mh_parser/vol_split/26 - Ezekiel/Chapter 8.xml

<div2 id="Ez.ix" n="ix" next="Ez.x" prev="Ez.viii" progress="52.65%" title="Chapter VIII">
<h2 id="Ez.ix-p0.1">E Z E K I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Ez.ix-p0.2">CHAP. VIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ez.ix-p1" shownumber="no">God, having given the prophet a clear foresight of
the people's miseries that were hastening on, here gives him a
clear insight into the people's wickedness, by which God was
provoked to bring these miseries upon them, that he might justify
God in all his judgments, might the more particularly reprove the
sins of the people, and with the more satisfaction foretel their
ruin. Here God, in vision, brings him to Jerusalem, to show him the
sins that were committed there, though God had begun to contend
with them (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.1-Ezek.8.4" parsed="|Ezek|8|1|8|4" passage="Eze 8:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>), and
there he sees, I. The image of jealousy set up at the gate of the
altar, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.5-Ezek.8.6" parsed="|Ezek|8|5|8|6" passage="Eze 8:5,6">ver. 5, 6</scripRef>. II. The
elders of Israel worshipping all manner of images in a secret
chamber, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.7-Ezek.8.12" parsed="|Ezek|8|7|8|12" passage="Eze 8:7-12">ver. 7-12</scripRef>. III.
The women weeping for Tammuz, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.13-Ezek.8.14" parsed="|Ezek|8|13|8|14" passage="Eze 8:13,14">ver.
13, 14</scripRef>. IV. The men worshipping the sun, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.15-Ezek.8.16" parsed="|Ezek|8|15|8|16" passage="Eze 8:15,16">ver. 15, 16</scripRef>. And then appeals to
him whether such a provoking people should have any pity shown
them, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.17-Ezek.8.18" parsed="|Ezek|8|17|8|18" passage="Eze 8:17,18">ver. 17, 18</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Ez.ix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8" parsed="|Ezek|8|0|0|0" passage="Eze 8" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ez.ix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.1-Ezek.8.6" parsed="|Ezek|8|1|8|6" passage="Eze 8:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ix-p1.9">
<h4 id="Ez.ix-p1.10">The Vision of the Divine
Glory. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p1.11">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ix-p2" shownumber="no">1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the
sixth <i>month,</i> in the fifth <i>day</i> of the month, <i>as</i>
I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that
the hand of the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p2.1">God</span> fell there
upon me.   2 Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the
appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward,
fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of
brightness, as the colour of amber.   3 And he put forth the
form of a hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit
lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in
the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that
looketh toward the north; where <i>was</i> the seat of the image of
jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.   4 And, behold, the
glory of the God of Israel <i>was</i> there, according to the
vision that I saw in the plain.   5 Then said he unto me, Son
of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I
lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward
at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
  6 He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what
they do? <i>even</i> the great abominations that the house of
Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary?
but turn thee yet again, <i>and</i> thou shalt see greater
abominations.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p3" shownumber="no">Ezekiel was now in Babylon; but the
messages of wrath he had delivered in the foregoing chapters
related to Jerusalem, for in the peace or trouble thereof the
captives looked upon themselves to have peace or trouble, and
therefore here he has a vision of what was done at Jerusalem, and
this vision is continued to the close of the 11th chapter.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p4" shownumber="no">I. Here is the date of this vision. The
first vision he had was in <i>the fifth year of the captivity, in
the fourth month</i> and <i>the fifth day of the month,</i>
<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1-Ezek.1.2" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|1|2" passage="Eze 1:1,2"><i>ch.</i> i. 1, 2</scripRef>. This
was just fourteen months after. Perhaps it was after he had lain
390 days on his left side, to bear the iniquity of Israel, and
before he began the forty days on his right side, to bear the
iniquity of Judah; for now he was sitting in the house, not lying.
Note, God keeps a particular account of the messages he sends to
us, because he will shortly call us to account about them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p5" shownumber="no">II. The opportunity is taken notice of, as
well as the time. 1. The prophet was himself <i>sitting in his
house,</i> in a sedate composed frame, deep perhaps in
contemplation. Note, The more we retreat from the world, and retire
into our own hearts, the better frame we are in for communion with
God: those that sit down to consider what they have learned shall
be taught more. Or, he <i>sat in his house,</i> ready to preach to
the company that resorted to him, but waiting for instructions what
to say. God will communicate more knowledge to those who are
communicative of what they do know. 2. <i>The elders of Judah,</i>
that were now in captivity with him, <i>sat before him.</i> It is
probable that it was on the sabbath day, and that it was usual for
them to attend on the prophet every sabbath day, both to hear the
word from him and to join with him in prayer and praise: and how
could they spend the sabbath better, now that they had neither
temple nor synagogue, neither priest nor altar? It was a great
mercy that they had opportunity to spend it so well, as the good
people in Elisha's time, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.4.23" parsed="|2Kgs|4|23|0|0" passage="2Ki 4:23">2 Kings iv.
23</scripRef>. But some think it was on some extraordinary occasion
that they attended him, to enquire of the Lord, and <i>sat down</i>
at his feet to <i>hear his word.</i> Observe here, (1.) When the
<i>law had perished from the priests</i> at Jerusalem, whose
<i>lips should keep knowledge</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.7.26" parsed="|Ezek|7|26|0|0" passage="Eze 7:26"><i>ch.</i> vii. 26</scripRef>), those in Babylon had a
prophet to consult. God is not tied to places or persons. (2.) Now
that the elders of Judah were in captivity they paid more respect
to God's prophets, and his word in their mouth, than they did when
they lived in peace in their own land. When God brings men into the
<i>cords of affliction,</i> then he <i>opens their ears to
discipline,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.36.8 Bible:Job.36.10 Bible:Ps.141.6" parsed="|Job|36|8|0|0;|Job|36|10|0|0;|Ps|141|6|0|0" passage="Job 36:8,10,Ps 141:6">Job xxxvi.
8, 10; Ps. cxli. 6</scripRef>. Those that despised a vision in the
<i>valley of vision</i> prized it now that the word of the Lord was
precious and there was <i>no open vision.</i> (3.) When our
teachers are driven into corners, and are forced to preach in
private houses, we must diligently attend them there. A minister's
house should be a church for all his neighbours. Paul preached in
his own hired house at Rome, and God owned him there, and <i>no man
forbad him.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p6" shownumber="no">III. The divine influence and impression
that the prophet was now under: <i>The hand of the Lord fell there
upon me.</i> God's hand took hold of him, and arrested him, as it
were, to employ him in this vision, but at the same time supported
him to bear it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p7" shownumber="no">IV. The vision that the prophet saw,
<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.2" parsed="|Ezek|8|2|0|0" passage="Eze 8:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. He <i>beheld a
likeness,</i> of a man we may suppose, for that was the likeness he
saw before, but it was all <i>brightness</i> above the girdle and
all <i>fire</i> below, fire and flame. This agrees with the
description we had before of the apparition he saw, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.27" parsed="|Ezek|1|27|0|0" passage="Eze 1:27"><i>ch.</i> i. 27</scripRef>. It is probably that
it was the same person, the man Christ Jesus. It is probable that
the elders that <i>sat with him</i> (as the men that journeyed with
Paul) saw a light and were afraid, and this happy sight they gained
by attending the prophet in a private meeting, but they had no
distinct view of him that spoke to him, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.22.9" parsed="|Acts|22|9|0|0" passage="Ac 22:9">Acts xxii. 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p8" shownumber="no">V. The prophet's remove, in vision, to
Jerusalem. The apparition he saw <i>put forth the form of a
hand,</i> which <i>took him by a lock of his head,</i> and the
Spirit was that hand which was put forth, for the Spirit of God is
called <i>the finger of God.</i> Or, The spirit within him
<i>lifted him up,</i> so that he was borne up and carried on by an
internal principle, not an external violence. A faithful ready
servant of God will be drawn by a hair, by the least intimation of
the divine will, to his duty; for he has that within him which
inclines him to a compliance with it, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.8" parsed="|Ps|27|8|0|0" passage="Ps 27:8">Ps. xxvii. 8</scripRef>. He was miraculously <i>lifted up
between heaven and earth,</i> as if he were to fly away upon
eagles' wings. This, it is probable (so Grotius thinks), the elders
that sat with him saw; they were witnesses of <i>the hand taking
him by the lock</i> of hair, and <i>lifting him up,</i> and then
perhaps laying him down again in a trance of ecstasy, while he had
the following visions, <i>whether in the body or out of the
body,</i> we may suppose, he <i>could not tell,</i> any more than
Paul in a like case, much less can we. Note, Those are best
prepared for communion with God and the communications of divine
light that by divine grace are raised up above the earth and the
things of it, to be out of their attractive force. But, being
lifted up towards heaven, he was carried in vision to Jerusalem,
and to God's sanctuary there; for those that would go to heaven
must take that in their way. The Spirit represented to his mind the
city and temple as plainly as if he had been there in person. O
that by faith we could thus enter into the Jerusalem, the holy
city, above, and see the things that are invisible!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p9" shownumber="no">VI. The discoveries that were made to him
there.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p10" shownumber="no">1. There he saw the glory of God (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.4" parsed="|Ezek|8|4|0|0" passage="Eze 8:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Behold, the glory of
the God of Israel was there,</i> the same appearance of the living
creatures, and the wheels, and the throne, that he had seen,
<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.1.1-Ezek.1.28" parsed="|Ezek|1|1|1|28" passage="Eze 1:1-28"><i>ch.</i> i.</scripRef> Note, God's
servants, wherever they are and whithersoever they go, ought to
carry about with them a believing regard to the glory of God and to
set that always before them; and those that have seen God's power
and glory in the sanctuary should desire to see them again, so as
they have seen them, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.63.2" parsed="|Ps|63|2|0|0" passage="Ps 63:2">Ps. lxiii.
2</scripRef>. Ezekiel has this repeated vision of the glory of God
both to give credit to and to put honour upon the following
discoveries. But it seems to have a further intention here; it was
to aggravate this sin of Israel, in changing their own God, the God
of Israel (who is a God of so much glory as here he appears to be),
for dunghill gods, scandalous gods, false gods, are indeed no gods.
Note, The more glorious we see God to be the more odious we shall
see sin to be, especially idolatry, which turns his truth in to a
lie, his glory into shame. It was also to aggravate their
approaching misery, when this glory of the Lord should remove from
them (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.23" parsed="|Ezek|11|23|0|0" passage="Eze 11:23"><i>ch.</i> xi. 23</scripRef>)
and leave the house and city desolate.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p11" shownumber="no">2. There he saw the reproach of Israel—and
that was <i>the image of jealousy,</i> set <i>northward, at the
gate of the altar,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.3 Bible:Ezek.8.5" parsed="|Ezek|8|3|0|0;|Ezek|8|5|0|0" passage="Eze 8:3,5"><i>v.</i> 3,
5</scripRef>. What image this was is uncertain, probably an image
of Baal, or of the grove, which Manasseh made and set in the temple
(<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.7 Bible:2Chr.33.3" parsed="|2Kgs|21|7|0|0;|2Chr|33|3|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:7,2Ch 33:3">2 Kings xxi. 7, 2 Chron.
xxxiii. 3</scripRef>), which Josiah removed, but his successors, it
seems, replaced it there, as probably they did the <i>chariots of the
sun</i> which he found <i>at the entering in of the house of the
Lord</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.11" parsed="|2Kgs|23|11|0|0" passage="2Ki 23:11">2 Kings xxiii.
11</scripRef>), and this is here said to be <i>in the entry.</i>
But the prophet, instead of telling us what image it was, which
might gratify our curiosity, tells us that it was <i>the image of
jealousy,</i> to convince our consciences that, whatever image it
was, it was in the highest degree offensive to God and <i>provoked
him to jealousy.</i> He resented it as a husband would resent the
whoredoms of his wife, and would certainly revenge it; for <i>God
is jealous, and the Lord revenges,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Nah.1.2" parsed="|Nah|1|2|0|0" passage="Na 1:2">Nah. i. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p12" shownumber="no">(1.) The very setting up of this image
<i>in the house of the Lord</i> was enough to <i>provoke him to
jealousy;</i> for it is in the matters of his worship that we are
particularly told, <i>I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.</i>
Those that placed this image at <i>the door of the inner gate,</i>
where the people assembled, called <i>the gate of the altar</i>
(<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.5" parsed="|Ezek|8|5|0|0" passage="Eze 8:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>), thereby
plainly intended, [1.] To affront God, to provoke him to his face,
by advancing an idol to be a rival with him for the adoration of
his people, in contempt of his law and in defiance of his justice.
[2.] To debauch the people, and pick them up as they were entering
into the courts of the Lord's house to bring their offerings to
him, and to tempt them to offer them to this image; like the
adulteress Solomon describes, that <i>sits at the door of her
house, to call passengers who go right on their ways, Whoso is
simple, let him turn in hither,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.9.14-Prov.9.16" parsed="|Prov|9|14|9|16" passage="Pr 9:14-16">Prov. ix. 14-16</scripRef>. With good reason therefore
is this called <i>the image of jealousy.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p13" shownumber="no">(2.) We may well imagine what a surprise
and what a grief it was to Ezekiel to see this image in the house
of God, when he was in hopes that the judgments they were under
had, by this time, wrought some reformation among them; but there
is more wickedness in the world, in the church, than good men think
there is. And now, [1.] God appeals to him whether this was not bad
enough, and a sufficient ground for God to go upon in casting off
this people and abandoning them to ruin. Could he, or any one else,
expect any other than <i>that God should go far from his
sanctuary,</i> when there were such abominations committed there,
in that very place; nay, was he not perfectly driven thence? They
did these things designedly, and on purpose that he should leave
his sanctuary, and so shall their doom be; they have hereby, in
effect, like the Gadarenes, desired him <i>to depart out of their
coasts,</i> and therefore he will depart; he will no more dignify
and protect his sanctuary, as he has done, but will give it up to
reproach and ruin. But, [2.] Though this is bad enough, and serves
abundantly to justify God in all that he brings upon them, yet the
matter will appear to be much worse: <i>But turn thyself yet
again,</i> and thou wilt be amazed to <i>see greater abominations
than these.</i> Where there is one abomination it will be found
that there are many more. Sins do not go alone.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.ix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.7-Ezek.8.12" parsed="|Ezek|8|7|8|12" passage="Eze 8:7-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ix-p13.2">
<h4 id="Ez.ix-p13.3">Secret Abominations Discovered; The Chambers
of Imagery. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p13.4">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ix-p14" shownumber="no">7 And he brought me to the door of the court;
and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.   8 Then said he
unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in
the wall, behold a door.   9 And he said unto me, Go in, and
behold the wicked abominations that they do here.   10 So I
went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and
abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel,
portrayed upon the wall round about.   11 And there stood
before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and
in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every
man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
  12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the
ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the
chambers of his imagery? for they say, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p14.1">Lord</span> seeth us not; the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p14.2">Lord</span> hath forsaken the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p15" shownumber="no">We have here a further discovery of the
abominations that were committed at Jerusalem, and within the
confines of the temple, too. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p16" shownumber="no">I. How this discovery is made. God, in
vision, brought Ezekiel to the <i>door of the court,</i> the outer
court, along the sides of which the priests' lodgings were. God
could have introduced him at first into <i>the chambers of
imagery,</i> but he brings him to them by degrees, partly to employ
his own industry in searching out these mysteries of iniquity, and
partly to make him sensible with what care and caution those
idolaters concealed their idolatries. Before the priests'
apartments they had run up a wall, to make them the more private,
that they might not lie open to the observation of those who passed
by—a shrewd sign that they did something which they had reason to
be ashamed of. <i>He that doth evil hates the light.</i> They were
not willing that those who saw them in God's house should see them
in their own, lest they should see them contradict themselves and
undo in private what they did in public. But, <i>behold, a hole in
the wall,</i> (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.7" parsed="|Ezek|8|7|0|0" passage="Eze 8:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
a spy-hole, by which you might see that which would give cause to
suspect them. When hypocrites screen themselves behind the wall of
an external profession, and with it think to conceal their
wickedness from the eye of the world and carry on their designs the
more successfully, it is hard for them to manage it with so much
art by that there is some hole or other left in the wall, something
that betrays them, to those who look diligently, not to be what
they pretend to be. The ass's ears in the fable appeared from under
the lion's skin. This <i>hole in the wall</i> Ezekiel made wider,
and <i>behold a door,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.8" parsed="|Ezek|8|8|0|0" passage="Eze 8:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>. This door he goes in by into <i>the treasury,</i> or
some of the apartments of the priests, and sees <i>the wicked
abominations that they do there,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.9" parsed="|Ezek|8|9|0|0" passage="Eze 8:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. Note, Those that would discover
the mystery of iniquity in others, or in themselves, must
accomplish a diligent search; for Satan has his wiles, and depths,
and devices, which we should not be ignorant of, and <i>the heart
is deceitful above all things;</i> in the examining of it therefore
we are concerned to be very strict.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p17" shownumber="no">II. What the discovery is. It is a very
melancholy one. 1. He sees a chamber set round with idolatrous
pictures (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.10" parsed="|Ezek|8|10|0|0" passage="Eze 8:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>):
<i>All the idols of the house of Israel,</i> which they had
borrowed from the neighbouring nations, were <i>portrayed upon the
wall round about,</i> even the vilest of them, <i>the forms of
creeping things,</i> which they worshipped, and <i>beasts,</i> even
<i>abominable ones,</i> which are poisonous and venomous; at least
they were abominable when they were worshipped. This was a sort of
pantheon, a collection of all the idols together which they paid
their devotions to. Though the second commandment, in the letter of
it, forbids only graven images, yet painted ones are as bad and as
dangerous. 2. He sees this chamber filled with idolatrous
worshippers (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.11" parsed="|Ezek|8|11|0|0" passage="Eze 8:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>):
There were <i>seventy men of the elders of Israel</i> offering
incense to these painted idols. Here was a great number of
idolaters strengthening one another's hands in this wickedness;
though it was in a private chamber, and the meeting industriously
concealed, yet here were seventy men engaged in it. I doubt these
elders were many more than those in Babylon that sat before the
prophet in his house, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.1" parsed="|Ezek|8|1|0|0" passage="Eze 8:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>. They were <i>seventy men,</i> the number of the great
Sanhedrim, or chief council of the nation, and, we have reason to
fear, the same men; for they were <i>the ancients of the house of
Israel,</i> not only in age, but in office, who were bound, by the
duty of their place, to restrain and punish idolatry and to destroy
and abolish all superstitious images wherever they found them; yet
these were those that did themselves worship them in private, so
undermining that religion which in public they professed to own and
promote only because by it they held their preferments. They had
<i>every man his censer in his hand;</i> so fond were they of the
idolatrous service that they would all be their own priests, and
very prodigal they were of their perfumes in honour of these
images, for <i>a thick cloud of incense went up,</i> that filled
the room. O that the zeal of these idolaters might shame the
worshippers of the true God out of their indifference to his
service! The prophet took particular notice of one whom he knew,
who <i>stood in the midst of</i> these idolaters, as chief among
them, being perhaps president of the great council at this time or
most forward in this wickedness. No wonder the people were corrupt
when the elders were so. The sins of leaders are leading sins.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p18" shownumber="no">III. What the remark is that made upon it
(<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.12" parsed="|Ezek|8|12|0|0" passage="Eze 8:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): "<i>Son of
man, hast thou seen this?</i> Couldst thou have imagined that there
was such wickedness committed?" It is here observed concerning it,
1. That it was done <i>in the dark;</i> for sinful works are
<i>works of darkness.</i> They concealed it, lest they should lose
their places, or at least their credit. There is a great deal of
secret wickedness in the world, which the day will declare, <i>the
day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.</i> 2. That
this one idolatrous chapel was but a specimen of many the like.
Here they met together, to worship their images in concert, but, it
should seem, they had <i>every man the chamber of his imagery</i>
besides, a room in his own house for this purpose, in which every
man gratified his own fancy with such pictures as he liked best.
Idolaters had their household gods, and their family worship of
them in private, which is a shame to those who call themselves
Christians and yet have no church in their house, no worship of God
in their family. Had they <i>chambers of imagery,</i> and shall not
we have chambers of devotion? 3. That atheism was at the bottom of
their idolatry. They worship images <i>in the dark,</i> the images
of the gods of other nations, and <i>they say,</i> "Jehovah, the
God of Israel, whom we should serve, <i>seeth us not.</i> Jehovah
<i>hath forsaken the earth,</i> and we may worship what God we
will; he regards us not." (1.) They think themselves out of God's
sight: <i>They say, The Lord seeth us not.</i> They imagined,
because the matter was carried on so closely that men could not
discover it, nor did any of their neighbours suspect them to be
idolaters, that therefore it was hidden from the eye of God; as if
there were any <i>darkness, or shadow of death, where the workers
of iniquity may hide themselves.</i> Note, A practical disbelief of
God's omniscience is at the bottom of our treacherous departures
from him; but the church argues justly, as to this very sin of
idolatry (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.20-Ps.44.21" parsed="|Ps|44|20|44|21" passage="Ps 44:20,21">Ps. xliv. 20,
21</scripRef>), <i>If we have forgotten the name of our God, and
stretched forth our hand to a strange god, will not God search this
out?</i> No doubt he will. (2.) They think themselves out of God's
care: "<i>The Lord has forsaken the earth,</i> and looks not after
the affairs of it; and then we may as well worship any other god as
him." Or, "He has forsaken our land, and left it to be a prey to
its enemies; and therefore it is time for us to look out for some
other god, to whom to commit the protection of it. Our one God
cannot, or will not, deliver us; and therefore let us have many."
This was a blasphemous reflection upon God, as if he had forsaken
them first, else they would not have forsaken him. Note, Those are
ripe indeed for ruin who have arrived at such a pitch of impudence
as to lay the blame of their sins upon God himself.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ez.ix-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.13-Ezek.8.18" parsed="|Ezek|8|13|8|18" passage="Eze 8:13-18" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Ez.ix-p18.4">
<h4 id="Ez.ix-p18.5">The Chambers of Imagery. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p18.6">b. c.</span> 593.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ez.ix-p19" shownumber="no">13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again,
<i>and</i> thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.  
14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p19.1">Lord</span>'s house which <i>was</i> toward the north;
and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.   15 Then
said he unto me, Hast thou seen <i>this,</i> O son of man? turn
thee yet again, <i>and</i> thou shalt see greater abominations than
these.   16 And he brought me into the inner court of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p19.2">Lord</span>'s house, and, behold, at the
door of the temple of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p19.3">Lord</span>,
between the porch and the altar, <i>were</i> about five and twenty
men, with their backs toward the temple of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ez.ix-p19.4">Lord</span>, and their faces toward the east; and they
worshipped the sun toward the east.   17 Then he said unto me,
Hast thou seen <i>this,</i> O son of man? Is it a light thing to
the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they
commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have
returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to
their nose.   18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye
shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in
mine ears with a loud voice, <i>yet</i> will I not hear them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p20" shownumber="no">Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p21" shownumber="no">I. More and greater abominations discovered
to the prophet. He thought that what he had seen was bad enough and
yet (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.13" parsed="|Ezek|8|13|0|0" passage="Eze 8:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Turn
thyself again, and thou shalt see yet greater abominations,</i> and
greater still, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.15" parsed="|Ezek|8|15|0|0" passage="Eze 8:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>, as before, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.6" parsed="|Ezek|8|6|0|0" passage="Eze 8:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>. There are those who live in retirement who do no
think what wickedness there is in this world; and the more we
converse with it, and the further we go abroad into it, the more
corrupt we see it. When we have seen that which is bad we may have
our wonder at it made to cease by the discovery of that which, upon
some account or other, is a great deal worse. We shall find it so
in examining our own hearts and searching into them; there is a
world of iniquity in them, a great abundance and variety of
abominations, and, when we have found out much amiss, still we
shall find more; for <i>the heart is desperately wicked, who can
know it</i> perfectly? Now the abominations here discovered were,
1. <i>Women weeping for Tammuz,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.14" parsed="|Ezek|8|14|0|0" passage="Eze 8:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. An abominable thing indeed,
that any should choose rather to serve an idol in tears than to
serve the true God <i>with joyfulness and gladness of heart!</i>
Yet such absurdities as these are those guilty of who <i>follow
after lying vanities</i> and <i>forsake their own mercies.</i> Some
think it was for Adonis, an idol among the Greeks, other for
Osiris, an idol of the Egyptians, that they shed these tears. The
image, they say, was made to weep, and then the worshippers wept
with it. They bewailed the death of this Tammuz, and anon rejoiced
in its returning to life again. These mourning women <i>sat at the
door of the gate of the Lord's house,</i> and there shed their
idolatrous tears, as it were in defiance of God and the sacred
rites of his worship, and some think, with their idolatry,
prostrating themselves also to corporeal whoredom; for these two
commonly went together, and those that dishonoured the divine
nature by the one were justly <i>given up to vile affections</i>
and a reprobate sense to dishonour the human nature, which nowhere
ever sunk so far below itself as in these idolatrous rites. 2.
<i>Men worshipping the sun,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.16" parsed="|Ezek|8|16|0|0" passage="Eze 8:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. And this was so much the
greater an abomination that it was practised <i>in the inner court
of the Lord's house at the door of the temple of the lord, between
the porch and the altar.</i> There, where the most sacred rites of
their holy religion used to be performed, was this abominable
wickedness committed. Justly might God in jealousy say to those who
thus affronted him at his own door, as the king to Haman, <i>Will
he force the queen also before me in the house?</i> Here <i>were
about twenty-five men</i> giving that honour to the sun which is
due to God only. Some think they were the king and his princes; it
should rather seem that they were priests, for this was the court
of the priests, and the proper place to find them in. Those that
were entrusted with the true religion, had it committed to their
care and were charged with the custody of it, they were the men
that betrayed it. (1.) They turned <i>their backs towards the
temple of the Lord,</i> resolvedly forgetting it and designedly
slighting it and putting contempt upon it. Note, When men turn
their backs upon God's institutions, and despise them, it is no
marvel if they wander endlessly after their own inventions. Impiety
is the beginning of idolatry and all iniquity. (2.) They turned
<i>their faces towards the east, and worshipped the sun,</i> the
rising sun. This was an ancient instance of idolatry; it is
mentioned in Job's time (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.26" parsed="|Job|31|26|0|0" passage="Job 31:26">Job xxxi.
26</scripRef>), and had been generally practised among the nations,
some worshipping the sun under one name, others under another.
These priests, finding it had antiquity and general consent and
usage on its side (the two pleas which the papists use at this day
in defence of their superstitious rites, and particularly this of
worshipping towards the east), practised it in the court of the
temple, thinking it an omission that it was not inserted in their
ritual. See the folly of idolaters in worshipping that as a god,
and calling it <i>Baal—a lord,</i> which God made to be a servant
to the universe (for such the sun is, and so his name
<i>Shemesh</i> signified, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Deut.4.19" parsed="|Deut|4|19|0|0" passage="De 4:19">Deut. iv.
19</scripRef>), and in adoring the borrowed light and despising the
<i>Father of lights.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Ez.ix-p22" shownumber="no">II. The inference drawn from these
discoveries (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.17" parsed="|Ezek|8|17|0|0" passage="Eze 8:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
"<i>Hast thou seen this, O son of man!</i> and couldst thou have
thought ever to see such things done in the temple of the Lord?"
Now, 1. He appeals to the prophet himself concerning the
heinousness of the crime. Can he think it <i>is a light thing to
the house of Judah,</i> who know and profess better things, and are
dignified with so many privileges above other nations? Is it an
excusable thing in those that have God's oracles and ordinances
<i>that they commit the abominations which they commit here?</i> Do
not those deserve to suffer that thus sin? Should not such
abominations as these <i>make desolate?</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.27" parsed="|Dan|9|27|0|0" passage="Da 9:27">Dan. ix. 27</scripRef>. 2. He aggravates it from the
fraud and oppression that were to be found in all parts of the
nations: <i>They have filled the land with violence.</i> It is not
strange if those that wrong God thus make no conscience of wronging
one another, and with all that is sacred trample likewise upon all
that is just. And their wickedness in their conversations made even
the worship they paid to their own God an abomination (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.11" parsed="|Isa|1|11|0|0" passage="Isa 1:11">Isa. i. 11</scripRef>, &amp;c.): "<i>They fill
the land with violence,</i> and then they return to the temple
<i>to provoke me to anger</i> there; for even their sacrifices,
instead of making an atonement, do but add to their guilt. They
<i>return to provoke me</i> (they repeat the provocation, do it,
and do it again), <i>and, lo, they put the branch to their
nose</i>"—a proverbial expression denoting perhaps their scoffing
at God and having him in derision; they snuffed at his service, as
men do when they <i>put a branch to their nose.</i> Or it was some
custom used by idolaters in honour of the idols they served. We
read of garlands used in their idolatrous worships (<scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.14.13" parsed="|Acts|14|13|0|0" passage="Ac 14:13">Acts xiv. 13</scripRef>), out of which every
zealot took a branch which they smelled to as a nosegay. Dr.
Lightfoot (<i>Hor. Heb. in John</i> 15.6) gives another sense of
this place: <i>They put the branch to their wrath,</i> or <i>to his
wrath,</i> as the Masorites read it; that is, they are still
bringing more fuel (such as the withered branches of the vine) to
the fire of divine wrath, which they have already kindled, as if
that wrath did not burn hot enough already. Or putting the branch
to the nose may signify the giving of a very great affront and
provocation either to God or man; they are an abusive generation of
men. 3. He passes sentence upon them that they shall be utterly cut
off: <i>Therefore,</i> because they are thus furiously bent upon
sin, <i>I will also deal in fury</i> with them, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.8.18" parsed="|Ezek|8|18|0|0" passage="Eze 8:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. <i>They filled the land with
their violence,</i> and God will fill it with the violence of their
enemies; and he will not lend a favourable ear to the suggestions
either, (1.) Of his own pity: <i>My eye shall not spare, neither
will I have pity;</i> repentance shall be hidden from his eyes; or,
(2.) Of their prayers: <i>Though they cry in my ears with a loud
voice, yet will I not hear them;</i> for still their sins cry more
loudly for vengeance than their prayers cry for mercy. God will now
be as deaf to their prayers as their own idols were, on whom they
cried aloud, but in vain, <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.26" parsed="|1Kgs|18|26|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:26">1 Kings
xviii. 26</scripRef>. Time was when God was ready to hear even
<i>before they cried</i> and to <i>answer while they were yet
speaking;</i> but now <i>they shall seek me early and not find
me,</i> <scripRef id="Ez.ix-p22.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.28" parsed="|Prov|1|28|0|0" passage="Pr 1:28">Prov. i. 28</scripRef>. It is
not the loud voice, but the upright heart, that God will
regard.</p>
</div></div2>