And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. (Ezekiel 8:1 to 3)


When the Lord sends us to the churches to speak His words of warning, He’ll bring to light those things that have remained hidden because of the fact that they HAVE attempted to keep them hidden. He’ll have spoken to them before about changing their ways, but they will have continually turned a deaf ear to Him; and this will have left Him with no alternative but to expose them for who they are and what they’ll be doing. And, sadly, it will be no different from what has been from the beginning.

Now, though I’ve tried to minimize the references to the things in the book of Ezekiel, not wanting this to be a recounting of the experiences of the prophet as opposed to addressing what I believe is occurring today, here I need to refer to those things that are mentioned in the book. The reason for this is because what was done in those days has a direct association with the condition of far too many churches.

Right from the outset we read that Ezekiel saw “the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy” in the gate that looks to the north. In other words, he was set down at the north entrance to the inner house, but his attention was drawn to the gate in the outer wall. In that gate was “the seat of the image of jealousy”. That was the Sheep Gate, through which the sheep were led that were to be sacrificed in the temple. Now, since there isn’t a definite description of the image that was in the gate, then the Lord is telling us something quite definite about many of the churches today, and about which we’ll be confronting them.

Again, there are multitudes of good churches which are earnestly introducing people to the Lord, and which are focusing upon magnifying and glorifying Him and helping believers to grow in Him. But there are also many who are promoting their own personal agendas which align primarily with the values of the world. So, whatever that “image of jealousy” was in the temple really doesn’t matter as much as the fact that, whatever it was, it was something that provoked the Lord to jealousy. By extension, then, these churches which are attempting to fulfill their own agendas are setting up their images, their idols, by which they confront all who enter their doors. The spiritual sheep should be dedicated to the Lord; but those churches are attempting to recruit them to their specific agendas. Whether it’s the support and promotion of the homosexuality agenda, or the attempt to normalize the transgender and gender reassignment agenda, whether it’s supporting and promoting the abortion agenda, or whether it’s any number of other agendas that draw the attention and the people away from the Lord and His purposes, the churches which have set up their own particular “image of jealousy” are drawing God’s judgment to themselves.

And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. (Ezekiel 8:7 and 8)

I see a direct connection between this portion and the previous one. You see, the multitudes who choose to remain within those churches do so because it aligns with what they’re taught and with what they believe. Thus, that tells us something that is quite disturbing: those who make up the headship of those churches are teaching those things. What is most disturbing, however, is the fact that the heads of those churches are teaching what they truly believe. What the Lord is telling us through this is that they have distorted and perverted views of Him; and those things rear their heads at various times. They may declare Him to be Lord; but by also declaring adherence to those things that He has said are abominations in His sight, then they make it plain that they’ve chosen to stand against Him. And by teaching those things to others, they’re poisoning the body and, to put it bluntly, teaching treason. That may sound rather harsh; but, when they claim to be a representative of the Lord, but give their allegiance to the enemy, then treason is the only word that adequately describes it.

Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. (Ezekiel 8:14)

To understand what I believe the Lord is saying to us here, I need to explain about the cults that existed in the ancient world. Again, I’m not attempting to get into the historical aspects per se; but I feel that it’s necessary here. With that, I want to address Tammuz.

Before the time of Abram there was a Sumerian or Babylonian sun god called Dumuzu who, according to the legend, was married to the godess Ishtar; and it extended throughout Babylonia as far as the city of Haran at the northern border of the kingdom. The myth speaks of Dumuzu as a beautiful shepherd who was slain by a wild boar; and his death was suppose to typify the long dry summer, when all of the vegetation withered. However, he was supposed to return to life; and that’s what the rainy season was, which revived the earth. Dumuzu, therefore, was considered to be the god of the pasture, the flocks, the underground water, and the vegetation.

From there, the worship of Dumuzu and Ishtar spread to Syria; and Dumuzu and Ishtar became Tammuz and Astarte. But it didn’t stop there. When the cult arose in Egypt, Tammuz became Osiris and Astarte became Isis. The primary connection with other nations, however, came when the cult spread to Greece. There, Astarte became known as Aphrodite, and Tammuz became known as Adonis. Now, the Syrians in Haran held a festival in the middle of the month of Tammuz (our July), in honor of the god Tââ-uz. During it, the women wept for him because his lord slew him, ground his bones in a mill, and scattered them to the wind. Consequently, the women ate nothing during the festival that had been ground in a mill. Finally, one of the chief seats of the Adonis cult was in the city of Byblos in Phoenicia.

The women weeping for Tammuz were part of a very prominent cult at that time; and it exists to this very day. No: I don’t mean that there are women weeping for some ancient Sumerian idol. There are many, however, who are following after a modern-day fertility cult. In other words, what we see today are far too many churches whose true god is spiritual Tammuz or Adonis. The name Adonis means “lord”; and they see God as a provider of multitudes. Their focus, then, is upon obtaining as many people as possible; and they’ll do whatever they feel is necessary to make that possible. Thus, doing whatever they feel is necessary involves catering to the unbelievers by not requiring them to put away their old ways, as well as making everyone feel as comfortable as possible. Both of these have given rise to the acceptance within those churches of pretty much everything that should have absolutely no place within the body of Christ. God demands a circumspect walk from those who choose to be His followers; but these churches perpetuate the lie that He doesn’t require anything. Also, the reality is that following the Lord requires us to bear our cross and to present ourselves as a sacrifice to Him, which is as far from comfortable for our Adamic nature as the east is from the west. But, again, preaching those things would drive many away; so they either refuse to broach the subject, or, worse yet, they pervert those things to make them agree with their agendas.

Now, if you recall, Adonis was the Greek version of Tammuz; one of the primary seats of his worship was in the Phoenician city of Byblos; and the women of Haran ate nothing ground in a mill because of what was done to the bones of Tââ-uz. So what’s the connection amongst these three? To start, all directions in the Word of God are based from Jerusalem. Therefore, Greece was considered to be in the west. Then, the city of Byblos, on the coast of Phoenicia, north of Tyre and Sidon, established a brisk trade with Egypt; and one of the main products they received was papyrus, which was used as a writing surface much like modern paper. In Byblos it was made into scrolls upon which the Hebrew Scriptures were written; where, being named after the city, they were called the Bible. Putting this all together, we see that this modern cult of the rebellious churches is one that involves the western world which has the Bible. In other words, it’s predominantly in Christianity today. Granted, the multitudes of other religions in the world are steeped in error due to the fact that they adhere to knowledge and traditions that are man-created; but Christianity is grounded in the truth of God’s Word and salvation through Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, far too many Christians have far too little knowledge of the truth, of Him and of His purposes because they don’t eat anything that’s ground in a mill. In other words, they aren’t partaking of the Bread of God. They aren’t getting into the Word of God nearly as often as they should; and, therefore, they really have a limited understanding of Him and of His purposes. In essence, far too many in Christianity are Scripturally illiterate, and that carries eternal consequences.

And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. (Ezekiel 8:16)

Here we see the mention of leaders within the church who have taken what the Lord has given and put it in place of Him. Again, just so you know where I stand, there are multitudes of believers who are earnest with Him, and who are fully dedicated to Him as Lord. But there are far too many within the church who are pseudo-Christians. They “[have] a form of godliness, but [deny] the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5). Thus, as the twenty-five men were the high priest and the heads of the twenty-four courses of the priests, so the Lord is once more revealing that the primary issue with the rebellion lies with many of the leaders. These twenty-five men had turned their backs to the temple of God and were instead worshiping the rising sun. Since the sun was created good by God and was given for an earthly light to the creation, so He’s given us earthly knowledge which is good when used as He intended. Unfortunately, the rebellious leaders have come to the place of looking to that earthly knowledge when they should be looking to the Lord Himself; and they’ve done it for so long that it’s become second nature to them. As leaders, they should be leading the people into dependence upon the Lord; but, rather, they’re teaching them to depend upon natural things, upon people, and, far too often, upon themselves.

Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. (Ezekiel 8:17 and 18)

We’re coming to a time when things are going to change. God will forever be merciful because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; and that will never change. It doesn’t matter how low people have gone and what they’ve done in their life, God will forgive them and accept them if they submit to Him through submitting to Jesus. And, up to this time, the Father has withheld His judgment upon those who have rejected Him. But, as I said, things are on the verge of changing. Now, remember: there are multitudes who are faithful and devoted followers; and it’s something that I’ll continue to stress all throughout this writing. However, there are also far too many within the church who are either devoted to themselves and their own agendas, or, worse yet, who are lukewarm.

So, because they’ve ignored His warnings to turn back to Him, He’s preparing to administer judgments; but not without warning, and not without giving them the opportunity to repent. There WILL be those who heed the warnings; and, as a result, they’ll deliver themselves from what is coming. But many of them will turn a deaf ear to His Spirit, and they’ll suffer the consequences. You see, God doesn’t want to judge anyone; but, because they reject Him, He has no other alternative. By rejecting Him, they’ve unknowingly proclaimed themselves to be His enemies; for Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). And, because He’ll have given them every opportunity to return to Him, with no acceptance from them, then, when the judgments begin and they realize the error of their ways and cry out to Him, He’ll turn a deaf ear to them.

There’s something that God said that many have said is somewhat confusing or is rather obscure; and that’s concerning “put[ting] the branch to their nose”. This was an ancient custom of showing humility before a deity. That, then, is something that far too many believers do far too often. They act contrarily to what the Lord requires of His people, and they adhere to some beliefs that He loathes; but then they publicly put forth the appearance of humility. God knows the truth about them, and many people are also able to see through the facade; but there are still far too many who fall for their lies. You see, if we’re dishonest before the Lord and before our brethren, then we’re going to ultimately come under His judgments.