Ezekiel 8:1-18
Ezekiel, in a new vision, is transported to Jerusalem, where God reveals to him the horrible things being done in secret in His sanctuary. "The image of jealousy", the first object that he sees, is a reminder of the image Manasseh had previously placed in the temple (2 Kings 21:7; 2 Kings 23:6; cf. Matthew 24:15). Then, digging through the wall, he comes upon, not the despised of the people, but the elders, occupied in the darkness in the worship of all kinds of "abominable beasts". We may compare them with the unclean products of our own imagination, cultivated in the most remote recesses of our poor hearts, which can thus be veritable "chambers of imagery" (v. 12). The one who officiated in the midst of these idolatries was a certain Jaazaniah, son of the faithful Shaphan! (see 2 Chronicles 34:8; 2 Chronicles 34:15 . . .).
The LORD then shows Ezekiel women weeping for Tammuz, a repugnant idol, and finally twenty-five men, representing the twenty-four courses of the priesthood together with the high priest himself, worshipping the sun! (cf. Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 32:16). We may notice that it is God who uncovers the evil before the eyes of His own. He alone by enlightening our consciences can give us a true realisation of this evil, showing us how far it offends against His own glory.