Idolatry judged, mercy shown
Text Ezekiel 8, 9 Time 28 05 06 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We are looking at the prophecy of Ezekiel and we have already looked at the first set of messages visions given to the prophet in Chapters 1-7. Now 14 months after the first set of visions he receives another set. These begin in Chapter 8 and go on to Chapter 20. This first vision goes on from 8:1 to the end of Chapter 11. (8:1-4) In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house near the Kebar River in Babylon) and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, says Ezekiel the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. This is the figure he had seen in the previous visions you remember. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. He goes on The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain (as described in Chapter 1). So he is not literally taken to Jerusalem, it happens in a vision. But he is shown exactly what is going on over a thousand miles away. First (Chapter 8) he is shown how bad things are. Then (Chapter 9) God’s coming judgement is revealed but with a strong note of mercy in the person of (9:2) the man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. Three things then.
1. Recognise what evil may exist in seemingly unlikely places
We are looking at the prophecy of Ezekiel and we have already looked at the first set of messages visions given to the prophet in Chapters 1-7. Now 14 months after the first set of visions he receives another set. These begin in Chapter 8 and go on to Chapter 20. This first vision goes on from 8:1 to the end of Chapter 11. (8:1-4) In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house near the Kebar River in Babylon) and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, says Ezekiel the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. This is the figure he had seen in the previous visions you remember. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal. He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. He goes on The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court, where the idol that provokes to jealousy stood. And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain (as described in Chapter 1). So he is not literally taken to Jerusalem, it happens in a vision. But he is shown exactly what is going on over a thousand miles away. First (Chapter 8) he is shown how bad things are. Then (Chapter 9) God’s coming judgement is revealed but with a strong note of mercy in the person of (9:2) the man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. Three things then.
1. Recognise what evil may exist in seemingly unlikely places
The vision comes in four main stages. At the end of the first three, God says to him (6) But you will see things that are even more detestable. (13) You will see them doing things that are even more detestable. (15) He said to me, Do you see this, son of man? You will see things that are even more detestable than this. Whether these are things that were actually going on literally or symbolic of the sort of thing that was happening is debatable. Certainly such things did happen in those days and though it was a very long time ago they are the sort of things that have gone on down the ages and that still happen today.
1. Some set up idols in God’s Temple
1. Some set up idols in God’s Temple
In 8:5,6 God says to Ezekiel Son of man, look towards the north. So Ezekiel looks and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar (in the Temple), says Ezekiel, I saw this idol of jealousy. Then God says Son of man, do you see what they are doing - the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? In Exodus 34:14 God says Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. And yet what were the people doing? They had placed an idol of some sort there at the very heart of the Temple. How incongruous! How utterly detestable! What could be more calculated to drive God from his sanctuary? Yet it happens. You have only to go into a Roman Catholic or Orthodox church and what do you see but idols everywhere. Sometime it is more subtle – the idol is a great pipe organ or some plaque to someone or other. And it can be even more subtle than that – while we are here worshipping at God’s throne there may be an idol on the throne of my heart. What jealousy that provokes in God. We must tear down such idols. How detestable. They cannot be allowed to remain.
2. Sometimes leading citizens are secretly devoted to idols
2. Sometimes leading citizens are secretly devoted to idols
Ezekiel goes on (7-11) Then he brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked, and I saw a hole in the wall. God tells him to dig into the wall. So he does so and he sees a doorway. He is told Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here. First, he sees portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. Then he sees 70 elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan was standing among them. He was a distinguished individual. His father had served faithfully under that great king Josiah (2 Kings 22:3) and his brother had defended Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24). One would have expected better things but here he is with other elders and Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising. They are worshipping the idols! Now what goes on behind closed doors among the leaders of a nation or a community we do not always know. But sometimes it comes out – usually a few years after the event. Think of what we learned a few years ago about the Reagan administration in America and its commitment to astrology. We have head similar things about the Royal Family and others over our nation. What cause for concern when our leaders are relying on such detestable things. What idolatry there is away from prying eyes. What about us? What goes on behind your closed doors – at home? What pictures are on your walls? Or what is there in books and magazines on your DVDs and on the computer screen? Is idolatry of one sort or another secretly going on? Especially those of us who are leaders at home and in the churches we must take great care.
3. Women may mourn for an idol
3. Women may mourn for an idol
Next in 14 we read Then he brought me to the entrance to the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning for Tammuz. This time the focus is on the women. Here they are engaging in the rites of the Sumerian-Babylonian goddess of plant-life Tammuz, which involved mourning at Autumn time as if she was responsible for the death of the plants. Women may often work very much behind the scenes but they can have a huge influence on a community. Think of the way so many follow their horoscopes in the magazines or fashions in clothes and accessories or the stars of the TV soap operas and others in an often idolatrous way. I remember hearing a young girl interviewed following the death of Princess Diana. ‘She was my idol’ she said. Exactly! If I may speak to the women of the congregation for a moment – do not under-estimate your influence. It is vital that you are not idol worshippers. Turn from every hint of it.
4. Men may turn from God to worship nature
4. Men may turn from God to worship nature
The final outrage is in 16 He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. We are at the entrance to the Holy Place itself now. Yet what is happening? With their backs towards the temple of the LORD and their faces towards the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east. Again it is hard to believe and yet this was the sort of thing that was happening in Ezekiel’s today and that has gone on down to our supposedly more sophisticated days. The temptation to worship what has been created rather than the Creator is always there. This is in part what the attraction to the theory of evolution is about. It exalts the creature rather than the Creator. At the more extreme end are those who want a return to paganism – to the worship of mother earth, etc. Are we keeping the Creator first in our thinking? We dare not turn our backs on him.
5. Some promote bloodshed and injustice
5. Some promote bloodshed and injustice
It wasn’t just idolatry itself that was happening in Jerusalem. Whenever idolatry takes hold we can be sure that all sorts of evils will follow in its wake. And so in 8:17 the Lord says to Ezekiel Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! Later in 9:9a, after the judgement has begun, in answer to Ezekiel’s question about how far it would go, God says The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. This brings us back to the whole matter of religion and morality. Without question, your religion, if it is real, will affect your morality. The idea of a strong morality without right beliefs is a pipe dream. It cannot happen. Idolatry inevitably leads to violence and injustice and other depravities. There are many examples of this sort of thing. Don’t miss this connection. Where there are sins in your life, you will often see that there is a link between your idolatrous ways and what you do. Take great care.
6. Many deny the Lord
6. Many deny the Lord
The other thing to draw attention to here is 8:12 where God asks Ezekiel have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? He goes on They say, The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land. Their words are repeated in 9:9b They say, The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see. We sometimes find it hard to understand Old Testament idolatry but this is how people often ended up in it – they lost any sense of the presence of God or his care. They felt forsaken. That can happen. We can just go through the motions. The New Testament speaks of people who have a form of religion but without any power. Is your religion mere form, a mere shell? All outward with no real power? You are in danger. This is often how people end up in idolatry and false religion.
2. Realise that such idolatry and sin must expect God’s stern judgement
2. Realise that such idolatry and sin must expect God’s stern judgement
The last verse of Chapter 8 is an announcement of judgement on this sort of behaviour. 8:18 Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them. In Chapter 9 Ezekiel hears God call out in a loud voice, Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand. He sees six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. In 9:3 we read Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. The glory was indeed departing and judgement was about to begin. These men, these destroying angels, were to go through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. We learn several things about God’s judgement then – the judgement that is already here in one sense but that will come to its height when Jesus comes again.
1. There will be anger not mercy
1. There will be anger not mercy
God is a very merciful God. He is full of compassion. However, he is also a God of wrath and anger. Here we see in the outpouring of his wrath on Jerusalem It reminds us that today is a day of grace. Soon the Day of his wrath will be here and then no-one will be able to stand.
2. Judgement begins with those who profess to serve God
2. Judgement begins with those who profess to serve God
9:6b is interesting Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. In 1 Peter 4:17 Peter says For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. His point is and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? Luke 12:48 says From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. We may feel very uncomfortable hearing about the judgement of God so much but it is for our good. Judgement begins with us. If we are not right then what hope for the world?
3. And comes to all people
3. And comes to all people
The destroying angels are told to Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children. No-one is to escape. That is how it will be in the Judgement.
4. Nothing can stop God’s wrath
4. Nothing can stop God’s wrath
Ezekiel thinks that no-one is going to be spared. As we shall see in a moment it is not that simple. But God does say (9:10) I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done. To attempt to resist God’s wrath is a form of madness. It cannot be done.
3. Even so God will show mercy through his Son to those who repent
3. Even so God will show mercy through his Son to those who repent
Now this would all be very gloomy and hopeless if it were not for one more element here, one we haven’t really mentioned until now. Although Chapter 9 begins with God saying Bring the guards of the city here, each with a weapon in his hand we soon read (9:2) that With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. Imagine it – here are these six destroying angels, these warriors with deadly weapons in their hands. They look menacing and powerful. Quite incongruously, stood next to them is a scribe, a scholar, a man dressed not in armour but in soft linen. He has no weapon – just things to write with - a scroll, a pen, some ink. It’s as though you have Rambo, the Terminator, He-man, Conan the Barbarian, the Hulk and the Rock all stood armed to the teeth and then a Clark Kent figure, a seemingly insignificant jobsworth in spectacles, appears. In 9:3, 4 we read how the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. He is to go ahead of the warriors then. They are to follow him. The destroying angels are told clearly (9:6) but do not touch anyone who has the mark.
Now what are we to make of this man and his activities? You remember how in Revelation the 144,000 have the names of the Lamb and the Father written on their foreheads. What the mark (Tau) was is immaterial, the point is that those who were marked were not to be harmed. The ones marked out are those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. I think we are right to see the Scribe as pointing to Christ – the seventh man, God’s man, the one who touches men’s minds and sets them apart to God. And so we say
1. God sends his Son ahead of his wrath
Now what are we to make of this man and his activities? You remember how in Revelation the 144,000 have the names of the Lamb and the Father written on their foreheads. What the mark (Tau) was is immaterial, the point is that those who were marked were not to be harmed. The ones marked out are those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. I think we are right to see the Scribe as pointing to Christ – the seventh man, God’s man, the one who touches men’s minds and sets them apart to God. And so we say
1. God sends his Son ahead of his wrath
Yes, this chapter is another chapter about sin and judgement but it also reminds us that there is more to say. Before any destroying angel comes near the Son of God goes ahead and he puts his saving mark on those who are his and no harm can come to them. It is like a prophylactic, a preventative medicine. Some of you have flu jabs to prevent 'flu' in the winter. It doesn’t always work but it usually does. Jesus secures us from harm perfectly. We cannot fail if his mark is on us. Jesus Christ has come into the world and through his death on the cross and rising again he has secured salvation for every person who trusts in him. Have you received his mark? Are you looking to him? You must do so before those destroying angels come in his wake. Look to him today. Trust in Jesus Christ.
2. His Son marks out all who repent
2. His Son marks out all who repent
Who are those he marks on the forehead? Those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. If you repent, the mark will be there. Think of a mark of ownership or the way a farmer marks his sheep. Is that you? Do you grieve over the sin in the temple of your own heart? Do you lament the detestable sins you have done as well as others? Are you repenting? It is those who repent who are spared, no others.
3. His Son does all God’s holy will
3. His Son does all God’s holy will
Finally, let’s focus on 9:11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, I have done as you commanded. In John 17:4 Jesus prays I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. His final words on the cross were It is finished! Today he is at work preparing a home for his people – he has gone to prepare a place for us. He is busy marking out this one and that one as his own. Do you have that mark - the mark of the repentant? Do you belong to Christ? We can be confident that all who are truly his will own him. He is the Perfect Servant and he will complete all the work he sets out to do in the Father’s name. On that final day not one will be missing of all the elect. If it was our work may be we would miss one or two but it is not our work it is his. He does the work and so it cannot fail. To him be the glory!
