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: 14-18 ESV
Ezekiel 8 More Abominations
14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3: 14-15
There sat women weeping for Tammuz - Tammuz or Dumuzi was a Mesopotamian god, who started out as a pastoral deity, providing good pasture for his followers which were shepherding people. Over time and in different areas he picked up new names, like Adonis in Greece, and in Assyria he added agriculture to his resume. His consort was Inanna, also called Ishtar, who, according to legend, sent Tammuz to live in the underworld. His sister eventually finds him there and Ishtar allows that they can split the time in the underworld between the two. So why are the women weeping? This is one of the rites of his followers, to mourn his death each year, starting around July in Assyria, as the flower withers from the heat, and then in the fall after the wheat is harvested and ground, marking his death and time in the underworld through the winter. So every fall he goes to the underworld and every spring he rises from the dead, and his followers remember his death, hoping for a good harvest. It is one of the many nature cults tied to basic human material needs for good crops and healthy livestock. These cults can be traced all the way back to Babel.
The cult of Tammuz centred around two yearly festivals—one celebrating his marriage to the goddess Inanna, the other lamenting his death at the hands of demons from the netherworld. During the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112–c. 2004 BCE) in the city of Umma (modern Tell Jokha), the marriage of the god was dramatically celebrated in February–March, Umma’s Month of the Festival of Tammuz. During the Isin-Larsa period (c. 2004–c. 1792 BCE), the texts relate that in the marriage rite the king actually took on the identity of the god and thus, by consummating the marriage with a priestess incarnating the goddess, magically fertilized and fecundated all of nature for the year. - Encyclopedia Britannica
“The worship of Tammuz came from Babylon through the Phoenicians (Canaanites) and then the Greeks. Tammuz, mentioned nowhere else in the Scriptures, was the Babylonian Dumuzi, beloved of Ishtar, and is to be identified with the Greek Adonis.” (Feinberg)
iii. “In the seasonal mythological cycle, he died early in the fall when vegetation withered. His revival by the wailing of Ishtar was marked by the buds of spring and the fertility of the land. Such renewal was encouraged and celebrated by licentious fertility festivals.” (Alexander)
It is interesting to look back to Genesis, and it is a huge testament to the sovereignty of God, that He can announce the seed of the woman, which can be traced through the genealogies of the Bible, and the pictures He provides of redemptive history. It is mind boggling to announce a plan like that, right it down in a book, unhidden from the eyes and ears of your enemy, yet everything continues according to plan. He announces the Seed when Satan must think its the end, the wages of sin is death and they ate of the tree that they were told not eat from. They now realize their nakedness, their innocence is gone, and what does God do? He kills animals, takes their skins and covers Adam and Eve. When death does come to the planet, as God's justice in the form of the flood, He rescues 8 people alive by warning them in advance and having them build an ark. He calls Abraham out of the midst of a pagan people and tells him he will be the father of a great nation. He provides a ram in the place of Abraham's son Isaac, Isaac who was born to Sarah, who was past the age of child bearing. We see the redemptive story early on, but we also see it attacked. Tammuz and all other false religions are such an attack. Satan doesn't just go after the seed physically like Pharaoh during Moses' time, Athaliah during the time of the later kings of Judah, or Herod during Jesus' time. He also offers a counterfeit, which God or gods would you prefer?
There are parallels between this myth and the story of the resurrection of Jesus. Like Tammuz, Jesus also died and rose from the dead. Jesus was also divine. Beyond these similarities, however, the story of Tammuz and Jesus are rather different. One main difference is the reason for their deaths. Jesus died for the sins of humanity while Tammuz was killed out of rage by his lover. It is true that Tammuz was killed as part of a sacrifice, but it was not something that he did willingly. Jesus, on the other hand, willingly went to the cross to be crucified if the gospel text is taken at face value. Another difference is that Tammuz appears to only save people from physical starvation and death. He did not save people from sin or judgement for disobedience to God or the Gods.
Another difference is the kind of life that Tammuz offered versus what Jesus offered. Tammuz offered material prosperity in the present life, healthy flocks and plentifully crops. Jesus, however, offered spiritual renewal and eternal life after a final, bodily resurrection. Ancient Christians believed, and modern Christians still believe, that one day the saints will rise from the dead in the same manner that Jesus did. Worshipers of Tammuz believed that they might have a materially abundant life on earth because of their deity, but they would not rise from the dead like Tammuz. They would spend eternity as fluttering ghosts in a shadowy underworld. Tammuz appears to be much more limited in scope than Jesus in terms of what he offered. Tammuz was primarily a nature deity. - Ancient Origins
The God of the Bible is setting Himself apart from these gods, in that they are cool with your practices while the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob calls it a sin. Tammuz is great for those who are there only for the fish and the bread, but Jesus says there is more than this life, more than just food, and that if you love your life you will lose it, but if you die to yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, you can have life everlasting.
Tammuz offers all the material things like the Jesus of the prosperity gospel. He was killed for the honor of his mother, so she seems to be greater, like Mary of the Roman Catholic cult, that Jesus points people to his mom. She is a mediator and men are sent to her. The Roman Catholic Mary is none other than Ishtar, the Queen of Heaven. Read also in Queen of Heaven Jeremiah 44. It is also interesting that Roman Catholic priests are vowed to celibacy.
Unfortunately for the rest of the universe, while Ishtar was dead there was no sexual activity or procreation of any kind. Ea saw the problem with this and bartered a deal. Ishtar could return to the land of the living, but she had to find another soul to take her place in the underworld. The replacement could not be someone who was mourning her death. She could find no one, god or human, until she came to her own throne room where Tammuz sat, dressed in fine robes instead of the more appropriate sackcloth and ashes. - CompellingTruth.Org
Jesus of the Bible calls Himself the way, meaning there is no other which He makes clear, the truth, meaning all others are liars and imposters, and the life, because outside of Him there is only judgment leading to death. He says, no man comes to the Father but by Me. One way.
…23At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. 25See, I have told you in advance.… Matthew 24: 23-25
The Greeks, who never met a foreign god they couldn't adapt, also had their Tammuz in Adonis. It was said that Aphrodite arranged a king to impregnate his daughter. It's unclear if Aphrodite fell in love with the beautiful son or if she felt guilty for her part in his conception, but she put him in a box and gave him to her sister Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, for safe keeping. Persephone opened the box and also fell in love. The sisters fought over Adonis until Zeus declared Adonis had to spend four months with Persephone, four months with Aphrodite, and four months with whomever he chose (he chose Aphrodite). Either Artemis or Ares (accounts vary) sent a boar that killed Adonis. Aphrodite was so consumed by grief that Zeus allowed Adonis to continue to spend part of the year among the living.
The Egyptians had a different take in Osiris and Isis. Isis was a benevolent goddess who was devoted to her husband/brother Osiris. Osiris' brother Set killed him in an attempt to take his throne. In one story, Set tore Osiris into pieces, Isis found most of the pieces and, with the help of a golden phallus, brought him back to life long enough to impregnate her with Horus. In a slightly different version, Isis found Osiris' intact body in a lead-sealed box (the origin of the sarcophagus) which had been absorbed by a tamarind tree being used as a palace pillar. Isis brought Osiris back to life and became pregnant with Horus, but Set found Osiris and killed him again, tearing his body into pieces. Isis found the pieces, wrapped them in cloth, and buried him properly. Horus eventually defeated Set. The gods were so moved by Isis' devotion, they made Osiris the god of the underworld. To reflect his resurrection and second death, he also became the god of the Nile (whose ebbs and flows bring crops), reincarnation, and the life-and-death cycle of agriculture. - Compellingtruth.org
Were about 25 men with their backs turned to the temple of the Lord - In the inner court where only priest could go, these men had their backs turned away from the place of the true God and were worshiping the sun. Remember earlier in the chapter they acted as though God had abandoned them, and His glory is leaving the temple, but rather than repent of their sin which is the cause, they make their appeal to another god, yet it is the sun which the real God created. It's not that God wasn't able to help them, but that He would not do what they said, not climb into their box, not be the genie in the lamp. He hates sin and they love it, so rather than repent they invent.
These 25 represent the 24 orders of the priest plus the high priest. - J Mac Study Bible
The abominations that they commit here - Of all people these priest knew, and this is outright, open rebellion and apostasy.
…18or of any creature that crawls on the ground or fish that is in the waters below. 19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars— all the host of heaven— do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. 20Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.… Deuteronomy 4: 18-20
4Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem— those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.… 2 Kings 23: 4-6
…25if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much, 26if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, 27so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth,…
Should fill the land with violence - Like Nimrod they would stoop to what God hates so that they could be mighty, even sacrificing their own children to Molech, stealing from widows and using orphans. The stubbornness is probably the most amazing thing. They were warned over and over again by the prophets and the priests knew this from Scripture. They trusted in ancestry, being related to Abraham, in having the temple and rituals, now they are putting their hope in other gods, idols, created things. It is the same cycle over and over.
…10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. 12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.…
13Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth. 14Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.… Genesis 6: 10-15
…24Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen. 26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.…
…27Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,… Romans 1: 24-29
They put the branch to their nose - Now this is an admittedly difficult line, but look at the context. In it's most basic sense, they mock God, they thumb the nose so to speak. They have turned their backs on Him to worship the sun, exchanged God's glory for a lesser light, a created light. But I also want to look at the word branch, because given that they know of God's promise of His seed, of the Righteous Branch that will come forth out of the line of David, Messiah, even if not directly making this connection in their hearts, are they not rejecting God's way?
Variations of the sun god, Egypt's and other Middle Eastern versions would probably be the most common to Israel.
Egypt - Ra , also Atum (finisher of the world) as the sun sets.
Aztec - Huitzilopochtli (god of sun and war)
Brazilian - Guaraci
Incan - Inti
Mayan - Ah kin
Armenian - Ar or Arev (Armenian people are children of the sun)
Buddhist - Surya
Chinese - Doumu (sun goddess) and Yu Yi (god that carries the sun across the sky)
…9I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.… John 10: 9-11
4Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.… Matthew 24: 4-6
