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Ezekiel 8 (ESV)
1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. Below what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. 3 He put out 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 visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley.
5 Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.”
REFLECTION:
Chapter 8 records that Ezekiel was taken to Jerusalem from Babylon in a vision and saw the evil things done there. The first vision Ezekiel saw in chapters 1-3 shows that the judgment comes from God. The vision in this chapter emphasizes that the reason for the judgment is the sins of religious leaders and the people. In a previous vision of Ezekiel, he saw a human-like image sitting on the throne of God. This person may be an angel, or it may be a manifestation of God himself. God allowed Ezekiel to see His own glory, and at the same time Ezekiel saw the corruption of man, forming a sharp contrast between light and darkness, holiness and filth. The “idol that provokes jealousy” may refer to Asherah, the so-called “god of harvest” in Canaan. The characteristic of Asherah is to encourage sexual promiscuity and self-indulgence. King Manasseh had erected this idol in the temple (see 2 Kings 21:7). Although King Josiah burned the Asherah pillar (see 2 Kings 23:6), the influence of the Asherah idol continued. The so-called postmodern society today is actually not much different from the society of Ezekiel back then, and even worse. We have seen a variety of individualistic and liberal thoughts and behaviours flooding all aspects of society. Many people in the world live in fornication and corruption, which will surely trigger the wrath and judgment of God. Reflect if we, as the people of God, are imperceptibly influenced by the world’s values and behaviours. May we fix our eyes on the glory of God, refrain from participating in any form of idolatry, and refrain from doing things that irritate God.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to strengthen your faith so that you can live out the holy and glorious way of life of the Lord Jesus Christ in this crooked and perverse world. Pray that God will enlighten you so that you can walk with God every day without seeing, listening or saying anything related to the filth, indulgence, or fornication of the world. May your thoughts, words, and actions be pleasing to God, and be a good testimony to the Lord in the world.
HYMN:
To Be Pleasing You – youtu.be/m9O1GPUqn8M
