> ‎Chapter 9‎ > ‎Chapter 10‎ > ‎Chapter 11‎ > ‎Chapter 12‎ > ‎Chapter 13‎ > ‎Chapter 14‎ > ‎Chapter 15‎ > ‎Chapter 16‎ > ‎Chapter 17‎ > ‎Chapter 18‎ > ‎Chapter 19‎ > ‎Chapter 20‎ > ‎Chapter 21‎ > ‎Chapter 22‎ > ‎Chapter 23‎ > ‎Chapter 24‎ > ‎Chapter 25‎ > ‎Chapter 26‎ > ‎Chapter 27‎ > ‎Chapter 28‎ > ‎Chapter 29‎ > ‎Chapter 30‎ > ‎Chapter 31‎ > ‎Chapter 32‎ > ‎Chapter 33‎ > ‎Chapter 34‎ > ‎Chapter 35‎ > ‎Chapter 36‎ > ‎Chapter 37‎ > ‎Chapter 38‎ > ‎Chapter 39‎ > ‎Chapters 40-42‎ > ‎Chapter 43‎ > ‎Chapter 44‎ > ‎Chapters 45-46‎ > ‎Chapters 47-48‎ >  

 

Chapter 8: This vision took place in 592, one year after Ezekiel's
great inaugural vision by the river Chebar. The hand of God was
upon him. So, was this transport physical or only in a vision? We
cannot be sure. In His temptation after 40 days fast, Jesus was
taken by satan to a place where He could see all kingdoms of the
earth- clearly a vision, in spite of the language There is no such
a place on the earth.

Ezekiel was taken in the vision first to the interior gate of the
temple, on the north, the left, of the altar of holocausts. There
he saw worship of the idol that provokes zeal, probably meaning
Astarte, the Assyrian Venus or the Ashera which the impious king
Manassas had erected .

Then he was taken to the door of the court. There he saw a hole in
the wall, and was told to dig in the wall. When he did so, he saw
a door, and went in. He saws idolatrous images of creeping things
and beasts. Seventy men of the house of Israel were before them,
with censers and incense. They were with Jazaniah, son of Saphan -
- whom we do not know otherwise. These idols were probably
Egyptian gods, the such as the bull Apis. Political alliances led
to introducing such things into the temple.

But the vision told him there was still worse. He was taken to the
entrance of the north gate. Then he saws women weeping for Tammuz
This was a vegetation divinity which died at the end of the
growing season. They were weeping to bring him back, for the
crops. There was a similar cult in Phoenicia dedicated to Adonis,
the Phoenician version of Tammuz.

Further, the vision took him to the inner court, and between the
porch and the altar were about 25 men with their backs to the
temple, worshipping the sun. The expression about putting the
branch to the nose most likely referred to a Persian custom of
holding a branch of dates, to avoid contaminating the rays of the
sun.

Therefore God told Ezekiel that even if they would cry to Him, He
would not hear them -- their cry would not really mean obedience
to His law.