Ezekiel 8
OUTLINE:
I. \\#Eze 1:1-23:49\\ Before the Siege (c.593-587)
A. \\#Eze 1:1-3:15\\ The First Message
1. \\#1:1-28\\ God
a. \\#1-3\\ The Setting
b. \\#4-28\\ The Glory of the Lord
c. \\#4\\ The Cloud
d. \\#5-14\\ The Four Living Creatures
e. \\#15-21\\ The Four Wheels
f. \\#22-25\\ The Firmament
g. \\#26-28\\ The One Above
h. \\#28\\ Ezekiel’s Reaction
2. \\#2:1-3:15\\ The Commission of Ezekiel
a. \\#2:1-2\\ God’s Strengthening
b. \\#2:3-3:15\\ God’s Calling
(1) \\#2:3-5\\ Go to God’s People
(2) \\#2:6-3:3\\ Go with God’s Words
(3) \\#3:4-11\\ Go with God’s Equipping
(4) \\#3:12-15\\ Go with God’s Spirit
B. \\#Eze 3:16-7:27\\ The Second Message
1. \\#3:16-21\\ Go as God’s Watchman
2. \\#3:22-3:27\\ Hardships for Ezekiel
a. \\#3:22-24\\ A Shift in Location
b. \\#3:24-27\\ Three Commands Given
3. \\#4:1-5:17\\ Signs of Jerusalem’s Siege
a. \\#4:1-3\\ A Besieged City
b. \\#4:4-8\\ A Sinful City
c. \\#4:9-17\\ A Hungry City
d. \\#5:1-17\\ A Defeated City
4. \\#6:1-14\\ Preach to the Mountains and Stomp
a. \\#6:1-7\\ God’s Judgment
b. \\#6:8-10\\ God’s Mercy
c. \\#6:11-14\\ Ezekiel’s Demonstration
5. \\#7:1-27\\ Preach to the Land and Make A Chain
a. \\#1-15\\ The End Is Come
b. \\#7:16-22\\ "But those that escape"
c. \\#7:23-27\\ Ezekiel’s Demonstration
C. \\#Eze 8:1-11:25\\ The Third Message
1. \\#Eze 8:1-18\\ Secret Sins of Jerusalem
a. \\#1-6\\ The False Worship of the Priests
b. \\#7-13\\ The False Worship of the Sanhedrin
c. \\#14-15\\ The False Worship of the Women
d. \\#16-17\\ The False Worship of the Men
e. \\#17-18\\ The Results of Jerusalem’s False Worship
\\#Eze 8:1-11:25\\ The Third Message, Secret Sins of Jerusalem
I. \\#1-6\\ The False Worship of the Priests
A. \\#1\\ "sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day"
1. 540 days have passed since Ezekiel began his ministry and
the previous date that Ezekiel gave \\#Eze 1:2\\.
2. That would be more than enough time for Ezekiel to have
laid on his left and right sides, requiring 430 days
\\#Eze 4:4-6\\.
a. I believe \\#Ezekiel 1:2-3:15\\ was one vision.
b. \\#Eze 3:16-7:27\\ was a second vision.
c. At \\#Eze 8:1\\, Ezekiel began his third message.
B. "as I sat in mine house" - Ezekiel was obeying the command of
the Lord to "shut thyself within thine house" \\#Eze 3:24\\.
C. "the elders of Judah sat before me"
1. Ezekiel was obviously respected as a prophet by this time
so some came to sit and wait for whatever word the Lord
might give.
2. We remember that Ezekiel could no longer speak except when
a word was given to him from the Lord \\#Eze 3:26\\.
D. "the hand of the Lord fell" - And God came.
E. \\#2\\ "a likeness as the appearance of fire"
1. This is the same description as was given of the One who
sat above the firmament \\#Eze 1:26-27\\.
a. While no longer sitting upon His throne, the
similarity indicates this was the same Person Ezekiel
saw in \\#Eze 1:26-27\\, the Lord God Almighty.
b. The Lord God is in a generally human form when
appearing on the earth.
2. This was most likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus
Christ.
F. \\#3\\ "took me by a lock of mine head"
1. Ezekiel’s hair must have grown back out by this time
\\#Eze 5:1\\.
2. "lifted me up… brought me… to Jerusalem"
a. God transported Ezekiel in the vision to Jerusalem.
b. Apparently neither the fiery hand of the Lord nor
being carried by his hair hurt Ezekiel.
G. "to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north"
1. These are not the gates of Jerusalem but of the temple.
a. In Ezekiel’s last vision \\#Eze 7:20-22\\, God may
have spoken to Ezekiel about the temple.
b. If so, it is there described as "the beauty of his
ornament," "set… in majesty," and His "secret
place."
c. But it is also described as filled with "abominations"
and "detestable things" and given "into the hands of
the strangers for a prey and… spoil."
d. The events described here and throughout the
remainder of this book continue revealing what God
saw in the temple and what He was going to do with
it.
2. There was an outer court and an inner court that
surrounded the temple.
a. Jewish men could come into the outer court but only
the priests were allowed within the inner court.
(The sacrifices were brought "unto the door of the
tabernacle, the eastern door that lead to the inner
court.) \\#Lev 4:4\\
b. The inner court is where the brazen laver and altar
were.
c. It is the area where the priests cleansed themselves
and offered the sacrifices.
d. There were gates on the east, north, and south court
walls.
(1) According to one source, there was one gate on
the west wall, but most do not think so.
http://www.recoveredscience.com/Tempmount1.jpg
(2) The east gates were the gates that worshippers
would use to enter the outer courts and that is
where they would bring their sacrifices to be
offered.
(3) The other gates were used by the priests to do
the work of God and to maintain the temple area.
3. \\#3\\ "the inner gate that looketh toward the north"
Hence, Ezekiel, a priest himself, was brought to and
through a gate that only the priests of the temple had
access to enter.
4. So then it would have been the priests themselves who had
set up the idol that Ezekiel was about to see.
5. "where was the seat of the image of jealousy"
a. At that northern gate, the priests had set up a false
idol. There they worshipped a false god.
b. We are not told which god was being worshipped, but we
are told what effect it had upon the God of Israel.
c. It provoked His jealousy.
H. \\#4-6\\ "the glory of the God of Israel was there"
1. \\#4\\ And God was there to see what the priests were
doing.
2. "the glory of the God" may not refer to the entire image
that Ezekiel saw in chapter 1, but to the His radiance.
Ezekiel sees various aspects of the image seemingly at
different locations at the same time.
a. \\#Eze 8:2\\ Ezekiel had already seen the image of the
One who sat above the firmament. In fact, He had
lifted Ezekiel by the hair and brought him to
Jerusalem.
b. \\#Eze 8:4\\ Here Ezekiel saw God’s glory, apparently
in a different location from what which lifted him by
his hair.
c. \\#Eze 9:3\\ The glory will depart and move away from
"the cherub."
(1) Could the cherub be "the living creature" which
was a part of the divine image \\#Eze 1:20-22\\?
(2) If so, had they not separated from one another?
d. \\#Eze 10:15, 18\\ The cherubims and the "glory of the
Lord" seem to go in different directions.
3. Presumably, at this time, God’s glory would be inside the
gate to meet with the children of Israel. Perhaps He
was even inside the Holy of Holies, God’s usual place to
abide in Israel.
4. \\#5\\ "Then said he unto me"
a. The "He" must be the Lord for in \\#17\\, He began to
speak in the first person of Himself as the Judge of
Israel.
b. It seems that the "He" is also the fiery One who
Ezekiel saw above the firmament in chapter 1 and
who transported him in this chapter.
5. \\#5\\ "lift up thine eyes"
a. God told Ezekiel to look back toward the gate that he
had entered, which he did could only see the false
idol at the entry.
b. "image of jealousy" - It is again called by this name.
6. \\#6\\ And God asked:
a. "seest… what they do?"
(1) God knew Ezekiel had seen it. He had just shown
it to him.
(2) The question is not being asked for information’s
sake but as an expression of astonishment and
disdain.
(3) I do not know that God can be astonished, but He
could be angered and God knew Ezekiel should be
astonished.
b. "even the great abomination" - These were not sins of
neglect or of man’s common misbehaviors. They were
sins of great insult to God.
c. "that I should go far from my sanctuary?"
(1) This phrase hints at what God was about to do.
(2) He was about to remove His presence from the
temple, Jerusalem, Israel, and the people of
Israel.
(3) It is an amazing testimony to God’s grace and
patience that He had not done so already.
7. "turn… thou shalt see greater abominations" - But there
was more and worse yet to see.
II. \\#7-13\\ The False Worship of the Sanhedrin
A. \\#7\\ "to the door of the court"
1. Since Ezekiel was carried to the inner gate in \\#3\\, it
seems logical that he was still there.
a. There were storage chambers along the outside wall of
the temple (between the outer court and the city).
b. But there were also chambers between the inner and
outer courts which were used as accommodations for
the priests.
2. However, not everyone thinks that.
a. The "seventy men" that Ezekiel will see \\#11\\
could mean that this is the gate between the outer
court and the streets of Jerusalem.
b. In John Gill's Exposition on \\Eze 8:7\\, he advocated
the outer wall at the East Gate.
c. The link below supports the outer wall at the north
gate.
On the Temple Mount
The Sanhedrin originally convened in the Temple area, in the Chamber
of Cut Stones (Lishkat HaGazit). This was a chamber built into the
north wall of the Temple, half inside the sanctuary and half outside,
with doors providing access both to the Temple and to the outside.
The place where the Sanhedrin convened was actually outside the
sanctuary area. The Sanhedrin would sit while in judgment, and it is
(sic) forbidden to sit within the sanctuary area. On the other hand,
part of this chamber had to be inside the sanctuary area, since the
Sanhedrin judged many things involving priests and the Temple
service, and this had to be done within the Temple grounds. Moreover,
questions would often arise during the divine service, when it is
forbidden for a Kohen-priest to leave the sanctuary area. There was
also a requirement that there be direct access from the Great Altar
(mizbeach) to the Sanhedrin.
It was only in this chamber that the Sanhedrin could perform all its
functions, including the trial of capital offenses.
http://www.aish.com/jl/m/pm/48936377.html
B. \\#7-8\\ "a hole… dig now… behold a door"
1. "hole in the wall" - When he was brought to the gate,
Ezekiel saw a hole in the wall and was commanded to dig
it out so that he could enter.
2. Ezekiel was in a vision and \\#12\\ spoke of "the
chambers of his imagery." From that phrase, I wonder
if what Ezekiel was seeing was what the seventy men
imagined doing rather than what they had done.
3. However, it is also very possible that Ezekiel was being
allowed to see what most never did, into a secret
chamber of the temple where the wicked priests performed
their wicked deeds.
C. \\#10-11\\ "I went in and saw" - Ezekiel detailed what he saw
in the secret chambers.
1. \\#10\\ "every form of creeping things, and abominable
beasts" - Every from of animal, including the unclean,
was "poutrayed upon the wall" for worship.
2. The fact that these images were "poutrayed upon the wall"
might mean that at least one chamber had been set up
specifically for the highest leaders in Israel to commit
the worse sins against God.
3. "and all the idols of the house of Israel" - Not only
was there animal worship but every false god that the
people of Israel worshipped was worshipped there as well.
4. \\#11\\ "seventy men of the ancients"
a. This would be leaders of Israel as established in
Moses’ day and called the Sanhedrin.
Nu 11:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather
unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom
thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and
officers over them; and bring them unto the
tabernacle of the congregation, that they may
stand there with thee.
b. Whether in a literal chamber or not, the Sanhedrin
certainly had a chamber of false worship in their
hearts and perhaps a literal one in the walls of the
temple.
(1) If the source quoted above is correct concerning
the northern wall, then the northern wall would
appear to be the primary area used by the
priests for their false worship.
(2) It would also mean that the area chosen for
false worship was the area where God’s
justice was supposed to be reckoned,
symbolically adding greater importance to the
northern gate and making what was happening
there even a greater affront to God.
5. "stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan"
a. The Bible does not tell us the man’s importance,
probably because everyone in Ezekiel’s day knew who
he was.
b. It seems likely that he was the leader of the
Sanhedrin, yet, he stood in the midst of the 70
and lead them to worship against God.
D. \\#12\\ "hast thou seen" - Again God asked Ezekiel if he had
seen what these men were doing. Again, the question rings of
astonishment that they would do such a thing.
1. "in the chamber of his imagery"
a. This phrase makes it possible that these men were not
literally worshipping in a physical chamber at the
temple but were doing so in their hearts.
b. "in the dark" - However, I believe they had secretly
converted a chamber for their idolatrous worship.
2. "for they say"
a. God gave the reasoning of the priests and elders.
b. They believed "The Lord seeth us not" and that "the
Lord hath forsaken the earth."
c. They were soon to find out that neither was true.
E. \\#13\\ But there are yet more and worst things.
III. \\#14-15\\ The False Worship of the Women
A. \\#14\\ "gate… toward the north"
1. Again, we are not told whether we are speaking of the
north gate that lead to the city or into the inner court.
2. Since women were not allowed into the inner court, it is
likely that it was the gate that lead to the city.
B. "sat women weeping"
1. So far we have seen the false worship of the priests
\\#1-6\\ and the Sanhedrin \\#7-13\\ and now the women.
2. This is stated by God to be the worst false worship so
far.
a. Why?
b. Likely because the women of a nation have more control
than anyone else over the children.
C. "for Tammuz"
1. Tammuz was a demigod, half god and half human.
2. He belonged to the Sumerians. Sumer was one of the
earliest known civilization and seemed to be centered in
modern-day Iran.
3. Mythology says Tammuz was the god of shepherds and sheep,
later being considered also the god of agriculture.
4. He was sentenced to the underworld by his wife.
5. The reason for the women’s weeping is not given but it
seems logical that they were weeping over his
imprisonment and thus seeking his blessings upon their
sheep and crops.
https://www.gotquestions.org/who-Tammuz.html
D. \\#15\\ But there is more and worse yet.
IV. \\#16-17\\ The False Worship of the Men
A. \\#16\\ "into the inner court" - This would be the place where
only the priests could go.
1. "at the door" - Ezekiel was just inside the inner court
at the entrance.
2. "between the porch and the altar"
a. This would be between the entrance into the Holy Place
and the brass altar used for sacrifices.
b. What took place here would be in plain view to any who
brought a sacrifice to the "door of the tabernacle."
B. "about five and twenty men" - In this visible place, "about"
25 men were worshipping but not God.
1. The number, not being exact, indicates that the members of
the group changed during the time of Ezekiel's prophecy.
a. While we do not know who they were, another group of
"five and twenty men," are mentioned in
\\#Eze 11:1\\.
b. There the group of men are called "the princes of the
people" and declared to be those who "devise mischief
and give wicked counsel in this city."
c. This group seem to be a group of leaders, perhaps over
the city of Jerusalem.
d. If this is the same group, they should not be standing
"between the porch and the altar" for they should not
be Levites but men of the tribe of Judah.
2. "their backs toward the temple" - The Holy of Holies would
be on the west end of the temple, but these men were not
looking that direction.
3. "their faces toward the east… worshipped the sun" - They
were in the inner court openly worshipping the sun god.
C. \\#17\\ Again God asked if Ezekiel had seen it. Since God had
just showed it to Ezekiel, God knew he had seen it. The
question was again one to express an astonishment.
V. \\#17-18\\ The Results of Jerusalem’s False Worship
A. \\#17\\ "they have filled the land with violence"
1. It is unclear whether God meant these actions had already
caused violence to increase in the land or if they were
going to as Babylon entered in to execute judgment.
2. We should not dismiss the first out of hand for a people
that do not have God and His laws will have more evil
within it.
B. "to provoke me to anger" - It is a dangerous thing to anger
God.
C. "they put the branch to their nose" - Boring a branch through
one’s noise is a symbol of ownership and control. It
certainly made for handy leverage when someone needed to be
corrected.
D. \\#18\\ "mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity"
God’s repeated warning that nothing that would be done to
Israel would cause Him to intervene for their good.
E. "I will not hear them" - The wall of iron \\#Eze 4:3\\ would
remain firmly in place.
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