Ezekiel 8 | Wayfarer

He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?
Ezekiel 8:17 (NIV)

Over the past week or two, Wendy and sat down to re-watch the first three seasons of The Chosen before we dug into the fourth season. We’re halfway through the fourth season, and we’re thoroughly enjoying it. It has done a great job of contrasting Jesus’ teaching and example with the fundamentalist religious legalism that God’s people had turned God’s law into. It will prove to be lethal.

As I read today’s chapter, it is obvious that Ezekiel is dealing with an entirely different problem than Jesus, and I find the comparison fascinating. Today’s chapter is the beginning of a vision that will take us through chapter 11. It has five major sections and begins with God taking Zeke to Jerusalem to show him the extent of the idolatry being practiced inside Solomon’s Temple.

What’s not immediately clear to modern readers is that the “tour” of idol worship inside the temple includes Canaanite, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian deities. The final act of idolatry mentioned refers to the men of Jerusalem turning their back on the altar of God and bowing down to worship the sun. It’s interesting to note that the date of this vision at the beginning of the chapter places the timing of this vision with the autumnal equinox when the rising sun would shine directly through the doors to the Temple. All of the cultures that surrounded ancient Israel worshiped a form of sun-god worship. Many scholars interpret this act of sun worship as the people adopting a mixture of sun-god worship into their worship of Yahweh.

As the chapter draws to a close, God says something very interesting to Zeke. It’s not just the idolatry being practiced that has stirred God to wrath: “Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?“

When God established the Hebrews as a nation in Exodus He gave them laws and a system of worship that was about living clean and ordered lives in which people loved God and loved others through gratitude, respect, honor, and respect. As the people forgot God’s laws and adopted the forms of pagan worship from the people groups around them, they also adopted the acts and behaviors that went along with them. Often this included behaviors that were completely contradictory to God’s ways. It wasn’t just the idolatry, it included adultery, sexual immorality, and the cursing of others. It also led to violence and a disregard for others and for life itself.

The history of Kings and the words of multiple prophets describe King Mannaseh of Judah, who was largely responsible for turning Solomon’s Temple into a carnival of idol worship. They all speak of his violence and the “innocent blood” he spilled.

One of the things that I’ve observed throughout the Great Story is the fact that human beings repeatedly fail to find the heart of what God, what Jesus, is asking of us. In Ezekiel’s day, God’s people chased after lustful appetites that the paganism of their day catered to, which led to many of the acts of the flesh Paul describes in Galatians:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the pendulum had swung to the other side. God’s people had turned God’s rules into a fundamentalist system of legalistic and religious rule-keeping. This produces the other acts of the flesh that Paul lists:

hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy

In both cases, the people were missing the heart of God’s intent. To love God and love others in such a way that our lives increasingly produce love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When that happens, our lives, our families, and our communities become places of peace, generosity, and order.

In the quiet this morning, I look back on my life journey. There are stretches of my journey in which I ran headlong down the path toward the world and the things of this world. The consequences were disastrous for me and the people I love. I also have had stretches of my journey when I followed a path into legalistic, religious rule-keeping. The consequences were equally disastrous but in a completely different way.

The further I get in my journey, the harder I find myself ignoring paths and simply following Jesus’ footsteps. As I walk in His footsteps, follow His example, and obey His teaching (His actual words, not the religious rule books and religious hoops that people turn His teaching into), I find life much more spiritually fruitful in all the good ways.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Then he said to me, “Son of man, look toward the north.”
Ezekiel 8:5 (NIV)

Wendy and I were driving in the car the other night. As usual, we were having a great conversation about…something…I can’t remember exactly what. Wendy made the observation that one of the reasons she really never dated anyone seriously (until I came along when she was 33) is that no one else she met would have the kinds of conversations we seem to have on a regular basis.

There does seem to be a curious, exploratory conversational nature that the two of us enjoy together. We read the paper each morning and talk about what we’re seeing in the current events of our day. We watch television and talk about what we’re seeing in the stories and themes being presented. We got to church and talk about what we heard in the message, but also what we saw happening in the room around us and how it fits in the context of what we’ve seen happening over time. We go to a movie and talk about what we saw in the writing, the cinematography, the direction, the action, the acting and the characters. We watch sports and talk about what we’re seeing happening with the players, the teamwork, and the momentum shifts of the game.

I know. It sounds draining to most people. For us, it’s life.

With today’s chapter we are entering into one long vision experience that the prophet Ezekiel had which will flow into the following three chapters. The vision has five distinct divisions and today’s chapter is the first section of the vision. God takes Ezekiel on a magical mystery tour of sorts as Ezekiel is lifted into the spiritual realm and taken to Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. The common theme in this first section of the vision is for Ezekiel to see the extent of the idolatry that’s happening at and in God’s temple:

“look toward the north.” (vs 5)
“Do you see what they are doing” (vs 6)
“You will see things even more detestable” (vs 6)
“Go in and see….” (vs. 9)
“Have you seen…?” (vs. 12)
“Do you see this…?” (vs. 15)
“Have you seen…?” (vs. 17)

Which brings me back to Wendy and me and the fact that even our friends laugh at us always tearing things apart and dissecting them in conversation. “Can’t you just sit and enjoy the movie?” But the enjoyment for me comes, in part, by truly seeing the movie. As with people, there’s always a lot more going on than you see on the surface and I never want to be caught blind (although I’m pretty sure we can’t help but have our own blind spots, but that’s a another conversation).

I am reminded this morning of Jesus quoting the prophet Isaiah:

“In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.'”

Today, I’m continuing my quest to hear, to see, and to perceive.