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, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. 3 He put out 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 visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.
5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
7 And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig in the wall.” So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 9 And he said to me, “Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.” 10 So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 He said also to me, “You will see still greater abominations that they commit.”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these.”
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.” Ezekiel 8 ESV
Ezekiel 8: 5-13 Abominations in the Temple
This is a great break down of Baal worship from Precept Austin, and I think it's important with a book like Ezekiel, especially for the reader that is just starting here, to get some of this background. We will try to get a historical break down with each of the different gods, plus trace back to origin.
Baal is a Semitic word that literally means "lord," "ownership,", "husband", "authority," or "control." Local deities were called Baal and were associated with portions of land as the gods of the earth. The attraction of Baal worship for the Hebrews went beyond immorality. It also included the promise of agricultural, animal, and human fertility. These fertility cults used sacred prostitutes, sexual activity, and imitative magic to insure fertility in every area of life.
Three basic elements of the theology of Baal worship enhanced its attractiveness.
Relation to Cycles of Nature.
Canaanite worship was closely linked with the cycle of the seasons. The people had observed that the seasons of the year followed a predictable pattern. In the fall vegetation became dormant and withered, then died in the winter months. Each spring vegetation revived, and in the summer it flourished. Also during the dormant winter months rains came and watered the earth. The rain was associated with the fertility of the land and the resurrection of vegetation in the spring. Rituals were performed to entreat Baal to send rain and restore the fertility of the land. These involved the dying and rising of their god with appropriate laments and rejoicing (cf. Ezek 8:14). Thus the fertility cult, with its sacred prostitutes, was employed to insure the fertility of the land for another year. Such foreign practices in the name of religion and worship appealed to the young Hebrew men when the Moabite girls first introduced them to it, and it continued when they entered Canaan.
Immorality
Baal worship not only approved of but also encouraged immorality. The rituals of Baal worship included sexual intercourse, considered an imitative act that invited the rain to fertilize the ground. The Book of Hosea is an example of the evils and tragedy of Baal worship. Hosea, a devout man, married Gomer, a woman from a background of Baal worship (Hos 1:1-11 ). Soon Gomer returned to her old ways and left Hosea and their children for a life of prostitution ( Hos 3:1ff .). Like Gomer, the people of Israel exhibited only a token commitment to Yahweh ( Hos 4-7 ). They worshiped Baal, believing that sexual acts with sacred prostitutes would insure fruitfulness and productivity. Israel, like Gomer, had forsaken its true lover and faithful husband. As a consequence of Israel's adultery, God promised judgment (Hos 8-11). Ezekiel soundly condemned the physical and spiritual adultery of his day (see Ezek 8:1-9:11; Ezek 22:1-31 ).
Polytheism
Israel's neighbors were polytheistic. This was a constant encouragement for the Hebrews to adopt a more syncretistic approach to religious faith and practice. Hosea stressed God's demand for exclusive worship: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me" ( Hos 13:4 ). Ezekiel's emphasis on the exclusiveness of worshiping Yahweh and no other gods came in a constantly recurring phrase, "Then you shall know the LORD your God." 27 This phrase was used in association with judgment passages to warn that God would make himself known through the chastening and judgment of the exile.
Baal worship was popular and difficult to eradicate from Israel because it fed on the people's lust, fear, and the desire to conform to their neighbors. It was encouraged by natural concerns for food, farms, families, and flocks, believing that Baal could help them insure the best in each of these areas. By embracing polytheistic forms of worship, the Hebrews conformed to the standards and life-style of their neighbors and thus created the social, moral, and spiritual problems that brought about their judgment. - Precept Austin
Lift up your eyes toward the north - The orientation of the temple would put the Bronze altar to the East and this would be north at the top of this drawing.
This image of jealousy - There is an idol, and more important than what or who is doing it is that it is being done at all. It is always an affront and an abomination, but here it is in the Lord's house, and Ezekiel is witnessing the current state of Jerusalem. SEE Previous post for Image of Jealousy.
To drive me far from my sanctuary - Look what they are doing, this is no longer My house. Ezekiel sees the glory of the God of Israel there in verse 4, but these people are ignoring that to worship something else. The temple tells of God's redemptive plan, everything there should remind them of their history with the One, True God, it should all reflect His glory, but they have brought in idols.
1When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2The priests were unable to enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled it. 3When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD: “For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.”… 2 Chronicles 7: 1-3
…15Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent. 16And the LORD said to Moses, “You will soon rest with your fathers, and these people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I have made with them. 17On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’… Deuteronomy 31: 15-17
14Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
15Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. 16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy. 17So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,… 2 Chronicles 36: 14-17
But you will see still greater abominations -
Abominations (detestable, loathsome) (08441)(toebah) refers to an abominable custom or thing. Abomination. Loathsome. Detestable thing. Something or someone who is loathsome and abhorrent. Toebah is translated in the Septuagint with the noun anomia which describes a general state of wrong lawlessness, wickedness, iniquity. - Precept Austin
Matthew Henry notes that "Where there is one abomination it will be found that there are many more. Sins do not go alone."
So I dug in the wall, and behold there was an entrance - Nothing is outside of God's omniscience, and yet these thought they did this in secret. God is making known even to Ezekiel now what He has known all along. It is a strange cult, like a scene from the movie "Eyes Wide Shut", and the prophet is being invited by God to look upon the evidence, the current state of Jerusalem.
When hypocrites screen themselves behind the wall of an external profession, and with it think to conceal their wickedness from the eye of the world and carry on their designs the more successfully, it is hard for them to manage it with so much art by that there is some hole or other left in the wall, something that betrays them, to those who look diligently, not to be what they pretend to be. The ass's ears in the fable appeared from under the lion's skin. This hole in the wall Ezekiel made wider, and behold a door, v. 8. This door he goes in by into the treasury, or some of the apartments of the priests, and sees the wicked abominations that they do there, v. 9. Note, Those that would discover the mystery of iniquity in others, or in themselves, must accomplish a diligent search; for Satan has his wiles, and depths, and devices, which we should not be ignorant of, and the heart is deceitful above all things; in the examining of it therefore we are concerned to be very strict. - Matthew Henry
Engraved on the wall all around - Here they had pictures and also idols, but these were also of things that were called unclean. It draws upon the Egyptian cult practices of animal worship which would be very familiar to them.
Bastet was the Egyptian cat goddess
Anmit or Ammut was a demoness goddess "devourer of the dead" who had a crocodiles face, a lion's mane and chest, with a hippos hind quarters.
Khepri or Khepra was a scarab faced god, who represented the rising sun, creation and renewal of life.
“This piece of idolatry the Jews had learned of the Egyptians, who madly worshipped oxen, asses, goats, dogs, cats, serpents, crocodiles, the bird ibis, &c.” (Trapp)
…22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.… Romans 1: 22-24
Before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel - This is interesting because it doesn't call out all their names, but they would be recognizable to Ezekiel and he is physically with other elders in Babylon. Jaazaniah son of Shaphan is with them, and his name is important enough to bring up, and I agree with the commentators that this probably makes it clear in Ezekiel's mind and his listeners' how deep this problem goes, how high the corruption is. No matter who is doing it though, again, it is an abomination, regardless, but these are leaders, and when God judges a nation He gives them wicked rulers.
Elders “refers to the lay leaders who had risen to prominence in Jerusalem after the deportation of Jehoiachin and his officials (2 K. 24:12–16). These were obviously important men in the city.” (Block)
ii. Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan: “Shaphan is probably to be identified with Josiah’s secretary of state (2 Kgs 22:3), and Ahikam, another of Shaphan’s sons, was an influential supporter of Jeremiah (Jer. 26:24). Clearly Jaazaniah was the black sheep of a worthy family.” (Taylor)
Doing in the dark - Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
…13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man. 14For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14
The Lord has forsaken the land - No, God was honoring His covenant with them; they had left Him for other gods, and this is not the first time or the first warning. God has been what we can only see and call patient. Look at Deuteronomy 31: 15-17 written above again, and we are now to this part:
On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ Deut 31:17
You will see still greater abominations that they commit - Continued in the next episode.
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