“Ichabod”
God’s Glory Departs.
Ezekiel 8:1-18. 10: 3-5. 18-19. 11: 17-24.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.
2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire--from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north." So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations."
7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.
8 Then He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall"; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.
9 And He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there."
10 So I went in and saw, and there--every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then He said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, 'The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.'
13 And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing."
14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these."
16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."
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Ezekiel 10: 3-5
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory.
5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.
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Ezekiel 10:18,19
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.
19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
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Ezekiel 11:17-24
17 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." '
18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord God.
22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them.
23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
24 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me.
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This vision is quite lengthy and so in this blog , we are concentrating on the main key passages of Ezekiel chapter 8 to chapter 11.
The object is to understand how we as individuals and as a church, should examine our own hearts in light of God’s hatred of sin and idolatry and recognise that if we realise that there is sin in our hearts, if we have wrong attitudes in our worship, if there is idolatry amongst us, that there is a need for repentance.
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The visions, here in Ezekiel 8-1, came to Ezekiel about a year and a half from the vision in Ezekiel chapter 1.
Israel was not listening to the prophet and they were going deeper into sin and idolatry.
Eze 8:1. I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.
Ezekiel was in his own house entertaining the elders of Judah, when the hand of the Lord came upon him.
Eze 8:2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire--from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the colour of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
In Ezekiel chapter one, it was not clear whether Ezekiel was taken up but here he was taken up between earth and heaven.
Here he is given a vision were God takes him to Jerusalem. God is showing Ezekiel the things that were happening.
The likeness was of a person, which can be seen from the terms “His”, “He” and the form of a hand.
Also In Eze 10:3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
Eze 8:6 the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here,
V6 Now turn again, you will see greater abominations."
V9 "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there."
10 So I went in and saw, and there--every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.
Israel had become steeped in idolatry and was involved in wickedness, worshipping abominable beasts.
V12 "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols?
V 13 And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing."
V 15 Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these."
Each abomination was worse and worse.
Idols of all kinds, the women weeping before Tammuz.
14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
Tammuz was a deity worshipped by many in neighbouring nations, often with immoral or impure rites. Ezekiel was dismayed because women were there, in the holy place reserved only for priests, and because of their immoral idolatry.
Besides the idols they had reduced themselves to the worship of the sun.
V16. twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
Turning their backs on God and worshipping towards the East.
This is known as heliolatry (Greek ‘helios’: Sun and ‘latry’: worship or excessive devotion,
God is incensed and is warning that He will act in fury, with no pity.
18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them."
We in our day must be very aware of idolatry which is not just idols of wood and stone or gold and silver but there are many things that we put our trust in, instead of the Lord. We idolise our cars, our homes, our children and our spouse. Whatever replaces God in our lives is idolatry.
Do we have unclean creatures in our lives, sinful habits? Where does money stand in our life? do we weep like the women of Jerusalem when we lose it or when our pride is hurt?
Do we seek peace rather than violence and hatred?
We must remember that sin and idolatry drives God to a distance, until we recognise our sin and repent.
This is why we must continue to examine our lives, our motives. What is really in our hearts when we come together to worship.
If there is anything in our life that would keep us from God, it must be removed and repented of.
We must not court evil.
God always hears the prayer of a repentant sinner.
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Ezekiel 10: 3-5
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory.
5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.
These verses remind us of God’s patience and longsuffering. Ezekiel sees the glory of God filling the house like a cloud.
This is the “Shekinah” glory, the same that accompanied Israel through the wilderness.
The cloud from where God communed with Moses. The same cloud that was there at the transfiguration of Jesus.
Notice, that the cloud paused over the temple, it was as if the Lord was reluctant to leave, if only the people would repent and turn to Him again..
But as for now the Glory had departed. “Ichabod” was declared.
The term Ichabod is found in two places in the Bible,1 Samuel 4:21 and 14:3.
Ichabod was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh. The sad story of Eli and his two wayward sons, Phinehas and Hophni, is found in 1 Samuel, chapters 2 and 4.
Hophni and Phinehas died in battle with the Philistines who captured the Ark of the Covenant and took it away from Israel. Upon hearing this terrible news, Eli fell backward off his chair and broke his neck and died. Phinehas’s pregnant wife went into labour and bore a son.
“And she named the child Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured’” (1 Samuel 4:21–22).
The word Ichabod means literally “inglorious” or “there is no glory,” and in her pain and despair, the woman (who is unnamed in Scripture) lamented over the loss of the glory of God from Israel.
Many a church has “Ichabod” written over its door. The Holy Spirit has departed, their candlestick has been moved out of its place and the people don’t even know it. They carry on in their own strength, with the wrong motives.
They are so far from God that they don’t notice His presence is not there. They are just going through the motions.
They are dead churches and others are asleep.
They may have a name that they are alive but they are dead.
Jesus challenged the church at Sardis about this very thing.
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
From the outside these church appear to be alive and busy and in need of nothing, yet really they are dead, devoid of the Holy Spirit and in danger of having their candlestick removed.
We see this alluded to, in the Book of Revelation.
John writing to the church at Ephesus.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
God is very longsuffering but His patience can come to an end.
We see this with the flood of Noah, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
My Spirit will not always strive with man.
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70 years was to be the exile of Israel as a judgement of God for their sin but God had it in His heart to one day bringing them back.
In the times of Ezra and Nehemiah, God did bring them back, to rebuild the walls and the gates of the city.
Ezekiel 11:17-24
17 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." '
18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgements and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord God.
22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them.
23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city.
24 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me.
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Prophecy is cyclical.
We see that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem in three waves, (In the days of Ezekiel). When a third were burned, a third were killed by the sword and a third were scattered among the nations.
This prophecy was recapitulated again in 70AD, when the Romans mounted a siege on Jerusalem and the same things happened, even down to the cannibalism, as reported in the writings of Josephus.
To the ancient Jewish mind, it was not a question of something being predicted, then being fulfilled. Rather, to the ancient Jewish mind, prophecy was a pattern which is recapitulated. In other words cyclical.
We can see from history that prophecy has multiple fulfilments. And each fulfilment, each cycle, teaches something about the ultimate fulfilment.
The ancient Jewish mind that produced the New Testament, looks at prophecy, not as prediction, but as pattern.
Jesus, the Apostles and especially the Apostle Paul used this hermeneutic.
Jesus quoted the prophet Daniel in Matt 24 when referring to the destruction of the temple and the end of the age, showing multiple fulfilment.
The same things were recapitulated in AD 70.
Jerusalem was dashed by the Romans. In the same way as the siege of the Babylonian’s. People were burned, killed by the sword and scattered among the nations.
A remnant was saved and those of the remnant martyred for the faith.
History proved these prophecies correct.
In the last days these prophecies will come to pass again. (Just before the second coming of Jesus Christ). There will be a time of Jacob’s trouble. (Israel’s trouble). The Antichrist will persecute the Jews and two thirds of Jewry will be killed, but there will be a remnant that remains.
Zech 13:8,9 “It will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
In Ezekiel’s time God promised that those He brings back to Jerusalem, He will give a new heart and a new spirit.
This transformation will be accomplished through God’s grace and mercy. The people will put away their abominations and new hearts will produce new behaviour.
This was fulfilled in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Again it was recapitulated in the church when God through Christ made it possible for people to repent and be given a new heart.
The writer to the Hebrews spoke of Jesus Christ, the High Priest of a Better Covenant.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
This is the radical transformation that all human beings need. A new heart, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested.
Changed and sanctified daily, by the transforming power of the Spirit of God.
We must stay faithful and alert in these last days, for Jesus warned of false teachers and false Christ’s.
We must put away from ourselves and our churches, anything that resembles falseness. We must cast away anything that resembles idolatry in our lives.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
