June 8, 2012
What’s in Your
Temple? (Ezekiel 8: 3b-4, 10)
3b and the Spirit
lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to
Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of
jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.
4 And behold, the
glory of the God of Israel was
there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain. NASB
10 So I entered and
looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the
idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. NASB
Verse 3b:
“I believe this
"image of jealousy" may be a reference to the idol which Manasseh put
in the temple (see 2 Kings 21; 2 Chron. 33) which was an abomination and a
blasphemy. Perhaps that old idol had been pushed into a corner and forgotten
for awhile, but now in Ezekiel's day it has been pulled out, and the people who
should have turned to God in repentance are again worshiping that idol.”
Thru The Bible With J. Vernon McGee
“He saw the seat
of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. It is not said what
image this was; but, as the Lord declared himself a jealous God, jealous of his
honor, and that honor particularly insulted by the setting up of graven images,
it is more than probable, that this was some one of these several figures,
which Israel under different reigns had made their idol.”
The Poor Man’s Commentary (Robert Hawker)
“…the
prophet points the contrast between the glorious God whom the people had
abandoned and the debased forms of worship to which they had addicted
themselves,”
The Biblical Illustrator
Verse 4:
“In the
temple, between the cherubim, where the Shechinah or the glory of the divine
Majesty dwelt; for as yet he had not removed, though provoked to it, and as he
afterwards did; or he was here to destroy the idols, and both city and temple,
for the idolatry of the people; or this is here mentioned, to show the baseness
and wickedness of the people, that they should place an idol where the Lord
himself was:”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Verse 10:
“This was a sort
of panthenon, a collection of all the idols together which they paid their
devotions to.”
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
“It is
very likely that these images pourtrayed on the wall were the objects of
Egyptian adoration: the ox, the ape, the dog, the crocodile, the ibis, the
scarabaeus or beetle, and various other things. It appears that these were
privately worshipped by the sanhedrin or great Jewish council, consisting of
seventy or seventy-two persons, six chosen out of every tribe, as
representatives of the people. The images were pourtrayed upon the wall, as we
find those ancient idols are on the walls of the tombs of the kings and nobles
of Egypt.”
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible
“Verse Eze 8:12
additionally suggests that each of the seventy was worshiping in front of a
separate niche where an image was engraved.”
IVP Bible Background Commentary
Do We Think God is
Unaware? (Ezekiel 8:11-12)
11 Standing in front
of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of
Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the
fragrance of the cloud of incense rising.
12 Then He said to me,
"Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are
committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they
say, 'The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.'" NASB
Verse 11:
·
Shaphan: A scribe during the reign of King Josiah of Judah who helped Josiah
carry out his religious reform.
·
From the time of Shaphan to Jaazaniah Israel sunk from
worshipping God to this abomination.
“The seventy elders represented the
nation’s leaders (Num
11:16-25). The censer each man carried (a vessel for holding burning incense) and
the burning incense would not
necessarily be evil, but here they were being used to worship idols.”
Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary
“…shows how sadly depraved and
corrupted the state was, that not the common people only, but the civil
magistrates, the chief rulers and governors, were given to idolatry; and those
that should have taught the people the right way led them wrong;”
John
Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Verse 12:
“…in
his bedchamber; that is, in those chambers of the temple, which belonged to the
priests and Levites, on the walls of which were portrayed the images and
pictures of their gods. Here they had their secret rites or mysteries
performed, in imitation of the Heathens; who had the several mysteries of their
religion privately observed; to which none were admitted but those that were
initiated into them;”
John Gill’s exposition of the Bible
“…this
they gave as a reason of their idolatry, because the Lord took no notice of
them, did not help them when in distress; but, as they concluded, had forsaken
them; therefore they betook themselves to the gods of the Egyptians, Syrians,
and other nations, for their assistance and protection:”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
Proverbs
30:20
This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her
mouth, And says, "I have done no wrong." NASB
What’s So Wrong About
Idols? (Ezekiel 14:1-5)
1 Then some elders of
Israel came to me and sat down before me.
2 And the word of the
LORD came to me, saying,
3 "Son of man,
these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before
their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by
them at all?
4 "Therefore
speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Any man of the
house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face
the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then
comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an answer in the
matter in view of the multitude of his idols,
5 in order to lay
hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all
their idols."' NASB
Verse 1:
“These, according to Kimchi, were the
elders of the captivity, the heads of the captives that were now in Babylon
with Ezekiel: but there are others that think they were some that came from
Jerusalem to Babylon on some business or another;”
John
Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
“The elders come to Ezekiel, and oh,
how pious these fellows are! They pretend they want to listen to the prophet.
It is like coming to church with a big Bible under your arm, pretending you
want to serve the Lord.”
Thru
the Bible With J. Vernon McGee
Verse 2-3:
“Ezekiel is told by the Lord that
these men are phonies. They pretend they want to hear his message, but they do
not hear it at all. When he turns around, they will put a knife in his back.”
Thru
the Bible With J. Vernon McGee
“It
is useless to approach God with prayers and inquiries for guidance, as long as
our hearts are filled with secret sins and cherished idols. If we regard
iniquity in our hearts God cannot hear us.”
Through the Bible Day by Day (F. B. Meyer)
Verse 4:
“What
is the meaning of this disease of the heart, this idolatry in the inmost soul?
When a moral disease is of the heart it means that the disease is liked,
enjoyed; it is wine drunk behind the door, it is a feast of fat things eaten in
secrecy; every mouthful so sweet, so good, so rich. When a disease is of the
heart in a moral and spiritual sense it means that it is consented to; it is
voluntary, it is personal, it is desired; there would be a sense of loss
without it.”
The Biblical Illustrator
Verse 5:
“Alienation
from God, from the life of God, from the law of God, from the worship of God,
and of the affections from him, is owing to some idol or another set up in the
heart, or before the eye;”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible
“…that
I may take them, as in a snare, deceived by their own heart.”
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
“The
‘double-hearted’ shall be taken in the snare which they have made for
themselves.”
The Pulpit Commentary
What’s the Way Out?
(Ezekiel 14:6)
6 "Therefore say
to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Repent and turn away
from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations. NASB
Verse 6:
“Repentance
is a turning from sin to God. It is not any turning, but a turning of the
judgment, so that men judge otherwise of God, of His laws and ways, of sin, of
themselves, than before; a turning of the will and affections, so that they are
carried wholly and fully unto God (Joe 2:12).”
The Biblical Illustrator
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