Prophecy Of Ezechiel

Prophecy Of Ezechiel

Chapter 8

The prophet sees in a vision the abominations committed in Jerusalem; which determine the Lord to spare them no longer. 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 my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. 2 And I saw, and behold 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 the appearance of amber. 3 And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth andthe heaven, and brought mein the vision of God into Jerusalem fn.‘n’, near the innergate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy. 4 And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain. 5 And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north. And I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry. 6 And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations. 7 And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall. 8 And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. 9 And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here. 10 And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about. 11 And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense. 12 And he said to me: Surely thou seest. O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth. 13 And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit. 14 And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis. 15 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again: and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. 14 "Adonis"... The favourite of Venus, slain by a wild boar, as feigned by the heathen poets, and which being here represented by an idol, is lamented by the female worshippers of that goddess. In the Hebrew, the name is Tammuz. 16 And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun. 17 And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. fn. ‘n’ Dan. 14, 6. 1-Ver. 3. The statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy: the statue which provokes the Lord's jealousy for his honor. This was the statue of the goddess Ashera erected by the wicked King Manasse[cf. 4 Kgs. 21, 7 (449); 2 Par. 33, 7. 15 (519)]. Though it had been removed by King Josia [4 Kgs. 23, 6(451)], it had been set up again in the repaganizing of Jerusalem that fol­lowed on Josia's death. 2-Ver. 5. He: an angel accompanies Ezech­Iel in these visions and represents the voice of the Lord; cf. Ezech. 40, 3f (1000). 3-Ver. 10. Creeping things and loathsome beasts: Egyptian deities, which were represented in animal form. During the last days of Jerusalem King Sedecia was al­lied with Egypt, trusting in it for protection against the Chaldeans. 4-Ver. 14. Weeping tor Adonis, i.e. Tammuz: the With­ering of trees and plants in autumn was thought to be due to the descent.of Tammuz, the Babylonian god of fertility, to the nether world of the dead; this descent was bewailed by the women. 5-Ver. 16. Bowing down to the sun: sun worship had been made an important part of Judaite idolatry by the impious kings; cf. 4 Kgs. 23,11 (452). a 6-Ver. 17. Put the branch to their nose: the meaning is certain. It refers to an Egyptian practice imported into Juda: the Egyptian sun god Re is pictured with a vine branch at his nose, signifying the trans­fer of creative power (divine breath) to liv­ing things, especially included in this practice was the sacrifice of infants to Mammon-Re as a way of influencing and divining the future and the disembowelment of these children for the conjuring of the demon they believed was attached to the soul of these “immaculate” children as they called them in Graeco-Egyptian religion which dated back to 1500 B.C. Such rites were and have always been abominable to the Lord.

Prophecy of Ezechiel