20151101 Sunday, November 1 2015
Ezekiel 08: Halloween In The Jerusalem Temple

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about"

When construction of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem was completed by King Solomon, it was a bright, clean place of physical beauty and spiritual purity. On the day that it was completed, it was a time of righteous celebration for the nation (see Solomon's Temple Address).

In reply to Solomon, the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) declared that He would be watching, for all of the good, and for any evil, that would present itself there.

"7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 7:16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

7:17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 7:18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.

7:19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 7:20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. 7:21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house? 7:22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them." (2 Chronicles 7:15-22 KJV)

By the time of the fall of the Kingdom of Judah (see Jews - Three Tribes and Three Meanings) to Babylon (see Why Did Judah Fall To Babylon?), the people had made themselves into heathens - and made what had been the LORD's pure and clean Temple into a creepy, evil place of demon worship. It had become, in effect, a place where Satan's Halloween (see Halloween: Partying With The Spirits Of Antichrist) was observed every day of the year with "every form of creeping things" and mockeries of blood and violence.

As recorded by the prophet Ezekiel:

"8:1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day 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. 8:2 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 colour of amber. 8:3 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. 8:4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

8:5 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.

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.

8:7 And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. 8:8 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

8:9 And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. 8:10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. 8:11 And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.

8:12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth. 8:13 He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 8:15 Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.

8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.

8:17 Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." (Ezekiel 8:1-18 KJV)

Fact Finder: Sun worship was a major part of the religions of Babylon, and then Rome. As stated in verse 16 above, were the Israelites also observers of "sun day"?
See Sun Worship In Israel