45 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
45 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 8:1-13"
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date = "2023-03-19"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel8.1-13)
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About thirteen months after the last prophecy, Ezekiel is again visited by the
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Lord. This one happens while he has visitors, the elders of Judah. Ezekiel
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again sees the shining glory of the Lord, who takes him by the hair and lifts
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him up into the sky to take him to Jerusalem. This is very likely not a
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physical transportation, as he says the Spirit is the One who lifted him up.
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At Jerusalem, Ezekiel is set down in the temple, at the entrance to the inner
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court. He is shown an "image of jealousy" (_vv. 3,5_), that is, an idol that
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provokes the Lord's jealousy. We aren't told exactly what it is, but it seems
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likely to be an Asherah like King Manessah set up. Asherah poles were symbols
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for a Caananite fertility goddess. The Lord says to Ezekiel that the house of
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Israel is doing abominations to drive Him out of His sanctuary. What I can't
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determine is whether the people intend for this, or if it is only what the Lord
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decided the consequences of their idolatry would be. But as bad as this is,
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there are worse things for Ezekiel to see.
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At the entrance to the court, there was a hole in the wall, and Ezekiel is
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commanded to dig into it. He finds an entrance into a room, and is told so see
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what is inside. There is a room filled with reliefs depicting all of the
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various idols that Israel worshipped at that time. Additionally he sees 70
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elders of Israel burning incense in there, including Jaazaniah the son of
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Shaphan leading them. This man is tragically significant because his father
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Shaphan helped King Josiah reform the worship of Judah to the true God. Shaphan
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was the one to read the Book of the Law to the king that Hilkiah the priest
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found.
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Apparently these men think their hidden room is unseen by God, or maybe that He
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is no longer paying attention to Israel. They don't realize that the very acts
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they are committing are what bring the Lord's wrath upon the land, the very
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disasters they fear are coming and are trying to prevent with their prayers to
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idols. They had forgotten the Lord's promises and commandments, and have
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twisted things around so much that they blame God for their own problems. As
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bad as this is, Ezekiel will see still worse things.
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* * *
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Help us see our sin for what it is, and give us the remedy that will heal us
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from it.
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