‘I AM A JEALOUS GOD’1
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Opening Prayer
Father, use the power of your Word to make a difference in my journey of faith today. Continue to transform all of who I am—my thoughts, my attitudes, my life—so that I might bring you glory.
Read EZEKIEL 8, 9
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Idolatry in the Temple
8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came on me there. 2 I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man.[a] From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. 3 He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. 4 And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.
5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.” So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.
6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”
7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. 8 He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there.
9 And he said to me, “Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” 10 So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and unclean animals and all the idols of Israel. 11 In front of them stood seventy elders of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
12 He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’” 13 Again, he said, “You will see them doing things that are even more detestable.”
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this.”
16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
17 He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! 18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 8:2 Or saw a fiery figure
Judgment on the Idolaters
9 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” 2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
7 Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8 While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ 10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”
11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Where do you see the church in danger of deserving God’s judgment today?
The elders of Judah, in Babylonia, come to see Ezekiel, but he pops off to Jerusalem, a thousand miles away! Recording the date represented proof that he had predicted the event in advance. We cannot be certain exactly what happened, but Ezekiel probably remained physically present with the elders. A prophet being in two places simultaneously has a parallel with Elisha.2
The vision reveals to Ezekiel that pagan practices were rife in the temple in Jerusalem. He sees the glory of the Lord move to the threshold of the temple (9:3), offended by the sin of Israel. The purpose of the vision may have been to show Ezekiel the reasons for the destruction he was to proclaim and to help him rebut the arguments that God was being unfair. Ezekiel intercedes on behalf of the people (9:8), in the prophetic tradition of Moses, Jeremiah, and Amos.3 Ezekiel is not just concerned for the people: he has a passion for the glory and purposes of God in the world. The terrible truth of this chapter is that not only are God’s people not immune from God’s judgment, but they will be judged more harshly because of the opportunities they have been given.
The statement that judgment is to ‘begin at my sanctuary’ (see 9:6) should send a shiver down our spines. Remember Peter’s warning that it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household.4 As we look around the Christian world, we see historical sexual abuse scandals, the breakdown of Christian marriages, infidelity, trust in money and possessions, church politics, factions, corruption, and power games: ‘just a sample of the temptations to idolatry that surround us and entice us away from the integrity of a fully biblical faith in the one living God and in the sole lordship of Jesus Christ’.5
Apply
Do we as individuals and as a church need to take God’s judgment more seriously?
Closing prayer
Lord God, help me to see my sin as you see it. Help me to acknowledge my failures and seek forgiveness instead of trying to justify myself.
1 See Exod 20:5 2 2 Kings 5:26 3 Num 14:13–19; Amos 7:2, 5; Jer 14:19–21 4 1 Pet 4:17 5 C Wright, The Message of Ezekiel (IVP, 2001), 109.
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