Ezekiel 8: 1 – 6
‘Secret sins’ Part 1
“1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. 6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”
We are now about a year and a half since Ezekiel’s first call to the prophetic ministry. Up to this point we have read about his countrymen being referred to as the nation of Israel. God saw them as one. The Jews in exile were comprised of people from both the northern and southern kingdoms. Here in chapter 8 we read that he is meeting with the leaders of the Southern kingdom – Judah. Remember, there were so far two deportations. Daniel was taken in the first and Ezekiel was taken in the second.
Jeremiah 29: 1 – 5 reveals the first deportation,
“1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the elders who were carried away captive—to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This happened after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem.) 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit.”
Jeremiah 39: 1 – 10 talks about the second deportation,
“1 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was penetrated.3 Then all the princes of the king of Babylon came in and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer, Samgar-Nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-Sarezer, Rabmag, with the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. 4 So it was, when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between the two walls. And he went out by way of the plain. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. 6 Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. 8 And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people who remained in the city and those who defected to him, with the rest of the people who remained. 10 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.”
“1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.”
The statement ‘they sat before him’ is very meaningful for it conveys the fact that the people in exile recognize Ezekiel as a prophet of God. The leaders had come to him to hear God’s instructions.
‘The hand of the Lord Yahweh fell upon me there.’ Picture the elders sitting before Ezekiel and then this happened. What did they see Ezekiel do or become? Did he go into some kind of unique state? Did he speak differently? Did he speak right away to them on what he was seeing and experiencing?
We have read in chapter 1 verse 27 a similar description of an Amazing Holy One. In this chapter we are told that He Was Yahweh. So, also, do we see the Mighty and Awesome God described in all His Glorious Splendor.
“3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.”
In Ezekiel’s first vision [chapters 1 – 3] we read about the judgment of God for the nation’s sins. Here in chapter 8 we will read about the ‘reasons’ for this judgment. The people and their leaders were thoroughly corrupt.
If God wants to get you from one place to another, He can easily do it. The Jews knew of this type of transportation from God. In the book of 1 Kings 18: 1 – 16 we read of one such incident of knowing this fact.
“1 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.”2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab; and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly. 4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.) 5 And Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock.” 6 So they divided the land between them to explore it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7 Now as Obadiah was on his way, suddenly Elijah met him; and he recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, “Is that you, my lord Elijah?” 8 And he answered him, “It is I. Go, tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’” 9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here”’! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the LORD from my youth. 13 Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid one hundred men of the LORD’s prophets, fifty to a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here.”’ He will kill me!” 15 Then Elijah said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
Obadiah knew from history that the Lord could take Elijah and transport him anytime or to anywhere.
‘And He put forth the form of a hand’. Come on Ezekiel, give us a break. Your statement says a lot but yet leaves us in the dark. Was it a hand? If not please be more specific in your descriptions. It was God. You saw God. We want to know and see our God more fully.
Anyway, God pulled Ezekiel by a lock of his head. This statement indicates that his hair had grown back again after having been shaved off as reported in chapter 5, 1 “And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.”
I hope that you remember that Ezekiel had to lie on his left side for 390 days and for 40 days on his right side as symbolic punishment of the northern and southern kingdoms sins. This was described in chapter 4, 4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.”
Having borne the punishment of Israel and Judah he was now restored and again usable by God. We see the same thing had happened to Sampson in Judges 16,
“15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.” 16 And it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, 17 that he told her all his heart, and said to her, “No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. 18 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison. 22 However, the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaven. 23 Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said: “Our god has delivered into our hands our enemy, The destroyer of our land, and the one who multiplied our dead.” 25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, “Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.” So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, “Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.” 27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.28 Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” 29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. 30 Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.31 And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah. He had judged Israel twenty years.”
Remember Samson and Delilah? His hair grew back as revealed in verse 22 and God again responded to his prayers.
‘To the door of the gate of the inner court which looks towards the north, where there was the seat of jealously which provokes to jealousy.’ The inner court of the Temple was entered either by one of three outer court entrances – north, east, and west. In Leviticus 1: 11 we read about the importance of the North gate, “11 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle its blood all around on the altar.”
The northern gate was called the ‘altar gate’ because the sacrifices were offered at the northern side of the altar. It would also be used as the entrance of the royal house.
The Temple belonged to the worship of Yahweh and to Him alone. It was never to include other gods. People say to us that we Christians are too narrow-minded by only having one way. I say to them ‘you got that right!’ My Lord Jesus in the Way, The Truth, and the Life. No one gets to Heaven without Him. This is God’s truth. You may not agree with it, but your opinion doesn’t change the truth. God has informed us of the real truth to Salvation and Worship. If you do not like it – fine. That’s your choice. I gladly accept all that He says. Thank you very much.
You will note from Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 4 this fact, “4 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”
The Holy Yahweh came from His Throne room from the extreme north. Thus the placing of this ‘image’ came between Him and His Holy Temple, blocking His vision with its filth in viewing His Holy house.
We read in 2 Kings 21: 1 – 15 this, “ 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.10 And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
Manasseh did this evil against our Holy god and caused the Lord the pain of jealousy. You know sadly, that we do the same thing. In the book of Revelation chapter 2 verse 4 we read, “4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”
We hurt our Holy and Loving Lord by not keeping Him first in our minds and lives. May we understand and learn to love and trust Him Who loves us.
“4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.”
The worship of the phony gods may appear to be enjoyable but are really dead acts. I watched a recent movie about three popular male actors who play a con game on an evil casino owner. As I watched the scenes with everyone dressed up in their finest, all I could see was vanity. Everything, including the glitz and extravagance was all an empty show. The people looked as though they were having fun giving away their money to the casinos but I do not consider that fun at all. Even when they all won together a half a billion dollars, their exit strategy was to cause a minor earth quake to get all their co-conspirators out so they would not bet their winnings right back to the casino.
Ezekiel saw the presence of God. Our Holy Yahweh did not at this time yet give up His earthly home. This would come shortly. What we will read soon will justly explain why He did so.
Today we have a choice also. Do you want to follow the crowd and choose the idols of Mammon [ money], Asherah [sex], or Baal [ drinking and entertainment]. Are you willing to stay in the minority and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you?
Ezekiel saw the Glory of god again. This sight was in stark contrast to the image of jealousy outside the gate. The presence of the Glory of God vividly contrasted the abominable activities of Israel with the purity and holiness of their Creator. The people did not see their living and moving God. They had lost their vision and now were focused on static lifeless images.
“5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance. 6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”
Like Moses, my heart today is set on just wanting to gaze at the Glory of the Lord. All other things are worthless in comparison. I am sure so did Ezekiel. However, the Lord caused Ezekiel to look on the scene at the north gate. In God’s Holy dwelling the people had placed an image of Asherah. This female image was worshiped as the mother goddess of the phony god Baal.
‘Do you see what they do’ – Ezekiel viewed an X-rated scene. People were conducting sexual acts right out in the open as part of this religious celebration. Satan had convinced these people that these acts would arouse the reproductive powers of nature. Give me a break! It is so easy to lead sinful people into the pit. Like today people are doing immoral and horrible acts and some evil people just give it a new definition or give it a new name and shazam! – It is okay to do it.
‘Abomination’s is a word regularly applied to idols and idol worship. It included the ‘greatest’ abominations, the demand for the sacrifice of their children as part of this religious ceremony.
Jeremiah 7: 31 reports, “31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.”
Jeremiah 19:5 also says, “5 they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind,”
‘That I should go far off from My sanctuary?’ Stop and think for a moment. We can’t put ourselves in the position of a Pure and Holy God, but if you were in our Precious and Spotless Holy One’s spot would you stick around people who were mocking you, especially with these types of ‘in your face’ actions? Their behavior was what was driving Him away.
God showed Ezekiel first hand how the people had slid down to this worthless idolatry and wickedness. God’s Holy Spirit also works within us and uncovers the evil that lurks in our thoughts, words, and actions. We see here that we also can turn God away by the disgracefulness of our live as we reject His commandments. I heard someone once say that at judgment day our entire lives will be reviewed. If this will happen then how do you feel about having this done? Are there secret things you think are over and done with? Buried? What are your thoughts about having this movie out for all to see?
I am sure Ezekiel has seen enough, but God bumps it up another notch. ‘But you will see yet other abominations’.
