Ezekiel 8:6
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.
God asks Ezekiel whether he sees the great abominations the house of Israel is committing there, with warning that he will yet see greater abominations. Those abominations defiled and profaned His sanctuary and were the reason He would go far off from it and withdraw from it, even forsaking it as He had forsaken the tabernacle at Shiloh. They included prominent Israelites with their backs to His temple as they faced east to worship the sun and Tammuz, women weeping for Tammuz with other heathen rites, and sins done in the dark in the chambers of imagery. Chapters 8 and 9 are a type of the great sealing work shown in Revelation 7:2-3, leading to the marking in the forehead of true worshipers who sigh and cry for the abominations and to judgment on those condemned. Sun-worship with its evils stands against God as Creator and sets aside the Sabbath, the memorial of His creative power, and is especially abhorrent to Him.
Words and Historical Setting
God asks Ezekiel whether he sees what is being done, even the great abominations that the house of Israel commits there, and warns him to turn again for he will see still greater abominations. The vision sets out the sins of Judah in Jerusalem, with sun-worship standing among the greatest of them, and it opens toward the marking of true worshipers who grieve over the abominations and toward judgment upon those condemned. The eighth chapter is a prophecy of the future, in which Israel serves as a symbol of the last days. The worship and kindred evils at the temple are named as the reason God should go far from His sanctuary.
Those great abominations defiled and profaned God's sanctuary, and for that cause He would go far off from it and withdraw from it. Gross idolatry in Jerusalem, and especially sun worship, profaned the sanctuary and drove Him away from it, while He at the same time exposed the false worship in order to bring the people back to true worship. By these abominations He would forsake His sanctuary, as He had forsaken the tabernacle at Shiloh. The earthly sanctuary in this setting is a visible representation of the heavenly sanctuary and true tabernacle.
Ezekiel was a priest and prophet among the captives carried to Babylonia with King Jehoiachin in 597 B.C., while Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem. His book contains discourses on moral conduct and prophecies concerning Judah, Jerusalem, and other kingdoms. The visions of the first twenty chapters, including chapter 8, came to him among the captives in Babylonia by the river Chebar. That Chebar is identified as the great canal at Nippur called Nar Kabari, or the Euphrates of Nippur.
The doors of the court, the tabernacle, and Solomon's temple were set toward the east, so that those coming to worship entered facing west toward His manifested presence, with their backs to the east. Sun worship was the great rival worship, whose followers faced east in the morning, and the arrangement placed the backs of true worshipers toward the east and toward sun worship. To apostatize and worship the sun eastward therefore meant turning the back on God and His worship, the opposite of the worship He designed to turn people away from idolatry and all false worship, and He regards it as the greatest abomination that could be committed.
What was shown includes prominent Israelites in the temple with their backs to the Lord's temple as they faced east to worship the sun and Tammuz. With these were women weeping for Tammuz and other heathen rites, seen in vision from exile by the Chebar. There were also sins committed in the dark in the chambers of imagery. This backsliding is identified as Baal worship, which was sun-worship, and it is connected with the nation's captivity in Babylon, while Israel's worst idolatry under the name of Baal is linked with transgression of the Sabbath.
Prophecy Doctrine and Application
The vision belongs to the prophecy of the sealing of God's servants in their foreheads, the same work shown in Revelation 7:2-3 where the servants are sealed before hurt comes to earth and sea. Chapters 8 and 9 are a type of the great sealing work. The vision of great abominations, including sun-worship, leads into the marking of true worshipers and the judgment of those condemned. The abominations call for the setting of a mark upon the men that sigh and cry for them.
The seal or mark is set in the forehead because the forehead is the seat of the mind, with which the law of God is served. The sealing message is sent not to a people that do not know God but to a people serving God whose practice on some point of faith or life is not right. Its purpose is to set them right on His law and especially on the part of it that is the seal of His authority. The eighth chapter is a prophecy of the future, with Israel serving as a symbol of the last days.
The great abominations that drive God far from His sanctuary include sins committed in the dark in the chambers of imagery. The image concept exists in the mind before it is carved or molded or cast, and God sees the cherished imaginings of sins and lusts in the soul. A man may hold a pantheon of gods in the temple of his mind without making a concrete graven image, and thereby transgress the second commandment. Whatever object a man daily bows to and renders homage to, whether farms, houses, automobiles, art, books, or his own handiwork, even without a likeness of man or ox or goat, he worships as a false god. Yet the grace of Christ can save from every species of open or secret false worship.
The worship and other abominations at the temple are the reasons God should go far from His sanctuary, introducing still greater abominations, identified especially with worship of the sun and its accompanying evils. Sun-worship stands against God as Creator and sets aside the Sabbath, the memorial of His creative power, and is especially abhorrent to God. Israel's worst idolatry was sun-worship under the name of Baal, and the further vision of worshipers facing the sun is linked to transgression of the Sabbath. This condemnation applies to sun and nature worship, which turned the creature into an object of worship and consecrated sexual lust as religion. Israel's abominations in Jerusalem, including gross idolatry and especially sun worship, profaned the sanctuary and drove God away from it. God exposes the people's false worship as He seeks to bring them back to true worship.