Ezekiel 8 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application

Ezekiel 8 Bible Study

TIMELINE:

• We are given a specific date for the vision seen by Ezekiel in chapter 8, the 6th year, in the 6th month. This likely refers to the 6th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, which dates this chapter to approximately 591 BC, a year after Ezekiel was called as a prophet.

• Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:

  • Amon (642-640 BC)

  • Josiah (640-609 BC)

  • Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)

  • Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)

  • Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)

  • Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)

WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY

• Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel has a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.

• Ezekiel 2 – God commissions Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.

• Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel eats the scroll of God’s words, and God calls him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.

• Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.

• Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.

• Ezekiel 7 – The Lord announces that the day of Judah’s judgement and doom is near.

OUTLINE:

• VISION OF ABOMINATIONS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD (8:1-18):

  • In the 6th year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, God presented another vision to Ezekiel while he sat in his house with the elders of Judah.

  • A heavenly being in the form of a man, took hold of Ezekiel by a lock of his hair, and transported him from Babylon to the entrance of the court of the Temple in Jerusalem.  

  • The entrance was described in a unique way, as the location of the “image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy” (8:3). The image seems to have been an image of a false god that provoked the true God, the God to whom the Temple was dedicated, to jealousy.

  • God’s glory was also visible to Ezekiel in the Temple. His glory was similar in appearance to the brightness Ezekiel saw seated on the throne in chapter 1.

  • God pointed out the image of jealousy to Ezekiel, but told him that when he entered the Temple, he would see even greater abominations.

  • Then he told him to break through a wall to view what was happening inside one of the Temple chambers.

  • When he did, he saw “engraved on the wall all around… every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel” (8:10).

  • In the chamber were 70 elders participating in idol worship. They said in their hearts, “The Lord does not see us.” They thought their sins were secret, but God was very aware of them.

  • But God told Ezekiel he would yet see greater abominations.

  • Ezekiel was brought to the north gate of Temple, and there he witnessed women of Judah giving their devotions to Tammuz, a pagan deity.

  • But God told Ezekiel he would see greater abominations still.

  • In the inner court of the Temple, near the Altar of Burnt Offering, were 25 men worshipping the sun.

  • When the tour of the sins in the Temple was finished, God declared, “Therefore I will act in wrath. 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” (8:18).

APPLICATION:

• The leaders of Judah thought their sins were secret and hidden within the Temple, but God could see through the walls. He revealed those sins to Ezekiel.

• What if God gave the rest of the Church a look inside the walls of your home?

• Would you be embarrassed by what they saw?  

• Would you modify your behavior if the elders of your Church randomly popped their heads into your window throughout the day.

• The thing to remember is that God can always see what you are doing and He is the judge.

• If you would be embarrassed to have your life exposed to the members of your Church, you should be doubly embarrassed to live that life knowing God can already see everything.