Ezekiel received his call to the ministry on the fifth day of the fourth month of Jehoiachin's captivity. A year and two months later, on the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of the same captivity, Ezekiel received a second communication from the Lord in the form of a vision. This oracle is found in chapters 8-11. They therefore must be studied as a single unit.

From Ezekiel 8:1 we learn that the elders of Israel had come to the prophet's house and were sitting before him. During the interview the prophet fell into a trance and was caught up in the visions of God and taken to Jerusalem, where he saw the actual conditions that existed there. To him was revealed also the punishment of God that would come upon the evildoers.

The question immediately arises as to why God made this revelation concerning the conditions in Jerusalem to the prophet among the exiles in Babylon. As one studies the Book of Ezekiel, he must likewise study the supplemental data which is found in the Book of Jeremiah. From this latter prophet we learn that there were prophets in Babylon who were speaking falsely in the name of the Lord, promising the people that, within a very short time, the exiles would be permitted to return to the land of their fathers. Believing the false predictions of these unworthy prophets, the exiles were constantly kept in a state of uncertainty, hoping all the time to hear the good news that they would be able to return. The exiles believed the false messages of these untrue prophets and discredited absolutely the divine revelation which had been made through Jeremiah concerning the duration of the captivity and its being seventy years. Jeremiah therefore wrote a letter, which is now chapter 25 of his book, to the exiles telling them to settle down into a well-ordered life and to become obedient to the laws of the country in which they lived. He, however, assured them that, at the expiration of the period of exile, they would be permitted to return to the land of their fathers in fulfillment of the prediction. Thus these exiles were on the tiptoes of expectation, hoping to hear some good news concerning the return to the homeland. It was quite likely that the elders of the people came to Ezekiel to discuss this question and to receive a message from God relative to the same.

On the other hand, the people who had been left in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel had misunderstood the situation. They concluded that the exiles were out of fellowship with God, and that they had lost all share in the homeland. Moreover, they thought that they themselves were still in the favor of God by virtue of the fact that they had not been deported with the other two groups of captives who had already gone into exile. Thus these who remained in the land assumed an attitude of superiority toward their exiled brethren. They went so far as to speak out against them and to say that the land was theirs in possession and that they were secure.

Instead of their being the favored ones who, in the eyes of the Lord, were the better of the two classes, the Lord made a revelation through Jeremiah to the effect that those who had been taken into exile were like good figs in a basket, while those who were left in the land were like rotten figs (Jer. chap. 24). In view of the two interpretations upon the national situation placed there by the two groups of Israelites, the Lord made to Ezekiel the revelation found in chapters 8-11.
 

8 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me. 2 Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. 3 And he put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. 4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain (Ezek. 8:1-4).

In Ezekiel, chapter 1, we have the theophany which was granted to the prophet at the time of his call. The second theophany is recorded as having taken place a year and two months later and is the one which we have for consideration at the present time. It pertains, as we shall see, to the overthrow of the city of Jerusalem. As we know from subsequent history, the siege of the city by the Babylonians began only four years later, in the tenth year of Jehoiachin's captivity which was the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. The final collapse of Jewish resistance occurred in the eleventh of Zedekiah's reign. The third theophany occurred in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin, which was fourteen years after the downfall of Jerusalem in the eleventh year of Zedekiah's reign. In this final theophany God revealed to the prophet the conditions which will exist in Israel and Jerusalem during the great millennial reign of our Lord.

In verse 1 of the quotation above we are told that "the hand of the Lord Jehovah" was upon Ezekiel. This is a phrase which we see frequently occurring in the Old Testament Scriptures. What is its significance? On this point we gather information from I Kings 18:45,46: "... And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel: 46 and the hand of Jehovah was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." From this verse we see that the hand of the Lord was upon Elijah, and that he was thereby enabled to outrun Ahab's chariot in going from Mount Carmel to Jezreel, a distance of something like ten or fifteen miles. Thus the hand of the Lord imparted strength and superhuman power which enabled the prophet to outrun the horses. In II Kings 3:15 we have language to this effect: "But now bring me [Elisha] a minstrel. And it came to pass that when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah came upon him." Here it is quite evident that the result of the hand of Jehovah's being upon Elisha was that he was enabled to see a vision which portrayed the results of the coming of the present conflict between Judah and Moab. A glance at Ezekiel, chapters 40-48, shows that the significance of the hand of Jehovah's being upon the prophet was that he was granted a vision to foretell the future restoration of Israel to favor with God and to millennial blessing.

As the prophet sat in his house before the elders of Israel, the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell upon him and, lo, in the visions of God he saw the appearance of the throne-chariot which he had seen at the time of his call, when he was with the captives by the river Chebar. That this throne-chariot was identical with that which he had seen in the former vision is asserted in verse 4: "And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain." If the vision is not clear to the reader's mind at the present, he should turn back and read Ezekiel, chapter 1. There he will see a description of this theophany. Cherubim were supporting a pavement above them, upon which was located a throne. On it in regal majesty sat one like unto a Son of man, whose presence was draped and veiled with the out-shining of glory.

Ezekiel says that, when this vision appeared to him, the one who sat upon the throne reached forth His hand, took him by the locks of his head, and transported him in the visions of God to Jerusalem. The prophet is very careful to note the fact that this was in the visions of God. This fact shows that it was not an actual transportation of the prophet to Jerusalem, but that only in the vision was he transported to the land of his nativity. In this connection, let me say that we must not confound his being transported in the visions of God to Jerusalem with the account of his being taken by the Spirit of God from the place where God first called him to Tel-abib, preparatory to his delivering his first message to the exiles. As we saw when we studied this portion of the Word, this was a literal transportation of the prophet from one place to another location and is similar to the case of Philip, who was taken by the Spirit of the Lord from the place where he baptized the eunuch to Azotus, probably a distance of about fifty miles (Acts. 8:39,40).
 

One would think that Israel, who had enjoyed such unparalleled opportunities and advantages to learn the truth concerning the true and living God would never have lapsed into idolatry. But human nature is very strange and does the unexpected. Even when Israel was in the land of Egypt, she worshipped idols. After she had been miraculously brought forth out of Egyptian bondage and had seen the various manifestations of God's presence at Mount Sinai, she made the golden calf to worship (Exod., chap. 32). During the period of the Judges the history of the Chosen People ran in cycles of apostasy from God, being delivered over to foreign domination, servitude, and repentance and calling upon God for deliverance. Even during the Monarchical Period the nation lapsed into idolatry. Then a king, faithful to God, arose and instituted reforms. The four great reformers in Israel were Kings Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. All of these men did a marvelous piece of work for God against idolatry.

Never did the nation sink so low into idolatry as she did in the days of King Manasseh, who reigned over Judah for fifty-five years. The reader should stop here and read the account of his reign in II Kings 21:1-18 and II Chronicles 33:1-17. Amon, the son of Manasseh, continued the idolatrous policy of his father. But young King Josiah reversed the national policy and instituted the most thoroughgoing reforms throughout the nation of all the great men of Israel.

History, we are told, repeats itself. Notwithstanding the marvelous work of restoration to God during the reign of Josiah, the nation plunged into idolatry under Zedekiah, the last king who sat upon the throne of Judah. The extent of this turning to idolatry is set forth in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy, to which we now turn for a further study.

In verses 5 and 6 of this chapter the prophet records his being taken in vision to the Temple at Jerusalem. Upon his arrival he was told to lift up his eyes toward the north. When he did so, he saw north of the gate of the altar the "image of jealousy in the entry." From all of the data given, it appears that this image was in the outer court just north of the gate through which one passed from this outer court to the inner one. This gate was due north from the brazen altar of sacrifice. One standing in the gate and looking northward from the inner court could see this image.

What is the significance of its being called "the image of jealousy"? Various answers have been given, most of which are very unsatisfactory. Some have thought that it was the Phoenician goddess Astarte, the consort of the male god, Baal, of that nation. Others have surmised that it was Adonis of the Greek pantheon. There is some plausibility to the arguments advanced for these identifications. Others, on the contrary, have thought that this word, jealousy, is an echo of Deuteronomy 32:21, which passage foretells Israel's provoking the Lord to jealousy by idols—her giving to idols the worship and reverence that was due to His holy name.

Having seen this idol which the people of Jerusalem were worshiping, the prophet was brought to the door of the court. This door probably was the door of the gate, near which this image of jealousy stood. On either side of the passageway through this gate were chambers, for priests and for various purposes. Ezekiel was told, "... dig now in the wall," which thing he did. He found a door that had been plastered over and upon opening it, saw the gross idolatries into which the nation had plunged. Painted on the walls were pictures of all creeping things, abominable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel.

Before these pictures there stood seventy of the elders of Israel, who were engaging in the worship of these icons. Among these men as their leader was Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. All of these men had their censers and were offering incense to the icons—as we call them in the Greek Catholic Church today. This Jaazaniah must be distinguished from the man of that name mentioned in Ezekiel 11:1. Jaazaniah, the leader of the seventy elders, was the son of Shaphan, as already noted, whereas the Jaazaniah of 11:1 was the son of Azzur.

Let us, as we think of the prophets digging into the wall and discovering a door and opening it, remember that Ezekiel saw this in vision. It was not an actual digging into the wall. But what he saw in vision was the reality that was literally being carried on by the men in Jerusalem as they in actuality were worshiping heathen, foreign gods.

From the place and the chamber where these men were worshiping idols, the prophet was taken to "the gate of Jehovah's house which was toward the north." This door of Jehovah's house is understood by the best scholars to be the gate in the north wall of the sacred enclosure which opened into the city north of the Temple area. Upon being brought here, the prophet saw the women of Jerusalem worshiping the Babylonian god, Tammuz.

From this place Ezekiel was brought to the inner court of the Temple and was in a position between the brazen altar and the door of the Temple proper. Here he saw twenty-five men with their backs toward the Temple and faces toward the east, worshiping the sun, the queen of heaven. The Babylonians, especially, worshiped the sun. Many other nations have likewise worshiped it, because they have realized that life upon earth would not be possible if it were not for its shining, giving forth its life-giving rays.

Thus the prophet was shown some of the many abominations of Israel.

Though Israel was cleansed from gross idolatry by the Babylonian siege and the fall of Jerusalem under the sledge hammer blows of Nebuchadnezzar and has never until this day fallen into idolatry, the time will come when she with all nations will take a plunge into the grossest idolatry of all the ages. This turning from the living God, the Creator of all, to the creature and worshiping it is set forth in various passages of Scripture. For instance, in Isaiah's message to Damascus we get a picture of the Tribulation Period and learn that men throughout the world will revert to worshiping idols. The gospel will be preached and then vast hosts will turn from their idols to their Maker and serve Him. We learn the same truths in Revelation 9:20,21: "And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: 21 and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

The inhabitants of Jerusalem had gone so very far in apostasy from God that judgment was inevitable: "Therefore will I also deal in wrath; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them" (Ezek. 8:18; cf. II Chron. 36:11-16).