EZEKIEL 8-13. OTHER VISIONS OF SIN AND JUDGMENT. Ezekiel 8. The Idolatry of Jerusalem Illustrated. Ezekiel 8:1. The Jealousy Image. The visions which fill chs. 8- 11 occurred about a year after those that precede (Ezekiel 1:1), _i.e._ in 591 B.C. This chapter gives concrete illustrations of the ki... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MYSTERY CULT. Next, through a hole in the Temple wall, Ezekiel saw seventy elders headed by Jaazaniah (son, perhaps, of that very Shaphan who had been associated with the reform of the worship thirty years before, 2 K. 228ff.) indulging in mysterious animal worship, which some trace to Egypt, ot... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORSHIP OF TAMMUZ. Then follows a scene in which the women lament for Tammuz a clear allusion to a Babylonian cult. Tammuz (pp. 631 f.), impersonation of the fructifying, gladdening sun, god of the spring vegetation, is represented as later in the year descending to the realm of the dead. Thithe... [ Continue Reading ]
EZEKIEL 8:16 F. SUN WORSHIP. The next scene is a group of sun-worshippers with their backs significantly turned towards the Temple. This also points to Babylonian influence. Sun worship, abolished by Josiah (2 Kings 23:11) had apparently been reintroduced. What the more abominable thing, alluded to... [ Continue Reading ]