THE GLORY HAS LEFT THE BUILDING Ezekiel 8, 14 Lesson for June 7-8, 2014 Scott Susong INTRODUCTION Most people know how to boil a live frog but just in case you don t and were wondering here s how fill pan with room temperature water; place frog in water; turn on low heat under pan and slowly, slowly, gradually increase the heat. The frog will adjust to the change in temperature and before he realizes it he is cooked! The change takes place so slowly that the frog never tries to jump out of the pan. Now, I have not lost my mind I do have a point to this story Deterioration never happens suddenly. No garden suddenly becomes overgrown with weeds. No marriage suddenly ends in divorce. No church suddenly splits. No nation suddenly becomes weak. No person suddenly lapses into idolatry and a life of sin. Deterioration happens gradually to a person often without him even realizing it until like the frog, it s too late. It happened to the nation of Israel and it can happen to you and me. In our lesson for today we will look at the gradual downward spiral of sin in Israel and the gradual departure of the glory of God from Israel. BIBLICAL/HISTORICAL CONTEXT This section (Chapters 8-14) takes place a year and 2 months after Ezekiel s call (Chapter 2). Chapters 8-14 answer the question, what had the people of Israel done to deserve punishment? The section breaks down in this way: Ezekiel is transported in spirit to Jerusalem into the court of the Temple 8:1-4. The Lord shows him the idolatry of Israel in and around the Temple 8:5-18. The Lord shows him the consequences of the idolatry of Israel Chapter 9. In his vision he sees the city burned with fire and the sanctuary forsaken by God Chapter 10. A note of encouragement assuring the exiles that they will someday be regathered, returned and regenerated Chapter 11. Pack your bags; preparation for exile Chapter 12. He condemns the false prophets both male and female Chapter 13. Idolatrous elders condemned; a call to repentance; the city will not be spared Chapter 14. [This summary is based on Keil-Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 9, page 111 and Biff Johnson s outline of Ezekiel distributed to teachers.] For this lesson we will focus our attention on Chapters 8 and 14. I. THE PROGRESSION OF SIN IN ISRAEL, Ezekiel Chapter 8 Sin in an individual or in a nation does not happen suddenly. As for Israel, they gradually, over time, turned their back on God. Verses 1-6 Evidently, the elders of the community had come to seek Ezekiel s advice, possibly on the fate of Jerusalem. Ezekiel describes a theophany - a manifestation of God. It was very difficult for Ezekiel to describe in terms we can understand. It was not a man but as the appearance of a man
(verse 2). He stretched out not a hand but the form of a hand and transported Ezekiel to Jerusalem in a vision. The term, idol of jealousy (NASB) is used in verses 3 and 5. This means that the idol provokes God to jealousy. We must remember that God is a jealous God He does not share His glory with anyone else. In this case a foreign god was receiving worship instead of the God of Israel. This violated both the first and the second commandments of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-6). In fact, in Exodus 20:5 He says, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God (NASB). ILLUSTRATION: We tend to think of jealousy as a weakness or a form of insecurity like a Junior High girl being jealous and hurt because her boyfriend looked at another girl in school. In God, jealousy is not a weakness. He isn t insecure. It means that He does not share His glory or His worship with any other god. Jealousy is one of God s attributes and all of His attributes are perfect. We are not told what the idol was but it doesn t matter. It was a foreign god, a god of one of the other nations, and was an affront to the One True God. If an idol was in the vicinity of the Temple, the holiest place in Judaism, God would leave. In verse 6 Ezekiel is told, But yet you will see still greater abominations. This implies a progression of idolatry and sin this is only the beginning. Ezekiel was about to be shown even more detestable things being done. Verses 7-13 Ezekiel entered thru the hole and saw the images of creeping things, beasts and detestable things. Scholars believe that the carvings on the walls represented the idols of Egypt, Canaan and Babylon. This scene included 70 elders burning incense to his particular idol. What a hideous scene in the Temple of God! Imagine the horror that Ezekiel must have felt. ILLUSTRATION: How would you feel if you walked into the worship center of our beloved church and saw 70 of our staff pastors offering incense to various idols. It is absolutely unthinkable and yet that is what Ezekiel saw at the Temple in Jerusalem. In verse 12 the elders are in the dark and are saying, The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land. APPLICATION: Ask yourself do you sometimes commit sin when you are all alone and you think that God does not see you and that you have gotten away with it? How foolish. God sees and knows everything we do, say and even think! Verse 13 Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing. It is progressive revelation revealing to Ezekiel the downward spiral of their sin. Verses 14-15 Women were weeping for Tammuz. What is going on here? There are two possible explanations 1. Tammuz is the Hebrew form of the Sumerian god Dumuzi, the god of spring vegetation. In the hot summer months when vegetation is dried up, mythology explains it as the death of Tammuz. During this time his followers would weep for him; in the spring he would emerge victorious bringing new vegetation. [based on The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, page 1244]
2. Tammuz is the fertility god that the Greeks called Adonis. According to their myth Tammuz was killed by a wild boar, went to the underworld and the result was winter. His wife, Astarte, would rescue him and bring the return of springtime. [based on Warren Wiersbe s commentary on Ezekiel, pages 52-53] The rituals associated with Tammuz were unspeakably vile as most fertility rituals were. Verse 15 alerts Ezekiel to the continued downward spiral of sin: Yet you will see still greater abominations than these. Verses 16-18 25 men were prostrating themselves in worship facing the east toward the sun. These men were literally turning their backs on God and the Temple and worshipping the sun. Verse 16 says with their backs to the temple of the Lord to make the point crystal clear. The idolatry of the 70 elders was in the dark in secret but these 25 men practiced their idolatry openly! God had long ago forbidden the worship of the sun, moon and stars see Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 17:3. These men were worshipping the creation rather than the Creator as it says in Romans 1:25. The idea of open sin completely lacking of any shame completes the downward spiral of sin. Except for the faithful remnant, the people no longer feared God or cared anything about trying to please Him. An obscure phrase is used in verse 17 to describe the sin of the people: they are putting the twig to their nose. Commentators have their theories as to what it might mean but we have no parallel in Scripture. But, make no mistake about it whatever it meant it was a gesture that was abhorrent to God. Remember at the beginning of this lesson we said that we were going to answer the question, What had the people done to deserve punishment? I believe the Lord has made it very clear what they had done! He now introduces the consequences in verse 18: Therefore, I indeed shall deal in wrath. The KJV uses the word fury instead of wrath. This is a general statement the details will follow. II. THE PROGRESSION OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD LEAVING THE TEMPLE The Temple was the holiest spot in the religion of Israel. It was the dwelling place of the Lord and the glory of the Lord was present in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. However, as a consequence to the sin of the people, the glory of the Lord would depart. As stated earlier, if an idol was in the vicinity of the Temple, the Lord would not share His glory with another god He would leave. The gradual progression of the Lord vacating the Temple started in Ezekiel 9:3 (read). 9:9-10 their sin is very, very great and the Lord will bring their conduct upon their heads. The continuation of the Glory of the Lord departing: see 10:3-4; 10:18-19 and finally 11:22-23. In 11:23 it states, And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states, As God s glory left Jerusalem, it passed over the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. This departure signaled Jerusalem s doom. [page 1249]
Now, here is the scary question I wonder if the people even noticed? They were so steeped and involved in their idolatry, I doubt seriously that they even noticed that the Lord was gone! APPLICATION: The tragic thing is that many churches in our land are in the same situation. Long ago they abandoned the Word of God. They have abandoned the preaching of the Gospel. They have adopted an agenda driven by the world s standards: political correctness, prosperity, etc. Consequently, the Lord has taken His hand & His blessing off of that church and its Pastor and they go right on as if nothing has happened they don t even notice! The rest, as they say, is history. In 586 B.C. Jerusalem and the Temple finally fell to the Babylonians. But, we are getting ahead of ourselves. III. THE CALL TO REPENTANCE, Chapter 14 Verses 1-5 the elders are condemned for their idolatry. Notice, this is when the elders come before Ezekiel presumably to seek his counsel it is a bit late for that! The Lord uses an interesting phrase speaking to Ezekiel: these men have set up idols in their hearts (verse 3, 4 and 7); and in verse 5 the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols. Idolatry in any form starts in the heart, the seat of our mind, emotions and will. It is subtle, under the surface, but then blossoms into what was described going on in Jerusalem open idolatry and sin. Because of the position of these elders they also caused others to stumble, to sin, to go astray. Verse 6 This is the solution, the only solution: repent and turn away from your idols! This is the meaning of repent: to turn from sin and turn to the Lord. It involves a change of mind, heart and will. Repentance is not a feeling, although it may include that, but it is a decision one makes to turn from his own sinful way and to follow the Lord. Verses 12-23 We will not get into the details except to say that the city of Jerusalem will not be spared God s judgment. They have had more than enough chances to repent; His judgment is now set in motion. Verse 14 mentions 3 men as stellar examples of godly individuals: Noah, Daniel and Job. One very interesting thing is that Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel they were both exiles at the same time and no doubt knew each other. It is a tribute to Daniel s sterling character that he is linked with Noah and Job. The 3 men are also mentioned in verses 16, 18 and 20. Here s the point: God is saying that even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in Jerusalem at this time, they could only save themselves by their own righteousness. Not even those 3 could save the nation. APPLICATION: The concept of individual responsibility before God. I can t ride into Heaven on someone else s coat tails. God does not save me because my grandmother was a Christian. The Lord accepts me into Heaven because of what His Son did on the cross for me. I believe and receive that payment for my sin and I am accepted by the Lord, period, selah.
CONCLUSION/APPLICATION PRINCIPLES Here are some thoughts/questions as we conclude 1) If you are in the middle of a successful run, take heed lest you fall you can be most vulnerable following a great success or victory. 2) Don t change your convictions to accommodate your desires. 3) What wrong idea or action are you beginning to tolerate in your life? 4) If you are headed down a particular path pay attention to any red flags or yellow flags that may pop up. 5) If you know you are headed in the wrong direction repent, turn and follow the Lord fully! If you focus on these 5 things, the results might shock you and you will avoid a lot of hot water!