Ezekiel - Chapters 8 & 9

by James Jacob Prasch

Ezekiel, in Hebrew, means 'in the strength of God'. His ministry was such that it could only be carried out in the strength of God. The names of the prophets almost always depict or describe the nature of what God is calling them to do as a ministry.

Ezekiel comes on the heels of the onset of the Babylonian captivity that was first prophesied by Isaiah, then by Jeremiah. It finally begins in the days of Ezekiel. The judgment that God warned would come if the people did not repent actually began. It began conspicuously, was clearly the judgment of God, yet people were denying that it was God's judgment. Everything was going down, but they kept claiming to be triumphant; this is rather like what we have today, with books such as 'The Unstoppable Church' (when what would be more accurate would be 'The Unstoppable Mosque'), or from another aspect those who claim their bodies lie to them when in reality they are very ill.   People simply would not face the facts; they would not own up to what Isaiah and Jeremiah had been predicting all along as it actually began to take place.

Ezekiel begins predicting that God's judgment was going to last and would become worse, and the reason that it would last and become worse was that the people's sin was lasting and becoming worse. They refused to repent as they saw God's judgments coming. Again, this hints to us about the book of Revelation: even though the judgments of God become more frequent and more intense, it says that men harden their hearts, curse God, and continue to sin. So it was in the days of Ezekiel, and so it will be in the last days. The book of Ezekiel has much to do with the book of Revelation, and replays much of it.

Ezekiel 9:4 says this: "And the Lord said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in their midst.'"   There were people who saw the abominations happening in the city of God and in the house of God, and before judgment began, God said, "Seal those who are truly Mine; seal those who see what's wrong, who know it's wrong, and who grieve over it. Before the judgment comes, seal them."

 "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God.And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying 'Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of our God on their foreheads." As we build up to Revelation 13, which talks about the mark of the beast, we see that the seal of the Lord and the mark of the beast become mutually exclusive.

We know from history and from archaeology that the mark or the seal in Ezekiel was the Hebrew letter tov. Today the Hebrew letter tov is written something like an 'H' with a foot; however, in pre-captivity Israel it was written as a slightly tilted cross, and its origin was probably an upright cross. Hence, the mark of the seal of God as it was in the days of Ezekiel was actually the mark of a cross.

Revelation 9:4: "And they were told they should not hurt the earth, nor the grass, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Once again, before God's judgment comes, His people are sealed.   The church enters the Tribulation but is rescued from the worst of it; however, during the part of it that it endures, it is sealed by the Lord and somehow protected. The 144,000 who minister eschatologically have the seal of the Lord for certain. The children of Israel went through most of the judgments on Egypt; the same judgments on Egypt recorded in Exodus are replayed eschatologically, and that is a major type of what happens in Revelation. The darkness, the smiting of the waters, and so on; the Hebrews went through part of it, but was delivered from the worst of it. So it shall be in the Last Days; God's people will be sealed.

The whole idea of the sealed of the Lord begins, of course, not in Revelation or even in Ezekiel, but in the Torah, in the book of Exodus as we just mentioned. Exodus 13:9 says: "And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt."

Let us return to Ezekiel.   Before the judgment comes, those whose hearts are really God's - who see the abominations and wickedness, who grieve over it - are sealed with the mark of a cross. In Revelation, those who see the abominations that are happening and grieve over them are sealed with the mark of a cross.

The judgment was already happening in Ezekiel's time. The captivity was under way, yet people were saying "oh, it's only a temporary setback; it's short-lived." In fact, however, Nebuchadnezzar invades Judah four separate times, each time with worse results. Just as the waves of evil follow one after the other, each worse than the last, so too do the judgments of God come in these kinds of waves. But His people are sealed; that is, those who are truly His.

Much of Ezekiel's vision surrounds and concerns the Temple. Ezekiel 47 is a millennial vision, in which he sees the background of something we call in Hebrew, Simchat beit Ha Shoyivah; the rite or the ritual for the pouring out of the water on the Temple Mount as the Feast of Booths - Hag Succoth - is celebrated. John chapter 7 draws on this, but it's meaning is always millennial.  

I heard a New-Age 'Christian', Patrick Dixon, arguing for altered states of consciousness. He was saying that every time there is a divine encounter in the Bible, people behave irrationally and go into altered states of consciousness. This is the basis for his defense of things like Toronto as acceptable. As an example, he cites Peter's reaction to the Transfiguration, calling his behavior mindless and ridiculous in wanting to build the booths there. Mr. Dixon called this absurd; I pointed out to him that there was nothing absurd about it, since Peter thought that the Transfiguration was the Messianic fulfillment of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.   Moses and Elijah were transfigured with the Messiah, so Peter thought - without a trace of absurdity - that this was the arrival of the Millennial Kingdom. Mr. Dixon had apparently never thought of this. Within its context, Peter's behavior was altogether rational.   His response was to challenge me with questions such as "How do you know? Were you there? Did you talk to Peter?" To which I said, "I know what the Messianic symbolism of the Feast of Booths was in the Second Temple Period." To this Mr. Dixon had nothing to say. However, we see that any kind of poison goes into the cauldron these days.

Ezekiel's temples: On the tape 'The Typology of the Temple', we taught at some length that in at least seven places the different Greek and Hebrew words for 'temple' - naos, oikos,hieron, beth mishkan, beth migdash, Ha Hekal are all used in various contexts as types of the church.    I Peter 2:5 - "You are the living stones of the holy house", for example; in Corinthians the church is called the Temple, and in Ephesians chapters 2 and 4 the Temple is a picture of the church. Rebuilding the tabernacle of David is mentioned in the book of Acts, with a quote from the prophet Amos that "I (God) will rebuild the tabernacle of David"; the New Testament reveals that the fulfillment of this is, at least in part, the Gentile church. We talk on the Antichrist tapes as well about the Abomination of Desolation being set up in the Holy Place - that is, the Holy of Holies spoken of by Daniel.   This was fulfilled in part at several points during history, most significantly by Antiochus Epiphanes; again, this is on the Hanukah tape.

Nonetheless, even though the Temple may be rebuilt in Jerusalem and the Abomination set up in it, while a physical event would then be transpiring in a physical Temple, it is in fact only a reflection of what is going to be happening spiritually. When Jesus died on the Cross, the Temple veil was torn from the ceiling to the ground, meaning that sinful man was no longer separated from holy God. A physical miracle then happened in the physical Temple; but that is not what was most important. The most important thing was what that miracle represented; that man was no longer separated from God, because Yeshua, our high priest, died for our sins. So it will be with the Abomination of Desolation.   Although an Abomination may somehow be set up in a rebuilt Temple - I don't dispute that this may occur - it will only be a reflection of what is happening spiritually; the Antichrist wanting to be worshiped in God's house. We deal with this on the Antichrist tape, where we explain the Aramaic meaning of the Abomination of Desolation.

Ezekiel sees abominations in the House of the LORD. Once again, let us read these two chapters of Ezekiel, commencing in chapter 8 verse 1:   "And it came about after the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, that I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me. The hand of the Lord fell upon me there; then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man. From his loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from his loins and upward, the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. And he stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in 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 the jealousy, was located. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw on the plain.   Then He said to me, 'Son of man, raise your eyes now towards the north,' (trouble always comes from the north) 'so I raised my eyes up to the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was the idol of Jealousy at the entrance." 'Son of man' is an eschatological title. Here Ezekiel, like all the other prophets, prefigures Jesus in some way. Jesus is never called the Son of God eschatologically; whenever we speak of His return, He is always the Son of Man coming down.

"And He said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel is committing here, that I should be far from My sanctuary?   But yet you will see still greater abominations than these in My sanctuary; even in My sanctuary you will see greater abominations.'" Again, this all hints at the ultimate Abomination of Desolation.

"Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole was in the wall.   And He said to me, 'Son of man, now dig through the wall.' So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. And He said to me, 'Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing.' So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping thing and beast and detestable thing with all the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around. And standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel:" -- and he names them! - "with Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, standing among them, each man with his censer in hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. And 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."' And He said to me, 'Yet you will see still greater abominations than these which they are committing. You will see greater abominations in the house of the LORD; even in My sanctuary you will see greater abominations, O son of man.' Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD's house, which was towards the north. And behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. And He said to me, 'Do you see this, son of man? Do you see this? Yet you will see still greater abominations than even these.' And He brought me into the inner court" - now, the further you go into God's Temple, the more holy it becomes in the Old Testament.

"And behold, at the entrance to the Temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the Temple of the LORD and their faces towards the east. And they were prostrating themselves eastwards, towards the sun. And he said to me, 'Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose.   Therefore, I indeed shall deal in wrath.  My eye will have no pity, nor shall I spare. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen.' Then He cried out with a loud voice in my hearing, saying, 'Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand!' And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand. And among them was a certain man clothed with linen and a writing case at his loins.   And they went in and stood next to the bronze altar" - the bronze altar is a type of the Cross - "Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the Temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen, at whose loins was the writing case.   And the LORD said to him, 'Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst. But to the others He said, 'Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. Utterly slay all of them.'" Yet God does not allow them to harm His people; He commands that first His own would be sealed, then the rest would be stricken. He commands in Revelation that the trees not be harmed - "The trees of the field shall clap their hands" - representing His people.   That is what happens also in Ezekiel.  

God takes Ezekiel and shows him one abomination after another. It grows worse and worse and worse. Let's begin with the first abomination he sees: the Idol of Jealousy. Idolatry in the house of the LORD. The Hebrew word for 'to worship' is hishtakvya, the infinitive, La Histachavot; 'to bow down'. When you see somebody prostrating or bowing down before a statue or a graven image, that is an act of idolatry. High Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, these things are idolatry.  

It begins this way:   God takes Ezekiel between heaven and earth and says, "Look. Now you're seeing how I see, from heaven. Do you see what they're doing in My house, in My sanctuary, where I'm supposed to meet with them?" Ezekiel looks, and he is shocked. But God says to Ezekiel, "That's idolatry in My house, in My sanctuary. Yet greater abominations than these will you see, O son of man; even greater abominations than these will you see in My house," says the LORD. Then God brings him and shows him further and further into the Temple compound; every creeping thing, every crawling beast and detestable thing, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. The Hebrew term is shektzim, where you get the derogatory word shikseh for a Gentile woman. You've heard me say, perhaps, that in the book of Revelation Satan has two modes of attack: the serpent and the dragon.   The dragon is Satan the persecutor; the serpent is Satan the deceiver. These creeping things are called shektzim, which means 'slimy reptiles'. They are pictures of demons from the snake cults of the ancient near East and so on, but they have them as far west as India, where there is snake worship and other such things. The Abomination of Desolation draws from that.   Demons are in the house of the LORD; so now it goes from just idolatry to open demon-worship.  

From there, however, God says to Ezekiel, 'Yet shall you see worse! Yet greater abominations than these shall you see in My house, O son of man!' And God shows him the religious leaders - their 'pastors', as it were, the Levites or cohenim - and he names them personally, here and in other places. He describes Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, standing among them.   People who shouldn't be there, people you wouldn't have expected to be there, are there with their censers.   Incense represents the prayers of the saints, but these prayers are not being offered to the true God. These people are not worshiping the true God.   Jeremiah, Paul in I and II Timothy, and John in III John, all named publicly the leaders who persisted in leading the people astray. The apostles and prophets revealed them by name without hesitation.

So we see here in our text in Ezekiel the idolatry happening, the openly demonic going on, and now God's leaders leading the people into it. God declares it to be a worse abomination than anything before, that the leaders are going along with it in the house of the LORD.

" 'Yet greater abominations than these shall you see in My house,' says the LORD!" And the next thing He shows Ezekiel is the worship of Tammuz. Tammuz is the infant god, held by his mother the Madonna. The Roman Catholic Madonna with Child is a Catholicization of Tammuz-worship; that's all it is. Jeremiah 44 speaks of the women making cakes for the Queen of Heaven: this parallels with Catholic Mary-worship. Tammuz; Jesus is pictured as a helpless little baby, while His mother is portrayed as the strong, capable adult. This is where we get the Catholic claims that Mary co-redeemed us, that she is the co-mediator, the co-savior. Yes, she is the greatest woman who ever lived; but she herself said that she needed a Savior.

"Yet greater abominations than these will you see in My house", God tells Ezekiel.

"O son of man, do you see what they're doing now?" First it was the Idol of Jealousy, then demons. Next, the leaders going along with it - even leaders who should know better, leading the people astray - and then Tammuz-worship. What will be next?

" 'Yet even greater abominations than these will you see in my house', says the LORD." God brings Ezekiel into the inner court, between the porch and the altar. There he sees them openly worshiping the sun - openly praying to other gods. These Babylonian religions involved things other than simple worship; things such as immorality. Immorality and idolatry go together. In ancient Greece it was cult prostitutes, but this goes back before Greece; the corruption of sex in worship. All the initiation rites in Satanism involve some kind of sexually connotated ritual. There is a Christian woman in Rotherham whose daughter was just initiated into a Satanist cult; the high priest 'married' her as a way of drawing her into the initiation with Satan. The whole ritual was sexual and quite foul. This woman is, understandably, very upset.

It gets worse, worse, and worse still. The judgments that God was warning about all along through Isaiah and Jeremiah were coming to pass, yet the people were ignoring them. They denied that it was the promised judgment, and continued in their sin. The leaders, meanwhile, stood there and said, "The LORD doesn't really care about this stuff any more; it's all a game. It's just our job." We have so many people in full-time ministry in the clergy - some of them Evangelicals - for whom it is no more than a career. Being in ministry is a job; it's not a calling, not a passion, not something God has given them as a vocation; it's just what they do.

Finally, God says, "Seal those who are truly Mine." There is no hope any more; God will not pity nor spare anyone or anything except those who see this and grieve. God brings Ezekiel up to heaven and says, "Look down at My sanctuary," and Ezekiel is shocked. And God says, "There are other people down there who see what you see, and are shocked. They grieve over the abominations being committed in My house.   They grieve over the idolatry, they grieve over the immorality, and they grieve over the fact that their own leaders are leading them into it. Those will be sealed; but now My judgment is coming. Yet greater abominations than these will you see," says the LORD. "O son of man, do you see what they are doing?   Yet greater abominations than these will you see in the house of the LORD."

A white witch has become the first-ever pagan chaplain at a British university. 'Susan Ladourne has taken over the post at Leeds University as chaplain in order to counsel students who believe in the occult. The 29-year old witch will guide students in magic, in pagan rituals and worship.'    But then, greater abominations than these will we see. What's greater? The priests - those who should have known better - went along with the immorality, with the witchcraft. Listen:   'The University's senior Anglican chaplain, Rev. Simon Robinson, accepts that the witch has a role to play. He states: "We already have chaplains from different religions."' The priests stand with their censers while the abomination and idolatry goes on; their own leaders say it's all right, that God doesn't see it. That is exactly what happened here in Ezekiel; 'God doesn't see it,' said the cohenim; 'God doesn't see it,' said the Levites.   And that is precisely what the Church of England's clergy are saying today.

"'Yet greater abominations than these will you see in My house,' says the LORD." "Living Together No Longer a Sin", according to the Yorkshire Evening Post. "The Church of England changes attitude on family values; 'Living in sin is no longer a sin,' the Church of England announced today." I lived in sin. When Jesus came into my life, I was living with a very attractive Italian-American girl across the street from the United Nations in New York. I took the rest of my drugs and threw them out the window, 20 stories down. (I think the ambassador to Ghana picked it up and consumed it.) Sam Madler (sp?), the leader of 'Jews for Jesus' at that time, said to me, "You either have to get married or get out. Even if you're not sleeping together, it has the appearance of sin and compromises your testimony." I led this girl to Christ, and being somebody who wanted to be a good Christian, I did the only thing I could do: I told her to get out.

The point is, I was told instantly that it was wrong, and that I could not live that way as a Christian.   'Keep the marriage bed undefiled' - I was told that even if I wasn't sleeping with her any more, it looked like sin. My neighbors, to whom I had to maintain a witness, certainly wouldn't have believed I wasn't sleeping with her. But now, living together is no longer a sin, says the Church of England. I telephoned Lambert Palace, the official London residence of Archbishop George Carey, who I am told is a fellow Charismatic Evangelical. I called him up and left a message asking him to call me back. They wanted to know what I wanted, so I told them that I was reading in the New Testament 'Keep the marriage bed undefiled'; can the Archbishop tell me how I can keep the marriage bed undefiled when there is no marriage? They never called me back.

"'Yet greater abominations than these will you see in my house,' says the LORD." The Greek word demonoi, the Hebrew word shedim, is used in Deuteronomy and I Corinthians to state that other gods are demons. Both Testaments tell us that. Ezekiel saw shedim - creeping things, demons - being venerated in the house of the LORD, in God's sanctuary.   Go to Canterbury Cathedral and watch the interfaith worship yourself. Visit Anselm Chapel - Buddhist, Moslem, Hindu, Sikh - all these worship there, and the "Christians" go along with it.

'Yet greater abominations than these will you see'. "Bishops and Gays - 36 bishops of the Angl