Prophecy
Abominations
Ezekiel 8:6
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
NIV
God leads Ezekiel to the next affront, but note that in this process, God indicates clearly His plans. He will "go far away from [His] sanctuary." Why? Because of the abominable practices of the Israelites!
God leads Ezekiel to dig a whole in the wall and enter a door he discovers (8:7-9).
Ezek 8:10
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
Remember, we are talking about the house of the Lord God. There are to be no images or idols made. Yet, Ezekiel discovers idols of creatures on the walls of the Temple! The priests, the religious leaders, apparently drew or allowed to be drawn these images of creatures created lower than man.
In Genesis 1:26 man is given dominion over the creatures of the earth:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
God repeats this authority to man directly in Genesis 1:28. Adam first exercises this authority by naming all of the creatures in Genesis 2:19-20. Yet, here in Ezekiel we find that man has turned the creatures into Gods.
God calls this an abomination. Verses 11 and 12 make it abundantly clear that it is man who has committed this affront.
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."
