Ezek — Capítulo 8

8:1–11:25 This section depicts the defilement of the Jerusalem Temple (ch 8), which led to its being abandoned by the Lord and subsequently destroyed (9:1–11:13). This abandonment was actually good news for those already in exile, for the Lord was coming to dwell with them, identifying them as the ones who bore hope for the future of God’s people. 8:1-18 In visionary form, the prophet Ezekiel was shown four ways in which the people were engaged in practices that defiled their land. This vision explains why the presence of the Lord left his sanctuary. 8:1 We are in the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity (see study note on 1:2), and fourteen months have elapsed since the opening vision of the book. During most of the intervening time, the prophet had been performing the sign acts of ch 4. Chapters 8–9 depict in visions the same defilement and consequent judgment of Jerusalem that ch 7 lays out in oracles. In this case, the prophet directed the message to the leaders (literally elders) of Judah, who had gathered at Ezekiel’s home. They were probably seeking a word of encouragement and comfort from the Lord (see also 14:1; 20:1), but what they received was a denunciation of the sins of the communities they represented.

8:2-3 While the leaders were gathered, Ezekiel saw in a vision what appeared to be a man. The description is similar to the description in 1:26-27. This time, however, Ezekiel was lifted . . . up into the sky and transported . . . to Jerusalem. • appeared to be . . . looked like . . . seemed to be: What Ezekiel saw defied human description (see study note on 1:4-28).

8:3-16 God showed Ezekiel four scenes of increasing abomination from the false worship that the people of Israel were performing in the Lord’s Temple. The comprehensiveness of Jerusalem’s defilement may be seen from the varied locations of their acts of idolatry, the kinds of people involved, the deities worshiped, and the varied cultures from which these deities had been imported. It was the ultimate eclectic worship service, with abomination piled upon abomination. 8:3-6 In the first abomination, the large idol was probably an image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah that had been placed at this gate to guard the city from attack. Most of Jerusalem’s historic enemies came against her from the north, which would explain the idol’s location at the north gate. This idol had made the Lord very jealous because the Lord deserved all honor and worship as Israel’s protector (Ps 121:1-4). The Lord was offended by this idol that purported to protect the Lord’s chosen city.

8:7-8 The first abomination was very public, and the second was very private. In order to witness it in his vision, the prophet had to dig into the wall to access a hidden doorway.

8:10 The practice of worshiping deities shaped like crawling animals and detestable creatures most likely came from Egypt.

8:11 These seventy leaders are a shocking contrast to the seventy leaders of Moses’ day who were given the unique privilege of seeing God (Exod 24:1-11) and were given the same Spirit as Moses (Num 11:16-30). Jaazaniah, the leader of this group, was, ironically, the son of Shaphan, a godly leader who was prominently involved in Josiah’s reforms (2 Kgs 22:3-14). • The incense, intended to ward off dangers from demonic spirits, helped instead to bring God’s judgment upon the land.

8:12-13 The Lord could see what the leaders of Israel were doing, and he revealed these things to his prophet (cp. Luke 12:3).

8:14-15 The third abomination was that women were . . . weeping for the god Tammuz at the north gate of the Lord’s Temple. This Babylonian ritual marked the death and descent into the underworld of the god Dumuzi (Tammuz). Every year, this deity was thought to lose his power and then regain it in a cycle that paralleled the annual rhythms of nature. Ritual mourning for Tammuz was intended to hasten the return of fertility to the natural order. Ritual lamentation for a false, dead god had thus been substituted for praise and worship of the true and living God.

8:16 The fourth and crowning act of idolatry took place in the very heart of the Temple complex, in the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple, as close as anyone could approach to the Temple building without actually entering it. • The twenty-five men . . . worshiping the sun were possibly priests, as none but priests should have had access to this area, though they might have been non-priests flaunting the rules of access. Though physically closer to the Lord’s presence than anyone else, they had turned their backs to the sanctuary of their Creator. Instead of worshiping him, they worshiped what he had created (cp. Rom 1:25).

8:17-18 The abominations that the Israelites were committing in the Temple complex were tantamount to thumbing (literally putting the twig [or branch] to) their noses at the Lord. This gesture was at least defiant, and possibly vulgar.