A Temple Defiled

 

            Ezekiel 8 and 9 is the main scene for us to look at, and it serves as severe warning for what happens when man defiles the temple of God.  It is what is happening again, so we’ll be seeing much the same thing again.  We do things slightly differently, of course, but at the bottom of everything we find that things really haven’t changed.

 

1: And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2: Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3: And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5: Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.” Ezekiel 8:1-5 KJV

 

            Ezekiel wasn’t at Jerusalem at the time, since God had to take him there in the vision, but we first see an image of jealousy.  Probably a major idol or graven image, since we see that they provoke God to jealousy:

 

“For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.” Psalm 78:58 KJV

 

            Verse 5 tells us that this image is at the gate of the altar, by the entryway.  We aren’t out in the world, we are in the temple of God, and the chapter moves farther in with greater abominations.

 

6: He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7: And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8: Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9: And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10: So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.” Ezekiel 8:6-10 KJV

 

            Greater abominations lay inside, images of beasts, idols, all the junk that the Israelites were serving.  Now idols are shown to be demon worship (should be obvious anyway), and Paul adds some emphasis to it:

 

19: What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
20: But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
21: Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
22: Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?” First Corinthians 10:19-22 KJV

 

            Remember, this is in the temple.  Direct demon worship in the house of God.

 

11: And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12: Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
13: He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.” Ezekiel 8:11-13 KJV

 

            We see incense burning, but it’s not the kind that God was looking for, God considers this an abomination as well.  It is in the dark, they think no one notices, they think God hasn’t noticed.  Oh, He has noticed!  And as bad as this is, we shall now see even greater abominations!

 

14: Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15: Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.” Ezekiel 8:14-15 KJV

 

            I have no great knowledge of this Tammuz, but it is apparently a false god that came from Babylon with some connections to Egypt, and involves planet worship. http://www.varchive.org/itb/satwor.htm has some good information; you’ll find Tammuz in the second part.

 

16: And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17: Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.” Ezekiel 8:16-17 KJV

 

            The final abomination is a bunch of men worshiping the sun.  We also see violence, provoking to anger, and whatever this “branch to their nose” is.  God’s people.  God’s house.  And you probably already know where I’m going with this.

 

“Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” Ezekiel 8:18 KJV

 

            At this point God is so fed up and angry with them that He won’t hear them when they call.  That is one scary place to be.  But the next chapter, amid all the destruction, we see the remnant that weeps over the abominations.

 

1: He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2: And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
3: And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
4: And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5: And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezekiel 9:1-6 KJV

 

            We see the preparation for a great slaughter, but first a mark from God for those who are upset over the abominations!  We see a parallel with Revelation here:

 

2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3: And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Revelation 9:2-4 KJV

 

            We do see a separate sealing in Revelation 7 (which I have yet to understand), but we also see that true servants of God are already sealed with the Spirit in Ephesians.  I’ve looked at it before and it makes sense to me.

 

            But where does this destruction begin?  Verse 6 (back in Ezekiel) shows that it is in the sanctuary among men who do NOT have this seal.  Judgment begins at the house of God (First Peter 4:17 as well), and it will be us.  We then see the vastness of the destruction:

 

7: And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8: And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9: Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
10: And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11: And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.” Ezekiel 9:7-11 KJV

 

            That is a lot of bloodshed.

 

 

It Is Our Church

 

            This is, of course, where I am going with this.  Our churches are filled with abominations.  It looks different of course, or we would recognize how much we are like Israel was.  We worship idols of bad doctrine now, rather than wood and stone.  You may counter that their idols were demon worship, and doctrines aren’t.  But what about doctrines of demons?

 

1: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2: Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3: Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” First Timothy 4:1-3 KJV

 

            We see some specific examples here: Lies in hypocrisy (plenty of that going around, it’s pretty open-ended) with a seared conscience, forbidding marriage (hmm I may have to research that one sometime), and pushing vegetarianism.  Eastern religion is big on that; it has crept into the church. 

 

            We see also in the Old Testament how they had doctrines from their idols:

 

“But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.” Jeremiah 10:8 KJV

 

“My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.” Hosea 4:12 KJV

 

            Then we have our secret sins where no one seems to know.  Pornography is cake to throw in there; you can sin in the privacy of your own home and might never get caught.  I’ve shown it before, we have greater than 50% usage among men in the church, and leadership is right up there too.  Even if pre-trib were true, half the men would be left behind on this detail alone, as well as a good percentage of women.  Think about it.  Would God want to rapture someone in active sin, rewarding them for their selfishness and fornication?  If you’re hooked you need to do whatever it takes to get free, you can’t accept it as part of your life!

 

            This alone should be enough for you to be weeping for the church and separating yourself from wickedness. 

 

            I am interested in the planet worship.  I believe that some of the New Age stuff gets into that, I know some New Age has crept into the church as well.  Yoga certainly has.  Some of those positions are the same ones that were used in worship of false gods from what I’ve learned in the past. http://www.letusreason.org/NAM1.htm has some good information on this subject, although I will not vouch for everything on this site.

 

 If demons started manifesting on the Earth in the tribulation, would many embrace them as aliens?  Just something to ponder.

 

Weep and wail and mourn for our backslidden church.  Keep yourself separate, and endure to the end, no matter what happens.  Judgment is coming, will you listen now? 

 

 

Ezekiel Was Right

 

            This is what God told him when He first called him:

 

1: And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2: And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3: And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4: For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5: And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6: And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
7: And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
8: But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9: And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10: And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.” Ezekiel chapter 2 in entirety KJV

 

            The church needs to listen to all this today.  We need to read the judgment in chapter nine and tremble.  Sin is not all under the umbrella of grace, and we won’t be raptured out of here so we don’t have to deal with it.  God didn’t mess around with Israel when their time came, and He won’t mess around with us when our time comes.  Today is the day to prepare, today is the day to turn from your sin and serve God with all of your heart. 

 

            Most will not hear.  Will you hear? 

 

            I paralleled Jeremiah 25 with Revelation 18 before; this is what Jeremiah said early on in the chapter:

 

4: And the LORD hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them; but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear.
5: They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:
6: And go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
7: Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.” Jeremiah 25:4-7 KJV

 

            You matter too much, heed now.  Choose life, keep yourself pure, and endure.  What is coming is beyond what we can really understand; only by staying steadfast in Christ will you make it.  Do not be deceived by the many who teach falsely.