Commentary

 

Ezekiel 2 - A Tour of the Temple

By Todd Beiswenger


To continue browsing while you listen, play the audio in a new window.

God does not always require us to operate solely on faith, and in fact at times will lay out very clear evidence for the wrong doings of humanity. As God calls Ezekiel to be a prophet, we see that God lays out the case against Jerusalem and that what they thought was hidden from God was in fact well known by Him.

(References: Ezekiel 8)

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 8

Study

   

1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD 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 an 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 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 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? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.

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, pourtrayed 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 LORD seeth us not; The LORD hath forsaken the earth.

13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, 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, yet will I not hear them.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #93

Study this Passage

  
/ 853  
  

93. Since the angel Gabriel said to Mary, 'The holy thing that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God,' passages will be quoted from the Word to prove that the Lord in His Human is called the Holy One of Israel.

I was seeing in visions; and behold, a watcher, a Holy One, coming down from heaven, Daniel 4:13, 23.

God shall come from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran, Habakkuk 3:3.

I am Jehovah the Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your Holy One, Isaiah 43:14-15.

Thus spoke Jehovah, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, Isaiah 49:7.

I am Jehovah your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour, Isaiah 43:1, 3.

As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 47:4.

Jehovah your Redeemer said, the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 43:14; 48:17.

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 54:5.

They tested God and the Holy One of Israel, Psalms 78:41.

They have abandoned Jehovah, and provoked the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 1:4.

They said, Make the Holy One of Israel depart from our faces; therefore thus spoke the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 30:11-12.

Who say, Let Him hasten His work that we may see it, and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel come near and be present, Isaiah 5:19.

On that day they shall lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth, Isaiah 10:20.

Cry out and triumph, inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 12:6.

The word of the God of Israel, On that day his eyes shall look towards the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 17:6-7.

The needy among men shall exult in the Holy One of Israel, Isaiah 29:19; 41:16.

The earth is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel, Jeremiah 51:5.

See also Isaiah 55:5; 60:9 and elsewhere.

[2] By 'the Holy One of Israel' is meant the Lord as to His Divine Human, for the angel said to Mary:

The holy thing that shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God, Luke 1:35.

Although Jehovah and the Holy One of Israel are mentioned separately, it is clear that they are one and the same, as is shown also by the passages quoted here, which prove that the Holy One of Israel is Jehovah. There are numerous passages to show that the Lord is called the God of Israel: for example, Isaiah 17:6; 21:10, 17; 24:15; 29:23; Jeremiah 7:3; 9:15; 11:3; 13:12; 16:9; 19:3, 15; 23:2; 24:5; 25:15, 27; 29:4, 8, 21, 25; 30:2; 31:23; 32:14-15, 36; 33:4; 34:2, 13; 35:13, 17-19; 37:7; 38:17; 39:16; 42:9, 15, 18; 43:10; 44:2, 7, 11, 25; 48:1; 50:18; 51:33; Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:19-20; 11:22; 43:2; 44:2; Zephaniah 2:9; Psalms 41:13; 59:5; 68:8.

  
/ 853  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.