Dirty Detestable Deeds Done in Darkness

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Nahum 1:2

“The LORD is a jealous and avenging God”

 

            Ezekiel, prophet of God, had a tough calling. God chose him to deliver truth to a rebellious and sinful people. He had been taken into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and thus ministered to Jews who had been deported. He also spoke to those still living in Jerusalem. Those who remained in Jerusalem ignored prophetic teaching and because of this were soon to face another judgment of God through the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel chapter 8 is a peek into the sins of the Jewish people, but it also gives us some understanding of how we can ignore God’s truth and pursue sin as well. Just like the Jews in Jerusalem, we can think we can hide our sins from God and thus participate in dirty deeds done in darkness.

 

            In Ezekiel chapter 8 we find Ezekiel sitting before the elders of Judah in the year 591 B.C., fourteen months after his initial vision and commission by God to be a prophet. Ezekiel describes his sensing God’s presence by stating, “the hand of the Sovereign LORD came upon me there.” It must have been quite overwhelming to sense the hand of God laying upon you. His vision begins with the sight of someone appearing before him. His description is as follows, “I looked, and I saw a figure like that of a man. From what appeared to be his waist down he was like fire, and from there up his appearance was as bright as glowing metal.” This man he sees can be none other than Jesus Christ according to the majority of Bible theologians who see this as a Theophany. Imagine being Ezekiel, feeling God’s presence and seeing this vision of Jesus Christ in front of you. While Ezekiel would not have known that this was the Son of God, he did know that this was no ordinary man or angel. Ezekiel now becomes a participant in his own vision.

 

            Ezekiel interacts with the physical manifestation of Jesus standing before him. Listen to Ezekiel describe what Jesus does next. “He stretched out what looked like a hand and took me by the hair of my head. The Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and in visions of God he took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner court.” How scary it must have been, to feel yourself lifted up by the hair of your head and transported by God’s Spirit to a far away city. Lifted by his head in this way Ezekiel would be forced to see directly where he was being taken and look at what God intended him to see. We see this intention fulfilled when Ezekiel arrives in Jerusalem in this vision. He stands before the north gate of the inner court and apparently sees an idol of some sort. This idol is described as an “idol that provokes jealousy.” There is much debate over what this idol actually was, but most commentators agree that it very likely had something to do with the false god of Baal. The implication here is that those Jews who were left in Jerusalem had abandoned worship of the God of the Bible for the worship of other gods, one of which was Baal. This idol is called the “idol that provokes jealousy” because God does not wish to share His worship and glory with any one or any god.

 

Now Jesus says to Ezekiel, “Do you see what they are doing — the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.” Ezekiel witnesses here the actions and behaviors that will cause the Lord to leave the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. God is pure, perfect and holy and cannot stand to look upon sin. In a sense, the Jews were committing spiritual adultery with another god and were flaunting it in the face of their God. God cannot stand to look upon such spiritual adulterous behavior and acknowledges that this will drive Him far from His sanctuary. But Ezekiel is told that he will see even more horrible sins.

 

            Ezekiel is now taken to the near entrance to the court to a wall. There is a hole in the wall and Ezekiel is instructed to make the hole bigger so he can enter and see more sins of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. It’s curious that Ezekiel must work at making a small hole bigger so he can view the sins of others. Possibly it illustrates to Ezekiel and to us as well that sin can often be well hidden from our eyes and work must be done to reveal it. It also illustrates the depth of secretiveness that people in sin will go to in order to hide their disobedience.

 

            Ezekiel enters the hole he had made larger and sees a door. Jesus encourages Ezekiel to enter the door and to, “see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.” God wishes for Ezekiel to view the sins of the Jews to experience the depth of their depravity. In order for Ezekiel to understand the jealous anger of God he must see the behavior that warrants it. Ezekiel tells us what he saw, “So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel.” These images were very likely images representing all sorts of pagan gods and activities of worship of them. This room that Ezekiel viewed was unfortunately located near the holiest of locations within the temple at Jerusalem. Not only was the actual temple of the Lord being desecrated, but when the identities of those involved in such evil worship further deepens the pain and anger of the Lord. We are told that Ezekiel sees seventy elders of the house of Israel worshipping in this hidden room within the temple of God. This number seventy is the same number of the great Sanhedrim, or chief council of the nation of Israel. These seventy men represented not only all the people of Israel, they also represented the high leaders of the Jewish nation who were called to restrain and punish idolatry and to destroy and abolish all superstitious images. Ezekiel sees the pervasiveness of the sin that had spread through all the Jewish people. Ezekiel also realizes that the Jewish people who are left in Jerusalem do not understand that while they think they are sinning in private, God has full knowledge of what they are doing in every intimate detail.

 

            We could continue with Ezekiel through this vision but this passage of scripture already proves the point that God is trying to make. God detests sin and forbids the worship of other gods. In this instance God will further judge the Jews in Jerusalem by using King Nebuchadnezzar to further destroy Jerusalem and drag other members of the chosen people off into bondage in just a few years. God wants His chosen people to understand that no sin can be hidden from Him and continuous rebellious sin will bring His judgment.

 

We face the same situation in our Christian lives if we deceive ourselves by thinking that we can sin without God knowing. We may hide in our homes, our bedrooms or garage but God sees all we do. We may watch detestable movies in our living room, browse the internet for pornography in our study, meet that special person at a motel room but God knows everything we do. Our sins may be great or small but sin is always detestable to the Lord. Our sin may be gossip, envy, anger, covetousness or slander, but to God, sin is sin. When we sin we are choosing to honor our flesh, seek after what the world has to offer or give homage and worship to the false idols of our lives. As Christians we are defiling the temple that God inhabits, our own body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 speaks of this temple when it says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

 

            I hope and pray that you or I never behave like those seventy elders hiding in the hidden room worshiping idols. May we never seek dark places to run from the Lord so that we may feed our desires that dishonor God. May there never be an Ezekiel in our life who must be called upon by God to find us doing the dirty detestable deeds in the dark. There is nothing so embarrassing or heart-wrenching than to be found in sin. There is nothing so damaging to your relationship with your Lord and Master than to sin in private and act like your Lord doesn’t know. Your loving Savior Jesus Christ knows when you commit spiritual adultery. If you are involved in sin, repent. Leave the hidden room where you worship your flesh and idols of jealousy and seek the light of your Savior. Let yourself feel the warmth of His forgiveness, the pleasure of reconciliation with your Savior and the integrity of worshipping God in spirit and truth.