And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the
fifth 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.
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 look of glowing
brass. 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. And,
behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the
vision that I saw in the plain. 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. He said furthermore
unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great
abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, and I should
go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou
shalt see greater abominations (verses 1-6).
It was over a year after his first vision (i:1) when Ezekiel sat in his
house surrounded by the elders of Judah. Perhaps they had come expecting
some new communication from the prophet. Suddenly the hand of the Lord
fell again upon him. He beheld once more the glorious likeness of Him
who was the center of the first vision of glory.[9] The hand of the Lord
took the prophet by a lock of hair and the Spirit lifted him between the
earth and the heaven and he was brought in the visions of God to
Jerusalem. Was this a real experience? Critics speak of a trance, that
the prophet was some kind of a psychic with the gift of clairvoyancy. It
was not a trance-vision, but an action by the Spirit and power of the
Lord. Elijah must have had frequently the same experience, for Obadiah
said to him: "And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee,
that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not" (1
Kings xviii:12). And the sons of the prophets said to Elisha after
Elijah departed: "The Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him
upon some mountain, or into some valley" (2 Kings ii:16). The Spirit of
the Lord also caught away Philip (Acts viii:39).
[9] The word "fire" is in the Septuagint (ancient Greek Version of the
Old Testament) translated "man" so that it reads "the appearance of a
man." There is a similarity between the Hebrew words for "man" and
"fire." Fire is "esh" and man "ish." Compare with chapter i:26, 17.
In the visions of God Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate
that looketh to the north. Here was the image of jealousy, which
provoketh to jealousy. Some have taken this and the following visions to
be retrospective. It has been said, "It was as if he were translated
back to Jerusalem, and to the time when these things were occurring."
Such is the view of some critics; however, it is untenable. These
visions would lose their meaning if the prophet only seemed to be
translated back to Jerusalem and to the time when these abominations had
happened in Israel's past history. Later we find the names of persons
given, whom he saw. They certainly were living persons known to Ezekiel
and his contemporaries. One of them died while Ezekiel prophesied
(xi:13).
What was the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy? It was an
idol. The word is used in Deut. iv:16, where it is translated "graven
image." It is also found in 2 Chronicles xxxiii:7, 15, where it refers
to the idol, which Manasseh had made and put up in the temple.
After Manasseh's idolatry came Josiah's great reformation. After his
death Judah plunged into greater wickedness under the reign of wicked
kings and a revival of idolatry followed once more. Such a wrath
provoking idol was beheld by the prophet. This image they worshipped.
"Son of man, seest thou what they do?" They must have lain prostrate
before that idol. And yet the glory of the God of Israel was still
there. He had not yet abandoned the place. Idolatry will once more be
practiced in Jerusalem. Our Lord speaks of it prophetically in Matthew
xii:43-45. The unclean spirit is idolatry. The Jewish people are now
purged from it. At some future time that spirit will return with seven
others. "And the last state of that man is worse than the first." Then
our Lord applied the parable: "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked
generation" (literally: race). During the reign of the final
Anti-Christ, idolatry in its worst form will be instituted once more in
Jerusalem (2 Thess. ii:3-4; Rev. xiii:11-18).