Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
God commanded the prophet to break through the temple wall to uncover a hidden doorway into inner chambers where abominations were practiced in secret. The rooms exposed gross idolatry, especially sun worship in which men turned their backs on God and his worship to face the east. That hidden idolatry shows that secret worship of lust, possessions, and human handiwork is false worship that transgresses the second commandment, supplants God as Creator, and sets aside the Sabbath as the memorial of His creative power. Together with chapter 9 the vision is a type of the sealing work in which those who grieve over the abominations are marked in the forehead, the mind, with the seal of God's law and the Sabbath that identifies Him as Creator and Sanctifier. The uncovering of the concealed entrance teaches that hidden evil must be brought to light so that people are not deceived by corrupt worships and plottings carried on in darkness.
Vision's Words and Setting
The command to dig uncovers a hidden entrance in the wall leading into inner rooms where abominations are practiced in secret at the temple. Through that hidden opening what lies within can be seen, and looking through it reveals a disturbing prospect.
The door opens to walls covered with portrayed images in vermilion, meaning interior wall-painting in the Babylonian manner. Unlike Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and Greece, whose art was sculpture displayed even on the exterior, Babylonia lacked stone and used brick-clay with enameled bricks and painted plaster, confining rich ornament to the interior with brilliant coloring and lavish metals. The walls covered with images portrayed with vermilion excited admiration, with blended brilliant colors adorning the capital and palaces. This detail is exactly true to Babylon in the captivity when Nebuchadnezzar reigned and adorned his capital and palaces while Babylon sat as mistress of the world. It could never have been thought of in any other country or later time, and at no later time could such a thing be said of the Babylonians, because shortly afterward Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and Persians and these peculiarities were lost. This proves the book is correctly placed at B.C. 604-561.
The visions were seen while on the banks of the river Chebar, which is the Nar Kabari, the Euphrates of Nippur, the great canal running through Nippur and central Babylonia. Nippur was the center of Babylonian worship where a colony of Jewish exiles lived, as shown by Jewish names such as Nathanael and Jonathan and Hebrew inscriptions found with the business tablets of Murashu Sons from the time of Artaxerxes I and Darius II. From that setting the vision showed the abominations done in Jerusalem, including women weeping for Tammuz and other heathen rites, rites known from Nippur.
Worshipers entering the sanctuary faced west with their backs to the east and to sun worship. Prominent men with their backs to the temple faced east to worship the sun and Tammuz, thus turning their backs on God and his worship, an act regarded as a great abomination. The earthly sanctuary imagery in the vision represents the heavenly sanctuary and true tabernacle.
Idolatry Exposed and Judged
The verse belongs to the vision in which the sins of Judah are exposed, including sun worship and its accompanying abominations. The chapter presents Israel's gross idolatry, especially sun worship, and shows God seeking to bring the people back to true worship. The hidden doorway reveals chambers of secret idolatry practiced out of sight.
That secrecy shows that worship of imagined lusts and secret sins is false worship and transgression of the second commandment. Giving daily homage to possessions or human handiwork is likewise false worship and transgression of that commandment. The vision thus exposes idolatrous worship that supplanted the worship of God, opposed His role as Creator, and set aside the Sabbath, the memorial of His creative power.
The chapter condemns nature worship that turned the sun, a means by which God gives light, into an object of worship and glorified lust as religion. The abominations shown in Jerusalem include women weeping for Tammuz and other heathen rites. The idolatrous worship in Israel included practices connected with the nature- and sun-worship feasts that the Judean youths refused to join.
The passage shows the backsliding of Israel to Baal, which is sun-worship after the principles of Babylon, and connects that apostasy with captivity in Babylon. Israel's own people and kings had turned to false worship, including idolatry connected with feasts and revels, and this departure from God helped bring about their captivity and exile from Zion. Idolatrous worship among God's people included forbidden rites and feasts, and departure from God's law brought grievous consequences.
Sealing Prophecy and Application
Ezekiel 8 belongs with chapter 9 as a type of the sealing work in which the faithful are marked and those judged worthy of condemnation are cut off, exposing the sins of Judah including sun-worship as the background to that separation. Chapters 8 and 9 are typical of the great sealing work described in Revelation 7. This section of the visions presents striking prophecies of the future, using Israel as a symbol of the last days.
The chapter provides the setting for the sealing work described in Ezekiel 9 and shown in Revelation 7:2-3, where the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. The mark identifies those who grieve over the abominations around them, and the sealing message is addressed to people who serve God but need correction in their practice. The forehead means the mind, the seat of the mind, for with the mind God's law is served. The seal is linked to God's law and especially the Sabbath, which identifies God as Creator and rightful Lawgiver and is a sign that He sanctifies His people.
The uncovering of the hidden entrance in the wall, leading into abominations practiced in secret at the temple, illustrates that concealed evil should be brought to light so people are not deceived. Looking through that hole in the wall reveals a disturbing prospect, applied to the religious organizations of the present day whose diverse creeds are identified with apocalyptic Babylon. Men cutting holes in walls and passing from one cavern to another into secret places where all sorts of loathsome things are worshiped means hidden, corrupt occupations and worships that men do not dare bring into the sunlight. It exposes the secret plotting of those who plan a nation's downfall and deceive the people, who grope in ignorance toward a fearful day of judgment, and it guarantees that the movement of Bible-rooted reform against such evil will not halt until men forget God and forget the charter of their liberty.
God commanded the prophet to break through the temple wall to uncover a hidden doorway into inner chambers where abominations were practiced in secret. The rooms exposed gross idolatry, especially sun worship in which men turned their backs on God and his worship to face the east. That hidden idolatry shows that secret worship of lust, possessions, and human handiwork is false worship that transgresses the second commandment, supplants God as Creator, and sets aside the Sabbath as the memorial of His creative power. Together with chapter 9 the vision is a type of the sealing work in which those who grieve over the abominations are marked in the forehead, the mind, with the seal of God's law and the Sabbath that identifies Him as Creator and Sanctifier. The uncovering of the concealed entrance teaches that hidden evil must be brought to light so that people are not deceived by corrupt worships and plottings carried on in darkness.
Vision's Words and Setting
The command to dig uncovers a hidden entrance in the wall leading into inner rooms where abominations are practiced in secret at the temple. Through that hidden opening what lies within can be seen, and looking through it reveals a disturbing prospect.
The door opens to walls covered with portrayed images in vermilion, meaning interior wall-painting in the Babylonian manner. Unlike Egypt, Assyria, Persia, and Greece, whose art was sculpture displayed even on the exterior, Babylonia lacked stone and used brick-clay with enameled bricks and painted plaster, confining rich ornament to the interior with brilliant coloring and lavish metals. The walls covered with images portrayed with vermilion excited admiration, with blended brilliant colors adorning the capital and palaces. This detail is exactly true to Babylon in the captivity when Nebuchadnezzar reigned and adorned his capital and palaces while Babylon sat as mistress of the world. It could never have been thought of in any other country or later time, and at no later time could such a thing be said of the Babylonians, because shortly afterward Babylon was overthrown by the Medes and Persians and these peculiarities were lost. This proves the book is correctly placed at B.C. 604-561.
The visions were seen while on the banks of the river Chebar, which is the Nar Kabari, the Euphrates of Nippur, the great canal running through Nippur and central Babylonia. Nippur was the center of Babylonian worship where a colony of Jewish exiles lived, as shown by Jewish names such as Nathanael and Jonathan and Hebrew inscriptions found with the business tablets of Murashu Sons from the time of Artaxerxes I and Darius II. From that setting the vision showed the abominations done in Jerusalem, including women weeping for Tammuz and other heathen rites, rites known from Nippur.
Worshipers entering the sanctuary faced west with their backs to the east and to sun worship. Prominent men with their backs to the temple faced east to worship the sun and Tammuz, thus turning their backs on God and his worship, an act regarded as a great abomination. The earthly sanctuary imagery in the vision represents the heavenly sanctuary and true tabernacle.
Idolatry Exposed and Judged
The verse belongs to the vision in which the sins of Judah are exposed, including sun worship and its accompanying abominations. The chapter presents Israel's gross idolatry, especially sun worship, and shows God seeking to bring the people back to true worship. The hidden doorway reveals chambers of secret idolatry practiced out of sight.
That secrecy shows that worship of imagined lusts and secret sins is false worship and transgression of the second commandment. Giving daily homage to possessions or human handiwork is likewise false worship and transgression of that commandment. The vision thus exposes idolatrous worship that supplanted the worship of God, opposed His role as Creator, and set aside the Sabbath, the memorial of His creative power.
The chapter condemns nature worship that turned the sun, a means by which God gives light, into an object of worship and glorified lust as religion. The abominations shown in Jerusalem include women weeping for Tammuz and other heathen rites. The idolatrous worship in Israel included practices connected with the nature- and sun-worship feasts that the Judean youths refused to join.
The passage shows the backsliding of Israel to Baal, which is sun-worship after the principles of Babylon, and connects that apostasy with captivity in Babylon. Israel's own people and kings had turned to false worship, including idolatry connected with feasts and revels, and this departure from God helped bring about their captivity and exile from Zion. Idolatrous worship among God's people included forbidden rites and feasts, and departure from God's law brought grievous consequences.
Sealing Prophecy and Application
Ezekiel 8 belongs with chapter 9 as a type of the sealing work in which the faithful are marked and those judged worthy of condemnation are cut off, exposing the sins of Judah including sun-worship as the background to that separation. Chapters 8 and 9 are typical of the great sealing work described in Revelation 7. This section of the visions presents striking prophecies of the future, using Israel as a symbol of the last days.
The chapter provides the setting for the sealing work described in Ezekiel 9 and shown in Revelation 7:2-3, where the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. The mark identifies those who grieve over the abominations around them, and the sealing message is addressed to people who serve God but need correction in their practice. The forehead means the mind, the seat of the mind, for with the mind God's law is served. The seal is linked to God's law and especially the Sabbath, which identifies God as Creator and rightful Lawgiver and is a sign that He sanctifies His people.
The uncovering of the hidden entrance in the wall, leading into abominations practiced in secret at the temple, illustrates that concealed evil should be brought to light so people are not deceived. Looking through that hole in the wall reveals a disturbing prospect, applied to the religious organizations of the present day whose diverse creeds are identified with apocalyptic Babylon. Men cutting holes in walls and passing from one cavern to another into secret places where all sorts of loathsome things are worshiped means hidden, corrupt occupations and worships that men do not dare bring into the sunlight. It exposes the secret plotting of those who plan a nation's downfall and deceive the people, who grope in ignorance toward a fearful day of judgment, and it guarantees that the movement of Bible-rooted reform against such evil will not halt until men forget God and forget the charter of their liberty.