Ezekiel 8: 1 – 18
‘Secret sins’ Part 2
“7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. 9 And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.” 10 So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’” 13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” 16 So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
Many suspense movies have these secret chambers. You pull down a book and the entire wall slides open to reveal a whole major command center. How intriguing that even in these biblical days the people tried to hide their secret activities.
God showed Ezekiel first hand how the people had slid down to this worthless idolatry and wickedness. God’s Holy Spirit also works within us and uncovers the evil that lurks in our thoughts, words, and actions. We see here that we also can turn God away by the disgracefulness of our live as we reject His commandments. I heard someone once say that at judgment day our entire lives will be reviewed. If this will happen then how do you feel about having this done? Are there secret things you think are over and done with? Buried? What are your thoughts about having this movie out for all to see?
I am sure Ezekiel has seen enough, but God bumps it up another notch. ‘But you will see yet other abominations’.
“7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall. 8 Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door. 9 And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.”
No one would suspect to find a door hidden behind masonry, although the hole in the wall may suggest that the door was there and had been hidden behind a covering of stone and earth. The fact that it was hidden would point to the degradation-taking place in the room because it had to be kept secret even from the debased worshippers in the Temple and was possibly only used at night
“10 So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.”
I guess they thought that since Yahweh was worshipped in the daylight hours, it was okay to use His Temple to do other religious observations at night. I was once on a Board of Directors of a supposed Christian based organization that took care of abused children. At one meeting it was brought up for approval that this organization rent one of its building to a cult. I spoke up against this proposal. The entire board agreed with we save the President. He said that he would continue to bring this request at each board meeting until approved. Oh well, so much for rules and protocol of Board of Director meetings. So, I exited stage left, and told him to have a nice life without me, as I handed in my resignation.
‘All around on the walls’. The Lord God has separated a people unto Himself that would be different. They would know and worship the only true and living God. However, the desire to be like the other countries infected their thoughts. They began to incorporate a polytheistic [ more than one god ] religious practice. What was engraved on the walls were the serpent deities, sacred dung beetles, and other hideous creatures of religions practiced in the surrounding nations, specifically Egypt, Canaan, and Mesopotamia cults. The abomination was manly in the fact that they were depicted and worshipped, likening the heavenly to the earthly.
‘Oh Lord, how amazing is Your Mercy and Kindness toward us. You created us so that You could just love us. And how to we express our gratitude and thanksgiving? By turning away from Your Love. Oh Lord, please forgive us, we are but dust given life by You. Forgive us Lord for taking You for granted.
It is so easy to drift away from our Precious father. The lust of the eyes; the lusts of the flesh; and the pride of life influence us to go for the wrong choices. In the book of Romans chapter one, Paul so eloquently reveals to us this fact;
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
How dumb are we? For the temporary pleasures derived from sex, alcohol, drugs, etc. We forsake an eternity of Love, Joy, Peace, etc with our Blessed and Holy Lord.
You would love to be a fly on the wall during some of my counseling sessions. People come in complaining why life is treating them so harshly and where is God in the picture? Then after you discover through hints in their stories about what awful sins they have been doing, my principal answer is that they should be praising God for Him not dealing with them more harshly as they rightfully deserve. We are truly amazing creatures. The solution to their problems is easy and their whole situation can be turned around almost immediately. All they have to do is stop doing the wrong things. Ask God for forgiveness then sit back and watch Him again bring His Holy Presence back into their lives again.
Do you think this type of counsel works? The answer is no. most want other solutions to help their cause. They want to stay sinning and not be dealt with by our Holy God at the same time.
In the book of Numbers chapter 11 we read this, ”16 So the LORD said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you.”
From back in Moses’ day, God called out 70 men as leaders or rulers. Could it be here in Ezekiel tha tevery leader had ‘sold out’ the Lord Whom they represent. Are we any different? Have our leaders ‘sold out’ the God in Whom we say ‘In God we trust’?
One leader that is so specifically listed is Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan. We find more information on him in 2 Kings 22, 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3 Now it came to pass, in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the house of the LORD, saying: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money which has been brought into the house of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of those doing the work, who are the overseers in the house of the LORD; let them give it to those who are in the house of the LORD doing the work, to repair the damages of the house— 6 to carpenters and builders and masons—and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. 7 However there need be no accounting made with them of the money delivered into their hand, because they deal faithfully.” 8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, “Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of the LORD.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. 11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the LORD for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her.
Shaphan helped good king Josiah in his reforms and was his scribe. What we see here is a good man gone bad. These men were important people for they also became part of the leaders who made offerings in secret worship to these graven images. These men symbolized the total deterioration of the nation. The number seven indicates perfection in the diving sphere. This seventy [ 7 x 10] represents the whole country had gone completely and perfectly into depravity.
‘And the odour of the cloud of incense went up’. Again how sin blinds us to the fact that our Lord sees all and knows all. As a reminder, look with me at Genesis 11, “1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”
What we have read here is the fact that our Lord knows completely everything that is going on. Mankind is deceived in thinking that God does not see, nor will act on the individual’s willful sins.
We read in Exodus 30 the Holy Lord God’s commandment on how incense was to be used, 1 “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it before the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.7 “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. 8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. 10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD.”
The incense that was offered in the dark secret chambers not only went up, but it ‘went up’ and was noted in heaven and the only Holy Yahweh was aware of it, and He did not like it.
“12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
Each elder had been involved in his ‘own chambers of imagery’. Notice not just ‘a chamber of evil thoughts, but ‘chambers’ where their minds focused on.
Here are just a few verses regarding our own evil thought and intentions starting with Genesis 11,
“5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Job 21: 27, 27 “Look, I know your thoughts, and the schemes with which you would wrong me.”
Psalm 10: 4, “4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”
Psalm 56: 5, “5 All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil.”
Psalm 94: 11, “11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.”
Proverbs 15: 26, “26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD, but the words of the pure are pleasant.”
These men not only went to the Temple and worshipped those graven images in secret but they also went around thinking about this lifestyle. The fact that it was in the dark may indicate their attempts to contact evil forces through the occult. I think it is good that God does not display to us here what our own thoughts and acts have been? Is it not so?
I remember going to confession every week. However, I always could not make it to the parking lot without sinning again. I should have just moved into the confessional. Thank God, His Precious Son has taken away all my sins – past, present, and future.
“For they say, ‘Yahweh does not see us. Yahweh has forsaken the earth’. In our modern descriptions we might say, ‘God Is Dead’. Their cry now is to blame the Holy Living God. All this agony is His fault. He has abandoned us. Oh, Lord, please forgive us – what audacity! They want nothing to do with God then when calamity strikes, it is all His fault for not being there to help prevent it.
Are we not doing the same thing today? After some of the horrible catastrophes such as 9/11 and Katrina happened, who got blamed, besides FEMA.- Our Precious Holy God. The more I think about how we treat Him I stand amazed at His Long Suffering towards us. The people blamed Yahweh for deserting them, instead of taking the full responsibility for abandoning Him.
“13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.” 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz”
‘Weeping for Tammuz’ – if you want to spend some good time about who Tammuz was, find out the author Hilsup who wrote II Babylon. To give you a quick rundown on what this entire story means then first of all we have to go back to Genesis 3 verse 14 – 15 – the fall of mankind
“14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “ Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Because of the fall of mankind, God’s Amazing Wisdom foreknew a way to allow man to return to Him. He had already known of a substitution sacrifice for the hell bent sinners. He provided a lamb or His Anointed [Christ] to come into the world as His Messiah and pay for the cost of sin, once and for all. If you notice in verse 15, it speaks of the woman’s seed! Women do not contain the seeds but eggs. It is man who has the seeds. So, what you see here has to be a ‘virgin’ who has not known man sexually giving birth to this promised Messiah. Every woman from Eve wanted to be the one selected vessel who would give birth to this promised redeemer.
In Genesis 10 verses 8 – 9 we read of a rebel by the name of Nimrod who defied God. “8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.”
Nimrod is the one who built the tower of Babel. His wife was a woman by the name of Semaris. Based on ancient writing their son Tammuz was killed by a wild boar.
Semaris went off the deep end especially after losing her son so she established herself as ‘the queen of heaven’ and declared that she was the one who brought the promised ‘One’ into the world. The women of the land wept for 40 days and Semaris declared that her son had come back to life afterward. The people made up little female statutes of a woman holding a child and worshipped them both. This would be known as the ‘Madonna and child’. The people would cut down live pine trees and bring them into their houses, decorate them and then put presents under the tree in celebration of Tammuz coming back to life. Does any of this remind you of something, like Christmas?
We fast-forward to the time of Constantine, Emperor of the Roman Empire. He declared Christianity the new and accepted religion of the world. The Christians were now the ‘in crowd’ and the pagans ‘left out!’ So, the best way to adapt was to join the new religion. The pagans’ merely substituted their pagan deities with Christian names. Semariis and Tammuz became Mary and Jesus. The church incorporated the celebrations and now called them ‘Lent’ and ‘Christmas’. Our Lord Jesus was not born on December 25th. This day is the shortest day of the year and was celebrated at the pagan feast Saturnalia.
“15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” 16 So He brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.”
Entering further into the Temple area, Ezekiel is shown about 25 men. These were priests who would be the only ones allowed into this area.
“17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘ Where is their God?’”
These men stood between the altar where the sacrifices were offered and the gate of the Temple through which at times the blood would be taken to be sprinkled on the ‘Mercy Seat’ and through which the priests would pass into the outer chamber. It was the place where the priests and the servants of Yahweh should have wept for Yahweh to spare them and the people for their iniquities. It was the place where they could have found mercy.
The mention of about 25 men may be a hint of the 24 courses of priests plus the High Priest. Five squared equals 25 and depicts the whole religious community as being involved.
“Their faces towards the east’ towards the rising sun is forbidden by God in Deuteronomy 4: 19, “19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.”
God Almighty does not authorize facing east bowing down and worshipping the sun.
“17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.”
Don’t forget that the leaders of Judah are sitting before Ezekiel and hearing every awful desecration. God wants them to understand that it is no light thing that has brought such severe judgment of the Jews. Their behavior was over the top in evil rebellion.
‘For they have filled the land with violence’ Again due to the shedding of innocent blood – abortion and murder. There were little restraints and thus violence abounded. Such is often the result when men turn from God.
‘And low they put the branch to their nose’ – This is the same as thumbing your nose at God. The biggest insult is not giving God the credit that is due to His Holy Name. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. To give the sun, one of His created energy sources, as the one responsible for the benefits of life, is the same as giving the finger to God. Lord please forgive us for our sins of mocking you. Of not rightfully worshipping You and giving You all the Praise and Glory due Your Holy name.
“18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
It is too late. None of their cries will be received into His ears. We read in the book of Revelation that we too are nearing the end. Our Lord in His Mercy has put up with a lot from our country. When it comes as a woman giving birth it will happen quickly. We need to get ready!
