WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.719 I will begin today by just saying that nobody enjoys waking up from a nightmare. 00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:05.200 Right? 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.960 Worse than a nightmare is something called sleep terrors. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:17.359 And the Mayo Clinic describes a sleep terror this way: it's a person partially and abruptly waking up in an intense state of fear or panic. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:27.120 So a person, in this case, may sit up, they may scream, they may sweat, they may breathe rapidly or appear awake while actually confused and difficult to comfort. 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:31.440 Sleep terrors are a genuinely frightening event. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:40.799 There was one published sleep study case where researchers documented a woman awakening from REM sleep, crying out in terror. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:44.960 For over a minute, she was inconsolable and disoriented. 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:50.399 Now, to the average observer, this may look like a scene from a movie, but in this case she was not acting. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:57.920 She was crossing from a terrifying dream state to a waking reality, and her mind had just not caught up. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.479 Has anybody experienced this phenomenon? 00:01:00.719 --> 00:01:02.799 It is a scary moment. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.239 They don't call it a sleep terror haphazardly. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.000 Now, fear can wake you before you're fully awake. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.840 Your eyes are open, but your heart is still in the nightmare. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:18.079 The sleep terror is what invades your soul. 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:23.200 And that's the scene we experience in Ezekiel chapter 8, all the way to chapter 11. 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:24.640 That's where we'll be this morning. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.840 Find your way to Ezekiel chapter 8, verse 1. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:35.760 Now to the prophet, this section feels like a nightmare, but it's actually an immersive vision from God Himself. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:45.280 Ezekiel's eyes are opened, not to an imaginary threat, but to real activities that are happening inside the temple of God. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:52.959 And this scene is frightening precisely because God's people are doing the unthinkable. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.000 They have turned their backs on God. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:01.120 The loyalty of their hearts is divided between Yahweh and idols. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.000 And for Ezekiel, this is the nightmare. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.159 So here's my question for you, church. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.560 What is your nightmare? 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.199 What is your nightmare? 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:15.520 Now, throughout these chapters, it is clear God's people are engaged in idol worship. 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:20.639 And let me just give you a definition from Tim Keller in his book Counterfeit Gods. 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:24.240 He gives an off a helpful definition of modern idols. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:35.919 He says this an idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, if I have that, then I'll have my life will have meaning. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:37.840 Then I'll know I have value. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.680 Then I'll feel significant and secure. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:49.280 In other words, an idol is something so important in your life that if you lose it, you won't want to live. 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:52.960 In fact, losing that idol would be your worst nightmare. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.000 So what is your nightmare? 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:05.840 Now, as we begin, I just want to acknowledge that we're jumping from Ezekiel chapter 2 last week all the way over to Ezekiel chapter 8 this morning. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.719 The book of Ezekiel, if you missed it, is broken into three large literary chunks. 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.520 You can see them on the screen behind me. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.599 In chapter 1 in the first week, we saw the glory of God. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:23.919 Today, we're gonna see God's glory depart the temple in chapter 11 at the end of that first block. 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:31.120 Next week, we're actually gonna jump all the way back to Ezekiel 3 and 4 for some prophetic street theaters, so stay tuned for that. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:39.199 But before we examine Ezekiel chapter 8, let's remember the importance of the temple, which is central to our scripture today. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.319 Last week, Pastor Dave showed an impressive timeline. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.400 Let me put that back on the screen for you. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:56.960 If you go all the way back to the time of King David, King David, uh you may remember that in 2 Samuel chapter 7, God asked David to build a permanent house where his presence can dwell. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:00.319 And for a number of reasons, you know, David does not build the temple. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.639 That falls to his son, King Solomon. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:05.360 He's not on the timeline, but he comes right after David. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:10.080 And we read this in the book of 1 Kings, chapter 8, verse 10. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:27.199 And when the priests came out of the most holy place, this was the temple, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:32.000 Now, right here, this is a civilizational moment for Israel. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.360 The nation is united under one king. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.160 This long-awaited temple has been completed. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:40.720 The glory of the Lord is with them. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:51.120 But then at the end of 1 Kings chapter 8, after Solomon has dedicated the temple, he prays for the people, he sends them home, and we read this in verse 66. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:05:04.480 It says, They blessed the king and went to their homes, joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:06.720 Now, did you catch that? 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.079 The people of Israel were joyful and glad of heart. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:10.639 Why? 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:12.399 For the goodness of God. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:13.920 For the goodness of God. 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:19.040 Now you might be asking yourself, what does this have to do with Ezekiel chapter 8 through 11? 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.839 Well, we read something rather terrifying in Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 18. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:24.800 This is what we see. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:32.959 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, that temple, and stood over the cherubim. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:45.279 So what we see here is that same glory of the Lord which filled the temple in Ezekiel chapter, and sorry, in 1 Kings 8, 10, it departs now the temple in Ezekiel 10, 18. 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:49.600 The glory of God just gets up and leaves the temple. 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:53.279 And for Ezekiel and his people, this was the sleep terror. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:55.199 This was the nightmare. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:03.759 Just imagine being in the presence of God in Ezekiel chapter 1, where we felt the weight of his glory, but in chapter 10, it's gone. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.360 It gets up, it leaves. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:06.720 What is that like? 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:10.959 How did we get from Solomon to Ezekiel? 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:18.639 Now, if you look back at that timeline, remember that Solomon ruled over a united kingdom just after his father David. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:29.680 God gave Solomon supernatural wisdom to rule, but by 1 Kings chapter 11, his heart began to wander, we're told, after foreign wives who worship foreign gods. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:34.720 And once they were in the door, once they were in the land, they infected the heart of the nation. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:41.439 And so the northern kingdom turned away from Yahweh, they were conquered by Assyria, and they never came back. 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:48.079 But the southern kingdom of Judah oscillated between obedience and disobedience, good kings and bad kings. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:51.519 And they were eventually conquered by and exiled to Babylon. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:07:04.079 And so this is why Ezekiel is sitting at the Kibar Canal in Ezekiel 1, far from home, when he receives another vision from God, a vision of idolatry in the temple of God. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:08.240 The allegiance that the people had to Yahweh is broken. 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:15.759 And so as we examine this passage, I just want to challenge you this morning to allow it to be a mirror to our own hearts. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:21.680 And so my question for you is what competes for your deepest heart loyalty? 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.519 What competes for your deepest heart loyalty? 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:30.959 Because when loyalty is betrayed, allegiance is lost, and consequences then ensue. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:33.680 Let's just think about a few examples here today. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:37.920 Just imagine that you have a friendship that is broken by betrayal. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:46.000 So perhaps you were close with somebody for many, many years, but now you don't talk because for some reason the trust is eroded. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.120 Or imagine a marriage that ends in divorce. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.120 And that never happens overnight. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:08:00.240 That is a long series of decisions and attitudes and actions, and the result is a fracture, a devastated family. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:07.040 Or imagine a church whose hearts have turned toward selfish interests over the glory of God. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.800 When that happens, always posturing follows. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:17.360 People then whisper, gossip in secret, and everyone claims that God is on their side. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:25.759 And the result too often is a broken body and the stark reality that we are drawn to our own glory over God's. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:28.160 Let's not be that church. 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:33.279 Because the most important pursuit of our lives must be the glory of God. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:39.120 If it is not, we are one moment from waking up in a sleep terror. 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.519 And so we have to ask, how will God get glory for my actions? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:50.960 Our allegiance to Him must be more important than our allegiance to ourselves and the world. 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:56.159 And so, if nothing, if you get nothing else out of this message today, I would just ask you to remember this. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:00.720 Divided allegiance leads to God's departing presence. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.480 That's the topic of Ezekiel 8 through 11. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:12.639 So we'll focus first and mostly on chapter 8, but the four chapters need to be read as a unit, and they unfold in three scenes. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:16.320 First, in chapter 8, we get a tour of the temple. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:21.600 Second, God then makes a deliberate departure in chapter 10 and 11. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:26.879 And then at the end of chapter 11, finally, we see mercy on the mountain. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:31.279 So let's pray and we will examine each of those scenes in turn. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.399 Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for today. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:37.840 I thank you for your people who are gathered here this morning. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:43.039 And Lord, I pray that you would allow your word to be a mirror to our hearts today. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.200 Show us the elements of our lives that we need to repent of. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:58.559 Show us where to turn, how to turn from our selfish ways and turn towards you, so that your glory may be paramount both in our world and in our hearts and in our church, Lord God. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:00.480 Thank you for this morning. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.600 Would you speak to all of us, including the preacher today? 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.759 We ask that in Jesus' name. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:06.720 Amen. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:07.840 Amen. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:14.159 So before we get the tour of the temple, let's read the setup in verses one to four of chapter eight. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:15.759 It begins this way. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:34.559 Then I looked, and behold, a form that had the appearance of a man. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:37.440 Below what appeared to be his waist was what? 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:43.600 Fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:11:00.639 He put out, now it gets now it gets weird and wild, he put out the form of a hand, and took me by the lock of my head, and the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem at the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:02.080 This is at the temple. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:08.320 Where was the seat of the image of jealousy which provokes to jealousy? 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:16.240 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley back in back in chapter one. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:21.679 So notice here in verse 4, the glory of God is there, but he's calling back to this vision in chapter one. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:27.679 Now again, this is just this is just it Ezekiel is full of weird and wild scenes. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.480 And I would just ask you, what would you do if this happened to you? 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:30.960 Right? 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:36.799 Just imagine right now that you've invited some of our church elders over for dinner, okay? 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:43.679 Uh and we're sitting, we're having a nice chat, and then all of a sudden, fire! Like invades your house. 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:45.919 A man appears with blinding lights. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:52.320 He's it looks like he's on fire, and then he reaches out this hand and he he grabs you by the hair on your head. 00:11:52.559 --> 00:12:04.799 Now, the word for a lock of hair there literally can mean something like a man bun that you can kind of grab it and you lift him up and he he whisks you through what seems like a portal to the temple in Jerusalem. 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.679 Now, this feels like, here's a picture of the temple if you've forgotten what the complex looks like. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:16.000 This feels like something out of a Doctor Strange movie or like a Harry Potter port key that you go through. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:20.559 And before you can even think, you're it this this Jerusalem tour begins. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.600 Now, why has God taken Ezekiel here in this vision? 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:35.279 He is going to be his tour guide to the key places of the people of God in the underworld of Jerusalem temple life. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:46.720 So for illustration's sake, let's just imagine that each stop on this tour, there is a door, and the tour has four doors that we're gonna open and find out what's behind each. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.559 So we open the first door in verse five of chapter eight. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:51.519 We read this. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:57.279 Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:03.279 So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was what? 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.159 Was the image of jealousy. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:11.200 So behind door number one, on this Torah, we see this image of jealousy. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:13.279 Now, now you're asking yourself, what is this? 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.600 What is this image of jealousy? 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:23.279 Um, it most likely referred to a physical idol, probably something like an Asherah pol, which was a Canaanite deity. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:31.200 And the wicked king Manasseh was very famous for erecting uh these Asherah poles inside the temple of God. 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:39.759 Now, Asherah was the fertility god representing degrading sexuality, which had been condemned for centuries since the prophet Hosea. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:44.799 And this idol right here is in the same place where Manasseh was putting them. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:51.200 And that provoked God's anger because it violates his exclusive claim to Israel's worship. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:57.440 Actions like this were the reason for God's jealousy in places like the Second Commandment. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:04.320 Now, the Hebrew word for jealousy is really poignant, it communicates the image of marital betrayal. 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:14.240 So, Ezekiel often uses, and he'll use more of this in the book, language like this, this intimate language, to illustrate Israel's betrayal. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:23.840 And to drive the point home, just imagine right now that you are walking into your house, into your home, and you're and you're making your way up the stairs to your bedroom. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:31.200 And if you're married, you know that it's only you and your spouse that have exclusive access to your bedroom. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:39.840 And then imagine you enter your bedroom and you find your spouse in your marriage bed, your marriage bed, making love to another man or woman. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:45.120 That is the image that Ezekiel is getting at here. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:47.440 How would you respond? 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:52.960 Oh, I imagine you'd have a rather visceral reaction of jealousy and rage. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:15:01.440 And so the point is this God responds in a similar way when we give idols control of our hearts. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:11.039 Whether that's looking to success or security or approval or comfort or money or whatever else that only he can give. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:13.120 Now, now he doesn't stop there. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.600 God offers now a teaser trailer of what is to come. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:16.639 Look at verse 6. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:20.320 And he said to me, Son of man, do you see what they're doing? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:24.399 Do you see this this this do you see is repeated over and over again in chapter 8. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:25.519 Do you see what they're doing? 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:31.360 The great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here to drive me from my sanctuary. 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.679 I don't want to go, but they're driving me out. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:37.759 And you're gonna see still greater abominations. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:38.559 Wow. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:44.320 God says to Israel again, do you see, do you see what they're doing in my house? 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:54.320 Now this is only one stop, but he's drawing the attention here to the seriousness of sin, and he's saying, There will be greater, greater abominations. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:55.440 You say it gets worse? 00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:57.039 Yes, it's gonna get worse. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:09.679 Indeed, it's hard to imagine a scene more devastating than an unfaithful spouse, but God here is about to take Israel now, or Ezekiel, to the dark places of the temple underworld. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:11.759 Just picture this, verse 7. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.759 It reads this way And he brought me to the entrance of the court. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:19.519 So he's going further in towards the central place of the temple. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.600 And when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.600 And then he said to me, Son of man, dig in the wall. 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:30.960 So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.320 So he's digging in, and then he sees this uh a door, right? 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:42.399 Now he and he said to me, Go in, open that door, and see the vile abominations that are committing here. 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:48.720 All right, so now stop number two, which requires some extra effort on Ezekiel's part. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:50.000 He's gotta he's gotta dig. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:55.519 He comes to that inner court, but the violations that are there can't be seen with the naked eye. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.039 Instead, he's gotta go further in. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:01.440 He's gotta dig through this wall, he's gotta open up this door to see the truth. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:05.039 The scene kind of reminds me of that movie Inception, right? 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:10.079 If you remember that plot, the main characters had to go further and further into the dream world. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:16.160 They had to go into dreams within dreams, and Ezekiel's going behind walls, a vision in a vision. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:21.519 What does Ezekiel find in the inner room of these temple precincts? 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:22.960 Verse 10. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.160 So I went in and I saw. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:38.240 And there, engraved on the wall, all around, was every form of creeping thing and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:40.480 These creeping things. 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:44.559 Kind of recalls Paul's indictment in Romans 1. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.000 He went in and he saw. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:46.720 What did he see? 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:56.960 He saw these animal images on the wall, these creatures that are likely associated with Egyptian and Mesopotamian pagan worship of the time, the surrounding nations. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:04.319 These animals probably had religious significance in these fertility cults, like Asherah, the pole that we talked about. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:16.640 And the phrases are not meant to be comprehensive to what he saw, but they do represent here that there are spiritual forces opposed to Yahweh's worship in his temple. 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.160 That's what's happening here. 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:30.799 So verse 10 now concludes with some prophetic trash talk, because when he says, all the idols of the house of Israel, the Hebrew word, the Hebrew phrase can literally be translated as dung balls. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:35.440 Yes, the animals portrayed, he's saying here, are disgusting. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:41.200 They are revolting, and the idols are literally, literally droppings of excrement. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:52.480 Now, next week we're gonna we're gonna jump back, as I said, earlier in Ezekiel, where there's a similar image is used in that prophetic street theater in chapters 3, 4, and 5. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.160 But this scene right here is an abomination to God. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.920 And now we find out who is present in this room. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:01.359 Verse 11. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:07.359 And before them stood 70 men of the elders of the house of Israel. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:13.119 Each had a censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:15.039 This was a worshipful act right here. 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:22.720 These 70 elders, the leaders of the house of Israel, are in this room spreading incense in worship. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.839 Don't miss the rhetorical force here. 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:32.480 These elders are spreading a revolting stench of worship to these false gods. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:34.960 It's rising up to God Himself. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:37.119 And they're doing it in secret. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:45.359 No one on the outside knows, but God sees through the walls of their heart, and he is revolted by their actions. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:49.680 Now, why are they doing this? 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:51.519 Verse 12. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.839 Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen? 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:01.119 Have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark? 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:04.400 Each in his room of pictures. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:06.559 For they say, what do they say? 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:09.119 They say, The Lord does not see us. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:10.720 The Lord has what? 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.640 Has forsaken the land. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:18.480 And he also said to me, You will see still greater abominations that they commit. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:19.279 It gets worse. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:20.640 It gets worse. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.680 So again, he says, Do you see what they're doing, Ezekiel, right? 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:28.079 Do you see what they're doing in the dark when they think nobody's looking? 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:31.200 Friends, God knows what we do in secret. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:36.640 And then we are told that the reason for this treasonous action is what? 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:40.240 It's it's at the end of the day, they no longer trust God. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:42.160 They don't trust God. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:51.759 Now, this is not the commentary that Ezekiel wants to hear on this temple tour, but I think for us, this is a convicting stop. 00:20:52.559 --> 00:21:02.000 I find it convicting because often uh when God doesn't act as quickly as I think he should in my life, that's that's when my trust might waver, right? 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:03.039 Maybe you too. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:03.519 Right? 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.759 I take matters into my own hands, I attempt to solve my own problems. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:08.480 Why? 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.799 Because I think that God has at some level forgotten me. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.680 That God has forsaken me, perhaps. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.200 Have you ever thought that? 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:19.200 And when that happens, what do we do? 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:21.440 We run to these false gods of the world. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:26.960 We run to things like politics and power and money and education, accomplishments. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:32.240 We sell out our souls to careers and pursuits that take the place of God in our hearts. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:38.720 And so what God is saying very clearly to us is this I am not pleased when you don't trust me. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.440 But now the Torah doesn't stop there. 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:44.160 Greater abominations are to come in verse 14. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.279 We read this. 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:54.000 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of Israel, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:56.000 Okay, who's that? 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.640 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.440 Have you seen this? 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.200 You will see still greater abominations than these. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:05.279 Man, it's not done. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.119 The nightmare continues. 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.880 Now, this stop is brief, but it is deeply revealing. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:14.480 Behind door number three, we see the north gate of God's temple. 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:23.119 We made our way there, and Ezekiel sees women, so it's not just the 70 elders, these men, it's women weeping for Tammuz. 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.000 Now, who's Tammuz? 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:31.680 Tammuz is a Mesopotamian god associated with fertility, seasonal death, and the hope of renewed life. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:34.880 But again, another idol in God's temple. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:49.599 The women are specifically named because women were the ones that commonly led laments for Tammuz, identifying with the goddess who mourned his death, and participating in rites that sought fertility and renewed life. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:55.759 Yet this is the tragedy that it's in the very same place where they should have sought the living God. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.839 They're looking to this false God to give what only God can give. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:01.440 That's the point here. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:07.200 But now we have one more stop on the Torah, and this is the final nail in the coffin. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.000 We read this now in verse 16. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:12.319 And he brought me to the inner court. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:14.799 So he's going closer to where the presence of God is. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:33.200 The inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold, behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun toward the east. 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:46.319 So now the inner court is the transition point between the outer common areas of the temple complex and the holiest of holy sections that were meant only for priestly activities. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:56.240 In other words, we're getting very close to the ark, to God's presence in the temple, and it's here, between this porch and the altar, that we see this gravest of offenses. 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:06.240 These 25 men, whom we can assume are priests, have turned their backs on the temple, on God Himself. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:10.160 And they're facing east to worship the sun. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:17.279 Now, this verse right here is filled with some rich symbolic imagery. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:24.480 Because east, of course, is the direction that Adam and Eve departed when they left the Garden Temple of Eden. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:25.519 They were moving what? 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.720 They were moving away from the presence of God. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.279 And these people right here in this scene are priests. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:37.200 Now, secondly, sun worship is associated with Egyptian cultic practices. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.519 Again, these surrounding nations. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:47.359 The sun god Rey dominated Egyptian worship and was worshipped as a creator or the king of all gods. 00:24:48.559 --> 00:24:53.599 So I think this stop is last because the image is so clear. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:25:01.119 The people of Yahweh God have supplanted him with another false God who claims to be what? 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:02.559 The God of gods. 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:05.759 This is spiritual warfare right here. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:16.160 On this tour of the temple, Yahweh is exposing the depraved hypocrisy of the religious leaders of Israel and warning Ezekiel that judgment is coming. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.000 Now, verse 17. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:22.880 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O son of man? 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:34.000 It is too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations that they commit here, that they should fill the land with violence and provoke me still further to anger. 00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:36.720 Behold, they put the branch to their nose. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.640 Again, there's that repetition. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:39.839 Have you seen? 00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:41.440 Have you seen? 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:50.480 So I picture God as this tour guide, incredulous and filled with rage each time he's describing another scene. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:55.359 They've committed abominations that are equivalent to committing violence in the land. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.839 Now, don't miss the Hebrew word for violence here. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:59.519 It's the Hebrew word Hamas. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:02.960 And that should strike a chord in your mind, right? 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:09.039 But here in Ezekiel, it's describing the very actions of the house of Judah. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.480 They put a branch to their nose, is an indictment. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:16.480 It refers to actions taken in worship of these foreign gods. 00:26:16.640 --> 00:26:19.519 This right here is the terror in the temple. 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:25.920 The nightmare tour now has concluded, but God has to take action. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:27.440 Verse 18. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.920 Therefore, I will act in wrath. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:35.759 My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:42.319 And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.079 I want you to sit with verse 18 for just a moment. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:50.799 Because that right there is very heavy. 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:55.039 The result of this tour is God's wrath. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:27:02.079 And we're going to see more of this through the middle section of the book of Ezekiel, but it's not a popular concept today. 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:07.039 But God's wrath is not God flying off the handle or losing control. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:08.880 As theologian J.I. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:14.960 Packer puts it, it is a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:16.079 I'll say that again. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:21.839 It is a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:33.599 In other words, God's wrath is his holy and settled opposition to sin, to everything that dishonors him and destroys the people he loves. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:36.240 That is why God says, I will not have pity. 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:38.799 They will cry to me, I'm not going to hear them. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.480 Now, friends, this is the nightmare. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:47.680 Can you imagine crying out to God in a perceived moment of need and he ignores you? 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:50.880 That is how far Israel has fallen. 00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:56.240 That is why David prays in Psalm 27, Do not hide your face from me. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:27:59.440 Do not turn your servant away in anger. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:01.279 You have been my helper. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:05.759 Oh God, do not reject me or forsake me, God, my Savior. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:16.319 See, we don't have time to go through Ezekiel 9 today, but that chapter pictures God acting in just judgment of Israel's sin. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:22.880 Now I said at the beginning of the message that Ezekiel 8 should function as a mirror to our souls. 00:28:23.039 --> 00:28:28.319 And so I'll ask you now if God were to take a tour of your heart, what would he find? 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:42.640 This week in Gwinnick County, Georgia, there was a fire that happened at a house, and neighbors saw this house on fire, and they began pounding on the door to wake people up inside. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:48.480 Three people got out, one person was trapped in the basement and had to be rescued by firefighters. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:53.200 And officials reported that the smoke alarms in the house were not active. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.559 So that's something like Ezekiel 8. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:04.720 God takes Ezekiel on a tour of his own house, he exposes what's hidden inside, and at every step the idolatry grows worse. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:08.559 But the danger is not outside the temple, it's inside. 00:29:08.720 --> 00:29:10.240 The house is on fire. 00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:16.799 The people have allowed rival gods to occupy the place that bel that belongs to God alone. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:19.839 It's a 9-1-1 call of the heart. 00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:23.920 Because sin is never as contained as we think it is. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:28.559 It spreads, it hardens us, it damages the people around us. 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:33.680 So what's behind the closed doors of your heart? 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:37.200 Don't silence the alarm. 00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.720 Don't minimize what God is exposing even today. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.240 Bring it into the light, confess it to the Lord and turn from it. 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:47.519 Because Christ bore the wrath our sin deserves. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:52.880 So those who come to him in repentance and faith will find mercy and not rejection. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:55.519 So that's the terror in the temple, chapter 8. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:56.319 That's point number one. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:05.519 Now, point number two, and the next two will be shorter, shows God's deliberate departure in response to what he sees in chapter 8. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.319 God's deliberate departure. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:20.400 Now, chapter 9, as I mentioned, we're going to see the judgment of God because Israel has canonized themselves, that they're acting like all these surrounding pagan nations, and now they're answerable for their actions. 00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:26.480 But God is now responding in wrath to the events of chapter 8, and he's departing the temple. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:31.920 So when you read chapter 10, I want you to see that it's a slow, deliberate departure. 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:37.680 First, what you see is that the cherubim begin to move, all those images that Pastor Dave put up last week. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:43.839 Second, God's glory chariot takes off, so to speak, moves away from the temple. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:48.400 He leaves the house, the wheels, the throne, they're all in motion. 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:52.079 And then we read this in chapter 10, verse 18. 00:30:52.799 --> 00:30:56.559 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:01.279 So he's leaving the temple here, and stood over the cherubim, who moved first. 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:09.599 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.680 So there's motion here, they're moving. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:19.039 And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.200 So just wow, okay? 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:26.319 This right here is a scene simultaneously majestic and heartbreaking. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:32.480 To watch the very presence of God move must have been breathtaking. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:37.039 Now, as a reminder, that word glory is the Hebrew word kabbod. 00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:41.440 We talked about that last week, and it literally means a weight or a heaviness. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:44.400 It calls back to 1 Kings chapter 8. 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:50.400 There, as we noted, the glory of the Lord filled the temple, but here it departs. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:52.400 It's getting up and going. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:59.039 Just imagine this presence leaving and sucking all of the glory out of the temple. 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:02.240 Again, majestic and heartbreaking all at once. 00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:04.799 So sit with it for just a moment. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:10.400 Because this is, for us, I think as the church, this is a hard concept for us to get. 00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:17.039 As New Testament believers, we're told that if you're a Christian, the Holy Spirit lives inside you. 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:18.160 Right? 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:22.880 He has washed you, he has sealed you with his presence for the day of redemption. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:31.599 And so I don't believe that God leaves us, but I think there also can be a tendency among Christians to minimize sin. 00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:35.200 Because we can easily think, well, listen, that's not a big deal. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:37.920 God will forgive me, and that's true. 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:42.240 But he calls us to repentance, and then he forgives us. 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:46.799 But he also wants us to know that he's not going to just bless sinful actions. 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:49.759 Sin is a big deal, and there are consequences. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:54.720 In fact, the Apostle Paul writes this to the Ephesian church in chapter four of that letter. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:33:01.519 He says, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:02.880