Four Abominations
1.The Image of Jealousy
Ezekiel was told to look to a place outside the temple courtyard into the greater court. There he saw another image of jealousy. Such an image was an outrage. Israel’s God was provoked by all images (Exod 20:3-5). The presence of the image in the vicinity of the temple provoked the Lord to jealousy; i.e., the desire to vindicate his own exclusive rights.
2.Animal Worship
So I went in and saw there pictures of every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel, painted round about on the wall. (Ezekiel 8:10)
The walls, the ceilings, the floors--every part of the room was inscribed with these pictures of crawling things and idols.
And standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them....(Ezekiel 8:11)
This was particularly horrifying to Ezekiel because Shaphan was the man who had found the long-lost scrolls of the Law during Josiah's reign. But now his son is among these idol worshippers hidden away in this chamber of horrors.
3.Tammuz Worship
Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz [a Babylonian god, who was supposed to die annually and subsequently be resurrected].
This is the only reference to this ancient Babylonian cult in Palestine. Tammuz (or Dumuzi) was the son and/or lover of Ishtar. He was a vegetation god. A myth taught that he died and went to the nether world each fall, only to make his return to the land of the living in the spring. As the vegetation withered and rivers dried up, the annual death of Tammuz was lamented with public dirges. Women joined Ishtar in mourning her dead lover in the intense drought of summer.
4.The Priests
The last line of defense for a nation is the priest who were to teach the people the Word of God. The Word was revealed to them in the written Law of Moses and the temple system of worship.
Hindrances to Prayer
Therefore I will deal in wrath; My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (Ezekiel 8:18)
The LORD will not hear if sin is not dealt with in our lives.
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48