Tag: hair-raising
Glory departure!
Scripture reading for August 20th: Ezekiel 7-11
“In the sixth year, in the sixth month on the fifth day, while I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting before me, the hand of the Sovereign Lord came upon me there. I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. 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. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem. . .” Ezekiel 8:1-3
Ezekiel had a “hair-raising” experience and was taken about 800 miles away to the north entrance of the temple. He was instructed by the “angel” to dig into the wall of the temple. As he dug through the wall he saw a doorway and was told to go in and look. There he saw many “wicked and detestable” idols that had provoked God to jealousy and wrath and the seventy elders worshiping them!
Ezekiel was told that the elders did not believe that God saw them and that he had forsaken Israel. He saw a group of women worshiping Tammuz, a fertility goddess and men worshiping the sun. God had enough of their unfaithfulness and the time of judgment had come. As the elders had believed, so they received. The glory of God departed from above the cherubim where it had been and moved to the threshold of the temple. (Ezekiel 9:3) The Lord instructed the angel with a writing kit to go through the city and mark all who grieved over the sins of the temple and city. All others were to be killed without pity!
Ezekiel saw the Lord order an angel to take burning coals from between the wheels beneath the cherubim and scatter them over the city. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and moved to the east gate of the Temple, stopping there. (Ezekiel 10:18-19) Finally the cherubim escorted the glory of God to the Mt. of Olives on the East of the city. God slowly withdrew His glory from His idolatrous people who would not listen or repent!