Page 42 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

36 NOTES ON EZEKIEL.

his imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not;
Jehovah hath forsaken the earth.” They had ceased
even to hold the truth in unrighteousness, bad as this
may be; they had sunk into the lower depth of denying
the necessary attributes of God, into Jewish apostasy,
saying, “ Jehovah seeth us not, Jehovah hath forsaken
the earth.”
“ He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and
thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then
he brought me to the door of the gate of Jehovah’s
house which was toward the north; and, behold, there
sat women weeping for Tammuz.” Here it is not Syrian
nor Egyptian idolatries, but Phoenician, and of the most
grossly demoralizing character. It was apparently
what the Greeks adopted under the fable of Adonis and
Aphrodite.
But there remains worse behind, because both of the
place and of the persons engaged in the adoration
of the sun, the great object of Sabian and subse­
quently Persian idolatry. “ 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. And he brought me into the inner court of
Jehovah’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple
of Jehovah, between the porch and the altar, were about
five and twenty men, with their backs toward the
temple of Jehovah, and their faces toward the east;
and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” The
prophet particularly notes their number answering to the
courses of priesthood and the high priest, with their
backs toward Jehovah’s temple, and their faces toward,
the east.