Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
God shows Ezekiel the pervasive idolatry in the land.
II. Photo
God leads Ezekiel to the idolatry: “[God] said to me, ‘Mortal, break through the wall’; so I broke through the wall and found an entrance.” (v. 8 )
III. Important Verses
1-4: In the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, I was sitting at home, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, and there the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me. As I looked, there was a figure that had the appearance of fire: from what appeared as his loins down, he was fire; and from his loins up, his appearance was resplendent and had the color of amber. He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by the hair of my head. A spirit lifted me up between heaven and earth and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the Penimith Gate that faces north; that was the site of the infuriating image that provokes fury. And the Presence of the God of Israel appeared there, like the vision that I had seen in the valley.
7-11: Then He brought me to the entrance of the court; and I looked, and there was a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Mortal, break through the wall”; so I broke through the wall and found an entrance. And He said to me, “Enter and see the vile abominations that they are practicing here.” I entered and looked, and there all detestable forms of creeping things and beasts and all the fetishes of the House of Israel were depicted over the entire wall. Before them stood seventy men, elders of the House of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst. Everyone had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense smoke ascended.
15-17: He said to me, “Have you seen, O mortal? You shall see even more terrible abominations than these.” Then He brought me into the inner court of the House of the LORD, and there, at the entrance to the Temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men, their backs to the Temple of the LORD and their faces to the east; they were bowing low to the sun in the east. And He said to me, “Do you see, O mortal? Is it not enough for the House of Judah to practice the abominations that they have committed here, that they must fill the country with lawlessness and provoke Me still further and thrust the branch to their nostrils?
IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-4. Ezekiel sees God
5-6. God shows Ezekiel the abominations of Israel
7-11. God shows Ezekiel the leaders of Israel worshiping illicitly
12-14. God shows Ezekiel the women worshiping Tammuz
15-17. God shows Ezekiel people worshiping the Sun in the temple
18. God will have no pity for Israel
V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Allen, Leslie C. “Ezekiel 1-19” Word Biblical Commentary vol. 28 (Waco, Texas: Wordbook, 1994).
Collins, John J. “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible,” (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004).
Hals, Ronald M. “Ezekiel” The forms of the Old Testament Literature vol. 19 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1989)
Photo taken from http://www.holoweb.net/~liam/pictures/2004-09-uk-cornwall-01/pages/cimg2735/cimg2735-2304×1728.jpg
