) Hence not in a corporeal sense (therefore , not wind [Klief., Kl.]; comp. on Eze 3:12); Eze 11:24; as also , comp. on Eze 1:1. Clarius notices the difference between this passage and Eze 40:1 sqq. Thus far the manner of the occurrence, now the direction taken: in general to Jerusalem, in particular to the spot where the gate of the inner court of the temple (the court of the priests, for which the priest Ezekiel uses merely , viz. , Eze 8:7; Eze 8:16; the fem. gen. would agree neither with nor with , whereas is com. gen.) opened (), looking toward the north. This court of the priests was (Jer 36:10) on a higher level than the great court or the court of the people. The partition-wall between the two was (in order to allow of the people looking on) of so little consequence, that in 2Ch 4:9 there is no mention of the gates in it. The opening of the gate is not toward the court of the people, so that the position of the spectator, as was also suitable for the priest, is taken from the inner court. (comp. on Eze 1:4), in this direction, hence northward we are to understand . Hengst.: from the north the punishment was to come; this position was an actual summons to the north to send forth its avenging hosts; possibly also a reference to the sin already committed, the political adulteries of Jerusalem with the northern power Babylon, against which they alternately conspired and then again sought to gain it over, as Zedekiah, in the same year in which he had treated with Edom, Moab, etc., against Babylon, suddenly made off again to Babylon, Jer 51:59. Or the expression northwards points out the principal tendency of Jewish idolatry (Hos 2:18 [16]), viz. towards Bel (Baal) of the Babylonians, who were, of course, in the north, or properly in the north-east. The image of jealousy, which, perhaps, on this very account is mentioned just here (comp. Eze 8:5), is, on the one hand, particularized by means of (something covered over, an idol-image of that description, Deu 4:16), and, on the other hand, explained more generally by means of . The latter expression stands for (from ), as is usually understood. Lightfoot thought of an image of Moloch. In the reign of Manasseh (2Ki 21:7) we meet with the image of Astarte, which Ewald conjectures here, from the circumstance that love is allied to jealousy. Although with an allusion to an existing state of things (2Ch 36:14), yet, in accordance with the symbolic character of the whole vision, resting much more on the basis of Deu 32:16; Deu 32:21, Exo 20:5 (comp. Eze 5:13; Eze 16:38; Eze 23:25), and agreeably to the all-pervading representation of the relation of Jehovah and Israel, we may perhaps with Hengst. (Warburton) have to think of an ideal concentration of all idolatrous practices, and these as they were in vogue, in the first place, among the people in general; hence the image in the court of the people. With this also corresponds admirably in Eze 8:4 the so characteristic antithesis of the glory, etc. Comp. Eze 3:22-23; Eze 1:4, as well as in our chapter Eze 8:2; Eze 8:5; farther, Eze 1:28; Eze 9:3; Eze 43:3. , as before . The God of Israel He is called, in contrast with the gods of the nations of the earth, the work of mens hands, 2Ch 32:19.
Eze 8:5-6. The Image of Jealousy
In addition to the foregoing virtual description of the image, we have the description in so many words in Eze 8:5; but so expressive is the thing of itself, that Jehovah needs only to summon the prophet to look. The direction repeatedly given is too plain to admit of there being any obscurity with respect to the gate of the altar. Because of this being named, the expression is used. For, coming from the north, as the glory (Eze 8:4) is to be supposed to do (Eze 1:4), this gate led into the court of the priests, where Ezekiel has taken up his position (Eze 8:3), and where the brazen altar of burnt-offering was, in reference to which (Eze 9:2) the name gate of the altar (perhaps with an allusion to 2Ki 16:14) is explained; wherewith, at the same time, an antithesis of the image of jealousy might again be hinted at. Others (e.g. Kimchi) have thought of the altar of the image (2Ki 21:4-5). At the entrance of the gate, thus in the outer court.
Eze 8:6. , an emphatic contraction in running interrogatory speech: (Qeri), sufficiently explained by what immediately follows (the house of Israel, etc.), so that there is no necessity for maintaining that some were actually engaged in worship.Great abominations, Eze 5:11; Eze 6:9, is the motto, the ever-recurring refrain of the chapter, Eze 8:9; Eze 8:13; Eze 8:15; Eze 8:17., Ewald, Hv., like most of the ancients, supply the Speaker Jehovah: in order that I may go far off from My sanctuary, may turn away from disgust (Eze 11:23). Hengst.: that they (those formerly mentioned) may be removed, as unworthy of dwelling with the Lord, may be driven out, as Adam once was from Paradise. Hitzig: what ought to be far away. As means to be far off, why not render it by the bare infinitive: merely in order to be far off from My sanctuary? The construction with (Eze 11:15; Jer 2:5) makes them appear as former members of the family, who in going away elevate themselves above Him who is enthroned in the sanctuary.
Eze 8:7-13. The Idolatry in the Secrecy of the Chambers of Imagery
Although at in the preceding verse we cannot exactly carry out the comparison by supplying a (as in Eze 8:15), yet there lies in the the preparation for, the intention, the beginning of a climax in the thought. In the preceding section: the house of Israel, in this: its elders; this would be a climax. Comp., however, on Eze 8:11. Here: in secret, there: openly; this, at all events, is no climax.
Eze 8:7. Where the court opens, the inner one into the outer, for is manifestly the same as in Eze 8:3; thus neither the eastern principal door (Lightf., Ewald, Hengst.) of the court of the priests, nor the northern exit of the court of the people (Hv., Hitz., Klief., Kl.), in which case mention is made by some holding the latter view of porches with cells (2Ki 23:11; 1Ch 28:12; Jer 35:4). In favour of the former view, the absence of any farther definition cannot be used as an argument; for while, after enough had been said in Eze 8:3; Eze 8:5, there was no need of any farther definition for the well-known , there would certainly have been need of it, if all at once the intention was to speak of the eastern door, as is also expressly done in Eze 10:19; Eze 11:1. But as regards the other view, the and He brought me is no support, as the prophet certainly, who is in the inner court, is brought also farther (of course in vision) when he now gets to see the hole (Neteler translates: a hole for one) in the wall, viz. the gate portion of the wall which divided the courts. As he is to go still farther, he is commanded in Eze 8:8 to break through, to enlarge the hole which shows him the way (is not as it were a model, Hengst.), so that his own person may get through. When this has been done, an opening shows itself, a door or window, or what opens up to him the glimpse which follows. When
Eze 8:9he has approached at the divine summons, idolatry once more reveals itself, and that the so peculiar animal-worship of the Egyptians, a fact which Klief. disputes without cause. According to him, the hole was in the wall of the outer court, and he makes the prophet break through and discover the pictures, etc., on the outside. In that case what was secret about it, as it is certainly represented to be? Hitzig maintains that the worship was in the interior of the gate-building, which contained chambers, but Eze 40:36 is no proof for this temple. The entrance, Hitzig supposes, was built up during Josiahs reformation in worship.
Eze 8:10. Comp. Gen 1:24; Gen 9:3; Deu 4:17-18; Rom 1:23. (Eze 5:11) is construed by Ewald, Hitz., Hengst. in apposition with : beasts of abomination, abominable beasts, since to them was paid the honour due to the Creatoraccording to Hitz., e.g. dogs, cats, etc.; Kl. takes it as in apposition with also (according to Hitzig, beetles especially), inasmuch as the representation of both was made for the purpose of paying religious honours to the pictures. Best of all Bunsen: every form of abominable creeping things and beasts. What follows might stand by way of explanation: and, in fact, of all, etc., or all idols of this sort are meant, as also birds, etc. (Hitz.: calves [Apis and Mnevis] and he-goats.) Klief., Kl. maintain that in this way all other possible varieties of idol-worship which had spread in Israel are subjoined co-ordinately with . But the delineation or painting (, neut. sing.) of all upon the wall of the apartment into which Ezekiel looks through the opening is so characteristically Egyptian, that for one who is unprejudiced anything else is inconceivable. Eze 23:14 is not to be brought into comparison as against this view. As to the , so common with our prophet, see on Eze 6:4; in Lev 26:30 first, in Deu 29:17 expressly of the idols of Egypt. The seventy in Eze 8:11, according to Ewald, a round number to express the great strength of the Egyptian party among the nobles, which according to Jeremiah then existed; according to others: the Great Sanhedrim, an institution, however, which first arose after the exile. According to our text, they figure either as a representation of the collective body of the elders, a committee (council of elders) drawn from () these official persons, or they represent the house of Israel, are a representation of the people. [By mentioning precisely this number of elders, the prophet sets before us a representation of the whole people,an ideal representation, and of such a kind as to indicate the strong contrast that existed between former and present timesthe original seventy (Exodus 24) being employed in immediate connection with Gods glory and covenant, while these here were engaged in an act which bespoke the dishonouring of Gods name, and the virtual dissolution of His covenant.Fairbairns Ezekiel.W. F.] The number 70 is chosen for symbolical reasons, 10 times 7 (Bhr, Mos. Kult. 2. p. 660) resting on Exodus 24, Numbers 11, in reference to the covenant between God and Israel. In favour of the symbolical character of this number there is also the circumstance that Jaazaniah, the 71st, is not counted among them. The individual named as son of Shaphan is a different person from in Eze 11:1. The name Shaphan we read also in 2 Kings 22; Jeremiah 29, 36, 39. He appears to have had a good reputation, so that for the symbolical meaning by the mention of him the contrast in conduct on the part of his son here might be rendered the more emphatic. Similarly Bunsen, Hengst.: who probably filled the same post as his father (as chancellor), was perhaps the soul of the negotiations with Egypt; partly on this account, partly because of his ominous name: the Lord hears, which involved the judgment on this procedure, introduced as a historical personality into this ideal company. Is the expression: standing in their midst, meant to indicate an official superiority as president, or his social consequence among them, or the circumstance that even the son of such a father, with whose name the memory of the pious destroyer of idolatry, Josiah, was united, could be found in the midst of such a company (Psa 1:1)? , i.e. the idol-pictures on the wall round about. , according to Hengst.: the prayer of the cloud of incense, because it was an embodied prayer, Psa 141:2; Rev 5:8; Rev 8:3-4. They say by the offering of incense before those miserable figures: Deliver me, for thou art my god (Isa 44:17). The Hebrew word means certainly: to press on any one with requests, but also: to press together so that there is a large quantity, to heap up, so that that which swells up, the vapour, may be indicated here. So richly that there was a cloud; comp. besides, Lev 16:13. After Ezekiel has seen it, the interpretation is given him in Eze 8:12. In the dark, every one in his chambers of imagery, contains everything necessary for understanding it. First of all, the darkness may certainly be regarded as a symbol of the darkened knowledge of God, but means still more that the procedure of the nobles of the people shuns the light, has its being in secret. In this way we have a complete explanation of the hole in the gate portion of the wall, in the wall of the court (Eze 8:7), of the clandestine manner in which the prophet gets access (Eze 8:8), etc. (They had in Egypt, in the rocks on the banks of the Nile, deep underground passages, sometimes labyrinths, which led to underground vaults, whose walls were covered over and over with hieroglyphs, and, in fact, the entrance to them is, just as here, only a hole, at which no one imagines there is anything of consequence behind, etc.J. D. Mich.) That every one does so proves the representative character of the 71 in Eze 8:11. is that which is shut up, the interior of a tent, of a house; hence, a chamber. The chambers of imagery have idolatrous pictures painted on the walls. As it is represented (Eze 8:9-10) in the wall of the court between the higher and the lower court, so it is done within the walls of their own dwellings by the elders of the people, who approached the priests in virtue of their official character. The domestic heathenism, as distinguished from the public in Eze 8:5-6. Hengst. makes the direct participation in Egyptian idolatry step into the background. (The people relied at that time on the help of the Egyptians, and looked to them as their saviours.Cocc.) Ewald maintains that Egyptian animal-worship was at the time really practised in deeply concealed apartments of the temple area, inasmuch as every idolater of that sort offered incense as his own priest, and prayed in a separate apartment (and hence so many of them are found in Egypt), comp. Amm. Marc. Eze 17:7, Eze 22:15. He points in proof of this to the Egyptian vassalage of King Jehoiachim. The pressure of the Chaldean party at the time upon the Egyptian explains, according to him, the expression, repeated in Eze 9:9, of their deep despair of the affairs of the fatherland. Hengst. speaks in a predominantly political sense of the Egyptian fancies wherewith they occupied themselves in their inner man; the revolt from Babylon, undertaken in concert with Egypt, was still, he alleges, a public secret. For they say: . This is their so-called right to do it, not meant as an excuse, perhaps. Jehovah shall have the blame. That He seeth not can hardly imply (Isa 29:15) a dogmatic denial of His omniscient (Psalms 139; Psa 94:7) Godhead (Psa 14:1), just as little as His having forsaken the land is meant to deny in so many words His omnipresent omnipotence; but their speech is practical ungodliness: when He has turned away His eye and presence from us and from the land, when we are no longer anything to Him, then nothing is left for us but to look out for the gods of other nations and lands, that they may dwell with us.
Eze 8:13. Comp. Eze 8:6.
Eze 8:14-15. The Mourning for Tammuz
In Eze 8:7 Ezekiel was between the inner and outer court; in Eze 8:14 he is brought to the opening of the gate of the house of Jehovah. Comp. to the opening of the gate of the house of Jehovah which is toward the north with Eze 8:3 : to the opening of the gate of the inner [court] that looketh toward the north; thus the gate of the house and the gate of the inner [court] correspond with each other, the one as applying to the whole, the other as referring only to a part of the same. The house of Jehovah is the whole of the temple, consequently the opening of the gate of it can hardly be anything else than the place where the outer court of the temple opens to the outside altogether. The northerly direction of the gate also corresponds best with the movement of the prophet hitherto. There, then, are the women, viz. those who are weeping for Tammuz, for this reason sitting on the ground, as was the custom of mourners (Mat 27:61). [According to Hitzig: the female population represented in the individuals, who are exactly at the place assigned to the women.] First, the people in general; then, the elders of the people; now, the female sex. This is like a climax. The publicity also of the proceedings of the women (as distinguished from the elders) makes the occurrence in so far parallel with the first in Eze 8:5-6. Meier: the name probably signifies: possessor of power, mighty one, ruler; Tammuz = dominus, properly: tamer, lord. and , a contrast! According to Hv., a contraction from (= to melt away), or from (), of persons or things in reference to the disappearance (dying, the in contrast with the ) of the Greek Adonis, who (, i.e. lord with the Phnicians) is the Syrian Tammuz (. ). According to the fable, the beautiful favourite of Venus, killed by a boar in the chase, but afterwards rising to life again, in whose honour the fourth month (JuneJuly) was called Tammuz. At his feast the kinnor (a sort of lyre) was played; hence Cinyras, the father of Adonis, just as Myrrha, from the incense () usual thereat, was his mother among the Greeks. It was a funeral-feast in the East, for it celebrated the death of the beautiful life of nature about the time of the greatest summer-heat ( ). Byblos in Syria, where the swollen waters of the river Adonis assumed a red colour about this time, when the snow melted on Lebanon, was the principal seat of the god. (Comp. Hv. against Movers, who makes the oriental celebration of the festival approach nearly to the Greek, in autumn. But comp. also Hitz. on the passage, and Winer, ii. 601 sqq.; Herzog, Realencycl. xv. 667 sqq.) According to Preller (Griech. Mythol. 1. p. 219), the disappearance of Adonis was at first expressed allegorically (), after which they sought him (), until at length they found him (), and now bewailed him as dead, by means of the exhibition of his picture, with gloomy elegies and the usages of a funeral. The solemnity ended with the cry: Adonis lives and has risen; hence with the comfort of his return. Pain for the lost beauty of the year, dread of winter, the ray of hope connected with spring. Sappho already sang of the death of Adonis and of the lamentation for him. Bunsen: seven days long the women gave themselves up to their lamentations, and were obliged to shave their hair or to sacrifice their chastity (J. D. Mich.). Hvernick, as no trace of the worship of Adonis can be found in earlier times among the Hebrews, brings forward the view: that under Josiahs successors such idolatrous worship obtained a footing, especially through Zedekiahs political alliance with the Phnicians against Babylon; that the seductive charm of this worship, which is attested by its wide diffusion, is to be taken into account; and that the gloomy direction of the popular consciousness at the time (Eze 8:12, Eze 9:9) was in sympathy with natures mournful mood. The Adonis myth was thus a picture of the history of the people, as the natural consciousness arranged it for itself and arbitrarily interpreted it (Eze 11:2-3). Hengst. lays emphasis on the northern origin (between Tripolis and Berytus) of the worship, the characteristic wailing women, and finds the real import in the seeking of political aid among the Phnicians. (Others have thought of a kindred Egyptian worship. Hitzig makes the worship of Adonis come from Egypt; Adonis = Osiris.)
Eze 8:15. Comp. Eze 8:12-13. The climax, up till now merely hinted at, is plainly expressed with respect to what follows. Eze 8:6; Eze 8:13 keep what goes before in a co-ordinate relation.
Eze 8:16-18. The Sun-Worship (Eze 8:16-17); the Closing Threatening of God (Eze 8:18)
Now comes in conclusion the culminating point of the abominations, introduced by the locality, viz. the court of the priests. It takes place in the inner part of Jehovahs house,thereby placed in contrast with the publicity going before, and parallel with the actings of the elders in Eze 8:7 sqq.,and in fact () where the temple (the holy place) opens into the inner court, indicated still more minutely because of the significance of the locality. The porch, 1Ki 6:3. The altar, the brazen altar of burnt-offering. Comp. Joe 2:17. (Mat 23:35; 2Ch 24:20-21.) Accordingly there can be no doubt that the persons, the 25 men,as most expositors along with Lightfoot believe, the presidents of the 24 orders of priests (1 Chronicles 24.) with the high priest at their head,represent the priesthood. asserts the fact expressly, but only in a subjective way (Hitz.), as what appeared to be the case, the prophet, as it were, not trusting his own eyes. In this way the abomination to be described is greater than what has hitherto been related of the kind. But then, farther, the description of the posture assumed (comp. 1Ki 7:25; 1Ki 14:9; 2Ch 29:6; the antithesis of their backs and their faces, the contrast of with , toward sunrise) sets forth what is abominable in the highest degree. The sanctuary of the Eternal is a thing going down behind them; they turn to the new light. For , which is probably an error in transcription, almost all read (partic. from , Ges. Gram. 74, 18), as an abbreviation of , ye, could not tally with . According to Hv. an ironical alteration of the usual form, with an allusion to in the Hiphil (to destroy, to do evil). Hengst.: an anomalous form, just as the abnormal certainly cannot surprise us in Ezekiel; the form a quid pro quo, like the conduct indicated by it; by inserting , the prophet gives a criticism after the manner of a quotation from Exo 24:1; Deu 11:16; as much as to say: they worship, whereas it is said in the law of God: Ye shall not worship. If Tammuz is the sun-god, then an easy transition from what goes before is accomplished, without our being obliged here also on that account to look with favour on Hvernicks worship of Adonis. It is the primitive Sabism; comp. Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3. (2Ki 23:5; 2Ki 23:11.) Ewald: sun-worship in accordance with Zoroastrian superstition (Job 31:26). Hengst. takes the 25 as princes of the people (Eze 11:1), an ideal representation of the ruling class,2 from each of the 12 tribes, besides a president (!). Because of the absence of the definite basis in the Mosaic books, which in contradistinction the LXX in Eze 8:11 had, stands here, nearly, about (!). The gradation in Eze 8:15 points to the sin, at present just in full bloom (?). The project of a league with Medo-Persia (already mentioned in Isaiah as the destroyer of the Chaldean universal monarchy, Eze 13:17; Eze 21:2) had perhaps called forth the inquiry of the elders in Eze 8:1, especially as the Diaspora was the appropriate instrument for such a coalition, etc.
Eze 8:17 : Eze 8:15; Eze 8:12; Eze 8:6. Hitherto the question was followed by something else of a different kind, i.e. of a worse kind. This time a new question winds up: was it a light thing (a small thingNiph. of , comp. 1Ki 16:31) for Judah more than () = was that which thou hast seen a lighter (smaller) thing than the committing of the abominations? i.e. embracing in one Eze 8:5-15. A negative answer is supposed, since, according to Eze 8:15, what is seen in Eze 8:16 is to be the culminating point of all, more burdensome than all else. And as in Eze 8:12 a introduced the alleged justification (in a parallel case) of the elders of the people in their acting by Gods mode of procedure, so God furnishes the reason () of the negative answer expected to His question, so that Judah can have nothing more heinous to be put in the opposite scale from what they have done: for they, etc.; comp. Eze 7:23. (It looks quite like a parallel to the for they, etc. of Eze 8:12.) And instead of turning to the Eternal, they have returned merely for the purpose of provoking Him to anger. The thought taken in connection with Eze 8:12 would accordingly be: the land of which they say that Jehovah has forsaken it, they have filled with violence, so that there remained no room in it for the Holy One; but their acting in the temple shows (a climax) that, as regards the Eternal, they are seeking not the expiation for their guilt, but His wrath. He seeth not, say they,and, lo, they, etc. (the highest point of the climax), so that is either to be understood of a specially provoking gesture in idolatrous worship, or must be interpreted from the context as a proverbial mode of speaking. [Ewald translates: is it too small a thing for the house of Judah to practise the abominations which they practised here, that they filled the land with injustice and exasperated Me repeatedly, and that now they even put the twig to their nose? having in view the twig of the sacred tree held before the mouth during prayer (so already J. D. Mich, and many expositors), as if there were not yet enough in the more ancient revolting idolatries as well as in the already depicted (Eze 7:23) roughness of their everyday life, and as if, besides, this most recent superstition must now be added.] The climax in the thought and the reference to Parseeism lies in the context, but the Barsom (a bundle of different kinds of twigs) does not correspond with (a vine branch, Eze 15:2; Isa 17:10), neither does the solemn holding before the mouth with the left hand correspond much with . Hengst. assigns as a reason for the vine-branch its being a quite pre-eminent product of the sun; and, according to him, the nose is mentioned ironically instead of the mouth. A gesture in worship is demanded by the expression . Klief. confesses himself unable to explain the idolatrous custom. The thyrsus-staff of the worshippers of Bacchus has also been suggested. Keil finds the climax in the acts of violence as compared with the abominations,the moral corruption shows the full measure of their guilt; but the proverbial mode of speaking has not yet been sufficiently cleared up. Israel himself has been suggested here as the vine-stock (Jer 2:21), , translated by anger (their anger, viz. which they have provoked on Gods part, or which they cherish towards God and His prophets), and the interpretation given as if the meaning were: to pour oil into the fire, to bring brushwood to the flames. Hv.: and, lo! they send forth the mournful ditty (about Adonis, for ,) to their anger (that which falls upon them). Hitzig renders : pruning-knife (they put the pruning-bill to their nose), wishing to provoke Me, they provoke themselves (Jer 7:19; Hab 2:10; Pro 23:2), in connection with which he quotes the scene in Auerbachs cellar from Faust, etc.
Eze 8:18. Comp. Eze 5:11; Eze 7:4; Eze 7:9; Eze 9:5; Eze 9:10, threatening with corresponding retribution on the part of God. (Eze 11:13; Isa 1:15; Jer 11:11).
DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS
1. As the idea of salvation is especially dominant in the history of Israel, and draws from it the most manifold types, so in a pre-eminent degree prophecy is ruled by the idea. In verbal prophecy the idea, and especially the Christian idea, of the future, clothes itself at one time in accordance with what is peculiar to the prophets as individuals, at another by making use of allusion to the form of the present, and of the forces, persons, occurrences, etc. moving it, but in general entirely within the sphere of the Old Testament mode of representation; so that what is meant to be just the most striking expression for the idea shows itself, through the later realization of the idea exactly in this form, to be at the same time a prediction, apart from the express predictions of the prophets. (Comp. on this subject Tholuck, die Propheten, ff. p. 105 sqq.) Now what the figurative word accomplishes as regards the object aimed at, that, as regards deepening our views of the truth, appears to be the task of symbol in prophetic action, in dramatic vision. The vision of the abominations in the temple here in Ezekiel is a theologizing one of the apostasy of Israel, now ripe for judgment.
2. The living God of revelation is the measure of the dead idols of the heathen, alike as regards the pantheistic slumping of them in the world, and as regards their polytheistic separation according to the different lands and peoples. He is, and whatever wanders to those others and is falsely attributed to them belongs to Him. On the same deep basis of truth theologically, our vision brings the idolatry of Israel into view in the temple of Jehovah, and therewith into condemnation. The temple becomes the standard for judgment of every heathen worship.
3. It was condescension in the sphere of history on the part of the idea of revelation, that for so long a period a fixed nation, like Israel, was to be the bearer of it, and that, after the general analogy of heathen nations, church and state covered each other. Only with the expansion of the church into its ideal, i.e. into the kingdom of God among mankind as a whole (Rev 21:3), have: state religion and state church as ideas become effete. They are merely existing realities of a wretched kind; their ideas, if one chooses to speak of them, are antiquated; they are reproductions of the past, Judaism, if not heathenisms. Progress, and by no means radical progress merely, but much more still religious, i.e. Christian progress, points away beyond them.
4. The distinction made between abominations and violence recalls the difference between the two tables of the law,sins against God and sins against men. Over against violence in the latter respect, there makes its appearance what God must abhor. As the former fills the land and becomes the fashion, so the latter provokes the anger of God. Ungodliness and immorality in their connection here bear witness to the connection between faith and morals.
5. Superstition and unbeliefthe one acting, the other speakingpresent themselves together in Eze 8:12 in one sentence, just as these forms of the self-originated theology of the sensuous self-consciousness touch each other from opposite sides. Unbelief, which Holy Scripture never knows absolutely, since to it faith is the original godliness in the nature of man, appears here also as one that speaks (Psalms 14, 53) and has gods. Superstition draws its reason from unbelief. As Nitzsch describes the process: in the depraved working of passive piety man attempts first of all to deny the facts of the religious conscience, wholly or in part; but yet, in so far as the consciousness of God compels him, he leaps over from unbelief into superstition, i.e. he defines for himself the divine as a thing that is human, sensuous, worldly, analyzes for himself the feeling of God into the sensuous, out of which, in the next place, arise fanatical imaginations, sometimes slavish, sometimes audacious, Rom 1:21-25. When Plutarch, in his well-known treatise , gives the preference to unbelief, he underestimated it as a source of superstition; he winds up, moreover, with the converse, viz. that many fall from superstition into unbelief. Jean Paul, on the contrary, who calls superstition faith with a but, would rather live in the densest malarious atmosphere of superstition than under the air-pump of unbelief, where in the former case one breathes with difficulty, in the latter he is suffocated.
6. Augustine raises the question: why should the Romans, who paid divine honour to all the gods of all nations, as they showed by having a Pantheon, yet have continually refused to honour the God of Israel? and found the reason in the exclusiveness wherewith Jehovah claims to be honoured alone, as being the true God in contrast with the false gods.
7. The mourning for Tammuz reminds us of the sorrow of the world in 2 Corinthians 7. Is it unintentional that only this side of this idolatry is indicated in Ezekiel? It worketh death, says the apostle of the sorrow of the world. Over against the pleasure of life in the rites of Tammuz on its mere natural basis, the prophet has to take his stand on the divine sentence of death of the spirit; as there is no repentance on the part of any one, the other side in the worship of Tammuz cannot possibly prophesy of salvation. (As against Bauer, Rel. d. A: T. ii. p. 234 sq.)
8. The front of the temple looked to the east, the back, therefore, to the west. And such is the case, moreover, with most of the ancient nations; and so it meets us again also, for the most part, in Catholic church architecture. But a universal rule it is not (according to Vitruvius, the opposite is the rule for heathen temple-architecture), just as little as the turning of the face toward the east in Christian prayer is a universal rule; sometimes the front, sometimes the apsis, is turned to the east. Some have wished to find the reason for the holy of holies being turned toward the west in the antithesis to heathenism. Maimonides, More Neb. iii. Ezekiel 45 : Superstition generally at that time worshipped the sun; therefore Abraham turns to the west on Moriah, so that he turned his back to the sun. Comp. on the other hand, Bhr, Symb. i. 212. When the Catholic church architecture built the choir towards the east, the alleged anti-heathenish design of the opposite course was set aside, inasmuch as Christ, as the Sun of Righteousness, now determines the direction; it was imagined also that paradise was there, etc. etc.
9. There is a gradation in wickedness, for there is a development towards ripeness for judgment. And as the greatness of the sin is determined according to the person and circumstances, so the corresponding greatness of the punishment is determined according to the knowledge of and opportunity for what is good. But the Judge and Avenger is God.
HOMILETIC HINTS
Eze 8:1. We may be assured everywhere, whether at home or from home, of the presence of God; hence also we have to fear God everywhere (Stck.).The pulpit for the exiles in the house of the prophet.Elders also ought to hear and learn Gods word (Stck.).
Eze 8:2. Comp. on Eze 1:27 sq.
Eze 8:3. The saints in mortal flesh are between heaven and earth, for they are not yet indeed completely above, but still they have already forsaken what is below (Gregory).As here by the hair, so by the smallest thing the pious are lifted upwards by God (Jun.).Gods children and servants are led and guided not by the spirit of the world, but by the Spirit of God (St.).Yea, if this body could follow the spirit, it would lead it into heaven with itself.God was Master of the house at Jerusalem, and they brought in to Him another idol: that displeased Him justly (Randgl.).See how jealous love can be! the jealousy of Israels Husband.So God is provoked also by all who admit into their heart passion, pride, arrogance, debauchery, avarice, and other idols (B. B.).
Eze 8:4. Christ and Belial.God in His jealousy is likewise God in His glory.In another way also God lets His glory be seen, when He causes a peculiarly powerful testimony to be borne in His Church, by means of which He unveils the abominations in all ranks, and causes them to be punished through His witnesses, since there also, as here, public worship especially is wont to be assailed.To perceive Gods glory in spite of all abominations is the privilege of His faithful servants, of His children, who do not cast away their confidence. Our faith is the victory which hath overcome the world.Such a strengthening was needed by the prophet, in order that he might fearlessly withstand the raging audacity and stubbornness of the people; God equipped him in this way with a suit of armour (C).
Eze 8:5. God places our sins before His eyes, and in like manner also before ours (Stck.).So sits the envious Pharisee also, who has merely an outward righteousness, like an image of jealousy in the doorway, and will not let the simple people enter through the fear of the Lord into the faith and love of Christ, and thus takes away the key of knowledge (Mat 23:13) (B. B.).
Eze 8:6. Whoever opens door and gate to sin, falls from sin to sin (St.).Whatever man does, he does it before Gods face, although the blinded sinner thinks God blind (Stck.).Gods people also may fall into great darkness and blindness (St.).
Eze 8:7 sqq. Gods eye sees also through the wall, and He can give His servants a hole in the wall as well as eyes, so as to see what is between the walls.Guilty consciences love what is concealed (Stck.).Occasionally an Ezekiel comes across those concealed ones.Thy heart is to be Gods temple. But how does the Lord find this temple? Just as here. Only dig through the white-washed wall of thy self-love and hypocrisy, then shalt thou perceive in the light of God all sorts of monsters and abominations, which the enemy has gathered together in thee, to the disgust of the Master of the house. Enough of unclean reptiles shalt thou find behind the wall of thy flesh, only dig through! (B. B.)Assuredly, as soon as the true worship of God is forsaken, men have no longer any limit; from one they pass to a myriad (C).Idolatry is not merely of the gross kind; nor is that which Christians practise merely of the refined kind.Yea, everything which is on earth may become an idol to man.I count everything but dung, Paul testifies in Philippians 3.
Eze 8:11. Those who ought in this way to take the lead of others in showing a good example, are often the worst (St.).The elders before the idols, men before beasts, the living before mere pictures! (B. B.)May all assemblies of church-wardens take an example by them!
Eze 8:12. God is to blame for our guilt!Thus many make for themselves a blind God, like Fortune.
Eze 8:13 sqq. What a corruption must be among a, people where the old and the female sex are infected!On ordinary days, the lust of the flesh; on fast-days, repentance and sorrow.
Eze 8:15 sq. Nothing is so absurd as that a man might hot be brought to it, Romans 1. (St.)Daniel turned in his prayer toward Jerusalem (B. B.).All the ungodly turn their back on God (St.).But who will count those who in our time turn their back on God? (B. B.)
Eze 8:18. They turned their back on God, and so He turns His back on them.The eye and ear of God shut, what a picture!
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Under the similitude of the image of jealousy, the Prophet in this chapter sets forth the awful state of the people. And in the figure of the idol Tammuz, the deplorable condition to which all orders were reduced b y sin, is described.
Eze 8:1
We here enter upon a most interesting Chapter, full of solemn truths. The date of the vision, the Prophet hath marked. No doubt the impression wrought upon Ezekiel’s mind made it memorable. Jacob never lost sight of Beth-el; neither Moses of the bush. The Reader will recollect, that Ezekiel was in Babylon at this time among those of the captivity; though in his visions the scene represented to his mind was Jerusalem. If the Reader be curious to calculate, and will compare this latter vision with Ezekiel’s former (Eze 1 ), he will find, that a period of fourteen months had elapsed between. There is somewhat worth remarking in what Ezekiel hath said, of sitting in his house at the time, and he elders of Judah sitting before him. Probably they were assembled for worship or meditation. And if so, how gracious was the Lord to be in their midst. Reader! what an encouragement this is to public as well as social worship! The promise of the Lord is absolute. Mat 18:20 . And again, Mat 28:19 . And I cannot help further remarking, that while Jerusalem herself was now barren, and deprived of ordinances; the Lord’s poor captives in Babylon found their solemn meetings blessed with the hand of the Lord God upon them. And how often have God’s dear children found Jesus in the wilderness, while multitudes miss him in the Church. How blessed was Patmos to John; and the prison to Peter and his companions. Rev 1:9-11 ; Act 5:17-19 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Spiritual Experiences At Home
Eze 8:1
I. In the house Ezekiel has spiritual experiences akin to those he had elsewhere.
Ezekiel could not have felt the hand of the Lord upon him in his house had he not beheld by faith God’s gaze fixed in faithful love upon that privileged house. If we are to have rich spiritual experiences at home we must realize the love of God as centred on that home.
Ezekiel also felt the sacredness of home. When home is seen to be a sacred place there need be no limit to our expectation of spiritual blessings there.
Ezekiel knew his responsibility for his home life. A home is a trust and must be given account for at last.
The Prophet was in a state of preparedness to receive blessing at home. Read his history and this will be at once apparent; They who have Ezekiel’s preparedness have also his spiritual felicity.
II. In his house Ezekiel saw the Divine Being. ‘The hand of the Lord’ is his power in exercise.
First the Prophet felt the touch of power, then he saw God. Do not presume to despair of His coming to your house, for spiritual despair is spiritual presumption. God is ready to visit your home. Be you ready to receive Him there.
III. God’s influence was upon Ezekiel when visitors were in the house.
Ezekiel showed that God’s influence rested upon him by the spirit he manifested amid his friends. He was the Lord’s servant: as abroad so at home. If God’s hand be upon us in our house, those who visit us will perceive it by the spirit we shed forth.
And yet more by our conduct. Can we doubt that Ezekiel’s deportment and his actions would show his friends that God’s influence crowned him in his home.
IV. Sudden blessing came upon Ezekiel in his house.
Observe how he says, ‘the hand of the Lord fell there upon me’. Often spiritual blessings are sudden. Seldom can we foresee God’s visitations and benedictions.
Ezekiel had a sudden enduement of Divine power. His personality was in no degree superseded, but it was enhanced.
Ezekiel had a sudden sense of Divine support. The touch of God revived and strengthened him.
V. Ezekiel was qualified for his ministry by spiritual blessing received in his house.
God’s hand fell upon the Prophet in his house that he might be the more equipped for the work he had to do among men. The word of the Lord was to be proclaimed. Righteous judgments were to be executed. Without strength received in private such public ministry could never be discharged.
VI. Ezekiel kept a record of the spiritual experiences he realized in his house.
What he experienced is historified for the generations. Spiritual experiences in their homes have been a feature of the diaries of good men in all the Christian years.
Dinsdale T. Young, Messages for Home and Life, p. 263.
Reference. VIII. 3, 4. R. G. Colquhoun, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 292.
Eze 8:5
Leigh Hunt, in describing the keen eyes of Wordsworth, calls them ‘fires half-burning, half-smouldering, with a sort of acrid fixture of regard. One might imagine Ezekiel or Isaiah to have had such eyes.’
Eze 8:5
Orchan at once turned Nica into a Moslem city, as his father had done with the Black Castle on the Thymbres. In Nica was still seen and still used for Christian worship the memorable church in which the 318 bishops had met to settle the faith of Christendom for the ages to come. The Church of the Council was turned by Orchan into a mosque; for the mosaic images on its walls was substituted the symbol of Islam.
Dean Church, Miscellaneous Essays, p. 312.
Compare Carlyle’s words in a letter to his mother, from Marburg: ‘The Landgrafs high old castle, where we loitered a couple of hours, is now a correction-house filled with criminals and soldiers. The chamber of conference between Luther, Zwingli, etc., is used for keeping hay.
References. VIII. 8, 9. S. Baring-Gould, Sermon-Sketches, p. 61. VIII. 10-12. G. Matheson, Endeavours After the Christian Life (2nd Series), p. 8.
Eze 8:12
In his Reform Speech at Glasgow, in 1858, John Bright observed: ‘I have often compared in my own mind, the people of England with the people of ancient Egypt, and the Foreign Office of this country with the temples of the Egyptians. We are told by those who pass up and down the Nile, that on its banks are grand temples with stately statues and massive and lofty columns statues each one of which would have appeared almost to have exhausted a quarry in its production. You have, further, vast chambers, and gloomy passages; and some innermost recess, some holy of holies, in which, when you arrive at it, you find some loathsome reptile which a nation reverenced and revered and bowed itself down to worship. In our Foreign Office we have no massive columns: we have no statues; but we have a mystery as profound; and in the innermost recesses of it we find some miserable intrigue, in defence of which your fleets are traversing every ocean, your armies are perishing in every clime, and the precious blood of our country’s children is squandered as though it had no price.’
There is truth with those who say we want more faith and devout obedience; but if the temple of our life be denied the light of Thought, then, though every man stands, saint-like, with his censer in his hand, he will just repeat ‘what the elders of Israel did in the dark’ send up his foolish cloud of incense before ‘creeping things and abominable beasts’.
Martineau.
Keep the imagination sane that is one of the truest conditions of communion with heaven.
Hawthorne.
References. VIII. 12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ezekiel, etc., p. 1. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 34. W. Redfern, The Gospel of Redemption, p. 65.
Eze 8:13-14
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, While smooth Adonis, from his native rock Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale Infected Sion’s daughters with like heat, Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led, His eye surveyed the dark idolatries Of alienated Judah.
Milton, Paradise Lost (book i.).
In the second part of Past and Present, after expounding the silent reverence of man for the God he cannot know or name, Carlyle breaks out: ‘Thou if thou know not this, what are all rituals, liturgies, mythologies, mass-chantings, turnings of the rotatory calabash? They are as nothing; in a good many respects they are as less. Divorced from this, getting half-divorced from this, they are a thing to fill one with a kind of horror; with a sacred inexpressible pity and fear. The most tragical thing a human eye can look on. It was said to the Prophet, “Behold, I will show thee worse things than these; women weeping to Thammuz”. That was the acme of the Prophet’s vision then as now.’
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Eze 8:3
There was a man once a poet. He went wandering through the streets of the city, and he met a disciple. ‘Come out with me,’ said the poet, ‘for a walk in the sand-dunes,’ and they went. But ere they had progressed many stages, said the disciple: ‘There is nothing here but sand’. ‘To what did I invite you?’ asked the poet. ‘To a walk in the sand-dunes.’ ‘Then do not complain,’ said the poet. ‘Yet even so your words are untrue. There is Heaven above. Do you not see it? The fault is not Heaven’s. Nor the sands.’
Maarten Maartens.
Eze 8:4
The decisive sign of the elevation of a nation’s life is to be sought among those who lead or ought to lead. The test of the health of a people is to be found in the utterances of those who are its spokesmen, and in the action of those whom it accepts or chooses to be its chiefs. We have to look to the magnitude of the issues and the height of the interests which engage its foremost spirits. What are the best men in a country striving for?
John Morley.
Eze 8:5
Religion, whatever destinies may be in store for it, is at least for the present hardly any longer an organic power. It is not that supreme, penetrating, controlling, decisive part of a man’s life, which it has been and will be again.
John Morley, Compromise, p. 36.
Eze 8:10
If the gods of this lower world will sit on their glittering thrones, indolent as Epicurus’ gods, with the living Chaos of Ignorance and Hunger weltering uncared for at their feet, and smooth parasites preaching Peace, peace, when there is no peace, then the dark Chaos, it would seem, will rise.
Carlyle, French Revolution, vol. III. book vii. chap. vii.
References. XIII. 10. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 84. XIII. 10, 11. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 201. C. J. Thompson, Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. No. 675, p. 66. XIII. 10-12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv. No. 816. XIII. 18. J. Baldwin Brown, The Soul’s Exodus and Pilgrimage, p. 58. J. Thomson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 164.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Chambers of Imagery
Eze 8
With the eighth chapter we begin a new series of prophecies occupying eleven or twelve chapters. Before the prophet commences what may be termed his moral ministry he always passes through an experience of ecstasy or rapture, in which he sees manifold and most perplexing visions. We can only guard ourselves from what would amount to a profanation of these visions by reminding ourselves constantly that we really have no power of literally interpreting them. We have to do with the application and not with the mystery. This is the course which the prophet himself took; hence the folly of any subsequent reader attempting to find meanings where Ezekiel himself was bewildered. Visions are useless unless they lead to some moral point We cannot understand the vision, therefore we must go to the moral! application of it in order to see its utility. Why not adopt this principle of interpretation in all cases? Why should we be so fascinated with the mystery as to let the moral purpose wholly escape us? Yet this is what men do in the matter of all the higher doctrines of the Christian faith. They trouble themselves about predestination, election, foreknowledge, divine decrees, instead of attending to the plain and simple duty which lies immediately to hand. In all interpretation we must begin where we can. Happily, we can all begin at the point of duty and sacrifice, at the point of patience and unselfishness, at the point of prayer and hope. Ezekiel is transported in vision to Jerusalem, and to the temple itself, where he sees the infamous idolatries invented and practised by degenerate Israel. Afterwards he sees the judgment whereby all who have not received the mark of God upon their foreheads are to be destroyed. A wonderful procession of events passes before his vision: the city itself is given over to fire. The glory of the Lord lifts itself from the temple, and flies away like a wounded and dishonoured angel Eventually the glory of the Lord leaves not only the temple but abandons the city, so that Jerusalem, once the thing of beauty, and the very delight of Heaven, becomes deserted and desolate, black because of the visitations of divine judgment.
What is thus seen in symbol is seen every day in reality. Men who have been unfaithful to their trust have been similarly abandoned by God, so that the divine name might be no longer compromised by their worldliness and depravity. The spirit of the Lord lifts itself up, so to say, outstretches its mighty wings, and flies away to heaven, leaving the man who has grieved and insulted it to feel how dark is the universe when God has withdrawn his glory from it. Terrible was the state of Israel at the time of this vision. Ezekiel was a priest and a prophet, held in high esteem by his fellow-captives. From the first verse it would appear that Ezekiel was a private householder. By “Judah” we are not to understand a term used in contradistinction to Israel; the captives were mainly of the tribe of Judah, so their elders were known by the name of the tribe. The vision which appears in the second verse is not a revival of any former vision. Though we are not told that this was a human vision, or in any sense what we understand as an incarnation, yet there are terms in the description of it which might lead to that conclusion. Always it is made evident that a struggle is proceeding in Biblical history towards the miracle of incarnation. The angel would be as a man; cherubim and seraphim come before us in human outlines; yea, God himself is not afraid to reveal his glory to us under human forms and symbols. In all this there must be a meaning, to be interpreted by subsequent history. What is the signification of this perpetual attempt to show us something we have not yet seen? What is the meaning of those presences and ministries that come before the imagination as if they would come farther if they could, or as if they were only waiting for the fulfilment of a definite period of time? Nothing of mere fancy is found in the interpretation that all these initial intimations, struggles, visions, point to One whose name was to be Emmanuel God with us. In the fulness of time God sent forth his Son. In Christ Jesus we see the meaning of all these premonitions, hints, dim yet exciting suggestions.
When Ezekiel is taken, in the third verse, by a lock of his hah and lifted up between the earth and the heaven, we are of course to understand that this was done, not literally, but in vision. The prophet did not actually leave Chaldaea at all. Here is what we have often seen as the power of being absent, yet present; in an immediate locality, yet far away beyond the horizon; in Jerusalem, and yet at the ends of the earth; in the midst of the sea, and yet beyond the stars. Here is a counterpart of the action which has just been described. Whilst spirits are continually struggling to assume human shape, men are continually aspiring towards some new condition of being and service. There is a continual process of descent and ascent in the whole economy of God. Angels would come down and tabernacle with men, yea, would be as men in the mystery of their humanity; men on their part aspire to be as angels, to read the deeper mysteries, to see the upper light, and to roam with infinitely enlarged liberty through all the spaces that are on high. Such double action is full of moral suggestion, and should certainly ennoble us with a feeling that as yet we know little or nothing of the possibilities of our own nature, but that a great revelation of God’s purpose in our existence is yet to be made.
In the same verse there is a singular expression “where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” The best commentators do not consider “jealousy” as a proper name that is, the name of any particular heathen divinity; they accept it rather as a descriptive name, referring to an image which arouses the divine indignation. It has even been taken as generic in its signification, representing the whole spirit and genius of the idolatry into which Israel had fallen. It has been supposed that at this time heathen idols had actually found a place in the holy temple, and this is supposed to present the most vivid and appalling proof of the corruption into which the priests and the people had fallen. Since the time of Solomon idolatry had been extending itself with awful aggressiveness. It seemed, indeed, as if nothing would be kept holy or preserved from the ravages of this new spirit. Ahaz had placed an idolatrous altar in the temple itself, and had even made room for its reception by removing the brazen altar. In after years Manasseh repeated this inconceivably grievous offence. In long succession wicked men ascended the throne of Judah; with the one exception of Josiah, it would seem as if the throne of Judah had been occupied for a long succession of years by men whose delight it was to rebel against the God of heaven. Is the meaning of the fourth verse that for the last time there was an evident struggle as between the image of jealousy and the glory of the God of Israel? It has been suggested that we are not to understand by this “glory” the glory of the Lord which once filled the temple, but the particular glory which was seen in the vision shown to Ezekiel in the plain, a vision within a vision, a dim light in a far-off horizon, not the old glory which burned with infinite brightness, but another glory as of one preparing to vanish in judgment from the temple and the city. Notice the expression, “The God of Israel,” for it is emphatic, and points to the God who had loved and elected Israel, enriching that people with innumerable signs and tokens of special regard; the God whom Israel should have served with daily constancy; a God set in contrast to the miserable and worthless idol which had been placed in his own temple.
It is interesting to notice that we have in all these descriptions, not the view which Ezekiel took of the condition of Israel, we have the condition of Israel as it revealed itself to the divine eyes. Had Ezekiel been the reporter as well as the prophet, in other words, had we been dependent upon Ezekiel for an estimate of the moral condition of Israel, we might have supposed that his estimate was affected by prejudice, or temper, or personal resentment on account of neglect and slight; but we have the Divine Being himself revealing to Ezekiel a moral condition for which even the prophetic imagination was not prepared. It is essential to all true and lasting ministry that it should proceed upon God’s own estimate of human nature. We are not left to form our own fancies regarding human origin, or human apostasy, or human capability: in this as in all other things we have to trust to a revelation which has been made to us, a revelation which would be the less valuable if it were not confirmed at every point by our own painful experience. Ezekiel is plainly told that he is sent to a rebellious people, and the word rebellious is not chosen by himself, but chosen by the Lord whose prophet he is. We should not forget the sacred and gracious fact that, notwithstanding the rebelliousness of the house of Israel, one of their own number was sent to pronounce divine judgment and to reveal divine purpose. In what contrast did Ezekiel stand to his own countrymen! How was it possible that the many could have sunk into so desperate an apostasy, and the one should have preserved, as it were, his garments unspotted from the world? Here is a mystery in human development; here: indeed is a mystery which would excite our incredulity but that it coincides so entirely with our experience. God has never left himself without an Elijah, or an Ezekiel, or some other prophet, or suppliant, that has proved the continuity of divine providence: and the continuity of divine grace.
Ezekiel was to be astounded by revelations which he never could have discovered by himself. The mighty Being under whose conduct he was placed brought him to the door of the court, and when he looked he beheld a hole in the wall. This hole or window was too small for entrance, hence Ezekiel was directed to enlarge it so that he might enter in “Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.” All this is indicative of extreme secrecy, as if the men would have hidden themselves from the very God of heaven, as if they would have had a hole all their own, unpenetrated by divine inspection. We are to remember still that all this was seen in vision, yet the vision itself was true to the fact, giving but ideality to the most shocking and revolting actuality. What did the prophet see when he went into the hidden place? The answer is explicit: “I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.” This shows how deep was the Egyptian taint in the moral nature of Israel. Creature-worship was not indeed confined to Egypt, yet the whole tableau is so completely Egyptian that the greatest scholars have had no difficulty in considering that the origin of these portraitures is settled, During this period old Jeremiah was contending strenuously against the desire of many to enter into an alliance with Egypt against Chaldaea. Those Jews who were most anxious about an Egyptian alliance were most widely known as rebelling against the divine commandments. A very singular image is represented by the eleventh verse: “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.” The seventy elders were not the Sanhedrim, for, as has been pointed out, that body was not constituted until after the return of the captives from Babylon: it is supposed, therefore, that the number has reference to the seventy referred to in Exo 24:9-10 , and the other seventy referred to in Num 11:16 . These two seventies were selected for the purpose of enjoying special nearness to God, but the seventy referred to in the text seem to have been princes of iniquity, thoroughly skilled and trained in the use of all the abominations which were most abhorrent to the God of Israel. Ezekiel saw that every man had his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. We have seen (Num 16 and 2Ch 26:16-18 ) that the burning of the incense was the exclusive function of the priesthood. By offering incense to their idols the seventy elders claimed to be the priests of those idols. How men can delude themselves! how the most gifted teachers can yield their minds to the most obvious infatuations! It was worth while putting on record all these deviations from the right road simply to trace the whole history of human nature in its unity. From the beginning human nature has been given to apostasy, to self-worship, and to all manner of disobedience. Wickedness is no modern invention. Iniquity has not come upon us as the result of our civilisation. From the beginning every feature was lurid in its vividness, was appalling in the striking resemblance which it bore to the discoveries of our own consciousness. All that was done by rebellious Israel was done “in the dark.” By the “dark” we are to understand that the idolatry was performed in secret. There was an open and public idolatry in Jerusalem at this very time, but such is the downward tendency of all evil that it was not sufficient to have a public and an almost established idolatry, but something further should be done in darkness and concealment. Stolen waters are sweet. Man cannot have enough of evil. He always invents another sweetness, another luxury, another delight in the service of his evil master. When wickedness can be enjoyed in public it ceases to be an enjoyment. It would appear as if the darkness were necessary to bring out the full savour of a bad man’s delight.
By “chambers of imagery” understand chambers painted throughout with images such as Ezekiel saw. We are not to understand that this was a solitary instance, we are to accept it rather as indicative of the general condition and worship of the idolatrous people. What was done in this one particular chamber was done in every other chamber, and had become indeed the new method in which Israel served the devil. Conscience had been driven away from the rule of human life. The people who were once the very elect of God said in their wickedness, “The Lord seeth us not”: we have found a refuge from his eye, and here we may do what we please in the gratification of our worst desires. Is this merely a historical instance? Is there no desire now to plunge into an impenetrable concealment? Is it not true now that in many enjoyments the whole delight is to be found in the secrecy of their participation? A man can hide himself from his fellow-man in this matter, and can in the very act of prayer place himself within chambers of imagery, and delight himself with visions which no eye but his own can see. What is meant by “There sat women weeping for Tammuz” we cannot now certainly say. Tammuz is nowhere else mentioned in Scripture, but learned men have discovered that in ancient tradition it is a term identified with the Greek Adonis, the beloved of Venus. “The annual feast of Adonis consisted of a mourning by the women over his death, followed by a rejoicing over his return to life, and was accompanied by great abominations and licentiousness.” From 2Ki 23:7 we infer that women were engaged in the service of idolatry near the temple itself. The painful part of all this revelation consists in the fact that the idolatry was perpetrated within the sacred enclosure of the temple. This was not something done at a distance, in some faraway grove, in some spot which but few had ever penetrated; it was actually done in the temple, in the sacred building, on the consecrated floor, and the altar itself was dragged into the unholy and disastrous service. How are the high places made low! How are the mighty fallen! A decay of veneration is a decay of the whole character. Once let us feel that all places are equally common, and the level of our whole life will go down with that conclusion. For this reason it has pleased God to set up for himself a token in the succession of the days, so that we say of one particular day, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it”: it has pleased God to claim a certain part of the produce of the earth; it has pleased God to ask for a certain portion of the wealth which we have earned: so long as we maintain the reality of these claims, and respond to them with the willingness of love, we save our life from its worst degradation; once let us give up our idea of sacred time, or any divine claim upon the produce of the earth or the earnings of industry, and we not only surrender these particular instances, but we surrender all the tract and area of life and time to which they belong. Superstition is better than atheism. The worship of the sun is better than the utter denial of God.
In the seventeenth verse there is another peculiar expression which cannot be explained “And, lo, they put the branch to their nose.” Learning and ingenuity have failed to discover the precise meaning of these words. It is allowed that it must be an allusion to some custom familiar to the people, but now utterly lost. The Pharisees had a habit of holding twigs of the tamarisk, palm, and the pomegranate before their mouths. These habits and customs really have but little interest for us, seeing that there remains the fact, of ever-enduring interest and signification, that men may turn from the living God to dead idols. Now the Lord stands up in the terribleness of his wrath; out of his nostrils there proceed, as it were, fire and brimstone and a great anger. He says he will delight in fury, his eye shall not spare, and he will have no pity, and though the people cry in his ears with a loud voice, yet he will not hear them. How unfamiliar are these exclamations to us! How little of accord is there between them and the quiet tenor of divine providence as seen in daily life. The words are such as could hardly have been invented by the human imagination. Who would ascribe fury to the Lord, and an unsparing eye to him who made all tender and beautiful things? Who would venture to suppose that pity would be a stranger to him whose mercy is over all his works? How incredible the miracle that it should ever come to pass that the God and Father of men should be deaf to prayer and regardless of human entreaty! Yet here is the statement in plainest terms. Nor is it a statement: in a book only; it is the saddest fact in human consciousness. Every bad man knows what is meant by a withdrawal from the: universe of all holy ministries, all tender pities, all yearning; solicitudes, so that there is nothing left but an infinite void, a great resounding emptiness within which we cry without an answer, and supplicate without any recognition from on high. Attribute as much of this as we may to Hebrew poetry, and to the redundance of the Hebrew language, man has only to go within his own consciousness to know that there is a fact higher than the poetry, a bitter experience untouched by the sublimest rhetoric, by the noblest and most copious eloquence.
In the ninth chapter there is a vivid and instructive figure “Cause them that have charge over the city” ( Eze 9:1 ). By these: we should naturally understand the magistrates, the judges, or the: constabulary. Yet no such reference is intended by the command, There is no allusion to earthly officers. Those who had charge: over the cities were spirits, angels, chosen ones of God. No doubt the same word is used of human officers, but such officers are utterly excluded by all that gives speciality to the vision of Ezekiel. We might suppose from the words “every man” that human officers were intended, but we have had experience to the contrary. The representation here, therefore, is evidently that angelic executioners were awaiting the order to carry out the wrath of God. Are they not all ministering spirits? Are we not in charge of guardian angels? A noble yet most solemn thought is it that every city has its band of watchers, and that every man has near him the angel of the Lord, bringing blessing or inflicting judgment, or training the life in all the: mystery of progress. We cannot understand these things, but we should be infinitely poorer if we excluded them from our thought and confidence and imagination. How little we see! We know not that the whole air is full of spirits, and that every breath we draw is a special gift of God, watched over as if we were the solitary trustees of Heaven’s richest benefactions. Anything that impoverishes our lives, that takes out of them such solemnising and uplifting thoughts as these, is verily a foe to our best education. At the same time we must watch against the superstitious degradation of these thoughts, lest we fall into the patronage of wizardry and enchantment, witchcraft and incantation: we have nothing to do with any attempt to incarnate these spiritual watchers, we must accept their ministry as an assured fact, and, asking no questions, must believe that if we are pure, docile, and obedient, God will not withhold the communication of his secret from us.
What was meant by the six men coming from the way of the higher gate, what was meant by the one man clothed with linen carrying a writer’s inkhorn by his side, we need not inquire: it is enough for us to know that God has agents other than ourselves, scribes that do not write with our ink, registrars that are following the course of human life, and are writing in the books that are on high. An awful passage is this:
“And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women” ( Eze 9:4-6 ).
This is not the God with whose lovingkindness we have been familiar! So should we say in our ignorance, and yet we owe the very lovingkindness of God to the fact that such anger is possible: apart from the exercise of such indignation the lovingkindness would be simply sentiment; but seeing that the wrath of God can be so terrible, we find in his lovingkindness a counterpart of that dire extremity. A singular suggestion is that that the eye of the executioner might spare where God’s own eye had failed to shed a tear: it would seem as if the executioners would be more pitiful than their Lord: were this so it could only be because they could descry only a partial aspect of the awful case. He who could see all had no hesitation in giving the commandment for an utter extermination of the rebels. Ezekiel himself broke down when the fearful vision passed before him. Whilst the slaughter was proceeding, he fell upon his “face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?” This was very human, but this was profoundly sentimental. Ezekiel saw little more than the merely physical suffering of the people; he could not grasp the full majesty of eternal law. The Lord gave the reason in words which cover the whole of the sad occasion:
“The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head” ( Eze 9:9-10 ).
Observe, it was their way. Notice in particular that this is not an arbitrary act on the part of God. This is a Lord of measurement, of proportion, who adapts means to ends, who does not act indiscriminately and ruthlessly; a God who holds in his hands the balances of righteousness and judgment, and who gives to every man according to his deeds. The Lord himself is always careful to maintain this fact. Whatever we have seen of the terribleness of divine judgment has been matched by the terribleness of human sin. We may not see it; we may look upon the divine judgment as an exaggeration; but surely those who have studied the divine way are prepared to believe that God does nothing in excess, that in reality, if we could see things as he sees them, it would be almost impossible for judgment to be coordinate with sin. So terrible a thing is iniquity I so fearful a reality is a stain upon the robe of ineffable holiness! We cannot tell how awful a thing this is. We must take it on the authority of revelation that sin is the abominable thing which God hates, that it is an insult, a wound, a shame, a degradation which can never be explained in words. Hell itself can hardly enlarge its borders so as to take in all the tremendous issues of sin.
Prayer
Almighty God, help us to keep our foot when we enter into the house. Say unto us, The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Yet hast thou made room at the altar for penitence and broken-heartedness. They have nothing to fear from the judgment of God; thou dost welcome such, and offer pardon upon pardon in wavelike abundance. We are sinners before God; we therefore pray thee have mercy upon us; drive us not away because of our unholiness. We have done the things we ought not to have done, we have left undone the things that we ought to have done: God be merciful unto us sinners! Is there not mercy in the Cross? Are there not pardons upon Calvary? Doth not the blood of Jesus Christ the Son of God cleanse from all sin? Did he not die the just for the unjust? We come in the name of Christ, we stand in the sanctuary of the love of Christ; we are sure that, being in Christ, we shall not be turned empty or unforgiven away. Thou knowest our life, a dawning cloud; thou knowest our experience, a daily need and a daily pain; thou knowest our best desires, they are thine own creation, therefore wilt thou answer our petitions. Come and save us, come and help us, come and abide with us, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Our days are few; may we spend them all for Christ. We know not when our life may end may we be ready for its close by being ready for its duties. Give us masculine strength, efficient power, great energy, and dominance of will in things that are heavenly and in things that are beneficent: thus may our life go from us day by day, and the last shall be as a gate folding back upon immortality. Pity us when we are very weak; sanctify our strength lest it become riotousness; chasten us, that all our energies may be acceptable sacrifices. Bless the old man with such hopefulness that he shall forget his days in his dawning youthhood coming to him from the heavenly heights. Bless the busy man lest he should prove to be a fool at last, saving up that which must be burned, and leaving that which may be ill-spent. Bless the little child may angels rock its cradle, may Christ be its earliest friend. Be with the sick and the weary and the sore of heart; send such help from the sanctuary, and strength out of Zion. Give us alway to feel how great the earth is, because it is part of the great universe. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XV
PROPHECIES ON THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
Ezekiel 4-14
Jeremiah was preaching in Jerusalem while Ezekiel was preaching in a similar strain to the exiles in Babylon. Jeremiah found that the people thought that Jerusalem, the center of Jehovah worship, could not and would not be destroyed. Ezekiel found the same conditions in Babylon. In the time of Isaiah, when the Assyrians were close at hand, God protected them and swept away 185,000 of their army and saved Jerusalem with the Temple. Their confidence in the perpetuity of their city seemed to be fixed. So they did not believe their city, their Temple, and their country would be destroyed. “It is God’s nation, God’s people, and God’s Temple,” they said. Moreover, they had false prophets in Jerusalem, prophets who were preaching the safety of the city, also false prophets in Babylon among the exiles, preaching the same thing. They preached that the exiles should speedily return; that the power of Babylon would be destroyed. There was one lone man in Judah, and one lone man in Babylon, preaching the destruction of the nation. This gives us some idea of Ezekiel’s task, the tremendous task that he had, to make those people believe that their nation, their city and their Temple were going to be destroyed. In order to get them to believe that, he made use of all these symbols, metaphors, and other figures which we have in this great section. He made use of these symbols, or symbolic actions, to make his preaching more vivid and more impressive, and he began this series of symbolic actions about four and a half years before the city was surrounded by Nebuchadnezzar, about six years before it fell, for the siege lasted one and a half years.
The symbol of the siege of Jerusalem and its interpretation are found in Eze 4:1-3 . The great truth he wanted to impress upon them was that Jerusalem would be besieged and would be taken and destroyed; so he was commanded by Jehovah to take a tile, or a brick, a tablet in a plastic condition, and to draw thereon a picture of a city, representing mounds cast up against the city on every side, from which the enemy could shoot their arrows down into the city and at the defenders on the walls. He was also told to set a camp round about it representing the soldiers encamped; he was to place battering rams there. These were huge beams of wood with iron heads which were pushed with great force by a large number of men, and thus driven against the walls and would soon make great holes in them. Then he was told to take an iron pan and put that between himself and this miniature city to represent the force that was surrounding it, and as that iron pan was impenetrable, so this besieging force was impenetrable, hard, and relentless, and would inevitably take and destroy the city without mercy.
Then he was told to lie upon his left side as if a burden was upon him. He was to do this according to the number of the years of the iniquity of Israel. He was to be bound while lying thus on his left side and he was to remain in that position 390 days. Then he was to lie upon his right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, representing the forty years of their iniquity; these, of course, are symbolic numbers in both cases. The commentators have been greatly baffled to figure out these periods which apply to Israel and Judah. The best explanation seems to be that of Hengstenberg who makes the 390 years refer to Israel’s sin of idolatry beginning with Jeroboam and going down to the final captivity; likewise, the forty years, to Judah’s iniquity beginning forty years prior to the same captivity. According to this reckoning Israel’s period of iniquity was much longer than that of Judah and this accords with the facts of their history.
The scarcity and pollution of their food during the siege and after is symbolized in Eze 4:9-17 . Ezekiel was to take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, various kinds of cheap grains that the very poorest of the people ate, mix them together and cook them on a fire made with the most disgusting and loathsome kind of fuel possible, and eat about twenty shekels per day and drink a little more than a pint of water. Twenty shekels would be probably about a pound of our bread, one pound of this cheap, coarse bread, and a little over a pint of water a day. His soul revolted at such loathsome fuel and he was promised a better kind of fuel used by very poor people at that time. This again is a literary symbolism, the idea being to bring before those people the fact that terrible scarcity was before them, great depredation, and almost starvation, and when they were carried into the various nations their food would be unclean and polluted and they would be compelled to eat this unclean food.
The fate of the population by the siege and their dispersion is symbolized in Eze 5:1-4 . Ezekiel was told to take a sword, make it as sharp as a barber’s razor, cut off the hair upon his head, take balances and divide it into three equal portions. Evidently Ezekiel must have resembled Elijah more than he did Elisha. A third part of it was to be put in the fire in the midst of the city; a third part, to be smitten with the sword round about, evidently hacking it to pieces; and a third part, to be scattered to the winds, and the sword was to go after it and hack it to pieces.
What is the meaning? One-third of the inhabitants of their beloved city should perish with famine and pestilence; one-third should be slain in the siege; the other third should be scattered among all the nations of the earth, and even this third the sword should pursue and nearly all of them should be cut off. These arc striking symbols, full of meaning. They must have had some effect upon the hearers.
The interpretation of the foregoing symbols, as given by the prophet in Eze 5:5-17 , is that this is Jerusalem. Eze 5:5 says: “I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her.” The remainder of this section goes on to show how Judah had sinned, how she had revolted, how she had forsaken God, and Eze 5:8 says, “Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I, even I, am against thee; and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.” Verse Eze 5:10 : “Therefore the father shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on thee; and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds . . . and will draw out a sword after them.” Verse Eze 5:13 : “Thus shall mine anger be accomplished . . . and I shall satisfy my fury upon them.”
The prophecies of Eze 6:1-7 ; Eze 6:11-14 are prophecies against the mountains of Israel, that is, the seats of idolatry. All the kings that sought to create a reformation among the people had to deal with the high places. Hezekiah removed many of them, and at last Josiah removed all of them. They were renewed in the reign of Jehoiachim and doubtless in the reign of Zedekiah. It was against these high places that the prophets had been uttering their denunciations for centuries. Ezekiel, from the plains of Babylon, looks across the vast distance and sees the mountaintops and the hills with their shrines and altars and idols and he utters his prophecies against them. In the latter part of Eze 6:3 he says, “I will destroy her high places,” and in Eze 6:5 he gives a terrible picture: “I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around about your altars,” and then he pictures the destruction of the idolatrous symbols of worship.
But hope is held out to Israel. In Eze 6:8 is the gleam of hope through this awful picture of destruction: “Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.” And then he says that many of those scattered through the countries shall remember God and regent, verse Eze 6:9 : “And those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captive,” and the last part of Eze 6:9 says, “And they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.” There was hope for the people throughout the countries that some of them would survive. There was scarcely a ray of hope for the city that any should escape. So Ezekiel preaches the doctrine of the remnant as does Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Jeremiah, and all the other prophets of this period.
Eze 7 is a lament, or dirge, over the downfall of the kingdom of Judah, and it is divided into four parts, thus:
1. The end is come upon the four corners of the land (Eze 7:1-4 )
2. The end is come upon the inhabitants of the land (Eze 7:5-9 )
3. The ruin is come unto all classes and is universal (Eze 7:10-13 )
4. The picture of the dissolution of the state (Eze 7:14-27 ) The theme of Eze 8 is, Israel’s many idolatries, which have profaned the Lord’s house and have caused him to withdraw from it. The date of this prophecy is fourteen months after the previous sections we have studied, in the sixth month, 591 B.C., which corresponds to our October.
Then the prophet sees what he calls the image of jealousy in the Temple (Eze 8:1-6 ). He sees a new vision of the Lord, and the one who sat above that firmament whose appearance was like unto fire, appears to Ezekiel again and, strange to say (we have to interpret this as a vision in symbol), took him by a lock of the hair of his head and carried him all the way from Babylon to Jerusalem. The Spirit took him thus and set him down at the door of the gate of the inner court and there he saw what he calls an “image of jealousy.” It was not jealousy pictured, but an image of some of their deities, some form of Baal set up in the very Temple of Jehovah, which provoked him to jealousy. Thus, he pictures the idolatry of the people as existing in the very Temple and its sacred precincts made place for their idols.
The prophet now sees another vision, the secret idolatry of the elders in the chambers of the gateway (Eze 8:7-13 ). The images there were worshiped by the people at large. Now the elders, the leaders, are engaged in it, and he says in Eze 8:10 , “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.” Eze 8:11 : “And there stood before them seventy men of the elders 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.” All this is used to represent the elders, the leaders of the people of Jerusalem, who were idolaters in secret, if not openly.
The women were lamenting and weeping for Tammuz, or Adonis, a heathen solar mythical being, nature personified and represented in winter as perishing or languishing, and in spring, reviving. Some writers think it represents the hot season of the year, as nature is all dead and withered, and is revived later on. Here the women are described, the ladies, the society ladies of Jerusalem, weeping as the heathen women did, because the force of nature, represented in this physical being, was apparently dead. It was a strange sort of worship indeed. It is not known as to just what the nature of this worship was, but it was something like that.
Then Ezekiel was shown the sun worship (Eze 8:10-18 ). The latter part of Eze 8:16 says: “about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.” This gives us some idea as to the depths to which the people had gone in their idolatrous worship, even in Jerusalem and the Temple.
The first act of divine judgment, the slaughter of the inhabitants, is presented in Eze 9 . Jehovah is represented as crying out and calling seven men, supernatural beings, six of them armed with a sword, and the seventh one armed with an inkhorn. These come forth into the Temple area and from there into the streets of the city. The man with the inkhorn set his mark upon all that should not be slain. Thus they entered the Temple; Ezekiel sat still in the vision and in a short while six supernatural men cut down a vast number. When they cut down all the Temple force they went out into the city and the slaughter went on. Eze 9:8 says, “And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?” Ezekiel saw that if these six angelic beings went through the city, not many would be left. He cried out but it was of no avail. The second act of divine judgment is symbolized in Eze 10 . Here Ezekiel sees the same glorious vision of God that he saw at first, and the voice came from him above the firmament saying to a man clothed in linen, “Take some fire” from that central place among the cherubim “take some of that divine fire and scatter it over the city.” Then we have the description of how one of the cherubim, with one of those arms, took some of the fire and handed it out to this other being and he went abroad and scattered that fire over the inhabitants of the city. That is a symbol also. The latter part of Eze 10 is simply an extended description of the same vision recorded in Eze 1 . We have a threat of destruction and a promise of restoration in Eze 2 . The occasion of the destruction of Jerusalem was virtually the revolt on the part of the princes against Nebuchadnezzar. It was the princes of Judah that led Zedekiah into revolt, the princes that were so obnoxious to Jeremiah, the princes of Judah that caused the downfall of the city and tried to put Jeremiah out of the way. Ezekiel, in vision, sees those princes and he sees them counseling and planning to make a league with Egypt and revolt against Nebuchadnezzar. He denounced them. Eze 10:2 says, “And he said unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise iniquity and that give wicked counsel in this city; that say, The time is not near to build houses.” If we are going to fight, this city will be a caldron and we will be the flesh, and it is better to be in the frying pan than in the fire. This city, the capital, may be destroyed; the time of war has come; let us fight and stay inside.” They did so, and in the remainder of the chapter we have the denunciation of Ezekiel. He says, “I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers.” And that actually happened, for Nebuchadnezzar captured all these princes with Zedekiah; they were brought before him at Riblah and every one slain with the sword.
The latter part of the chapter states that there will be some left; a remnant will be saved among the exiles. There shall be a few found faithful, and in Eze 10:17-19 is a marvelous promise: “I will gather you out of all the countries where you have been scattered,” and in Eze 10:19 , he anticipates Christianity, saying, “I will give them a new heart, and put a new spirit within them, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” The hope of the nation was in the exiles, not in the people that were left in Jerusalem. Immediately following that, the cherubim that had appeared near the house of Jehovah, were removed east on the Mount of Olives and departed thus from the city, signifying that Jehovah had abandoned Jerusalem.
There are two symbolic actions described in Eze 12 . Ezekiel is told to gather up such things as be would require to take with him if he were going into exile, just as one would pack his trunk or grip to go to another place. So Ezekiel packs up his goods in the sight of the people in the daytime, and has them all ready. That night he goes to the wall of the city and digs a hole through, and with his goods upon his shoulder makes his way through that hole of the wall to go out. It was a symbolic action, performed to impress the people. He interprets his action thus: The people of Jerusalem shall take their belongings and go into exile, and Zedekiah, the prince of Jerusalem, will dig a hole through the wall of the city and with his goods upon his shoulders will try to escape. He actually tried to do that, but was taken. Eze 12:11 says, “Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall go into captivity.” Verse Eze 12:12 : “And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the dark and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.” This is a mild way of expressing the truth that Zedekiah tramped all the way to Babylon with his eyes having been bored out by Chaldean spears.
Another symbolic action is recorded in Eze 12:18-19 , as to the eating of bread and drinking of water, and then Ezekiel quotes a proverb, “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth.” They were saying that the visions and prophecies did not come true. He answers, “Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the fulfilment of every vision.”
The false prophets and prophetesses are characterized in Eze 13 . Jeremiah had to contend with the false prophets, but Ezekiel had to contend with the false prophets and prophetesses. They are described thus:
1. The false prophets are described as jackals burrowing in the ground, and making things worse instead of better (Eze 13:1-7 ).
2. They whitewash the tottering walls that the people built and they daub them with untempered mortar (Eze 13:8-16 ). The people built up walls of defense by their foolish plans and the false prophets agreed with them. They tried to smooth the danger over, saying, “Peace for her.”
3. The denunciation of the false prophetesses (Eze 13:17-23 ). These women deceived the people. Verse Eze 13:18 : “Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the women that sew pillows upon all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of persons of every stature to hunt souls!” These pillows were little cushions fastened on the joints of their hands and arms to act as charms. The custom exists today in the East. Ezekiel denounces them in verse Eze 13:20 : “Wherefore, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.” These were the spiritualists of that day. They are with us yet, only their methods are different.
The answer of Jehovah to idolaters who inquire of him is found in Eze 14 :
1. The answer is this, Put away your idols or look out for the judgment of God. There is no use in coming to inquire of Jehovah through me if you are idolaters in heart (Eze 14:1-11 ).
2. The principle of divine judgment is found in Eze 14:12-23 . It is this: Righteous men shall not save sinners, only their own souls. Notice verse Eze 14:14 : “Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness.” Verse Eze 14:16 : “Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord God, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only should be delivered, but the land should be desolate.” So no matter how many righteous men there may be, and how righteous they may be, only they themselves shall be saved in the terrible sack of the city. Thus, the righteous could not save Jerusalem, any more than Lot could save Sodom.
QUESTIONS
1. What the problem of Ezekiel in Babylon and what prophet with
2. What encouragement did the people have both in Jerusalem and in Babylon to believe in the safety of their holy city and nation, and what Ezekiel’s method of impressing upon the exiles the fallacy of such an argument?
3. What the symbol of the siege of Jerusalem and what its interpretation? (Eze 4:1-3 .)
4. How are the people bearing their sins here symbolized and what the interpretation? (Eze 4:4-8 .)
5. How is the scarcity and pollution of their food, during the siege and after, symbolized in Eze 4:9-17 ?
6. How is the fate of the population by the siege and their dispersion symbolized? (Eze 5:1-4 .)
7. What is the interpretation of the foregoing symbols, as given by the prophet in Eze 5:5-17 ?
8. What are the prophecies of Eze 6:1-7 ; Eze 6:11-14 and what is the history of these high places?
9. What hope is held out to Israel amid this awful picture?
10. What the theme of Eze 7 and what its parts?
11. What was the theme and date of Eze 8 ?
12. What was the “Image of Jealousy” seen by Ezekiel (Eze 8:1-6 ), and what the particulars of this vision?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of the elders and what its interpretation (Eze 8:7-13 )?
14. What was the abomination of Tammuz? (Eze 8:14-15 .)
15. What of the sun worship? (Eze 8:16-18 .)
16. How is the first act of divine judgment and slaughter of the inhabitants represented? (Eze 9 .)
17. How was the second act of divine judgment symbolized? (Eze 10 .)
18. Explain the threat of destruction and the promise of restoration in Eze 11 .
19. What two symbolic actions described in Eze 12 , and what their interpretation?
20. How are the false prophets and prophetesses characterized in Eze 13 ?
21. What is the answer of Jehovah to idolaters who inquire of him and what the divine principle of judgment? (Eze 14 .)
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
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 me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
Ver. 1. In the sixth year. ] Of Jeconiah’s captivity.
In the sixth month.
In the fifth day.
As I sat in mine house.
And the elders of Judah sat before me.
That the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me,
a Sedentes et quiescentes apti sunt ad percipiendam S. S. gratiam.
b Hinc apparet Dei. – Lavat.
Ezekiel Chapter 8
It is evident that chapters 8 – 11 really form the parts, according to the chapters, of one connected vision. First, the excessive idolatry of Judah in Jerusalem is set forth, beginning with the house of God; secondly, destruction is ordered of God for all left in the city, save a marked remnant of those that sighed and cried for all the abominations done there, a destruction expressly beginning at Jehovah’s sanctuary; thirdly, the part played by the cherubim and other agents of divine judgment, ere the glory of Jehovah slowly takes each step of departure; and fourthly, the denunciation of woes on the princes and the people yet left, with assurance to the righteous of a sanctuary in Jehovah Himself where there was no other in the heathen lands of their dispersion, and of final mercy in gathering them back while all else must perish, the glory retiring from the city to the Mount of Olives. From Eze 12 to 19 inclusive are various connected circumstances and expositions of His ways on God’s part.
“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 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 even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” (Ver. 1-3)
The year is the next after that of the first vision: compare Eze 1:2 . The reckoning is from the captivity of Jehoiachin. The prophet here had a fresh dealing of God while the elders of Judah sat before him. It was in the Spirit, not in bodily presence, that he was conveyed to Jerusalem, “in the vision of God” where he beheld at the door of the inner gate looking northward (that is, to Chaldea), the seat or pedestal of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there according to the vision that I saw in the plain. 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 of jealousy in the entry He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary?” We are not told distinctly what the name of the idol was, whether Baal or Ashtoreth. Compare 2Ch 33 . It was certainly an idol which defied the God of Israel and courted the homage of all who entered the temple. So bent was Judah on affronting Jehovah and compelling morally the accomplishment of His threat to abandon His house. And here is the force of the vision of His glory in this connection: Jehovah had not yet definitively left, and is pleased to justify His solemn procedure with His people.
“But turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. 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. And he said unto me, Go in, and, behold, 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.” It is a scene of still more intimate and debasing idolatry, a reproduction of the degradations of Egypt; and bowing down to these, not the dregs but the rulers of the people! “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand: and a thick cloud of incense went up.” God had of old appointed seventy judges; and one of their most momentous functions was to deal with idol-worship. Here as many are found caught we may say, in the very act of priestly devotion to the representation of serpents and abominable beasts (or cattle) and all dung-gods. Shaphan was the scribe who read the book of the law to the tender-hearted Josiah: what an ominous change in Judah that now Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood in the midst of the seventy idolatrous elders!
Nor was this all. “Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the earth.” They had ceased even to hold the truth in unrighteousness, bad as this may be; they had sunk into the lower depth of denying the necessary attributes of God, into Jewish apostasy, saying, “Jehovah seeth us not, Jehovah hath forsaken the earth.”
“He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” Here it is not Syrian nor Egyptian idolatries, but Phoenician, and of the most grossly demoralizing character. It was apparently what the Greeks adopted under the fable of Adonis and Aphrodite.
But there remains worse behind, because both of the place and of the persons engaged in the adoration of the sun, the great object of Sabian and subsequently Persian idolatry. “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. 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 worshipped the sun toward the east.” The prophet particularly notes their number answering to the courses of priesthood and the high priest, with their backs toward Jehovah’s temple, and their faces toward the east.
There is no sufficient reason, in my opinion, to depart from the ordinary rendering of verse 17, and to change “branch” into song; nor need we heed the Rabbinical notion that the text is to be reckoned among the Tikkun Sopherim, the original reading being supposed to mean “to my [instead of ‘their’] nose.” The LXX seem to have so read, at least they render it , “they are as scorners.” But the Hebrew MSS support the common text which makes an excellent and consistent sense. “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 abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal 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.” Punishment to the uttermost must befall the Jews without mercy: Jehovah Himself would see to it.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 8:1-4
1It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there. 2Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. 3He stretched out the form of a hand and caught 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 entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.
Eze 8:1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month This day relates to the exile of the Davidic seed (Jehoiachin) from Jerusalem to Babylon (cf. Eze 1:2). Ezekiel uses this dating reference throughout his book (cf. Eze 1:2; Eze 8:1; Eze 20:1; Eze 24:1; Eze 26:1; Eze 29:1; Eze 29:17; Eze 30:20; Eze 31:1; Eze 32:1; Eze 32:17; Eze 33:21; Eze 40:1). This same dating reference is also seen in 2Ki 25:27; Jer 52:31.
with the elders of Judah sitting before him This shows that the symbolic physical positions of Eze 4:4-8 did not last all day and all night.
The elders were local tribal or clan leaders. This meant they were the civil leadership of towns, villages, and communities. They dealt with individual Israelites on a local level. Here they are the tribal leaders from Judea who have been exiled by Nebuchadnezzar to an exilic community by the canal Chebar. The fact that the elders would come and consult with Ezekiel shows his reputation (i.e., sitting before me). What a contrast between the elders of Judah, who would seek God’s counsel from Ezekiel, and the elders of the House of Israel, who are committing idolatry in the temple and at home in Eze 8:7-13.
the hand of the Lord GOD fell on me there Notice the anthropomorphic language (see Special Topic at Eze 1:3). Apparently YHWH’s revelations came at different times and at different places. The exact nature and mechanism of divine inspiration is uncertain, but the reality is certain (cf. Eze 1:3; Eze 3:14; Eze 3:22; Eze 33:22; Eze 37:1; 1Ki 18:46; 2Ki 3:15; Isa 8:11; Jer 15:17). God has revealed Himself and His will to certain human instruments and through them to generations of believers. See Special Topic: Hand .
Eze 8:2 Although this appearance (BDB 909) is very similar to the description of anthropomorphic deity in Eze 1:26-27, this verse seems to describe angelic agency (typical of apocalyptic literature).
The MT has a form that had the appearance of fire. The term fire (BDB 77) is repeated later in the verse. The Septuagint translates a similar Hebrew word man (BDB 35).
1. Man –
2. Fire –
fire See note at Eze 1:27.
brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal See note at Eze 1:4; Eze 1:27.
Eze 8:3 He. . .the Spirit The angelic being is parallel or equated with the Spirit (cf. Eze 3:12; Eze 11:1). Often the Spirit (BDB 924) represents YHWH’s presence. In this case the Spirit, in conjunction with the angelic being, transports the prophet (cf. 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16; Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Eze 8:3; Eze 11:24; Eze 37:1; possibly Act 8:26-27; Act 8:39). See notes at Eze 2:2 and Special Topic: Spirit in the Bible .
lifted The VERB (BDB 669, KB 724) is used in
1. Eze 8:3 – Qal IMPERFECT, Ezekiel is lifted, cf. Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Eze 11:1; Eze 11:24; Eze 43:5
2. Eze 8:5 – Qal IMPERATIVE, Ezekiel is commanded to lift his eyes
3. Eze 8:5 – Qal IMPERFECT, he lifts his eyes
in the visions of God Visions (BDB 909) is a means of receiving divine revelation (cf. Gen 46:2; Num 12:6; 1Sa 3:15; Dan 10:16; Eze 1:1; Eze 8:3; Eze 40:2). Whether this involved
1. sight (cf. Eze 8:2; Eze 8:4-7; Eze 8:10-11)
2. hearing (cf. Eze 8:5-6; Eze 8:8-9; Eze 8:12)
3. mental images (cf. Eze 8:3-4; Eze 8:7)
is not always clear. See note at the beginning of the chapter, C.
to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court This gate is called the Altar Gate in Eze 8:4. We learn from Lev 1:11 that this was the place of sacrifice. It was known as the royal entrance because it faced the palace of the king.
the idol of jealousy There has been much discussion as to the exact nature of this idol or image (BDB 702). Idolatry caused a powerful reaction from YHWH (cf. Exo 20:3-4)! Jealousy (BDB 888) is a word of deep passion. It is obvious that the idol had a prominent place at the entrance to the Temple of YHWH (cf. Eze 8:3; Eze 8:5; Jer 7:30; Jer 32:34). Some have supposed that because of 2Ki 21:3; 2Ki 21:7; 2Ki 23:6 that it was the carved image of Ashtoreth, the female fertility goddess. If so, this reflected Canaanite idolatry. Others supposed it was a statue of a temple guardian (i.e., lion, sphinx), if so, then Babylonian idolatry.
SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Eze 8:4 The portable throne chariot of God that Ezekiel saw in Babylon (cf. Eze 1:26-28) was also present in the temple.
the sixth year, &c. See table on p. 1105.
fifth. Some codices read “first”.
the elders of Judah: i.e. of’ the Jewish colony at Tel = Abib (Eze 3:15).
the hand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
the Lord GOD. Hebrew Adonai Jehovah. See note on Eze 2:4.
Chapter 8
Now we move into a new section of the book that is really a conclusion of his first prophesy.
It came to pass now in the sixth year, and in the sixth month, and in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me ( Eze 8:1 ).
Ezekiel was there sitting in his house, some of the ancient men of Israel, the older men, were gathered there with him and God’s Spirit came upon him.
Then I beheld, and lo there was a likeness as of the appearance of fire ( Eze 8:2 ):
And that is the appearance of fire. Greek Septuagint here translates this as the appearance of man. The word fire in Hebrew is esh, and the word man is ish. So the Greek translators felt that this was the ish, so the appearance of a man. And from the context it would seem that perhaps that is correct.
and from the appearance of his loins even downward, it was fiery; and from his loins even upward, it was as the appearance of a brightness, and as the color of amber. And he put forth the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looks towards the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes the jealousy. And, behold, the glory of [God] the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I had seen in the plain ( Eze 8:2-4 ).
That was the vision that he described of the cherubims there in chapter 1.
Now here is Ezekiel sitting with the elders and suddenly he sees this form of a fire or of a man, and from the loins upward it looked like fire and from downward this bright color of amber. And a hand came forth, took him by his hair, lifted him up between heaven and earth and then transported him to Jerusalem, to the inner court, the north gate of the inner court, where he saw there the horrible abominations for which God’s judgment had come upon the people.
Then he said unto me, Son of man, lift up now your eyes toward the north. So I looked my eyes toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar there was this image of jealousy at the entry. And he said furthermore unto me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? even the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn yet again, and you’ll see even greater abominations ( Eze 8:5-6 ).
You see the things they are doing here? Right within the house, right within the sanctuary. Things that provoke Me to jealousy because of the false gods that were worshipped right there within the precincts of the temple. But He said, “Hang on, you haven’t seen the worst yet.”
And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, I found a door. So I went in and I saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the walls around about ( Eze 8:7-8 , Eze 8:10 ).
So he came into this room and he looked at all of these filthy drawings on the walls.
And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan ( Eze 8:11 ),
Now, Shaphan was the scribe that when Hilkiah the priest had found the law, when Josiah had initiated these spiritual reforms you remember and they found the book of the law, and they brought it to Josiah and Shaphan read to him out of the law and he realized how far they had turned against God. And he repented even more and ordered this mass repentance of the people. Shaphan was a faithful scribe, but his son, the rat. He’s an old man now. He’s standing with the ancients, Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan.
with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense was going up. Then he said unto me, Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the eaRuth ( Eze 8:11-12 ).
Now, here is the wild part about this. This hole in the wall that Ezekiel dug, coming into a room and looking around on the walls of the room, seeing all the pornography and all, God is saying, “Ezekiel, I’ve allowed you to come into the minds of these people. What you have been seeing is the things that are in their imaginations. The fantasies and those things that are in their minds, the imageries that are in their minds. These are their thoughts; these are what they are thinking. All of this filthy stuff that you’ve seen are the things that are going on in the minds of the ancient. These men who are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Israel, and yet their minds are polluted.”
Now, that is sort of a heavy issue in realizing that God can probe right into our minds and He sees those images, those imaginations of our own minds. That, to me, is rather sobering. To think that nothing is hid from God, even my thoughts God knows. The imaginations that I have, God sees. That is why the scripture says that we are to bring every thought into captivity, unto the obedience of Jesus Christ.
Now they were saying, “The Lord doesn’t see us and the Lord has forsaken the earth.” They were wrong on both counts. God did see and God has not forsaken.
But He said unto me, Turn again, and you’re going to see things that are even worse. 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 ( Eze 8:13-14 ).
Now, Tammuz was a Babylonian god. He was the god of resurrection. He was worshipped in the springtime as the trees would come into blossom. They would morn for Tammuz in the fall as the leaves were dying on the trees and the trees were going bare and all; they would weep for Tammuz. But then in the springtime when the trees would begin to bud and blossom and all again, they would have great parties and they would decorate eggs and celebrate the resurrection of Tammuz, because now we have new life. The new life of spring is around us and the egg is a symbol of perpetuated life, because it’s through the egg that the little birds or chicks or whatever are hatched. And so it’s a symbol of the perpetuating of life. And so, they would take the eggs and color them, draw on them, and would have these parties with the colored eggs celebrating the resurrection of Tammuz.
Any similarity is far from coincidental. The church unfortunately adopted the pagan practice of the worship of Tammuz and the resurrection of Tammuz and incorporated it into the church, calling it Easter. And having an Easter Sunday, taking the name of the Greek goddess Astarte who was supposed to be the consort of Adonis, who is the Greek equivalent to Tammuz. And we have incorporated into the church and there are churches that have Easter egg hunts and give baskets of colored eggs to the children and all at Easter time, Astarte.
In the early church we don’t read of them celebrating the resurrection of Christ on any particular day, but because the pagans were all celebrating in this pagan worship of Tammuz, and they had this day which they acclaimed the resurrection and all in the springtime, the church didn’t want their people to feel left out. And so, they said, “This is the day that Jesus rose, and we’ll color the eggs and do the same bit, but we’re celebrating now the resurrection of Jesus.”
I am not certain what the Lord thinks about that. I wonder. The Lord said to Ezekiel, “Come and I’ll show you something that’s really disturbing. See those women, they’re weeping for Tammuz.” Not weeping for the desolation that was coming, not weeping because the sin that was rampant in the land, not weeping because they had come into such a moral decay, but weeping for Tammuz, the Babylonian god of resurrection.
Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? turn again, you’re going to see even greater abominations than these. And he brought me to the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east ( Eze 8:15-16 ).
And so, here they were, backs towards the temple, signifying turning their backs upon God, and worshipping now the sun god, worshipping towards the east. I go over to Jerusalem and as we go up to the temple mount, and as I see there that large Dome of the Rock Mosque that occupies the center of the temple of the mount, and you hear this crazy wailing coming over the loud speakers. This musing and you see all of these people get out their little rugs and kneel and bow and face the east in prayer there on the temple mount today, it always brings to my mind that picture that Ezekiel got when he was taken there by the Lord in this vision and saw these men turning from God and worshipping towards the east.
Then he said unto me, Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they have committed here? for they have filled the land with violence, they have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch in their nose ( Eze 8:17 ).
Now, this was a symbol that was, and a sign used in some of these pagan rites that are so horribly, unspeakably, vile that we could not even in a mixed congregation describe to you the rites by which they worshipped their gods. But God declared,
Therefore will I also deal in fury: my eye will not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them ( Eze 8:18 ). “
Eze 8:1-4
EZEKIEL’S `JOURNEY’ TO JERUSALEM (Ezekiel 8-11)
Ezekiel’s prophecy in these four chapters “form a connected whole.” (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 (Eze 8:6). (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 Eze 11:22-25. 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 PRESENCE FROM IT
God 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.
Eze 8:1-4
“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 …” (Eze 8:1). “This date appears to be August-September, 592 B.C. 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”; however, Plumptre stated that it was only thirteen months. There are too many uncertainties regarding ancient dates to leave much room for dogmatism. Cooke explains how these different calculations are made.
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.
“And the elders of Judah sat before me …” (Eze 8:2). “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.
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 (Eze 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.
“A likeness as of the appearance of fire …” (Eze 8:3). 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 …” (Eze 8:3). 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 …” (Eze 8:3). 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 …” (Eze 8:4). 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.
We now come to the last prophecy dealing with the results of reprobation. It consists of a long and detailed description of the cause and process of judgment. Its first movement came to the prophet as he sat in his own house in the presence of the elders of Judah. He felt the pressure of the divine hand on him, and saw an appearance as of fire.
He was then lifted between earth and heaven, and there was revealed to him the awful idolatries practiced in Jerusalem. He saw at the entrance of the inner court of the house of God “the image of jealousy,” which means that there was set up an image which provoked Jehovah to jealousy. His special attention was called to this as revealing the reason why Jehovah departed from His sanctuary.
He was then bidden to dig a hole in the wall, and through a door which he discovered there he saw the elders of Israel burning incense before creeping things, abominable beasts and idols, so far had they passed from conscious fellowship with God as to imagine that He had forsaken the earth and they were not seen.
Yet again the prophet saw the depravity of the women of Israel who were weeping for Tammuz, the significance of which weeping is suggested in Milton’s lines:
The love-tale Infected Zion’s daughters with like heat; Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch Ezekiel saw.
Finally, in the inner court the prophet saw men with their backs turned toward the Temple, worshiping the sun. Because of this utter corruption of the people, Jehovah would proceed in judgment, in spite of all the loud crying of the people.
Chapter Eight
Idolatrous Abominations
With this chapter Ezekiel begins a new series of messages which continue through chapter 11, but which are intimately linked with those that have preceded them. The date given is one year later than that of the visions and prophecies of chapters 1 to 7. Throughout this section God is still calling the people to repentance, as the judgment had not yet fallen. Ezekiel himself, as we know, was among the captives by the River Chebar; but in this eighth chapter he finds himself, in spirit, in the city of Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord.
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 glowing 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 provoketh to jealousy. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain-vers. 1-4.
While in the midst of a group of elders of Judah, it is evident that the prophet became unconscious of all about him. During this ecstatic state he beheld a glorious personage, evidently an angel, who appeared in the form of a man but in the likeness of fire, reminding us again of the words of the Psalmist, Who maketh His angels spirits (or winds), and His ministers a flame of fire (Psa 104:4; Heb 1:7). This glorious being put forth the form of a hand and took hold of the prophet by a lock of his hair. Ezekiel immediately found himself, in spirit, lifted up between earth and heaven; and, in the visions of God, he was brought to Jerusalem to the door of the gate of the inner court of the temple, the door toward the north. There he beheld a great idol, designated the image of jealousy, because it was written in the law, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God (Exo 20:5).
When we think of jealousy in connection with God we are not to confound it with the ignoble passion that so often works havoc in the hearts of carnal men. God is jealous because He knows that it is to our own hurt if we turn from Him to any other object of adoration. Even as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2Co 11:2). James says that the spirit that dwelleth in us enviously desireth. God yearns to see us wholly occupied with the Lord Himself.
God had revealed Himself to Israel as to no other people: gracious, merciful, a covenant-keeping God; yet One whose holiness demanded that sin be dealt with in judgment. He had told them distinctly, Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Exo 20:3); and had forbidden the making of any graven image before which they might fall down in worship. But they had cast His words behind their backs, and had turned to the idolatry of the nations surrounding Pales- tine, setting up their idols even in the very sanctuary of Jehovah.
As the prophet beheld, he saw again the glory of the God of Israel-that is, the vision of the chariot of the divine government which he had seen, as described in chapter 1. Nothing could be in greater contrast than the image of jealousy and the glory of Jehovah as here presented. The Lord spoke directly to the prophet, fixing his attention upon the idol thus set up in the temple.
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 entry. 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 again see yet other great abominations-vers. 5, 6.
As Ezekiel gazed upon the idol, his own heart must have been stirred to its depth. He heard the voice of Jehovah say, 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? One can sense the pathos of this. God had been as a Father unto Israel: He had brought them out of Egypt and cared for them all through the centuries since. And now this was the return they gave Him: they spurned His Word, and followed after other gods, even worshipping stocks, stones, and metallic images which could neither see, nor hear, nor in any way deliver them in the hour of trial.
But this, in itself, was not all. The prophet was to behold other great abominations.
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. And 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 elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer 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-vers. 7-13.
The guiding angel brought Ezekiel to the door of the temple court, and there he beheld a hole in the wall, leading to a hidden door which opened into a secret room, which would not ordinarily be discovered by passers-by. Through this door Ezekiel was commanded to enter, and when he did so he beheld portrayed upon the walls roundabout, all kinds of creeping things, abominable beasts, and idols, such as one still finds upon the walls of Egyptian temples. Before these evidences of corrupt superstition and idolatrous wickedness there stood seventy venerable elders of the house of Israel, led by Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan. These were evidently priests, for each one held a censer in his hand, from which clouds of incense ascended before the delineations of false gods.
The angel spoke to Ezekiel, saying, 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? Men love darkness rather than light when their deeds are evil; and so these elders were carrying on unholy worship in this dark room as they adored the picture images upon the walls. They imagined that they were so hidden that the eye of Jehovah could not see them; in fact, they told themselves He had forsaken their land. In reality, it was they who had forsaken Him. They had turned to these senseless idols only to learn, eventually, the folly of trusting in any other than the living God.
But this was not all. There were greater depths of iniquity still to be manifested, and so the guiding angel said, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do.
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovahs 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-vers. 14, 15.
Tammuz was a Babylonian god. He was considered by his followers to be the seed of the woman, spoken of in the book of Genesis (3:15). In the myths which were recited in connection with the Babylonian mysteries he was said to have been put to death in conflict with a giant bull; or, as others said, with a great dragon. But after some time he was supposed to have risen from the dead and to have power to free his subjects from their enemies. As the story of his death was recited in connection with the worship of Tammuz, priestesses sat about for the purpose of lifting up their voices in weird lamentations. It must have been a great shock to Ezekiels feelings to find the same thing close to the door of the gate of Jehovahs house where Jewish women sat weeping because of the tribulation of this heathen god.
Again the word came, Thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.
And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovahs 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 abominations 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-vers. 16-18.
Still following his guide, Ezekiel was led into the inner court of Jehovahs house, to the door of the holy place itself; and there he saw, between the porch and the altar, twenty-five men who had turned their backs upon the temple of Jehovah, and were prostrating themselves upon the ground as they faced the east, worshipping the rising sun. Thus they put the creature in the place of the Creator. It might seem almost unthinkable that a people who had been taught the fear of the Lord in the way that Israel had, and who had learned of the true God who created the heavens in which the sun has its place and the earth which is illumined with its glory, that they would ever for one moment think of adoring the heavenly luminary, and would turn their backs upon the temple where the Shekinah glory shone above the mercy-seat between the Cherubim. Yet to such depth of iniquity had they fallen; and as a result the land was filled with violence, and when the people refused subjection to God it seems that every corrupt passion of the heart was turned loose. They had provoked the Lord to anger. Even though He yearned over them and longed to deliver them, He could not do other than deal in judgment with those who had thus spurned His Word and broken His holy law.
Derisively, we are told, they put the branch to their nose-an expression which has occasioned not a little questioning among commentators, but clearly seems to refer to a gesture of contempt, and manifests their attitude toward the Holy One to whom they owed their fullest allegiance.
Because of their perversity God could deal with them only in His wrath, and He declared, 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.
It is well to remember that if men despise the grace of God, they must know the fierceness of His indignation. They bring this upon themselves when they turn from the path of obedience and deliberately walk contrary to His revealed will.
There is a solemn lesson in all this for us as well as for Israel. God would have us learn from their wretched failure what an evil and bitter thing it is to depart from Him and to take the path of self-will. Blessing is found in obedience; disobedience brings its own judgment with it. This is a lesson we are often slow to learn; but if we will not profit by the experiences of others, or by the direct declarations of the Word of God, we shall have to learn by bitter sufferings and disappointments, the folly of refusing subjection to His will.
Eze 8:12
I. Think of the dark and painted chamber which we all of us carry in our hearts.
Every man is a mystery to himself as to his fellows. For every man is no fixed somewhat, but a growing personality, with dormant possibilities of good and evil lying in him, which up to the very last moment of his life may flame up altogether unexpected and astonishing developments. The walls of the chamber of the text were all painted with animal forms, to which the ancients were bowing down. By our memory, and by that marvellous faculty that people call the imagination, and by our desires, we are for ever painting the walls of the inmost chambers of our hearts with such pictures. That is an awful power which we possess, and alas! too often used for foul idolatries.
II. Look at the idolatries of the dark chamber. All these seventy grey-bearded elders that were bowing down before the bestial gods which they had portrayed, had, no doubt, often stood in the courts of the Temple, and there made prayers to the God of Israel, with broad phylacteries, to be seen of men. Their true worship was the worship in the dark. The other was conscious or unconscious hypocrisy. And the very chamber in which they were gathered, according to the ideal representation of our text, was a chamber in, and therefore partaking of the consecration of, the Temple. So their worship was doubly criminal, in that it was sacrilege as well as idolatry. Both things are true about us.
III. Look at the sudden crashing in upon the cowering worshippers of the revealing light. One day a light will flash in upon all the dark cells. We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. Let Christ come into your hearts by your lowly penitence, by your humble faith, and all these vile shapes that you have painted on its walls will, like phosphorescent pictures in the daytime, pale and disappear when the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in His beams, floods your soul, leaving no part dark, and turning all into a temple of the living God.
A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 217.
References: Eze 8:12.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 455. Eze 9:4.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 60. Eze 9:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 223.
CHAPTERS 8-11
Visions in Relation to Jerusalem
1. The vision of abomination in the temple (Eze 8:1-18)
2. The vision of the linen-clothed man with the inkhorn (Eze 9:1-11)
3. The vision of the coals of fire (Eze 10:1-22)
4. The vision concerning the leaders: The glory departs (Eze 11:1-25)
Eze 8:1-18. This vision shows the abomination which prevailed in the temple of Jehovah.
In the visions of God, Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate that looks to the north. Here was the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. Some have taken this and the following visions to be retrospective. It has been said, It was as if he were translated back to Jerusalem, and to the time when these things were occurring. Such is the view of some critics; however, it is untenable. These visions would lose their meaning if the prophet seemed to be translated back to Jerusalem and to the time when these abominations had happened in Israels past history. Later we find the names of persons given, whom he saw. They certainly were living persons known to the prophet Ezekiel and his contemporaries. One of them died while Ezekiel prophesied (Eze 11:13). What was the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy? It was an idol. The word is used in Deu 4:16, where it is translated graven image. It is also found in 2Ch 33:7; 2Ch 33:15, where it refers to the idol, which Manasseh had made and put up in the temple.
After Manassehs idolatry came Josiahs great reformation. After his death, Judah plunged into greater wickedness under the reign of wicked kings, and a revival of idolatry followed once more. Such a wrath-provoking idol was beheld by the prophet. This image they worshipped. Son of man, seest thou what they do? They must have lain prostrate before that idol. And yet the glory of the God of Israel was still there.
That there will be a similar scene enacted in a future temple, during the great tribulation, is well known to all students of prophecy. (See 2Th 2:1-17 and Rev 13:1-18.)
The prophet saw creeping things and beasts worshipped; the elders and the people were practising Egyptian idolatry of the most degrading kind. Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, is especially mentioned. Shaphan was the scribe, who received from the high priest, Hilkiah, the book of the law, and read it before King Josiah 2Ki 22:8-20; Jer 39:14. The son of this God-fearing scribe was the leader of the idolators. And these idol worshippers, each in his chamber of imagery (probably individual cells), said: This LORD seeth us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth. They denied His omniscience and omnipresence. The apostasy in Christendom is going the same road.
The women wept for Tammuz, the Babylonian Dumuzi, the god of spring, who dies, and revives each year. It was a vile, obscene cult, for with the worship of Tammuz were connected immoral, licentious ceremonies. Sun-worship was the crown of all these abominations. (See Eze 8:16-18).
sixth month
i.e. September.
in the sixth year: Eze 1:2, Eze 20:1, Eze 24:1, Eze 26:1, Eze 29:1, Eze 29:17, Eze 31:1, Eze 32:17, Eze 40:1
and the: Eze 14:1, Eze 14:4, Eze 20:1, Eze 33:31, Mal 2:7, Act 20:33
that the: Eze 1:3, Eze 3:12, Eze 3:14, Eze 3:22, Eze 37:1
Reciprocal: 2Ki 3:15 – the hand 2Ki 6:32 – the elders Eze 7:26 – ancients Eze 11:5 – the Spirit Eze 14:20 – Daniel Eze 23:25 – I will set Act 10:10 – he fell 2Co 12:2 – in the
Eze 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 Eze 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.
Subdivision 2 (Eze 8:1-18; Eze 9:1-11; Eze 10:1-22; Eze 11:1-25; Eze 12:1-28; Eze 13:1-23; Eze 14:1-23; Eze 15:1-8; Eze 16:1-63; Eze 17:1-24; Eze 18:1-32; Eze 19:1-14).
Conviction of the sin for which the glory leaves the city.
There yet remains to be given proof of the general charge which has been made as to the condition of the people, and this in view of all the privileges, all the mercies shown, and all the warnings given. Here it is Jerusalem, and those connected with it, that are especially before us, as those most conspicuous for the pride of heart which hardened itself against all warning. Proportionately to the mercy that had so far spared, so must their punishment be.
VISIONS OF IDOLATRY
It is the general opinion that these chapters introduce a new stage of the prophecies, and that while those of the last lesson comprehended Judah and Israel, these refer more particularly to Jerusalem and the people of Judah under Zedekiah. The fuller story of this period was in Jeremiah.
The prophet is seen in his own house by the Chebar, and the elders of Judah are before him for instruction (Eze 8:1). Elders we understand to mean, some who are in captivity with the prophet.
The Visions of God to Jerusalem (Eze 8:3) concern the profanations of the temple and other wickedness of the people past and present, and because of which the partial captivity had befallen them which was speedily to be followed by a completer one.
As another puts it, the prophet was showing these things to the present generation of Jews in Babylon to justify to them the righteousness of God in their present chastening. There were some of the younger element who had been born in captivity and to whom these things presumably were unknown. The visions were so vivid to the prophet that it seems as if he were transferred back to Jerusalem at the time these things were occurring.
THE THIRD VISION OF GLORY (Eze 8:1-4)
Eze 8:1 compared with Eze 1:2, raises the presumption that the lying on his sides (Eze 8:5-6), had been completed. Eze 8:2 refers to a further manifestation of the Messiah as the Angel of the Covenant, in whose person alone God manifests Himself (Joh 1:18). Eze 8:3, the image of jealousy, was a heathen image worshiped with licentious rite and provoking Gods jealousy (Exo 20:5). Eze 8:4 refers to the Shekinah which still rested over the temple and upon the mercy seat.
THE PROFANATIONS OF THE TEMPLE (Eze 8:5-18)
The idolatries named (Eze 8:10) had been introduced from Egypt. Chambers of his imagery, (Eze 8:12) means his perverse imagination. Tammuz (Eze 8:14) is the name of a heathen god, the Syrian form of Adonais. The branch to the nose (Eze 8:17), refers to the sacred trees which were symbols in idol worship.
SEALING THE FAITHFUL (Eze 9:1-11)
Them that have charge over the city (Eze 9:1) are doubtless angelic executioners of Gods will as in Dan 4:13; Dan 4:17; Dan 4:23, and elsewhere. The man with the ink horn (Eze 9:2) is thought to symbolize the Messiah, who is here marking his elect (Eze 9:4, compare with Exo 12:7, Rev 7:3, and other places). The departure of the glory of the God of Israel (Eze 9:3) is significant, presaging His final departure from the nation which would be given over to its punishment. Quoting Scofield:
It is noteworthy that to Ezekiel, the priest, was given the vision of the glory departing from the cherubim to the threshold (Eze 9:3): then from the threshold (10:18); then from the temple and the city to the mountain on the east of Jerusalem (Eze 11:13), and finally returning again to the temple to abide permanently in the millennium (Eze 43:2-5).
THE JUDGMENTS SPREADING (Eze 10:1 to Eze 11:13)
The wrath of God is now about to burn the city, as His sword in the hand of Babylon, had slain its inhabitants. This is the story of chapter 10, but in 11 we have a separate prophecy of the punishment of the corrupt princes. Their wicked counsel is indicated in Eze 11:3, which agrees with what we saw in Jeremiah. They were ever contending against that prophet that his word was not true, and that destruction by the Babylonians was not coming. They therefore, because of their unbelief, were responsible for the slain of the city (Eze 11:6-7). Their judgment was certain (Eze 11:8-13).
FUTURE RESTORATION PROMISED (Eze 11:14-25)
Ezekiel wonders if there shall be no salvation (Eze 11:13), and he is told that those who have been carried away, and whom the remainder in the land despised and sneered at for that reason, will be watched over wherever they are (Eze 11:16). This leads to that prophecy of the future repentance and restoration of the nation with which we have become familiar in other prophets. Eze 11:17-21 is a picture of the millennial period.
QUESTIONS
1. To what do the prophecies of this lesson more particularly refer?
2. What are the local circumstances under which they are delivered?
3. What specifically, do the visions of God concern?
4. Explain the difficult expressions in Eze 8:1-4.
5. What is the definition of Tammuz?
6. How would you identify the man with the inkhorn?
7. What four journeys of the Glory of the Lord are recorded in Ezekiel?
8. To what period does Eze 11:17-21 apply?
Eze 8:1. And it came to pass in the sixth year Namely, of Jehoiachins captivity. In the sixth month The LXX. read, in the fifth month. As I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah Men of note for their age or authority, or the chief of those who had been made captives with Jehoiachin, sat before me Having come, probably, to inquire of the Lord concerning their present state of affairs, what the issue would be; or what would become of their brethren who remained in Judea and Jerusalem. It must be observed, that in Eze 4:4-6, the prophet is commanded to lie on his left side three hundred and ninety days, and on his right side forty days; to which must be added the seven days mentioned Eze 3:15. But the interval between this vision, and Eze 1:1, is only one year and two months, or four hundred and twenty days, reckoning thirty days in a month. It would seem, therefore, that this revelation was made to the prophet during his typical siege. But Vignoles, 5. 2:447, thinks, that the year was a lunar one, with an intercalation of thirty days. Secker. And, according to Michaelis, the Jews, and in general the people of Asia, were used to lunar years of three hundred and fifty-four days. Add to them two months, or fifty-nine days, and you have four hundred and thirteen days. A whole month was intercalated from time to time into the lunar year, to make it agree with the harvest year. Add twenty-nine days, and you have four hundred and forty-two days. Newcome.
Eze 8:1. As I sat in my housethe hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. The time of this vision of Ezekiel is reckoned from the captivity of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah. It happened probably on the sabbath day, when the heads of houses came to hear him preach. The Messiah, or man, as the LXX read, is in all respects the same as seen in the first chapter.
Eze 8:2. Lo, a likeness, as the appearance of fire. The LXX, the likeness of a man. Christ, says Junius, by whom God represented himself; that is, the eternal Word or Wisdom of God, was always rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth, and his delights were with the sons of men. See Eze 1:27.
Eze 8:3. He brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem. This distinguishes the manner in which Ezekiel received the divine communications, from all inferior modes of conveying the divine pleasure. It implies that he was not transported in body, but in mind; that his knowledge was plenary, and altogether superior to the organs of sense.
The image of jealousy, zeal, or emulation. Solomons altar was removed by Ahaz to the north side of the house, probably out of contempt. Here the wicked Manasseh set up the image of the grove, that is, the image of Baal: but the word grove, may be rendered Astarte or Venus. 2Ch 23:3. It would seem also that Astarte was intended by the wicked Manasseh as a female divinity to accompany Baal. Here the women prostituted themselves in the open courts of the Lord; and thus by this image of jealousy the servants of Satan rivalled the worship of the Lord, and triumphed over the saints. The good Josiah had removed these abominations; but having again found their way into the temple after his death, no sacrifice could purge the crimes, less efficacious than the blood of the priests, and the deluded people whom the Babylonians slew around the profane altars. See on 2Ch 15:16, Selden.
Eze 8:8-10. Dig now in the walland behold the wicked abominations. The hieroglyphics of Egypt were seen on their temples, on their monuments, and on the mausoleums of their ancient kings. Happily, though known to Moses, they are illegible to us. Moses, knowing the abominations contained in those inscriptions, gives the Hebrews the strongest cautions against likening the divinity to birds, beasts, and creeping things. Deu 4:15. The apostate Israelites are here justly reproached for polluting the Lords house with the obscenities of the heathen temples. The like abominations are still found in the idolatrous temples of India.
Eze 8:11. Seventy men. The whole sanhedrim, with Jaazaniah, their chief corrupter in this kind of worship, all engaged in idolatry. They were carried away with a sort of mania for the idols of the heathen. Hence their chambers were adorned with images of every description, and with tablets of gentile mythology. These were in chambers, and preserved as gentile mysteries from the eye and knowledge of the vulgar.
Eze 8:14. Women weeping for Tammuz; the hidden one, or Adonis, according to Theodoret. Pagan fable says he was inconsciously begotten of incestuous connection between Cinyras king of Cyprus, and Myrrha his daughter. Being extremely handsome, he was feigned to be cherished of Venus as her minion. But venturing, contrary to her warning, to hunt the boar in the Idalian grove, he was gaunched by its tusks, and died in the bloom of youth, much lamented by the goddess, and changed into the flower of that name, which is of a bloody colour. Hence the superstitious women mimicked the tears of Venus, whose image then stood in the temple, by weeping on a certain day for Tammuz. The gentiles celebrated the Adonian festival in the month of July, when he was applauded in their songs as having returned from hell. Vide Hierom in loc.
Others contend that Tammuz is the same with Osiris, who taught the Egyptians to plant and sow, to revere the gods, and to form their government under the Pharaohs. He was killed privately by his brother who envied his fame. Isis his wife, at length found his body, and interred it in the isle of Abates. During the funeral solemnities an ox appeared to the people, which they took for Osiris. Hence he was adored by the names of Apis and Serapis, that is an ox. He is thought by historians to be Mizraim, grandson of Noah. Thus the gentiles walked in the imaginations of their own hearts, and worshipped dead men.
Rabbi Maimonides gives another account of the weeping for Tammuz, whom he calls a false prophet. He states from Sabian books, that having called his sovereign to worship the seven planets, and the twelve signs of the zodiac, he was ignominiously put to death; and adds, that on the night in which he was slain, all the images from the ends of the earth assembled in the palace, which had been erected to the great golden image, the image of the sun, suspended in the air; that the image of the sun descended in the midst of them, weeping and lamenting, the death of Tammuz, and relating the tragic circumstances of his death. This caused a general weeping of all the rest of the images during the whole night; but that on the dawn of day, all the images flew away to their respective temples.Dr. Townley: Mor Novochim, p. 164.
Eze 8:15. Thou shalt see greater abominations. The priests, turning their backs on the shekinah in the holy of holies, to scandalous acts of Sabianism, worshipped the rising sun.
Eze 8:16. About five and twenty menworshipped the sun. The highpriest, and one from each of the twenty four courses of the priests, turning their backs of the temple and the uncreated glory, to worship a created light! Thus both the princes and the priests were totally polluted. Job 1:15.
Eze 8:17. They put the branch to their nose. The extreme brevity of the Hebrew language occasions difficulties. The word morah signifies noise or snuffing, as well as branch. Hence it seems to mean, that when the rulers were rebuked for idolatry, they threw up the nose with disdain. Poole however gives a folio column of criticism on this text. But bishop Newton, and Origen, after Symmachus, confirm what is said above.
REFLECTIONS.
What a portrait is here of gentile superstition, as practised by the apostate jews. Satan, taking advantage of the veneration which the descendants of Noah entertained for the patriarchs, called the sons of the gods, mixed tradition with fiction; and as their fathers claimed kindred with heaven, he made them all the children of Jupiter. Thus a way was made to pay them divine honours after death. Idolatry comprised all that was venerable in antiquity, all that could strike the eye, or move the passions by visible objects, and all that could induce the mind to superstitious devotion by the hopes and fears of a future world. To give the more effect to the horrid forms of their idols, the imaginations of a whole priesthood played off in metamorphosing of human souls into beasts, birds, and creeping reptiles, that every class of men might find a divinity to their own mind, and a devotion adapted to their passions. But why should the Jews, who knew better, be so prone to idolatry? It is replied, partly because of their ignorance and degeneracy, and partly because idolatry was clothed with every, charm which could captivate the depraved passions of men. Hence the harlot had her Venus or Ashtaroth, the drunkard his Bacchus, and every other sinner had a model of his crime in the divinity he adored. This is what Mr. Gibbon calls the elegant mythology of the Greeks! Besides, the gentiles had the lead of the jews in the fine arts, which being all mixed with idolatry, powerfully operated on the Hebrews who were uncircumcised in heart and ear, just as our travels, novels and reviews, all spiced and larded with infidelity, tend to draw young people to the vices of the age, and to alienate their affections from the religion of their fathers.
The wickedness of man shrouds itself with the veil of ignorance. Hush, hush, said the elders, the Lord seeth not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. They did not deny the being or providence of God, but alleged that he being happy in the chambers of light, had now left the earth to angels, or the souls of the dead, whom they must now honour, by imitating both their virtues and their crimes. This awful sentiment once fixed in the heart, is that strong delusion which God sends on men, that they all may be damned who obey not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness.
God will make manifest the wickedness of the human heart. While the haughty elders said, the Lord hath forsaken the earth, he descended with eyes of flame, with his cherubim and his prophet, to behold the horrors of their idols, to decypher their mystic tablets, to reveal their mysteries, and to disclose their shame. What a mirror was this vision to reflect the latent wickedness of an apostate nation! And now, oh wicked man, the same Lord descends to disclose the thoughts of thy heart, by the steps of thy conduct, by the searching power of his word, and by the mirror of his glory which shall expose thy thoughts to public view. Oh make haste, and wash thy heart from wickedness, calling on the name of the Lord. Make haste to embrace the religion of Jesus, which has saved the christian world from gentile superstition, lest thou be consumed with a vengeance greater than that which fell on the jews.
Ezekiel 8-13. Other Visions of Sin and Judgment.
Ezekiel 8.The Idolatry of Jerusalem Illustrated.
Eze 8:1-6. The Jealousy Image.The visions which fill chs. 811 occurred about a year after those that precede (Eze 1:1), i.e. in 591 B.C. This chapter gives concrete illustrations of the kind of sin that justified the doom already announced: significantly enough, they all centre round idolatry (cf. Eze 8:6), andmost horrible of allthe scene of it is the Temple itself. Thither, on the occasion of a visit of certain Judan elders to his house Ezekiel had been transported in ecstatic trance by the Divine Being, whose glory he had seen and described in ch. 1: there he had witnessedsome think by a kind of second sightone idolatry after another, each one worse than the last, and all represented as constraining Yahweh to depart from His sanctuary. First was an image of jealousy, i.e. an image which provoked Yahweh: it may have been an image of the goddess Astarte, or it may only have been a sacred pole (ashr) forbidden to the Yahweh worship (Deu 16:21): enough, as an image, it was an abominationthe more so, as it had been introduced after being abolished by Josiah (2Ki 23:6).
8:1 And it came to pass in the {a} sixth year, in the {b} 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 GOD fell there upon me.
(a) Of the captivity of Jeconiah.
(b) Which contained part of August and part of September.
The image of jealousy 8:1-6
The following prophecy came to Ezekiel on September 17 or 18, 592 B.C. as he was sitting in his house with the elders of Israel. [Note: Parker and Dubberstein, p. 28, dated it on September 17, 592 B.C. Taylor, p. 36; W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel 1, p. 236; and Greenberg, p. 166, dated it on September 18.] This would have been during the time when he was lying on his right side for part of the day dramatizing God’s judgment on Judah for her iniquity (cf. Eze 1:1-3; Eze 3:16; Eze 4:4-8). The elders were the leaders of the Judean exiles in Babylonia who had been deported in 605 and 597 B.C. This verse describes the single vision that Ezekiel wrote about in chapters 8-11.
YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT UNTO YOU DESOLATE
Eze 8:1-18; Eze 9:1-11; Eze 10:1-22; Eze 11:1-25
ONE of the most instructive phases of religious belief among the Israelites of the seventh century was the superstitious regard in which the Temple at Jerusalem was held. Its prestige as the metropolitan sanctuary had no doubt steadily increased from the time when it was built. But it was in the crisis of the Assyrian invasion that the popular sentiment in favour of its peculiar sanctity was transmuted into a fanatical faith in its inherent inviolability. It is well known that during the whole course of this invasion the prophet Isaiah had consistently taught that the enemy should never set foot within the precincts of the Holy City-that, on the contrary, the attempt to seize it would prove to be the signal for his annihilation. The striking fulfilment of this prediction in the sudden destruction of Sennacheribs army had an immense effect on the religion of the time. It restored the faith in Jehovahs omnipotence which was already giving way, and it granted a new lease of life to the very errors which it ought to have extinguished. For here, as in so many other cases, what was a spiritual faith in one generation became a superstition in the next. Indifferent to the divine truths which gave meaning to Isaiahs prophecy, the people changed his sublime faith in the living God working in history into a crass confidence in the material symbol which had been the means of expressing it to their minds. Henceforth it became a fundamental tenet of the current creed that the Temple and the city which guarded it could never fall into the hands of an enemy; and any teaching which assailed that belief was felt to undermine confidence in the national deity. In the time of Jeremiah and Ezekiel this superstition existed in unabated vigour, and formed one of the greatest hindrances to the acceptance of their teaching. “The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these!” was the cry of the benighted worshippers as they thronged to its courts to seek the favour of Jehovah. {Jer 7:4} The same state of feeling must have prevailed among Ezekiels fellow exiles. To the prophet himself, attached as he was to the worship of the Temple, it may have been a thought almost too hard to bear that Jehovah should abandon the only place of His legitimate worship. Amongst the rest of the captives the faith in its infallibility was one of the illusions which must be overthrown before their minds could perceive the true drift of his teaching. In his first prophecy the fact had just been touched on, but merely as an incident in the fall of Jerusalem. About a year later, however, he received a new revelation, in which he learned that the destruction of the Temple was no mere incidental consequence of the capture of the city, but a main object of the calamity. The time was come when judgment must begin at the house of God.
The weird vision in which this truth was conveyed to the prophet is said to have occurred during a visit of the elders to Ezekiel in his own house. In their presence he fell into a trance, in which the events now to be considered passed before him; and after the trance was removed he recounted the substance of the vision to the exiles. This statement has been somewhat needlessly called in question, on the ground that after so protracted an ecstasy the prophet would not be likely to find his visitors still in their places. But this matter-of-fact criticism overreaches itself. We have no means of determining how long it would take for this series of events to be realised. If we may trust anything to the analogy of dreams-and of all conditions to which ordinary men are subject the dream is surely the closest analogy to the prophetic ecstasy-the whole may have passed in an incredibly short space of time. If the statement were untrue, it is difficult to see what Ezekiel would have gained by making it. If the whole vision were a fiction, this must of course be fictitious too; but even so it seems a very superfluous piece of invention.
We prefer, therefore, to regard the vision as real, and the assigned situation as historical; and the fact that it is recorded suggests that there must be some connection between the object of the visit and the burden of the revelation which was then communicated. It is not difficult to imagine points of contact between them. Ewald has conjectured that the occasion of the visit may have been some recent tidings from Jerusalem which had opened the eyes of the “elders” to the real relation that existed between them and their brethren at home. If they had ever cherished any illusions on the point, they had certainly been disabused of them before Ezekiel had this vision. They were aware, whether the information was recent or not, that they were absolutely disowned by the new authorities in Jerusalem, and that it was impossible that they should ever come back peaceably to their old place in the state. This created a problem which they could not solve, and the fact that Ezekiel had announced the fall of Jerusalem may have formed a bond of sympathy between him and his brethren in exile which drew them to him in their perplexity. Some such hypothesis gives at all events a fuller significance to the closing part of the vision, where the attitude of the men in Jerusalem is described, and where the exiles are taught that the hope of Israels future lies with them. It is the first time that Ezekiel has distinguished between the fates in store for the two sections of the people, and it would almost appear as if the promotion of the exiles to the first place in the true Israel was a new revelation to him. Twice during this vision he is moved to intercede for the “remnant of Israel,” as if the only hope of a new people of God lay in sparing at least some of those who were left in the land. But the burden of the message that now comes to him is that in the spiritual sense the true remnant of Israel is not in Judaea, but among the exiles in Babylon. It was there that the new Israel was to be formed, and the land was to be the heritage, not of those who clung to it and exulted in the misfortunes of their banished brethren, but of those who under the discipline of exile were first prepared to use the land as Jehovahs holiness demanded.
The vision is interesting, in the first place, on account of the glimpse it affords of the state of mind prevailing in influential circles in Jerusalem at this time. There is no reason whatever to doubt that here in the form of a vision we have reliable information regarding the actual state of matters when Ezekiel wrote. It has been supposed by some critics that the description of the idolatries in the Temple does not refer to contemporary practices, but to abuses that had been rife in the days of Manasseh and had been put a stop to by Josiahs reformation. But the vision loses half its meaning if it is taken as merely an idealised representation of all the sins that had polluted the Temple in the course of its history. The names of those who are seen must be names of living men known to Ezekiel and his contemporaries, and the sentiments put in their mouth, especially in the latter part of the vision, are suitable only to the age in which he lived. It is very probable that the description in its general features would also apply to the days of Manasseh; but the revival of idolatry which followed the death of Josiah would naturally take the form of a restoration of the illegal cults which had flourished unchecked under his grandfather. Ezekiels own experience before his captivity, and the steady intercourse which had been maintained since, would supply him with the material which in the ecstatic condition is wrought up into this powerful picture.
The thing that surprises us most is the prevailing conviction amongst the ruling classes that “Jehovah had forsaken the land.” These men seem to have partly emancipated themselves, as politicians in Israel were apt to do, from the restraints and narrowness of the popular religion. To them it was a conceivable thing that Jehovah should abandon His people. And yet life was worth living and fighting for apart from Jehovah. It was of course a merely selfish life, not inspired by national ideals, but simply a clinging to place and power. The wish was father to the thought; men who so readily yielded to the belief in Jehovahs absence were very willing to be persuaded of its truth. The religion of Jehovah had always imposed a check on social and civic wrong, and men whose power rested on violence and oppression could not but rejoice to be rid of it. So they seem to have acquiesced readily enough in the conclusion to which so many circumstances seemed to point, that Jehovah had ceased to interest Himself either for good or evil in them and their affairs. Still, the wide acceptance of a belief like this, so repugnant to all the religious ideas of the ancient world, seems to require for its explanation some fact of contemporary history. It has been thought that it arose from the disappearance of the ark of Jehovah from the Temple. It seems from the third chapter of Jeremiah that the ark was no longer in existence in Josiahs reign, and that the want of it was felt as a grave religious loss. It is not improbable that this circumstance, in connection with the disasters which had marked the last days of the kingdom, led in many minds to the fear and in some to the hope that along with His most venerable symbol Jehovah Himself had Vanished from their midst.
It should be noticed that the feeling described was only one of several currents that ran in the divided society of Jerusalem. It is quite a different point of view that is presented in the taunt quoted in Eze 11:15, that the exiles were far from Jehovah, and had therefore lost their right to their possessions. But the religious despair is not only the most startling fact that we have to look at; it is also the one that is made most prominent in the vision. And the Divine answer to it given through Ezekiel is that the conviction is true; Jehovah has forsaken the land. But in the first place the cause of His departure is found in those very practices for which it was made the excuse: and in the second, although He has ceased to dwell in the midst of His people, He has lost neither the power nor the will to punish their iniquities. To impress these truths first on his fellow-exiles and then on the whole nation is the chief object of the chapter before us.
Now we find that the general sense of God-forsakenness expressed itself principally in two directions. On the one hand it led to the multiplication of false objects of worship to supply the place of Him who was regarded as the proper tutelary Divinity of Israel; on the other hand, it produced a reckless, devil-may-care spirit of resistance against any odds, such as was natural to men who had only material interests to fight for, and nothing to trust in but their own right hand. Syncretism in religion and fatalism in politics-these were the twin symptoms of the decay of faith among the upper classes in Jerusalem. But these belong to two different parts of the vision which we must now distinguish.
I.
The first part deals with the departure of Jehovah as caused by religious offences perpetrated in the Temple, and with the return of Jehovah to destroy the city on account of these offences. The prophet is transported in “visions of God” to Jerusalem and placed in the outer court near the northern gate, outside of which was the site where the “image of Jealousy” had stood in the time of Manasseh. Near him stands the appearance which he had learned to recognise as the glory of Jehovah, signifying that Jehovah has, for a purpose not yet disclosed, revisited His Temple. But first Ezekiel must be made to see the state of things which exists in this Temple which had once been the seat of Gods presence. Looking through the gate to the north, he discovers that the image of Jealousy has been restored to its old place. This is the first and apparently the least heinous of the abominations that defiled the sanctuary.
The second scene is the only one of the four which represents a secret cult. Partly perhaps for that reason it strikes our minds as the most repulsive of all; but that was obviously not Ezekiels estimate of it. There are greater abominations to follow. It is difficult to understand the particulars of Ezekiels description, especially in the Hebrew text (the LXX is simpler); but it seems impossible to escape the impression that there was something obscene in a worship where idolatry appears as ashamed of itself. The essential fact, however, is that the very highest and most influential men in the land were addicted to a form of heathenism, whose objects of worship were pictures of “horrid creeping things, and cattle, and all the gods of the house of Israel.” The name of one of these men, the leader in this superstition, is given, and is significant of the state of life in Jerusalem shortly before its fall. Jaazaniah was the son of Shaphan, who is probably identical with the chancellor of Josiahs reign whose sympathy with the prophetic teaching was evinced by his zeal in the cause of reform. We read of other members of the family who were faithful to the national religion, such as his son Ahikam, also a zealous reformer, and his grandson Gedaliah, Jeremiahs friend and patron, and the governor appointed over Judah by Nebuchadnezzar after the taking of the city. The family was thus divided both in religion and politics. While one branch was devoted to the worship of Jehovah and favoured submission to the king of Babylon, Jaazaniah belonged to the opposite party and was the ringleader in a peculiarly obnoxious form of idolatry.
The third “abomination” is a form of idolatry widely diffused over Western Asia-the annual mourning for Tammuz. Tammuz was originally a Babylonian deity (Dumuzi), but his worship is specially identified with Phoenicia, whence under the name Adonis it was introduced into Greece. The mourning celebrates the death of the god, which is an emblem of the decay of the earths productive powers, whether due to the scorching heat of the sin or to the cold of winter. It seems to have been a comparatively harmless rite of nature-religion, and its popularity among the women of Jerusalem at this time may be due to the prevailing mood of despondency which found vent in the sympathetic contemplation of that aspect of nature which most suggests decay and death.
The last and greatest of the abominations practised in and near the Temple is the worship of the sun. The peculiar enormity of this species of idolatry can hardly lie in the object of adoration; it is to be sought rather in the place where it was practised, and in the rank of those who took part in it, who were probably priests. Standing between the porch and the altar, with their backs to the Temple, these men unconsciously expressed the deliberate rejection of Jehovah which was involved in their idolatry. The worship of the heavenly bodies was probably imported into Israel from Assyria and Babylon, and its prevalence in the later years of the monarchy was due to political rather than religious influences. The gods of these imperial nations were esteemed more potent than those of the states which succumbed to their power, and hence men who were losing confidence in their national deity naturally sought to imitate the religions of the most powerful peoples known to them.
In the arrangement of the four specimens of the religious practices which prevailed in Jerusalem, Ezekiel seems to proceed from the most familiar and explicable to the more outlandish defections from the purity of the national faith. At the same time his description shows how different classes of society were implicated in the sin of idolatry-the elders, the women, and the priests. During all this time the glory of Jehovah has stood in the court, and there is something very impressive in the picture of these infatuated men and women preoccupied with their unholy devotions and all unconscious of the presence of Him whom they deemed to have forsaken the land. To the open eye of the prophet the meaning of the vision must be already clear, but the sentence comes from the mouth of Jehovah Himself: “Hast thou seen, Son of man? Is it too small a thing for the house of Judah to practise the abominations which they have here practised, that they must also fill the land with violence, and (so) provoke Me again to anger? So will I act towards them in anger: My eye shall not pity, nor will I spare.” {Eze 8:17-18}
The last words introduce the account of the punishment or Jerusalem, which is given of course in the symbolic form suggested by the scenery of the vision. Jehovah has meanwhile risen from His throne near the cherubim, and stands on the threshold of the Temple. There He summons to His side the destroyers who are to execute His purpose-six angels, each with a weapon of destruction in his hand. A seventh of higher rank clothed in linen appears with the implements of a scribe in his girdle. These stand “beside the brasen altar,” and await the commands of Jehovah. The first act of the judgment is a massacre of the inhabitants of the city, without distinction of age or rank or sex. But, in accordance with his strict view of the Divine righteousness, Ezekiel is led to conceive of this last judgment as discriminating carefully between the righteous and the wicked. All those who have inwardly separated themselves from the guilt of the city by hearty detestation of the iniquities perpetrated in its midst are distinguished by a mark on their foreheads before the work of slaughter begins. What became of this faithful remnant it does not belong to the vision to declare. Beginning with the twenty men before the porch, the destroying angels follow the man with the inkhorn through the streets of the city, and slay all on whom he has not set his mark. When the messengers have gone out on their dread errand, Ezekiel, realising the full horror of a scene which he dare not describe, falls prostrate before Jehovah, deprecating the outbreak of indignation which threatened to extinguish “the remnant of Israel.” He is reassured by the declaration that the guilt of Judah and Israel demands no less a punishment than this, because the notion that Jehovah had forsaken the land had opened the floodgates of iniquity, and filled the land with bloodshed and the city with oppression. Then the man in the linen robes returns and announces, “It is done as Thou hast commanded.”
The second act of the judgment is the destruction of Jerusalem by fire. This is symbolised by the scattering over the city of burning coals taken from the altar-hearth under the throne of God. The man with the linen garments is directed to step between the wheels and take out fire for this purpose. The description of the execution of this order is again carried no further than what actually takes place before the prophets eyes: the man took the fire and went out. In the place where we might have expected to have an account of the destruction of the city, we have a second description of the appearance and motions of the merkaba, the purpose of which it is difficult to divine. Although it deviates slightly from the account in chapter 1, the differences appear to have no significance, and indeed it is expressly said to be the same phenomenon. The whole passage is certainly superfluous, and might be omitted but for the difficulty of imagining any motive that would have tempted a scribe to insert it. We must keep in mind the possibility that this part of the book had been committed to writing before the final redaction of Ezekiels prophecies, and the description in Eze 8:8-17 may have served a purpose there which is superseded by the fuller narrative which we now possess in chapter 1.
In this way Ezekiel penetrates more deeply into the inner meaning of the judgment on city and people whose external form he had announced in his earlier prophecy. It must be admitted that Jehovahs strange work bears to our minds a more appalling aspect when thus presented in symbols than the actual calamity would bear when effected through the agency of second causes. Whether it had the same effect on the mind of a Hebrew, who hardly believed in second causes, is another question. In any case it gives no ground for the charge made against Ezekiel of dwelling with a malignant satisfaction on the most repulsive features of a terrible picture. He is indeed capable of a rigorous logic in exhibiting the incidence of the law of retribution which was to him the necessary expression of the Divine righteousness. That it included the death of every sinner and the overthrow of a city that had become a scene of violence and cruelty was to him a self-evident truth, and more than this the vision does not teach. On the contrary, it contains traits which tend to moderate the inevitable harshness of the truth conveyed. With great reticence it allows the execution of the judgment to take place behind the scenes, giving only those details which were necessary to suggest its nature. While it is being carried out the attention of the reader is engaged in the presence of Jehovah, or his mind is occupied with the principles which made the punishment a moral necessity. The prophets expostulations with Jehovah show that he was not insensible to the miseries of his people, although he saw them to be inevitable. Further, this vision shows as clearly as any passage in his writings the injustice of the view which represents him as more concerned for petty details of ceremonial than for the great moral interests of a nation. If any feeling expressed in the vision is to be regarded as Ezekiels own, then indignation against outrages on human life and liberty must be allowed to weigh more with him than offences against ritual purity. And, finally, it is clearly one object of the vision to show that in the destruction of Jerusalem no individual shall be involved who is not also implicated in the guilt which calls down wrath upon her.
II.
The second part of the vision (chapter 11) is hut loosely connected with the first. Here Jerusalem still exists, and men are alive who must certainly have perished in the “visitation of the city” if the writer had still kept himself within the limits of his previous conception. But in truth the two have little in common, except the Temple, which is the scene of both, and the cherubim, whose movements mark the transition from the one to the other. The glory of Jehovah is already departing from the house when it is stayed at the entrance of the east gate, to give the prophet his special message to the exiles.
Here we are introduced to the more political aspect of the situation in Jerusalem. The twenty-five men who are gathered in the east gate of the Temple are clearly the leading statesmen in the city; and two of them, whose names are given, are expressly designated as “princes of the people.” They are apparently met in conclave to deliberate on public matters, and a word from Jehovah lays open to the prophet the nature of their projects. “These are the men that plan ruin, and hold evil counsel in this city.” The evil counsel is undoubtedly the project of rebellion against the king of Babylon which must have been hatched at this time and which broke out into open revolt about three years later. The counsel was evil because directly opposed to that which Jeremiah was giving at the time in the name of Jehovah. But Ezekiel also throws invaluable light on the mood of the men who were urging the king along the path which led to ruin. “Are not the houses recently built?” they say, congratulating themselves on their success in repairing the damage done to the city in the time of Jehoiachin. The image of the pot and the flesh is generally taken to express the feeling of easy security in the fortifications of Jerusalem with which these light-hearted politicians embarked on a contest with Nebuchadnezzar. But their mood must be a gloomier one than that if there is any appropriateness in the language they use. To stew in their own juice, and over a fire of their own kindling, could hardly seem a desirable policy to sane men, however strong the pot might be. These councillors are well aware of the dangers they incur, and of the misery which their purpose must necessarily bring on the people. But they are determined to hazard everything and endure everything on the chance that the city may prove strong enough to baffle the resources of the king of Babylon. Once the fire is kindled, it will certainly be better to be in the pot than in the fire; and so long as Jerusalem holds out they will remain behind her walls. The answer which is put into the prophets mouth is that the issue will not be such as they hope for. The only “flesh” that will be left in the city will be the dead bodies of those who have been slain within her walls by the very men who hope that their lives will be given them for a prey. They themselves shall be dragged forth to meet their fate far away from Jerusalem on the “borders of Israel.” It is not unlikely that these conspirators kept their word. Although the king and all the men of war fled from the city as soon as a breach was made, we read of certain high officials who allowed themselves to be taken in the city. {Jer 52:7} Ezekiels prophecy was in their case literally fulfilled; for these men and many others were brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah, “and he smote them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath.”
While Ezekiel was uttering this prophecy one of the councillors, named Pelatiah, suddenly fell down dead. Whether a man of this name had suddenly died in Jerusalem under circumstances that had deeply impressed the prophets mind, or whether the death belongs to the vision, it is impossible for us to tell. To Ezekiel the occurrence seemed an earnest of the complete destruction of the remnant of Israel by the wrath of God, and, as before, he fell on his face to intercede for them. It is then that he receives the message which seems to form the Divine answer to the perplexities which haunted the minds of the exiles in Babylon.
In their attitude towards the exiles the new leaders in Jerusalem took up a position as highly privileged religious persons, quite at variance with the scepticism which governed their conduct at home. When they were following the bent of their natural inclinations by practising idolatry and perpetrating judicial murders in the city, their cry was, “Jehovah hath forsaken the land; Jehovah seeth it not.” When they were eager to justify their claim to the places and possessions left vacant by their banished countrymen, they said, “They are far from Jehovah: to us the land is given in possession.” They were probably equally sincere and equally insincere in both professions. They had simply learned the art which comes easily to men of the world of using religion as a cloak for greed, and throwing it off when greed could be best gratified without it. The idea which lay under their religious attitude was that the exiles had gone into captivity because their sins had incurred Jehovahs anger, and that now His wrath was exhausted and the blessing of His favour would rest on those who had been left in the land. There was sufficient plausibility in the taunt to make it peculiarly galling to the mind of the exiles, who had hoped to exercise some influence over the government in Jerusalem, and to find their places kept for them when they should be permitted to return. It may well have been the resentment produced by tidings of this hostility towards them in Jerusalem that brought their elders to the house of Ezekiel to see if he had not some message from Jehovah to reassure them.
In the mind of Ezekiel, however, the problem took another form. To him a return to the old Jerusalem had no meaning; neither buyer nor seller should have cause to congratulate himself on his position. The possession of the land of Israel belonged to those in whom Jehovahs ideal of the new Israel was realised, and the only question of religious importance was, Where is the germ of this new Israel to be found? Amongst those who survive the judgment in the old land, or amongst those who have experienced it in the form of banishment? On this point the prophet receives an explicit revelation in answer to his intercession for “the remnant of Israel.” “Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy fellow-captives, and the whole house of Israel of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, They are far from Jehovah: to us it is given-the land for an inheritance! Because I have removed them far among the nations, and have scattered them among the lands, and have been to them but little of a sanctuary in the lands where they have gone, therefore say, Thus saith Jehovah, so will I gather you from the peoples, and bring you from the lands where ye have been scattered, and will give you the land of Israel.” The difficult expression “I have been but little of a sanctuary” refers to the curtailment of religious privileges and means of access to Jehovah which was a necessary consequence of exile. It implies, however, that Israel in banishment had learned in some measure to preserve that separation from other peoples and that peculiar relation to Jehovah which constituted its national holiness. Religion perhaps perishes sooner from the overgrowth of ritual than from its deficiency. It is a historical fact that the very meagreness of the religion which could be practised in exile was the means of strengthening the more spiritual and permanent elements which constitute the essence of religion. The observances which could be maintained apart from the Temple acquired an importance which they never afterwards lost; and although some of these, such as circumcision, the Passover, the abstinence from forbidden food, were purely ceremonial, others, such as prayer, reading of the Scriptures, and the common worship of the synagogue, represent the purest and most indispensable forms in which communion with God can find expression. That Jehovah Himself became even in small measure what the word “sanctuary” denotes indicates an enrichment of the religious consciousness of which perhaps Ezekiel himself did not perceive the full import.
The great lesson which Ezekiels message seeks to impress on his hearers is that the tenure of the land of Israel depends on religious conditions. The land is Jehovahs, and He bestows it on those who are prepared to use it as His holiness demands. A pure land inhabited by a pure people is the ideal that underlies all Ezekiels visions of the future. It is evident that in such a conception of the relation between God and His people ceremonial conditions must occupy a conspicuous place. The sanctity of the land is necessarily of a ceremonial order, and so the sanctity of the people must consist partly in a scrupulous regard for ceremonial requirements. But after all the condition of the land with respect to purity or uncleanness only reflects the character of the nation whose home it is. The things that defile a land are such things as idols and other emblems of heathenism, innocent blood unavenged, and unnatural crimes of various kinds. These things derive their whole significance from the state of mind and heart which they embody; they are the plain and palpable emblems of human sin. It is conceivable that to some minds the outward emblems may have seemed the true seat of evil, and their removal an end in itself apart from the direction of the will by which it was brought about. But it would be a mistake to charge Ezekiel with any such obliquity of moral vision. Although he conceives sin as a defilement that leaves its mark on the material world, he clearly teaches that its essence lies in the opposition of the human will to the will of God. The ceremonial purity required of every Israelite is only the expression of certain aspects of Jehovahs holy nature, the bearing of which on mans spiritual life may have been obscure to the prophet, and is still more obscure to us. And the truly valuable element in compliance with such rules was the obedience to Jehovahs expressed will which flowed from a nature in sympathy with His. Hence in this chapter, while the first thing that the restored exiles have to do is to cleanse the land of its abominations, this act will be the expression of a nature radically changed, doing the will of God from the heart. As the emblems of idolatry that defile the land were the outcome of an irresistible national tendency to evil, so the new and sensitive spirit, taking on the impress of Jehovahs holiness through the law, shall lead to the purification of the land from those things that had provoked the eyes of His glory. “They shall come thither, and remove thence all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them another heart, and put a new spirit within them. I will take away the stony heart from their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh: that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them: and so shall they be My people, and I will be their God”. {Eze 11:18-20}
Thus in the mind of the prophet Jerusalem and its Temple are already virtually destroyed. He seemed to linger in the Temple court until he saw the chariot of Jehovah withdrawn from the city as a token that the glory had departed from Israel. Then the ecstasy passed away, and he found himself in the presence of the men to whom the hope of the future had been offered, but who were as yet unworthy to receive it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary