Ezekiel 8
COMMENTARY:
: 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 looked toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. (5566 “image” [semel] means idol, figure, statue, a pagan and material effigy that is worshiped, or sculpture.)
DEVOTION: The God of the Bible is jealous over HIS people and what they worship. In this chapter we finding them worshiping many false gods. They are doing it in the Temple in Jerusalem thinking that God will not see them because they are doing inside the Temple. They seem to think that HE can’t see through walls into buildings.
The children of Judah that were doing this type of worship were wrong. God took Ezekiel by the hair to show him what was going on in Jerusalem. Whether his body left the building or not is not known but that the LORD gave him a vision that was real.
Throughout the Old Testament we read of the children of Israel worshiping false gods of the people around them. They seemed to think that if they could see and handle a god that it was real. They were wrong and we are wrong if we worship the LORD any way but in spirit and in truth.
In the book of Revelation the LORD warns that HE will remove the candlestick from any church that is not worshiping HIM in spirit and in truth. HE deals with seven churches in the second and third chapter of the book and only one seems to be worshiping the LORD properly. The other six churches have problems that if they are not dealt with HE will remove HIS presence from them. HE continues to be jealous of worship that included anyone or anything other them HIM.
CHALLENGE: Are we worshiping the LORD today in spirit and in truth? Are we letting any false god into our life?
: 12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, have you 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 sees us not; the LORD has forsaken the earth. (2822 “dark” [choshek] means obscurity, night, blackness or lack of light.)
DEVOTION: This chapter is another one with visions from the LORD. The first one was of the appearance of the LORD. HE came in the form of a man. HE had the appearance of fire. HIS appearance was also one with brightness to it.
Next Ezekiel was lifted up by the Holy Spirit to take Ezekiel to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem he was shown the glory of the LORD in Jerusalem. He was told to look to the north to see an image of jealousy. He was shown a hole in the wall and told to dig down to find a door. Inside the door was there was a room with all forms of creeping things, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. Seventy men stood there offering incense to these false gods. These were the leaders of the nation.
In Isaiah 29: 15, Isaiah told of the children of Israel not thinking that the LORD can see in the darkness. Here we have Ezekiel being shown by the Holy Spirit that the ancients in the house of Israel were thinking that the LORD can’t see in the night.
They thought the LORD had forsaken the earth. Therefore HE didn’t care what happened on earth. Both thoughts were wrong. The LORD did care what was happening on the earth. HE cared about what they were doing in Jerusalem. It was HIS Holy City.
HE continued to show Ezekiel what was happening in the city. Next he saw a group of women weeping for the god Tammuz. He is thought to be a Sumerian-Babylonian deity of vegetation and fertility. They were truly worshiping the gods of the people around them instead of the TRUE God of Creation.
Finally HE showed him that there was a group of men who were in the temple area with their backs to the temple worshiping the sun. They were in the area where they were supposed to worship the LORD but turned their backs on HIM and worshiped HIS creation.
The LORD spoke to Ezekiel about the reason for HIS present anger with the children of Judah. HE told him that HE would not hear their prayers when they cried for help. It was truly a sad day.
We sometimes think that we can hide our actions from the LORD. We think sometimes that there are places we can hide from the presence of the LORD. We sometimes think that we can hide our false worship from the LORD. We need to remember that the LORD is omnipresent. HE is everywhere present. That is great news when we are in trouble and want HIS help.
However, we must want the LORD to see all our actions all the time for HIM to bless us. Are we glad that the LORD saw everything we did yesterday??? Are our leaders leading us in the right direction by their actions???
CHALLENGE: The Bible says that what we hear the LORD say in the night we should share in the daylight. Our responsibility is to worship HIM both night and day.
: 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. (1058 “weeping” [bakah] means to cry freely and profusely for sadness or distress, bewail, to flow by drops, weep bitterly, or lamentations.)
DEVOTION: Ezekiel receives a vision of false worship in the Temple of the LORD. They were worshiping a false god. It was the false god of spring vegetations. It involved the fertility rites of the earth.
They believed that it was this false god that caused the plants to grow and because of the LORD’S curse it was not going and so they were sad that the false god was not giving them what they thought this false god was bring them.
Israel was following the lead of the people of the land. This is true even today in some places that try to worship the God of the Bible and the false god of the earth. It can’t be done in the eyes of the LORD.
HE wants our complete worship with no other god in our thinking or worship. Too often the children of Israel were going after the false gods of the land and thinking that they could get the LORD’S blessing at the same time.
The LORD wants HIS people to ONLY worship HIM. If they try to please the world and the flesh with false worship, HE will judge them and us even today. The God of the Bible doesn’t want to share worship with any other god which would be a false god.
Today do we examine our lives to see if we are looking to worship someone or something else other than the God of the Bible? The LORD wants exclusive worship in the lives of genuine believers.
Israel was going after other gods because they wanted to take part in all the sinful activities of the people of the land. Is that happening even today in our nations?
CHALLENGE: God wants to be exclusive. Are we making HIM the only God we are worshiping?
: 18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: my 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. (7121 “cry” [qara] means utter a loud sound, announce, proclaim, summons, or invite.)
DEVOTION: Ezekiel is having a vision of the LORD while he is in captivity to Babylon with the elders sitting in his home. The hand of the LORD came upon him and took him to show him what was happening in Jerusalem.
The LORD showed the prophet Ezekiel many visions of false worship being done by the people of Jerusalem. HE stated that they were to be worshiping HIM but they were only doing it as show in public. The LORD showed Ezekiel the private lives of the leaders and women of Jerusalem. They were worshiping the sun. They were worshiping a fertility goddess. They were doing it near or in the Temple of God.
The people even expressed the thought that the LORD had forsaken the earth so they could do whatever they wanted. Their thought process included the thought that God doesn’t see anything that is happening on earth.
God sees all. God knows all. HE stated to Ezekiel that HE was going to unleash HIS fury on Jerusalem. HE was not going to spare or pity those who thought they could get away with not worshiping HIM and expecting to have HIS blessing and protection while they did it.
HE knew that they were going to pray to HIM for help. HE knew that there comes a time in everyone’s life when they don’t want to face the consequences of their sins. However, HE was not going to hear or deliver them from their consequences.
Why? HE had sent HIS prophets to warn them that consequences were coming but they were depending on the fact that the Temple was a place that God honored and as long as they were in the Temple area they were under HIS protection. They were wrong.
Even believers today think that as long as they go to church and give money they are under the protection of the LORD and will not have to pay the consequences of their sins. They are wrong too. Go wants us to be faithful to HIM in public and private.
CHALLENGE: If we want the LORD to hear our prayers, we need to be faithful in private as well as public. The LORD wants true servant to our LORD Jesus Christ.
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