Ezekiel — Chapter 8

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1In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me; and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me.

2Then I looked and saw a figure like that of a man. From His waist down His appearance was like fire, and from His waist up He was as bright as the gleam of amber.

3He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes jealousy was seated.

4And there I saw the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain.

5“Son of man,” He said to me, “now lift up your eyes to the north.” So I lifted up my eyes to the north, and in the entrance north of the Altar Gate I saw this idol of jealousy.

6“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing—to drive Me far from My sanctuary? Yet you will see even greater abominations.”

7Then He brought me to the entrance to the court, and I looked and saw a hole in the wall.

8“Son of man,” He told me, “dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall and discovered a doorway.

9Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”

10So I went in and looked, and engraved all around the wall was every kind of crawling creature and detestable beast, along with all the idols of the house of Israel.

11Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.

12“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

13Again, He told me, “You will see them committing even greater abominations.”

14Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.

15“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Yet you will see even greater abominations than these.”

16So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

17“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see this? Is it not enough for the house of Judah to commit the abominations they are practicing here, that they must also fill the land with violence and continually provoke Me to anger? Look, they are even putting the branch to their nose!

18Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”

1And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.

2Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.

3And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine 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 inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

4And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

5Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

7And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.

8Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

9And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

10So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.

11And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

13He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD’S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

17Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

18Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

1And it came to pass 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 Jehovah fell there upon me.

2Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

3And he put forth 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 the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner [court] that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.

4And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

5Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6And he said unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but thou shalt again see yet other great abominations.

7And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

8Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door.

9And he said unto me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.

10So I went in and saw; and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.

11And 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 Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.

12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.

13He said also unto me, Thou shalt again see yet other great abominations which they do.

14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah`s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.

15Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? thou shalt again see yet greater abominations than these.

16And he brought me into the inner court of Jehovah`s house; and behold, at the door of the temple of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.

17Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which 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.

18Therefore will I also deal in wrath; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

1In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord seized me.

2As I watched, I noticed a form that appeared to be a man. From his waist downward was something like fire, and from his waist upward something like a brightness, like an amber glow.

3He stretched out the form of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem by divine visions, to the door of the inner gate that faces north where the statue that provokes to jealousy was located.

4Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.

5He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.

6He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the great abominations that the people of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”

7He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall.

8He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.

9He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.”

10So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure of creeping thing and beast—detestable images—and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around.

11Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.

12He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”

13He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”

14Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed women sitting there weeping for Tammuz.

15He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”

16Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, facing east—they were worshiping the sun toward the east!

17He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose!

18Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”

1In 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, the Lord Yahweh’s hand fell on me there.

2Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.

3He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.

4Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.

5Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.

6He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.”

7He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.

8Then he said to me, “Son of man, dig now in the wall.” When I had dug in the wall, I saw a door.

9He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.”

10So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.

11Seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel stood before them. In the middle of them Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan stood, every man with his censer in his hand; and the smell of the cloud of incense went up.

12Then he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? For they say, ‘Yahweh doesn’t see us. Yahweh has forsaken the land.’”

13He said also to me, “You will again see more of the great abominations which they do.”

14Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.

15Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”

16He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.

17Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose.

18Therefore will I also deal in wrath. My eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity. Though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.”

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

In a vision, God transports Ezekiel to Jerusalem's temple and shows him four escalating abominations happening within its courts. He sees the idol that provokes God's jealousy standing at the north gate (vv. 3-6), seventy elders burning incense to images carved on the walls in darkness (vv. 7-13), women weeping for the god Tammuz at the temple's north gate (v. 14), and twenty-five men facing east to worship the sun with their backs to the temple itself (vv. 15-16). Each scene is worse than the last, and God tells Ezekiel there is more to see (v. 17).

Authorship & Background

Author: Ezekiel son of Buzi (see Chapter 1 notes for full details).
Classification: Prophetic Vision — The Temple Abominations
Key Themes: Idolatry INSIDE God's temple, escalating abominations (each worse than the last), the elders' secret worship, pagan religion in the holy place, the cause of God's departure
Historical Context: Dated to the "sixth year, sixth month, fifth day" (September 592 BC) — 14 months after the initial call vision. Ezekiel is in his house with the elders of Judah when God's hand falls on him and transports him in vision to Jerusalem's temple. What he sees explains why God's glory will depart (chs.9-11): the temple is full of abominations. The vision reveals what's happening right now in Jerusalem (not past or future). The four scenes escalate: each one God says "turn again and see greater abominations" (vv.6,13,15). They culminate with men literally turning their backs to God's altar to worship the rising sun.
Carried in Vision to Jerusalem (vv.1-4): The date is the sixth year, sixth month, fifth day, about fourteen months after the call, and the setting is domestic, the elders of Judah sat before me in mine house. What happens next is not domestic. A form with the appearance of fire puts out a hand and takes him by a lock of his head, and the spirit lifts him up in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north. The glory of the God of Israel is there, as he had seen it by the plain, which is the vision's way of saying that what he saw in Babylonia and what is in the temple are the same.
The Image of Jealousy at the Gate (vv.5-6): The tour is structured as four exhibits, and each one ends with the same escalation, turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. The first is an image standing northward at the gate of the altar. The question put to the prophet is not about the object but about the consequence, seest thou what they do, even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary. The departure of chapters 9 to 11 is announced here as a response, not as an abandonment.
The Chamber of Imagery, and the Seventy Elders (vv.7-13): A hole in the wall, an instruction to dig, a door, and behind it a room with every form of creeping thing and abominable beast portrayed upon the wall round about. Seventy of the ancients of the house of Israel are inside with censers, and one of them is named, Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, from a family that had served Josiah's reform. What they say while they do it is the sentence the entire vision is answering, the LORD seeth us not, the LORD hath forsaken the earth. The private conviction underneath the private worship is that God has already left.
The Women Weeping for Tammuz (vv.14-15): At the door of the north gate, women sitting and weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz was a Mesopotamian god whose annual death was mourned with ritual weeping and whose return was celebrated with the coming of the growing season. What is being described is not a lapse but a foreign liturgical calendar being kept, on schedule, inside the temple precinct.
Sun Worship with Their Backs to the Temple (vv.16-18): The fourth exhibit is the worst and the reason is geography. Between the porch and the altar, which is the most sacred standing ground in the courts, five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, worshipping the sun. They are in the holiest available position, facing away from it. The response is stated in the terms the tour has been building toward, therefore will I also deal in fury, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Map & Geography

  • Jerusalem (v.3): Capital of Judah; the holy city where the Temple stood.

Places on this map

  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Ezekiel 8 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
2BeLikeChrist

Ezekiel 8-11 | God has Left the Temple | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Ezekiel 8 - Exposing Abominations in The Temple
David Guzik

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Ezekiel -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • Escalating Abominations (v.6) — Each scene God shows Ezekiel is worse than the one before it, with God repeatedly promising there is more, and greater, still to see. What started small in your life that you haven't noticed quietly growing into something worse?
  • Sin Committed in the Dark, Assuming God Doesn't See (v.12) — The elders burn incense to idols in secret, telling themselves the Lord doesn't see and has abandoned the land. What do you do differently when you assume no one, including God, is watching?
  • Backs Turned to God (v.16) — Twenty-five men stand with their backs to the temple, facing the rising sun instead of the God who dwells there. What has your attention and devotion right now while your back is turned on Him?
  • Is It Really Such a Small Thing? (v.17) — God confronts Judah for treating their violence and idolatry as trivial, unworthy of real concern. What are you currently minimizing or excusing that God does not consider light at all?