CHAP. VIII. V. 1. Only fourteen months, or four hundred and twenty days, (namely, from the fifth day of the fourth month, in the fifth year of Jehoiachin's captivity, to the fifth captivity, day of the sixth month, of the sixth year after that event;) seem to have passed from Ezekiel's first vision to the date of this chapter; ( Note , 1:1-3.) which would not allow time for his lying three hundred and ninety days on his left side, and forty on his right side, according to the interpretation given of that transaction: and for the seven days during which he sat
et's hair, and at the same time the Spirit lifted him up in the vision of God, and conveyed him to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner court of the temple from the north, by that gate which was called the altar-gate. ( Marg . Ref . e-g.)-There was "a seat," or nich , prepared for some base idol, perhaps Baal, or Molech, which was called "the image of jealousy;" ( Marg .
Ref . h, i.- Note , 2 Kings 21:7,8, v. 7.) because the open worship of this idol provoked the Lord to jealousy, even as the open adultery of a woman, in the house of her husband, would excite his jealousy. (Notes, Ex . 20:5. 34:11-17, v. 14. 1 Cor . 10:18-22.) At the same time the glory of the Lord, according to what the prophet had formerly seen in the plain, appeared to him; ( Marg .
Ref . k.- Note , 1:) which intimated that JEHOVAH had not yet withdrawn his presence from the temple, though he had been treated with such marked contempt, by the open preference given by the Jews to a base idol.- The whole
silent. ( Notes , 3:12-15.4:) But this might bell was presented in vision before the prophet's
'5:5.' Lowth.
V. 6. That I , &c.] The detestable idolatries, committed even at the temple of God, would constrain him to leave it and the people, to the merciless ravages of their enemies. He could not, consistently with his honor, dwell any longer in his polluted sanctuary, or among such abominable idolaters. The Jews indeed acted, as if they had determined to exclude JEHOVAH from his temple, and drive him from among them: for the injured husband must put his wife away, when her adulteries become notorious and abandoned; or else his own reputation will suffer. ( Marg .
Ref . 1-p. -Notes, 7:20–22. 10:18,19. 11:22-25. Deut . 31:18. 2 Chr . 36:14–17. Lam . 2:6,7.) But, as if this one image, openly worshippe worshipped in the court of the temple, had been a small matter, the prophet was ordered to turn his eyes another way, and he would discover still more and greater abominations, because committed 'by persons of greater authority, and nearer 'the place of my immediate presence. 11,14, '16.' Lowth.
V. 7-12. When the prophet had been conducted to some door of the court of the temple, he found a wall: this seems to have been built, in order to conceal the idolatries, secretly practised by the elders in the chambers of the temple, which had been converted into a sort of chapel for that purpose; and to which, probably, they had a private entrance. But when he had examined this wall, he discovered a
t every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about.
11 And there stood before them "seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, z hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do bin the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see d greater abominations that they do.
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which was
t Ex. 20:4. Lev. 11:10-12,29 | y Num. 16:17,35. 2 Chr. 26:16, -31,42-44. Deut. 4:18. 14: 19. Jer. 7:9.
3,7,8. Is. 57:6-10. Jer. 2:26, 27. 3:9. 16:18. Rom. 1:23. u Ex. 24:1,9. Num. 11:16,25. Jer. 5:5. Dan. 9:8.
x 2 Kings 22:3,8,12,14. 25:22. 2 Chr. 34:20. Jer. 26:24. 29: 3. 36:10.
z 6,15,17.
a 11. 14:1. 20:1.
b 7,8. Job 24:13-17. John 3: 19,20.
c 9:9. Job 22:12,13. Ps. 94:7 - 10. Is. 29:15. d 6,15. Jer. 9:3. 2 Tim. 3:13.
hole: and being ordered to dig or to work at it to make it larger, he found a door which had been walled up, by which he was commanded to enter. There he saw all kinds of reptiles and unclean beasts, such as the Egyptians used to worship; and all the idols, which Israel or Judah had ever worshipped, painted around upon the wall: and before them seventy men of the elders of Israel, (according to the number of the sanhedrim, or great council of the nation,) were collected together.
One of them he knew to be Jaazaniah, (who perhaps was president of the council, or a very eminent man among them;) and there were they, as consecrated priests of this rabble of dunghillgods, every man with his censer in his hand, lavishly burning incense, and presenting adorations.
This indeed was shewn to the prophet in a vision : but such was the actual conduct of the rulers and elders of Judah, in their dark recesses, in the chambers of the temple, which they secretly appropriated to their images; and, as some think, in the private chambers of their own houses also, or according to the devices and imaginations of their own hearts. For they concluded, that God did not see them, and that he had "forsaken the earth," or the land .
He did not deliver the people out of their difficulties; because they continued in sin, and had not sought him with sincere repentance, faith, and prayer, but merely in hypocrisy: and they concluded that he either could not, or would not, help them; and that they were authorized to seek help from some other quarter, as Saul did to his own destruction. ( Notes , 1 Chr . 10:13,14. 2 Chr . 28:22,23.) Nay, they seem to have questioned the existence, or the omnipresence and omniscience, of JEHOVAH: they concluded, that no good would come from waiting on him, nor any harm from forsaking him: and they determined to seek help from those idols, whose licentious characters and worship they loved, in proportion as they hated the holy character, worship, and service e toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16 And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were * about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
e 44:4. 46:9.
f 6,12.
g 9,13.
h 10:3. 40:28. 43:5. 45:19.
i 2 Kings 16:14. 2 Chr. 7:7. Joel 2:17.
k 11:1.
1 23:35. 1 Kings 8:29. 2 Chr. 29:6. Jer. 2:27. 32:33.
m Deut. 4:19. 17:3. 2 Kings 23: 5,11. Job 31:26-28, Jer. 44: 17. Acts 7:42,43.
of JEHOVAH. (Marg. Ref . Notes , 9:8-11. Ex . 33:1-6. P. 0.1-14. Deut . 4:15-19. Job 22:5 -14. Ps . 94:1-11. Jer . 44:15-23.)
V. 13, 14. Marg. Ref . Wceping , &c. (14) It is not agreed who or what Tammuz was, or on what account this idolatrous ceremony was observed in honor of him. But it is generally allowed, that he was some very profligate man, who was deified after his death; and that this annual lamentation for him was attended with the most infamous licentiousness: and concerning such a union of impiety and immorality, the less we know the better. ( Notes , Ex . 23: 13. Is . 65:11,12.)
V. 15. Greater, &c.] This expression may be rendered "great abominations besides these." And indeed we can scarcely conceive greater abominations than those before mentioned.
V. 16. These twenty-five men are supposed to have been priests, who having stationed themselves in the inner court, close to the porch, and entrance into the holy sanctuary; turned their backs on the temple of God to worship the rising sun. The Holy of holies was at the west end of the sanctuary, which was westward of the altar: so that they could not worship the sun with their faces to the east, without turning their backs on the Lord and his holy place. ( Marg .
Ref . -Note , 46:8,9.) We cannot doubt that the practice of turning to the east, in some parts of public worship, which is still retained in many Christian churches, was originally borrowed from idolaters, who worshipped the sun: and though it is possible for us to be superstitiously afraid of superstition, respecting any indifferent posture or ceremony; yet those, who are very tenacious of this custom, would do well to consider its original, in order to abate their excessive attachment to it.
V. 17. ( Marg . Ref .) The Jews were not only guilty of these gross and detestable idolatries, but also of oppression and injustice equally atrocious. Thus they used every means to provoke the Lord to anger. It is not certain, whether the expression, "They put the branch to their nose," refers to some idolatrous practice; or to some methods then in use, by which men endeavored to exasperate others, and to shew their contempt and defiance of them. The LXX render it, Αυτοι ὡς μυκτηριζοντες: “They are as those who mock." ( Luke 16:14. Gr.) They add more fuel to my wrath, which will 'burst out like a flame to consume them; just 'as if one should lay a heap of dry sticks upon 'a fire.' Lightfoot in Lowth .
17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this , O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah, that they commit the abominations which they commit here? " for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will J have pity: Pand though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
* Or, Is there any thing lighter | o 5:11-13. 7:4-9. 9:5,10. 16: than to commit, & c .
n 7:23. 9:9. 11:6. Gen. 6:13. 2 Kings 21:16. 24:4. Jer. 6:7. 19:4. 20:8. Am. 3:10. 6:3. Mic. 2:2, 6:12. Zeph. 1:9.
42. Nah. 1:2.
p Judg. 10:13,14. Prov. 1:28. Is. 1:15. 59:2. Jer. 11:11. 14: 12. Mic. 3:4. Zech. 7:13. Luke 13:25.
V. 18. Marg . Ref . Notes, 5:13. 24:12,13. Judg. 10:13-16. Prov. 1:28-31. Is . 1:10-15. Mic. 3:1-4. Zech . 7:13.
PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS.
V. 1-6.
The "wrath of God, revealed from heaven' against sinners, appears rigorous and extreme, in proportion as men are ignorant of his perfections, of the evil of sin, and of the abominations which are every where committed.
If it should please God to give any man a very clear view of his glorious majesty and authority, and of the evil that is in every act of rebellion against him; and should at once present before him, in vision, all the abominations that are continually committing in any one city; there can be little doubt that he would be prepared to justify God in the severest vengeance, which he could inflict upon it.
We are not thus acquainted with all the wickedness, which is present to his all-seeing eye: yet, if we carefully search the scriptures, and compare with them all that we can recollect and are conscious of, in our own thoughts, words, and works; if we carefully watch our own hearts and experience, and diligently observe the conduct of the world around us; we shall entertain far more affecting views of human depravity, and of the justice of God in his temporal and eternal judgments, than we previously had: we shall learn to drop our objections, silently "to submit to his righteousness," and patiently to wait for that day, when he will "bring to light the hidden things of darkness," and shew the reasons of all his dispensations: and this will make us very thankful, that "there is forgiveness with him," and "plenteous redemption" for hell-deserving sinners.
The carelessness with which men provoke God, and prefer every worthless idol and base lust, to his favor and service, sufficiently mark the apostacy, rebellion, ingratitude, and enmity of the human heart: but generally the nearer we come to the sanctuary, the viler iniquities we discover by diligent investigation. It would peculiarly astonish and shock a pious mind, to be shewn all the abominations which have been committed by the professed patrons of religion, in every part of the world.
The superstition and idolatry, the blasphemous pride and ambition, the fraud and imposture, the avarice, perjury, persecution, cruelty, and licentiousness, by which the Lord has been provoked to jealousy, as it were, in the inner court of the temple, have in too many instances been notorious to all the world. And thus
V. 7-18.
The abominations, which all men see and cry shame of, are not always the worst, and never the whole, which provokes to jealousy the holy and righteous and heart-searching God.
Frequently still more atrocious things are done in secret by those, who "love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil." Such persons either forget, or atheistically deny, that "the LORD seeth them," and act as if he had "forsaken the earth." But he will detect their hypocrisy: and indeed after all their care to conceal their crimes, they commonly leave some opening which leads to a discovery.-No superiority in rank, dignity, learning, or worldly wisdom; no sacredness of character and office, will preserve men from the most grovelling lusts, or even from the most stupid idolatries, when they are left to their own deceitful hearts: nay, superior persons are commonly the ringleaders and examples of every abomination to their inferiors, who follow them at a humble distance.-Those who grudge all expenses, and are soon wearied out, in the spiritual service of God, and who deem themselves degraded by it; often grudge no expense, labor, or debasement, in following their own idolatries and superstitions.
For true religion is contrary to their pride and lusts: but their own inventions consist with the indulgence of their several inclinations: and therefore we need not wonder, that they turn their backs on the service of God to keep human traditions, or "turn away their ears from the truth and are turned unto fables." Thus idolatry and false religion, as well as impiety, are connected with violence, oppression, and immorality.
Therefore the Lord will "deal with them in fury and without pity:" and all his judgments on nations and churches are only earnests of his final wrath on "the workers of iniquity;" when they will indeed "cry unto him with a loud voice, but he will not hear them;" and when they will plainly appear to have merited their dreadful condemnation.
For, if some, who make a fair shew in the house of God, could be followed to their secret chambers, they would be found committing the most abominable crimes: many, whose exterior is decent, have the chambers of their imagination continually occupied by licentious thoughts, in which they delight, and thus gratify their hateful passions with ideal indulgences: many, who have for a time been restrained
by natural modesty and regard to character, have afterwards openly manifested their secret inclinations; when, occasion being given them, they have run into the greatest excesses. short short, the more we know of ourselves and of human nature, the more and greater abominations shall we discover: ( Note , Jer . 17:9,10.) and the longer the enlightened believer, who is enabled to walk most uprightly before God, and most blamelessly before men, examines himself and searches his heart; the more will he loathe and humble himself before God, and the more will he value "the Fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness," and daily will he purify in it his polluted soul. Thus shall he be made whiter than snow: but "how will they escape" who live and die neglecting "so great salvation?" ( Note , Heb . 2:1-4.)
NOTES.