Ezekiel 8
Brendaonline.com1 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 sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
NIV records the date being September 17, while King Jehoiachin had been king for 6 years some of the leaders of Judah were in my home. God's hand fell on me.
(God had no problem speaking to Ezekiel in the midst of his company.)
2 Then 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.
The appearance of God was as contained fire in the form of a man in bright light.
3 And 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.
I had a vision of God picking me up by the lock of my hair and carrying me to mid-air, allowing me to see the people worshiping idols who had made God jealous.
4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
The beauty of God was present as I was having this vision.
5 Then 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.
God told Ezekiel to look toward the north and he obeyed. When I looked north Ezekiel said he saw the gate of the altar an image that made God jealous.
Whenever we look unnecessarily to anything outside of God, God become jealous. When married people make vows, they promise to have and to hold and forsake all others; if one of person in the marriage violates that promise, it is extremely difficult to overcome. So it is with God; God is married to us and He will never break His promise He made when we decided to make Him Lord of our lives.
6 He 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.
Do you see what My people are doing? Don't stop here look and I will show you something worse.
7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
God took Ezekiel to a hole in the wall.
8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
The hole in the wall was not big enough to walk through, so God told Ezekiel to dig in the wall and see the door, then walk into the door.
9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Ezekiel was told by God to go in and look at the extreme sin the people were committing.
10 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, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
Ezekiel obeyed God and saw all kinds of carved images of idols. God can see behind the hole in the wall. We should be so close to God that he can show us areas of our lives that should be cut off.
11 And 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.
In the hole in the wall, there were 70 men of Judah and Jaazaniah was standing before the 70 men with a censer in his hand making an offering to idols.
12 Then 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.
People who have known God and should know better are saying God has left us and He does not see what we are doing in the dark. God has left the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
This is not all of the sins going on among my people, let us go to the next place.
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.
Then God took Ezekiel to the gate of the Lord's house, and there he saw women crying for the idol Tammuz. A god that as no power. Imagaine crying to a thing and believing that thing can solve your problems. God wants our minds and hearts. When we seek answers to life any other way than by the Word of God is breaks God's heart.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen [this], O son of man? turn thee yet again, [and] thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
Let's go to the next place.
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, [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.
Then God showed Ezekiel 25 men who were worshiping the sun in His temple. Their backs were against the temple and their faces were looking to the sun. We have lost our minds if we think that the sun has anything to do with answer our prayers. Even the sun ignors us and continues to do as God instructed.
17 Then 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.
The people of God thought nothing of their abominations which caused the community to sin greatly, and their behaviors were so bad that God was provoked. God watched them as they put the branch to their nose. (could this mean that they bowed so low until the branch that had fallen from the tree was on the ground their noses were touching the branch?)
18 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.
God told Ezekiel that his anger will be manifested toward His people because of their abominations: they will cry and God said He will ignore their tears and they will make a loud noise and still God will not respond.
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