“Ye Shall Know That I Am The Lord” Ezekiel “Ye Shall Know That I Am The Lord” Lesson 6: Chapters 8-9

586 B.C.; Judah falls, Jerusalem destroyed Jeremiah – Daniel – Ezekiel: Timeline (B.C.) 640 536 586 593 605 571 627 Jeremiah Daniel Ezekiel 586 B.C.; Judah falls, Jerusalem destroyed

Ezekiel Review: Chapters 1-7 Summary: Chapters 1 - 7 Chapter 1: vision of the glory of the LORD Chapters 2-3: call to the office of prophet; called to be a watchman Chapters 4-5: four symbolic actions portraying the fall of Jerusalem Chapters 6-7: devastation and destolation of the land; a remnant will be spared

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 (Reminder: It’s been 1 year & 2 months since Ezekiel’s first visions. Year ~591 B. C.) Reminder of what is happening in Jerusalem… Zedekiah’s 7th year as king in Jerusalem. Constant pressure for Zedekiah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. The time is drawing near when Zedekiah will heed those who advise alliance with Egypt. He will rebel and Jerusalem will be utterly destroyed. This vision is an explanation of why God will allow the city in which His presence dwells to be destroyed. (**Chapters 8 – 11 are from the same vision)

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: Ezekiel is sitting in his house with the elders of Judah when he is taken in a vision to Jerusalem… …to the door of the north gate where the idol of jealousy (an image of a false god provoking God to “jealousy”) was located. And “the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.” (v. 4)

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: Ezekiel is sitting in his house with the elders of Judah when he is taken in a vision to Jerusalem… …to the door of the north gate where the idol of jealousy (an image of a false god provoking God to “jealousy”) was located. And “the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.” (v. 4) God said, “Do you see what they are doing, the great abominations…but yet you will see greater abominations.” (v. 6)

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: Ezekiel is taken to the entrance of the court…to a hole in the wall and digs through to an entrance. “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are doing…” Every form of creeping things, beasts, and detestable things carved on wall all around. Seventy elders standing in front of them with incense saying, “the LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.” God again states, “…turn again and you will see greater abominations that they are doing”

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: Ezekiel is taken to the door of the north gate of the temple. Women were sitting and weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz, alabaster relief from Ashur, c. 1500 bc; in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany (Encyclopedia Britannica)

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: Ezekiel is taken to the door of the north gate of the temple. Women were sitting and weeping for Tammuz. Tammuz may be identified with the god Adonis, or with the Egyptian god Osiris. Reference to a god being killed by and evil thing, carried to the underworld, and then is restored to life. The death of the god coincided with winter and his restoration to life with the spring. The people had turned away from the true God and chose to worship a figment of man’s imagination.

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 8 Abominations in the Temple: “Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.” Ezekiel is then taken to the inner court of the temple. Twenty five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces to the east; they were worshipping the sun. “Do you see this, son of man?” “My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 9 The wicked are slain God calls to the executioners of the city, each with a destroying weapon in their hand. One among them is clothed in linen with a writing case at his side. The glory of the LORD went up from the cherub on which it had been to the threshold of the temple. How can God forsake His temple and His city? It was no longer His!

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 9 The wicked are slain God calls to the executioners of the city, each with a destroying weapon in their hand. One among them is clothed in linen with a writing case at his side. The glory of the LORD went up from the cherub on which it had been to the threshold of the temple. He tells the one with the writing instrument to go thru the city and mark those who sigh and groan over the abominations being committed in the city on their foreheads. To the others: go through the city after him and strike…don’t have pity…but don’t touch those with the mark.

Ezekiel Lesson 6: Ezekiel 9 The wicked are slain Ezekiel falls on his face and cries out, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?” The LORD responds, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great…My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”

Ezekiel Lessons from Ezekiel 8-9 We can’t hide from God God is never far away, and He knows our thoughts and actions. He is omnipresent (everywhere) and omniscient (all knowing). Even in an ever increasing evil society, God knows the righteous. 2 Tim. 2:19 “The Lord knows those who are His.”

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