A U 8;1-4. The beginning of the Vision.
V W 8:5-9:11. Sins and Punishment.
X 10:1-22. Cherubim.
V X 11:1-21. Sins and Punishment.
X 11:22,23. Cherubim.
U 11:24,25. The end of the Vision.
U s 1. Place. "My house".
t 2. Vision
s 3. Place. Jerusalem.
t 4. Vision.
483 B.C. 5th Elul [Aug. 22nd]
Ezekiel 8)
1 And 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 (see 3:15) sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance a man: from the appearance of His loins even downward, fire; and from His loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the color of highly polished bronze.
3 And He put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the spirit (probably an angel) lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me (i.e. Ezekiel himself, as Phillip. Cp. 1 Kings 18:12. 2 Kings 2:16. Acts 8:39. 2 Cor. 12:2,4. Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10. Cp. 11:2425;b40:2,3) in the visions of God to Jerusalem (i.e. the actual city itself, not a vision of it), to the entrance of the inner gate that looks toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. (Put for the effect produced by it as explained in the next clause. Ex. 20:5. Cp. Deut. 4:16; 32:16.)
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there (see 1:28), according to the vision that I saw in the valley.
W Y1 8:5-17. The Sins of the People. Y2 8:18-9:11. The Punishments.
Y1 Z1 u1 5-. Place. The North.
v1 -5. Abomination. Image of Jealousy.
w1 6-. Appeal to Ezekiel.
x1 -6. Announcement of greater.
Z2 u2 7. Place. Entrance of the Courts.
v2 8-11. Abomination. Chamber of Imagery.
w2 12. Appeal to Ezekiel.
x2 13. Announcement of greater.
Z3 u3 14-. Place. Entrance of North Gate.
v3 -14. Abomination. Women weeping for Tammuz.
w3 15-. Appeal to Ezekiel.
x3 -15. Announcement of greater.
Z4 u4 16-. Place. The Inner Court.
v4 -16. Abomination. Worshiping the Sun.
w4 17-. Appeal to Ezekiel.
x4 -17. Announcement of greater.
5 Then said he unto 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 behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6 He said furthermore to me, "Son of man, see you what they do? (see what they do in My church?) even the great abominations (put for the idols and the sin of idolatry which Yehovah abominated) that the house of Israel (see Ex. 16:31) commits here, that I should go far off (lit. to a removal far away: i.e. that they [or I] should remove) from My sanctuary?
but turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations." (God will not be mocked and put up with traditions of men in His house.)
7 And He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold one hole in the wall. (I.e. a single or certain;s though it was mysterious or remarkable.)
8 Then said He to me, "Son of man, dig now in the wall:" and when I had dug in the wall, behold a door.
9 And he said to me, "Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here."
10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts (cp. Lev. 7 and 11. This animal worship was part of Egyptian idolatry), and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them seventy men (the number of elders. See Num. 11:16. 2 Chron. 19:8. Jer. 26:17) of the elders of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah (his father, Shaphan, had taken part in Josiah's reformation [2 Kings 22:2,&]. 2 of his sons were friendly to Jeremiah [Ahikam, Jer. 26:24; and Gemaraih, Jer. 36:10,25]. Another Jaazaniah is mentioned in 11:1) the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said He to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark (this was a special feature of this animal idolatry), every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, 'the LORD see us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth.' "
13 He said also to me, "Turn you yet again, and you shall see greater abominations that they do."
14 Then 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. (An idol personifying vegetable and animal life, i.e fertility rituals, worshiped in Phoenicia and Babylonia. As late as the 19th century, in Great Britain, at Beltan (or the 1st of May) a number of men and women assembled at an ancient Druidical circle of stones near Crieff, to participate in an ancient worship feast to Baal. The festival of Pasch, or the Passover (pas'-khah Strong's G3957), was very early observed by many professing Christians, in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Christ, although it cannot be traced back as far as the Apostles. But Pasch was observed by Christians a full month before the festival of Ishtar was celebrated by the Pagans. In addition, the festival of Ishtar (Easter) now observed in churches is far different from the original festival of Pasch. The amalgamation of the Christian Pasch, (Pasch is the Christian spelling of ‘pas'-khah’) as observed in Britain by the Christians, and the Pagan Easter enforced by Rome, occurred by violence and bloodshed. But at last, the Festival of the Anglo-Saxon or Chaldean goddess, Ishtar, came to supersede that which had been held in honor of Christ. See Jer. 7:18)
15 Then said He to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? (You don't have to look to far to see them even today.)
turn you yet again, and you shalt see greater abominations than these."
16 And 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, (The place appointed for the priests)
were about twenty-five men (the number of the heads of the 24 courses of the priests), with their backs toward the temple of the LORD (because their faces were towards the sun-rising. They were not facing the people and teaching them properly. They were not feeding them), and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east. (This form of idolatry seen as early as Job 31:26,27; and foreseen in Deut. 4:19; adopted as early as Asa [2 Chron. 14:5; abolished by Josiah [2 Kings 23:5,11].)
17 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 which they commit here? (Rather than taking Christ within their heart, they take the idolatry within. There is a day coming when ignorance will be no excuse, i.e. the millennium, the Day of the Lord.)
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. (false branch = the Asherah, represented by the branch cut to a certain shape. The religion of "Easter". (Gr. pascha = passover. NOT "EASTER". Correctly translated 24 times in NT. Passover. The 1 time incorrectly translated people jump all over it! "Easter" is not in any of the Greek manuscripts. "Easter" is a heathen deity. It is an offense to God to allow this to continue, i.e commemoration of orgies and rolling of fertility eggs & rabbits = fertility, quick as a bunny. "Easter" is a heathen term, derived from the Saxon goddess Eastre, the same as Astarte, the Syrian Venus, called Ashherah in the Old Testament) is always set by the full moon which is on an imperfect calendar. It is chaotic & confusing. By the way the word "Babylon" translated not transliterated = "confusion". Are you a child of the Light of of Darkness? Our Father in heaven does not like us to bring heathenistic practices into His house, especially on the Highest Holy Day of the year of Christianity. It's o.k. to go out in the world and try to bring people into His house, but don't bring in their practices. Leave that on the outside.)
Y2 A C 8:18. Yahaveh. Threatening.
D 9:1-7. Punishment. Commanded.
B 9:8. Ezekiel. Deprecation.
A C 9:9,10. Yahaveh. Threatening.
D 9:11. Punishment executed.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice (cp. Deut. 13:8. Cp. Jer. 21:7), yet will I not hear them." (Father is not happy with this, our generation, that does not teach His Word, but teach the traditions of man.)