CHAPTER 8. EZEKIEL IS TRANSPORTED TO JERUSALEM AND SEES THE SITUATION FOR HIMSELF. In this chapter Ezekiel is transported in Spirit to Jerusalem and shown many of the abominations which would result in judgment. We must remember that we are here dealing in vision. Thus it may be that what Ezekiel ‘... [ Continue Reading ]
‘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 dow... [ Continue Reading ]
‘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 the earth and the heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court which looks towards the north, where there was the seat of the image of je... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.' This was in stark contrast to the image of jealousy outside the gate. The presence of the glory of God (revealed in fire - compare Ezekiel 8:2) vividly contrasted the abominable activities of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way towards the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way towards the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar, this image of jealousy in the entry. And he said to me, “Son of man. Do you see what they do? Even the great abominati... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked behold a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, “Son of man, now dig in the wall.” And when I had dug in the wall, behold there was a door. And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they do here.” ' ‘The door of the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘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, engraved on 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 Shaph... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he said to me, “Son of man, you have seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his own chambers of imagery, for they say, “Yahweh does not see us. Yahweh has forsaken the earth.” ' Here we get the impression that each of the elders has his own ‘chamber of imager... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he said also to me, “You will again see yet other great abominations which they do.” ' Compare Ezekiel 8:9; Ezekiel 8:15. Jerusalem was being depicted as full of idolatry.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the house of Yahweh which was towards the north, and behold there sat there the women weeping for Tammuz.' This may have been the gate of the outer court. Here were gathered, probably regularly, women ‘weeping for Tammuz'. Little is actually known about... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.” ' The piling up of abominations continues, and the true state of Jerusalem religiously is revealed.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he brought me into the inner court of the house of Yahweh, and behold at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men with their backs towards the temple of Yahweh, and their faces towards the east, and they worshipped the sun towards the eas... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations that 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.” ' God's c... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore will I also deal in fury. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.” The chapter finishes with Yahweh's again repeated statement that whatever they now do it will be too late. Because of their behaviour His gr... [ Continue Reading ]