This is God’s response to any who are watching what is going on in HIS HOUSE!
God takes Ezekiel on a tour of Israel and Judah’s abominable behavior. “Do you see this? It gets even worse!” THIS is why God is judging His people.
With ALL the judgment God has already rained down on His people, they STILL continue their practices of idolatry. From the highest ranks to the lowest, Jerusalem is filled with it. What God shows Ezekiel right now will certainly NOT be the last of it.
While in exile, the elders of Judah seek out Ezekiel. They are in the middle of their visit and God takes Ezekiel on a Spiritual visit to Jerusalem. Is there a reason why He chose this specific time for this ‘visit’? Were the people asking Ezekiel “Why” God would punish them? Were they asking how soon this would be over? Were they trying to justify themselves to the man of God as good men? What was the conversation in that house that morning?
There is one more thing I want to contemplate before we get into what God showed Ezekiel. What did the elders see while Ezekiel was on his visit with God? Was it an instantaneous visit as far as the elders knew? Did Ezekiel enter a visible shift in consciousness? Did he appear to be having a seizure? Did he appear to fall asleep? If it wasn’t just an instant to those left in the room, did they run away in fear or did they stay and watch over Ezekiel’s physical body while his spirit was busy? I wonder if we will find the answers to these questions later on. Just my curious mind wanting to know what else happened in the story.
Ezekiel is snatched away by the hair of his head! Why? Was this before his instructions to shave off his hair or was it as it was growing back? Being taken away this way doesn’t leave him any recourse but to comply.
The vision starts out with the ‘smaller’ stuff then gets worse. I have no idea what the image of “jealousy” looks like. Neither does my bible helps. What appears clear is that it is something that is drawing the people away from God. God says He is a “jealous God” and won’t tolerate his people worshiping other gods. The people are provoking His jealousy. We aren’t told exactly what the people are doing with this diverting spirit. It could be anything from chasing after wealth to bowing down to some idol. But it’s not the worst thing they are doing. God takes Ezekiel even further into Judah’s and Israel’s sinful behaviors.
The next vision is of the elders of the house of Israel worshiping in secret the worst of the worst images. Satan came to Eve in the form of a serpent. God cursed him to “crawl upon the ground.” The elders are worshiping images/drawings/carvings of all the “creeping things and loathsome beasts” (verse 10b). The lowest of the low but they also threw in ALL the idols that Israel had ever worshiped. I’m pretty sure this included images of the golden calf.
Side note: I’m curious why Israel chose a golden calf to worship not once but twice. In the wilderness Arron fashioned a golden calf for the people. Rehoboam made two giant ones for the people to worship. Was this a holdover from their lives in Egypt? My curious mind again.
Back to the vision. God shows Ezekiel one of the prominent men doing this also. The moved from secret worship to group worship and even using some of the instruments of worship for God in their rituals; censers with incense were wafting up to the detestable gods. I’m not sure if this was supposed to be group worship or if they were all together like windows looking into individual rooms. God says it is “each in his room of pictures” (verse 12b). And, why are they doing this? Because they say that God can’t see them and that He has forsaken the land. They have this ‘cause and effect thing’ a little backwards. They started worshiping other gods and He SAW them doing it. THEN, He forsook the land because of THEIR behavior.
Next, Ezekiel is taken to a place where the women of Judah or Israel are crying their eyes out over the foreign god, Tammuz. He was supposed to be the god of fertility. So, it sounds like they were mourning not having his ‘blessing’ of fertility; they couldn’t get pregnant or carry their child to term. I would like to tell them that the body shuts down ‘unnecessary’ systems when in a state of crisis. Starvation would seriously impact a woman’s fertility. It even affects her menstrual cycle.
My bible helps tells me that these women were most likely “shrine prostitutes.” Would that make them crying over the inability to have children to offer to their god? That’s just AWEFUL! Maybe it was a city-wide infertility they were mourning. It’s easier to accept that answer. But this infertility would go beyond the people and include animals too. No new chickens, goats, cows; no new food sources. Even the milk of the goats and cows dries up after a while.
The last scene that God shows Ezekiel in this portion of his vision is that of the very people who should be worshiping God IN HIS HOUSE turning their backs on Him and worshiping the sun. NOT the Son but the sun. They were worshiping the created in the space reserved for worship of their Creator. This REALLY got God’s hackles up! And I cannot blame Him. It raises mine too!!! (My hackles have/had no bearing on their lives.)
We are still in the courtyards of the Temple at this point in time. I’m wondering how far into God’s presence they will take their idolatry. Will they bring idol worship into the Temple itself? How about into the Holy of Holies? God and Ezekiel haven’t gone there yet. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ll have to wait and see as God slowly reveals all to Ezekiel.
God is up to His eyeballs in disgust with His people. He says that it goes NO further. He is going to put a stop to it. Period. And nothing the people can say will spare them from their rightly deserved judgment. Their cries will fall on deaf ears. He WILL NOT SHOW PITY to them, no matter how loud they cry.
God is BEYOND 10 in counting. I think this rates a 12 or 13. Tomorrow we will see Him take decisive steps because of Judah/Israel’s sins.
Father God, I PRAY I NEVER make You this angry! I do NOT want to follow in the ways of Israel or Judah during the days of Ezekiel. Let NOTHING sit on the throne of my heart but YOU Lord! THANK YOU for ALL the chances You have given me. And for taking anything that got on Your throne in my life OFF of it.
