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.
20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them. 21 And I will give it into the hands of foreigners for prey, and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and they shall profane it. 22 I will turn my face from them, and they shall profane my treasured place. Robbers shall enter and profane it.
23 “Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”
REFLECTION:
God gave people gold, silver and all kinds of gorgeous materials, but people used them to make idols. The resources God gives us should be used to do God’s work and carry out God’s will. Sometimes, like the Israelites back then, we often use them to show our own glory and satisfy our desires. When we abuse God’s gifts or selfishly use resources, we lose the true purpose of worshiping God and are as proud and short-sighted as idolaters. The people of Jerusalem are very proud of their buildings, and the temple itself has become their proud capital. After the evil and unbelieving Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the Holy Land, this pride was completely shattered. Reflect what desires I have today has turned into my idol. What capital do I have become a source of my pride? May God destroy our idols, stop our pride, and keep us from falling into the situation of the Israelites.
PRAYER:
Pray for the church, asking God to make the church conform to God’s will in all its ministries, without mixing people’s desires, not promoting human pride, not robbing God’s glory, especially not creating all kinds of tangible and intangible idols; Pray that God will enable you to have a deeper understanding of holiness in the church ministry you participate in, and be willing to live a more holy life.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. 5 And I will lay the dead bodies of the people of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 Wherever you dwell, the cities shall be waste and the high places ruined, so that your altars will be waste and ruined, your idols broken and destroyed, your incense altars cut down, and your works wiped out. 7 And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord.
REFLECTION:
Chapters 6 to 7 use two messages to prophesy the fate of Israel. This chapter is the first message, declaring that God will attack the idol-worshiping people. At that time, there were high places for worshipping Baal everywhere in the “mountains and hills” of Israel, and the “ravines and valleys” also became places of abominable idolatry rituals. The people offered children to Molech in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom (cf. Jer. 32: 35). Therefore, God declared that He would attack the “mountains of Israel” and cleanse the defiled Promised Land. The cleansing work that God did with the “sword” was exactly what He did when He commanded the Israelites to enter Canaan: “destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.” (Num. 33:52). But now the people who use the sword are not the people of God, but the army of Babylon; it is not the Canaanites who are destroyed, but the Israelites. What a huge irony and a bitter lesson. “Yahweh” is a self-revelation name when God makes a covenant with the people. Now, the people do not have the position of the covenant God in their hearts. Therefore, the covenant God allows the people to be killed in front of the idols they worship, so that they know that idols are vanity; and the rebellious people know to fear God only after they experience the discipline themselves. Today, if we call ourselves children of God but do not have the place of God in our hearts, God will also give us severe lessons to let us know that He is Yahweh, a jealous God, and our lifelong trust.
PRAYER:
Come to God in awe and ask God to enlighten you and examine your heart, so that you can see what position God occupies in your heart today. Do you still have the influence of various idols in your heart that have not been cleaned up? Pray for God to purify you so that you will only respect the Lord in your heart, obey God’s will throughout your life, and behave in accordance with God’s will.
