Amen.
All right, well, we're there in Ezekiel chapter number eight.
We've been making our way through the book of Ezekiel on Wednesday nights, taking one
chapter a week and just going verse by verse and studying it, looking at it.
And tonight we find ourselves in Ezekiel chapter number eight.
I want you to notice just kind of by way of introduction that Ezekiel eight begins a new
section of the book of Ezekiel.
If you look at verse number one there, it says this, and it came to pass in the sixth
year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month.
So why don't you notice that he gives this date, this year, when he got a new vision.
And the reason for that is because if you remember, in fact, just go back real quickly
to Ezekiel chapter number one.
And if you look at verse number one, Ezekiel chapter one and verse one, the Bible says
now it came to pass in the 30th year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month,
as I was among the captives by the river Kibar, that the heavens were opened, and I
saw visions of God.
Notice verse two, in the fifth day of the month, which was the, notice what he says,
fifth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
So when the visions of Ezekiel began in chapter one, verses one and two, he gives a detailed
date, you know, of when this happened, and he says it's the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's
captivity.
And basically, that's when he saw the vision, remember the cherubims and all those things
because we spent time in chapter one looking at that.
But we've been dealing with that initial vision basically between Ezekiel chapter one and
Ezekiel chapter number seven.
And I want you to just notice there in verse two that it says, which was the fifth year
of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
Now when we go back to Ezekiel chapter eight in verse one, it says, and it came to pass
in the sixth year.
And the assumption there is, of course, that it's the sixth year of King Jehoiachin's captivity.
So we're beginning a new vision.
This is not the same vision that began in chapter one that we kind of dealt with through
chapter seven.
This is now a new vision in the book of Ezekiel, a second vision that begins in chapter eight,
and it happens a year later.
So the first vision was in the fifth year, and the second vision begins in the sixth
year.
Now I want you to notice another thing just kind of by way of introduction there in verse
one.
Notice that it says this, and it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in
the fifth day of the month.
He says this, as I sat in mine house, as I sat in mine house.
And sometimes we read through stories, and we don't really pick up on little things that
God adds in scripture for a reason, but everything in the Bible is in the Bible for a reason.
God doesn't add fluff or just adds, like when you used to have to write an essay for high
school or college or whatever, and you had to meet a certain number of words, right?
And you were just trying to find ways to make sentences, adding all sorts of fluff.
God doesn't do that in the Bible.
When he mentions something, he mentions something for a reason.
And here he says that Ezekiel sat, he says, as I sat in mine house, Ezekiel had a house,
he bought a house or built a house or owned a house in Babylon in his captivity.
And it's interesting because just God adds that to show us the obedience of this man.
Let me just illustrate that for you.
Go to Jeremiah 29, keep your place there in Ezekiel 8, that's obviously our text for
tonight.
But go to the book of Jeremiah, if you go backwards, you're just gonna go past Ezekiel,
Lamentations Jeremiah.
And here's the point that I'm trying to make, is that when God gives us a command, no matter
how small or how irrelevant or how unimportant we might think it is, we should just follow
God's command.
And here we're told that Ezekiel sat in his house, that he says, as I sat in mine house.
You say, well, why is that important?
Look at Jeremiah 29.
Now if you remember, Jeremiah came before Ezekiel.
Ezekiel is now in captivity, Jeremiah was prophesying before captivity, Jeremiah was
prophesying before Babylon came in and took the captivity of Jerusalem.
And actually the book of Jeremiah covers the captivity, Nebuchadnezzar coming in and taking
over and all of that.
And in Jeremiah 29 and verse 4, notice what Jeremiah said, he said, thus saith the Lord
host, the God of Israel.
Now this is Jeremiah preaching the word of God to the people.
He says, until all that are carried away captives, right?
So he's speaking to those who are gonna get carried away captive one day.
He says, whom I have caused to be carried away, so this is Jeremiah speaking on behalf
of God.
God is saying, look, here's a message I have for all that are carried away captive, whom
I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
Notice verse 5, he says, build ye houses.
So Jeremiah said, look, when Babylon comes and takes you away, here's a message for all
those that are getting carried away.
He says, build ye houses, verse 5, and dwell in them and plant gardens and eat the fruit
of them.
Take ye wives and beget sons and daughters and take wives for your sons and give your
daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters that ye may be increased there
and not diminished.
And seek for the peace of the city, whether I have caused you to be carried away captives.
And pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
And I want you to notice that God tells him, look, when you get to where you're gonna get,
he says, get comfortable because you're gonna be there for a while.
He says, go ahead and build houses and dwell in them.
Go ahead and plant gardens.
Go ahead and eat the fruit of them.
Go ahead and take wives.
Go ahead and beget sons and daughters.
Go ahead and take wives for your sons and daughters to husbands.
And he says, go ahead and just get comfortable because you're gonna be there for a while.
And you know, and he says in verse 7, he even says, seek the peace of the city.
He said, don't rebel against it.
He said, while you're there, just, you know, you might as well get on board.
He said, seek the people of the city.
He said, I've caused you to be carried away captives and pray unto the Lord for it.
He said, even pray for Babylon.
He said, even pray for the city that has carried you away captive, for in the peace thereof
shall ye have the peace.
And we just have this, you know, and again, I don't wanna beat a dead horse, you know,
but we have this emphasized all throughout scripture that we should learn to be content
wherever we are.
And God is teaching the captives there.
And didn't we see that with Joseph on Sunday morning when he was taken captive into Egypt?
He did not fight it.
He did not get angry about it.
He did not get bitter.
He said, I'm here, I might as well make the best of it.
And that's what Jeremiah was telling the people to do.
He said, you're gonna get carried captive.
There's nothing you can do about it.
It's God's plan.
He has a purpose.
He has a plan for your life.
He said, you might as well build houses, you might as well get married, you might as well
go out into life.
He said, you might as well even pray for Babylon because if Babylon has peace, you'll have
peace.
And we learn in the Bible and it's just emphasized over and over again that we as believers should
learn and whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
But you know, the problem is that most Christians today are just discontented.
They're ungrateful and unthankful.
They're always upset about some situation that they don't like and if I could just,
God would just take care of this or God would just do that or God would just move me here
or God would just take that away or God would just give me this or give me that job or whatever
it might be.
But look, in the Bible, we're told to just learn to be content wherever you're at.
And Jeremiah told the captives, look, when you get there, build a house, plant a garden,
get comfortable.
So it's interesting, if you go back to Ezekiel chapter eight, that we read that that's exactly
what Ezekiel was doing in verse one.
He said, as I sat in mine house.
He was following the preaching and teaching of Jeremiah, you know, he wasn't instigating
a rebellion against Babylon to get us back to, you know, he said, if this is where God
has us, then we're going to just do and make the best of it.
Now notice in verse two, we find the introduction for the second vision because remember, this
is a new vision a year later in the book of Ezekiel.
Look at verse two.
He says, then I beheld and lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire from the appearance
of his loins even downward.
So we're seeing the appearance of a man here.
And from his loins even upward as the appearance of brightness as the color of amber.
And I want you to understand is that what we're about to see, in fact, look at verse
three, it says this, 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.
So in this vision, he gets transported to Jerusalem.
Now, whether he physically got taken there or spiritually, I don't think he physically
got taken to Jerusalem because if you notice, the way it's worded, it says that it brought
me in the visions of God to Jerusalem.
But basically, Ezekiel is going to get transported to Jerusalem and God, we're going to see in
this chapter, gives him a tour of the temple in Jerusalem and he has four different places
he takes him to in the temple on this tour where God is showing him the abominations
and the idolatry of the children of Israel and why God will continue to bring judgment.
Because if you remember when we started the book of Ezekiel, we learned that the judgment
of God comes in three different ways.
He comes in three different times and takes people from Jerusalem and brings them to Babylon.
The third time, they destroy the city of Jerusalem and it's the final judgment that God gives
to the city.
Now, Ezekiel is going to be explaining that judgment is coming, but God is going to show
Ezekiel why he's doing it and what is going on.
Now, here's what's interesting as we go through and we're going to join Ezekiel on this tour
of the abominations of the children of Israel in the house of God.
What's interesting is that there is a foreshadowing in this chapter, there is a foreshadowing
of the future end times false religion that we see the antichrist bring forth during the
end time.
So we're going to look, we're going to join Ezekiel on this tour and then we're going
to make some applications and show you how this kind of foreshadows some things that
are to come, all right?
So the first thing we see in this chapter, for those of you who'd like to take notes,
is the foreshadowing of the abomination of desolation.
The foreshadowing of the abomination of desolation.
Now please understand this, I'm not saying that what Ezekiel saw in this chapter didn't
actually happen, you know, I think it did happen, but God places it here in the way
he kind of foreshadows some future events and things that are going to go on.
Notice Ezekiel chapter 8 and let's look at the first stop in this tour of abominations.
Look at verse 3, the Bible says this, 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.
Notice here's the first stop in our tour, he says to the door of the inner gate.
Now if you remember the way that the temple or the sanctuary was set up, it was set up
in two ways.
You had the outer court and the inner court.
You had the outside of it where the regular priests could do their regular work and then
as they entered into the inner court you had the holy of holies and only certain things
could be done.
Look there, here Ezekiel gets transported to the door of the inner gate that look toward
the north where was the seat, notice what he says, of the image of jealousy which provoketh
to jealousy.
So God brings him to the temple, to the sanctuary, to the holy place of religion of God and what
Ezekiel sees is the seat of the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy.
They literally set up an idol in the temple, in the court, in the sanctuary, in the holy
place.
Now again, I don't know if this is actually, if something that's actually happening in
Israel at the time or if Ezekiel is actually just seeing into the future.
The Bible doesn't tell us that he's seeing into the future.
I believe he's actually seeing what's happening in Israel at this time.
I will say this that other than in Ezekiel we don't really see that in the historical
works or in the historical account that they ever actually set up an idol in the temple
you know during the time of Israel having control of the nation of Israel.
All throughout the history of Israel when they're setting up idols, they're setting
up groves, they're doing it on mountains and on hills, they're doing it out in nature.
But here they actually set up an image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy.
Notice what it's for.
And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there.
According to the visions that I saw on the plain, then said he unto me, Son of man lift
up thine eyes now the way toward the north, so I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the
north and behold northward at the gate of the altar, notice what it says, the image
of jealousy in the entry.
So God is showing him that he's looking into the sanctuary and he sees this image of jealousy
and it makes God jealous, right?
Because our God is a jealous God.
He said furthermore, unto me, Son of man, see as thou what they do, even the great abominations
that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from, notice what
he says, my sanctuary.
So notice it's his sanctuary, it's God's sanctuary, it's a temple, it's a place where they do
the sacrifices.
It's not some grove or some hill or some mountain.
He says, but turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.
And this is what he's saying, he's saying this is just the first stop, he said it's
going to get worse as we go further in this tour of abominations, we'll see worse and
worse things.
Now keep your place there in Ezekiel 8 and go to Revelation chapter number 13.
Revelation chapter 13, last book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find.
Revelation 13, do me a favor, when you get to Revelation 13, put a ribbon or a bookmark
or a bulletin or something there because we're going to leave Revelation 13 and come back
to it.
Now in Revelation 13, and again, my personal opinion is that Ezekiel is not looking into
the future, he's actually looking at what they're doing in Jerusalem during his time,
but I do believe this foreshadows end times event.
Why is that?
Because one of the major events of the end times is the fact that they're going to set
up an idol, an abomination of desolation in the temple.
You're there in Revelation chapter 13 and look at verse number, and you know what, let's
do this, keep your place there in Revelation 13, we're going to look at that.
But go to Matthew 24, just real quickly, just to give you a little bit of context.
Matthew 24 of course is the Olivet Discourse, this is where the Lord Jesus Christ preaches
through the events of the end times.
Now I want you to notice what he says, let's just begin, just to get a little bit of context.
You know what, let's just start at verse number eight, Matthew 24 verse eight, all these are
the beginnings of sorrows, notice what it says in verse nine, then shall they deliver
you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations for
my name's sake.
So Jesus is talking about the fact that there's going to come a time of persecution where
believers are going to be afflicted, they're going to be put to death.
Verse 10, and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate
one another and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many and because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the
same shall be saved.
Again, that's not talking about being saved by going to heaven when you die, that's talking
about being saved from the persecution.
If you can endure to the end, you'll make it to the end of the persecution.
Verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached into all the world for a witness
unto all nations and then shall the end come.
And of course, the persecution is what fuels the gospel going out because oftentimes we
Christians are lazy and we are complacent and we're not interested in doing things for
God.
We're trying persecution to kind of motivate us to get going, right?
It's like we learned on Sunday morning, there is a purpose for every affliction.
God may be trying to get us somewhere that we aren't willing to go on our own.
And for a lot of people during the tribulation, it's going to be soul winning, it's what he's
going to try to get you to do, try to get you out.
And of course, we know that whenever persecution comes, people really get serious about the
things of God.
And that's what we see here.
Notice verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations and then shall the end come.
Verse 15, when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel
the prophet, stand in the holy place.
So notice, he says, when you see the abomination of desolation, stand in the holy place.
And we don't have time to go through and look at the cross references, but if you want to
study that out, you'll notice that in other places it's referred to as being placed.
It's referred to as an it.
So the abomination of desolation is not a person, but it's a thing that is placed.
It's an it.
It's an image.
Notice, when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place.
So notice it's going to be put in the holy place, again, talking about the temple, the
sanctuary.
Whoso readeth, let him understand.
Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take things out of his house.
So there's already been persecution before this, but he says, when you see the abomination
of desolation, now it's real serious.
Now it's real bad.
He said, don't even go back home to get anything.
Verse 18.
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them
that are with child and to them that give suck in those days.
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day, for then
shall be great tribulation, such as what's not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be.
So according to the Bible, when does the great tribulation begin?
It begins when you see the abomination of desolation spoken up by Daniel the prophet
stand in the holy place.
Notice verse 22.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.
But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for then
shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, OK?
Remember that.
They're going to show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect.
It's not possible to deceive the elect, but if it were possible, they would.
Behold, I've told you before, wherefore they shall say unto you, behold, here's the desert,
go not forth.
Behold, here's the secret chambers, believe it not, for as the lightning cometh out of
the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
It's not a secret.
It's not going to happen.
And people are going to be like, what happened?
He says, look, when it happens, you'll know it happens.
Verse 28, for wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Only after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens shall
be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory.
And of course, this is all talking about the rapture.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather
together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.
And he goes on and on.
Go to Revelation 13.
But I want you to notice the abomination of desolation is set up.
You have great tribulation, and then you have the rapture, when Jesus returns, and he sends
the angels, and he sounds the trumpet, and they gather together his elect.
Go to Revelation 13.
Now remember, the abomination of desolation is what sets that off.
You say, Pastor, how will we know when the tribulation begins?
How will we know?
There's only one way to know for sure when it's happening.
Obviously, there's lots of things we can see, lots of signs of times we can see coming,
but it will be when the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place.
That's what Jesus said.
Notice Revelation 13, verse number 11.
Revelation 13 and 11 says this, and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth.
This is, of course, talking about the Antichrist, excuse me, not the Antichrist, the false prophet.
We're going to talk about the Antichrist later.
Notice what it says.
He had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
This is a false prophet.
He looks like a lamb.
Who's the lamb?
That's the Lord Jesus Christ, right?
So he looks like a Christian, but he speaks like a dragon.
Who's the dragon?
That's Satan.
Verse 12, so he looks, you know, it's like when you look at the pope, you know, he looks
like, wow, he just looks like this sincere, godly, you know, just loving man, but when
he speaks, he speaks like a dragon.
He speaks like the devil, and you say, oh, well, how can you say that?
When the man opens his mouth to protect all of the pedophiles in his religion, he's speaking
like the devil.
He's speaking like the dragon.
And that's what it is.
He says he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon, verse 12, and he exercises
all the power of the first beast before him and causes the earth and them which dwell
therein to worship the first beast.
So the first beast is the Antichrist.
Notice what the second beast does, the false prophet.
He causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound
was healed.
And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth and
the side of men.
Remember Jesus said that they're going to do great wonders, that if it were possible,
they would deceive even the very elect.
Well, he's doing these great wonders, making fire to come down from heaven on the earth
and the side of men, deceiving them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles,
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth
that they should, notice what it says, make an image to the beast, which had the wound
by a sword and did live, and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed.
So this image of the beast that we're learning about here in Revelation 13, that's the abomination
that maketh desolate.
That's the image that's going to be set up in the holy place in the sanctuary, and later
on, we're going to look at, later on in this sermon, we're going to look at how the antichrist
comes in and sets himself up in the temple of God, according to the book of Thessalonians.
But here, we see that they set up this image, and he has power to give the image life, that
it should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship.
So now people are, they have to worship the image of the beast, or they'll be killed.
Verse 16, he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a
mark in their right hand or in their forehead, and that no man might buy or sell, save he
that hath the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here's wisdom, let him that understandest count the number of the beast, for it is the
number of a man, and his number is six hundred, threescore and six, of course we know that's
six six six.
And here's what happens, they set up the image, they say everybody has to worship the image,
to worship the image, the only way to get the mark is to worship the image, you say
why would you want the mark, because you can't buy or sell without the mark, and anyone who
doesn't take the mark, it's put to death, that's the persecution that Jesus was talking
about.
So we see Ezekiel go into the temple, and he sees an image, now look, Israel had images
and groves and mountains and hills, and all over the place, but he goes in and he sees
it in the temple, and God says, that's enough, I mean that's, this is why I'm gonna wipe
you out, this is why you're gonna be taken into captivity for as long as you are.
But we see a foreshadowing of a future end times false religion, where the antichrist
will also set up an image in the temple.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter eight, keep your place there in Revelation 13, I'm gonna go
back to Ezekiel eight, and let's look at the next stop in our tour of abominations here.
This is verse number seven, and he brought me to the door of the court, so remember he
was first in the inner court, now he's in the door of the court, and when I looked,
behold a hole in the wall, then said unto me, son of man, dig now in the wall, and when
I had digged in the wall, behold a door, and he said unto me, go in, and behold the wicked
abominations that they do here.
So I went in and saw and behold every form of creeping thing, an abominable beast, and
all the idols of the house of Israel, keep in mind this is in the temple, but notice
what it says, it says portrayed upon the wall round about.
So they have pictures of these creeping things, and of these idols, and of these abominable
beasts inside of the temple.
Now who's doing this?
Look at verse 11, and there stood before them seventy men, why don't you remember that number
there, seventy men, of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them
stood Jazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud
of incense went up.
So who are these men, these seventy men?
Let's just quickly look at a cross reference, go to Numbers chapter 11, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Numbers chapter 11, to find out who these seventy men are.
We have these seventy men who are now in, we've crossed the door of the court, because
remember at first we were at the door of the inner gate, now we're at the door of the court,
and he goes in and he sees these seventy men, and they are looking at these portrayed
creeping things, abominable beasts, and idols.
So who are these seventy men?
Look at Numbers 11 and verse 16, the Bible says this, and the Lord said unto Moses, so
we're going to reverse all the way back, you know, rewind all the way back to the time
of Moses, and the Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel,
remember how Ezekiel called them, of the ancients of the house of Israel?
Same terminology, different wording, meaning the same thing.
Seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people,
and officers over them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they
may stand there with thee, and I will come down and talk with thee there, and I will
take of the spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them, and they shall bear
the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
Remember Moses got to the point where he said, I can't do this on my own, I need some help,
and God said, okay, find seventy men that are elders of the Israel, that thou knowest
to be the elders of the people, officers over them, he said bring them, and God took from
the spirit of Moses, and he gave it unto them, so that they would help him.
So when these seventy men began back with Moses, it was a good thing, they were helping
him, but now, you know, we have these, not these same seventy men of course, but they've
replaced the seventy men, but they have these seventy men who are supposed to be rulers
and elders, spiritual leaders, people that are supposed to be helping with the nation
of Israel, and these seventy men are the ones in the temple with the idols portrayed and
the creeping things and the abominable beast portrayed upon the wall.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter eight, and you know, let me say this, some people believe
that these same seventy men are basically what we read about in the New Testament as
the Sanhedrin, which is the council of the elders, you know, they're the ones that are
telling Peter, you know, did not we straightly command thee not to, you know, preach and
things like that.
So we see how these men got this organization, this council got real corrupt as time went
on, but it started off as a good thing, they were supposed to help Moses, and here we have
these same spiritual leaders or these leaders of the people, they're supposed to be helping
and instead they're hurting.
Now notice what they're doing, look at verse 12, then said he unto me, son of man, has
thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark?
Be careful about being in the dark all the time.
Bible says men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil, right?
There's a reason why you go to bars and they're dark.
I've never been in a bar, but you know, you've told me that there's a reason why you go to
a bar and it's dark.
There's a reason why you go in a casino and it's dark.
There's a reason why, you know, my wife and I walked into certain restaurants and we're
just like, let's get out of here, it's just a little too dark.
You know, just be careful about spending time in the dark because, you know, it's in the
dark that people get drunk.
It's in the dark that people fornicate.
It's in the dark that people do drugs.
And here he says, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark?
Every man in the chambers of his, notice this word, imagery.
So in verse 11 he said, and there stood before them, I'm sorry, verse 10 it said that all
the idols of the house of Israel were portrayed upon the wall.
They were portrayed.
Now in verse 12 we see that it's the imagery, for they say the Lord sees us not.
The Lord has forsaken the earth and he said also unto me, turn thee yet again and thou
shalt see greater abominations that they do.
And you say, well, you know, what can we learn from that?
How can we apply that to our lives?
And here's the thing, the children of Israel at the time of Ezekiel, you know, they had
their image in the outer court and then you go in and in the inner court they have portrayed
upon the wall.
They have, you know, imagery upon the wall of all of their idols and of all their abominable
things and creeping things and abominable beasts and things that they were placing before
God and they're just looking at it upon the walls.
You know, and here's the funny thing, there's no new thing under the sun.
You know, Christian Americans today do the exact same thing.
They've got their idols upon the wall too.
You know what you call it?
A television or a hellavision.
And you portray your abominable works upon the walls of your houses too.
You know, and you sit there and you watch a bunch of filth and you watch the beer commercial
and you watch the half naked women and you watch the, you know, you sit there and watch
your commercials and you worship your idolatry and it's the same thing.
They're just sitting there and they're watching their filthy movies and they're watching their,
you know, the Bible says, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.
I hate the work of them that turn aside, it shall not cleave to me.
And especially for men, you know, we don't talk about it a lot and we should probably
talk about it a lot more, but the fight of the eyes is an important thing for men to
learn to control and to fight.
And young men need to learn to control their eyes.
You know, Job said, I made a covenant with mine eyes.
Why then should I think upon a maid?
And you know, especially you parents, you know, fathers and mothers, you need to be
real careful with your teenage sons and make sure you're helping them and you're not hurting
them and you're not making provision for the flesh by giving them, you know, access to
anything they want on a phone and you've got no way to know what they're looking at.
You've got no way to know, you know, what they're into.
You know, they've got TVs in their rooms, they've got computers, they've got cell phones
and nobody can monitor it, nobody can check it, nobody can, you're going down a very dangerous
line.
You know, going down that road and you let kids get hooked on things like pornography
and it's going to hurt them for the rest of their lives.
And you say, oh, well, I can trust my son.
Is he a queer?
I mean, what do you mean?
If he's a red blooded American, good night.
If he's a man, help him.
You know, and you men too, don't, you know, make sure you, you know, make sure your wife
has passwords to your phones and access to your phone.
Make sure you have, you know, things on your devices and there's software that can help
you with that and all those things.
But look, here we have the men, the leaders sitting with their eyes.
And that's why Job said, I made a covenant with mine eyes.
Why then?
Should I think upon a mate?
Matthew chapter five, Matthew chapter five, and let's talk about this for a little bit.
Matthew chapter five, Matthew chapter five, first book in the New Testament, notice what
Jesus said.
Matthew five, 28 says, but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her have committed adultery with her already in his heart.
And you know, I realized that when I preach these things, people act like, oh, you guys
are way too strict or way.
You know why I, why, and you know, I don't watch sports, you know why I don't watch football.
And you know why, I mean, other than the fact that it's stupid and it's a waste of time,
but even if it wasn't, you know, you've got those cheerleaders, you know, dancing around
in their little skirts and you say, I don't, you know, I can't believe, you know, I'm sure
I'm going to get some email or some comment, you're a little too radical, you're a little,
you know, the Bible says that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart.
You know, and look, the commercials that come on TV are enough justification for you
to throw your stinking hella-vision out the window.
And you say, oh, I can control it or I can handle it.
Yeah, I'm sure these 70 elders of Israel thought they could control it too.
But the Bible says that we need to make sure we guard our eyes, especially as men.
But look, it's not just men.
I want you to notice the wording that he says here.
He says that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her have committed adultery,
notice what he says, with her already in his heart.
You know when a woman dresses like a whore and she dresses in a way to try to entice
men to look at her?
You know that she takes part in that sin also?
Because I mean, obviously, he sins and he should have enough control to look away and
to control his eyes and to make a covenant with his eyes and those things.
But the Bible says, Jesus said that he committed adultery with her already in his heart.
So ladies, you know, you need to understand that the way you dress matters.
And you might think like, oh, what's not a big deal?
You know, they need to, that's their problem, not mine.
You know, make sure that you're not wearing clothes that are too tight, too low, you know,
too revealing, too whatever it might be, because you don't want to be that.
You know, you say, well, I'm not, you know, I'm not a whore.
Okay, but are you a spiritual whore because you're just, because all these men are just
committing adultery with you in their heart?
You know, so it goes on both sides, you know.
But of course, men need to learn no matter what culture we live in, no matter what society
we live in, no matter how, you know, bad women dress in our society today, men need
to learn to control their eyes and to control their minds and make sure that they have control
over that.
But look, in every area, go to Matthew chapter 6.
And again, we can make the application there, but whatever it is, whatever you're allowing
to come into your eyes and whatever you're allowing to influence you, you know, if it's
just the love of things and you're just, you say, oh, I'm, you know, you're just, you know,
if you're that guy that's constantly looking at cars.
I wish I had that car.
I wish I could drive this car.
You know, you're just constantly looking at different houses.
People do that kind of stuff.
Just spend their evenings looking at houses.
If I could build a house, here's how I built it.
You know, you need to get right with God.
You need to learn to be content with what God has given you.
That's called covetousness.
And look, what you allow to come into your eyes and into your ears, you know, we can
only speak the things which we have seen and heard.
And you're allowing a bunch of just worldliness to come into your heart, and you know what
comes out of your heart, worldliness.
And we need to learn to control those gates into our heart.
Matthew 622, notice what Jesus said, the light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
God says, look, if your eye is singly focused on the things of God, your whole body shall
be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.
Look, he says, look, when the 70 men that have been assigned to be the spiritual leaders
of the nation of Israel, when they're allowing, you know, the abominations of the beast and
the creeping things to come into their eyes, you know the nation of Israel is lost.
And when we as Christians are supposed to be the salt and light, we're the ones that
are just allying all sorts of worldliness into our minds and into our hearts, through
our ears and through our eyes.
Hey, if therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.
I mean, what hope is there for the rest of the world when Christians are just full of
a bunch of worldliness and covetousness and lust and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life and worldliness.
So we see that they are in the inner court.
They've got these idols set up.
And of course, we see it as a foreshadowing of the abomination of desolation.
But go to Ezekiel chapter 8 again.
Ezekiel chapter 8, look at verse number 14.
Let me show you the third stop in this tour of abominations.
We saw number one, the foreshadowing of the abomination of desolation.
But secondly, we see the foreshadowing of the antichrist.
Because if you remember, the abomination of desolation, the antichrist are two different
things.
The abomination is an image.
The antichrist is a person.
We see all the image foreshadowed in the holy place, in the temple.
But now we're going to see the antichrist foreshadowed as well.
Look at verse 14.
Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house.
So again, this is the temple, this is the sanctuary, which was toward the north.
And behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
So there's women weeping there for somebody called Tammuz.
Then said he unto me, Has thou seen this, O son of man?
Learn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
So here we have these women, and the Bible says they're weeping for Tammuz.
Now if you look up, if you do a search in your King James Bible of the word or the name
Tammuz, this is the only time it appears in all of scripture.
There's no cross reference to be had.
You can't look at another cross reference.
Even if you look at the underlying Hebrew word, it's the only time that that Hebrew
word appears.
So Ezekiel just mentions this, because it's obviously common knowledge in his time.
But there's no way for us to get any information about this Tammuz from scripture.
What's interesting, though, is that Tammuz is actually a false god or a false idol that
was not only well known during Ezekiel's time, obviously he just kind of mentions him and
brings it up with no context, but it's even still known about today.
Tammuz, so I want to just give you kind of just some thoughts about this false god Tammuz
that Ezekiel talks about, because he says that he continues on his tour, and he sees
women weeping for Tammuz.
And again, there's nothing in the Bible else about Tammuz, so I can't give you a biblical
cross reference, but I'll just give you some things that Wikipedia says about this false
god Tammuz.
A lot of times, we need to be careful about extra biblical information, and a lot of stuff
is just kind of made up.
But what's interesting about this Tammuz is that he's actually really well documented
in just historical writing.
And there's a lot of just accurate historical writing that has talked about this Tammuz
and what people believed about him.
In fact, one of the historical writings that we can learn this Tammuz from is an ancient
writing called The Epic of Gilgamesh.
And The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient writing that actually mentions Tammuz in tablet number
six, and it goes into detail.
So again, it's kind of a historical thing that we're pretty sure these things aren't
just made up, because the ancient writings, other than scripture, talk a lot about him.
Now, this Tammuz was also known as Dumuzid, was another name for him.
And he was basically associated with fertility and vegetation.
The hot, dry summers of Mesopotamia, because he was a Mesopotamian idol or false, lower
case g, god, the hot, dry summers of Mesopotamia were believed to be caused by Dumuzid's yearly
death.
OK, so I want you to, you're there in Ezekiel 8, go to Revelation 13 while I read this for
you.
But go back to Revelation 13, you can get there.
So this Tammuz, or Dumuzid, was associated with fertility and vegetation.
And he had a yearly death, which they basically blame the hot, dry summers of Mesopotamia
were believed to be caused by Dumuzid's yearly death.
During the month in the midsummer bearing his name, people across Mesopotamia would
engage in public ritual mourning for him.
So every year this deity would die, and then there would be this ritual funeral mourning
that they would do.
Doesn't that match up with Ezekiel 8, 14, where God says, 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.
God is upset about this, because there's these women who are partaking in this ritual where
they're mourning for this false god, because he died, and his death basically brought a
change in the season.
Tammuz is mentioned by name in the book of Ezekiel, is what Wikipedia says, and possibly
alluded to in other passages from the Hebrew Bible.
And here's what's interesting, Tammuz was widely seen as the prime example of the archetypical
dying and rising god.
So of course, you know, Satan always wants to mock at the truth of the word of God.
And of course, Satan knew the plan of God, that God would send his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to die and to resurrect.
And there's this god, this false god, Tammuz, that basically they believe would die, and
the seasons would change, and the winter would, the summer would come, and the fall and the
winter.
And he would resurrect every year, and when he resurrected was the springtime, right,
because he's the god of fertility and vegetation.
So you know, the nice weather would come back, and people would be able to plant and have
vegetation, things like that.
And this Tammuz basically was a false god or a deity that represented that, you know,
that he would die and he would rise again.
And here we have women weeping for Tammuz in the book of Ezekiel.
So go to Revelation 13, if you're not already there, because here's what's interesting, right?
We had the foreshadowing of the end times false religion, because Ezekiel gets to the
temple and he sees an image in the temple, and the Bible tells us that in the end times
the Antichrist is going to set up an image in the holy place, the abomination of desolation.
But then we have this women weeping, mourning the death of this false god Tammuz, who's
the typical dying and rising, you know, lower case G god of the Mesopotamians and of the
ancient world.
And here's what's interesting, is that the Antichrist is actually going to do the same
thing.
He's going to rip off the gospel of Jesus Christ and die and resurrect.
Let's look at it real quickly.
Revelation 13, look at verse 1.
And I stood upon the sand and the sea, and saw the beast rise up out of the sea, having
seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
the blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was likened to a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of
a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power and his
sea and great authority.
Of course, this is the Antichrist, the dragon as the devil, notice verse 3.
And I saw one of his heads as they were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed,
and all the world wondered after the beast.
So the Bible says that this Antichrist, he's going to show up on the scene as a political
leader, and I don't have time to go through the entire book of Revelation, but you can
read about that in Revelation 6 and things like that.
He's going to show up as a political leader.
He's going to set up a political one world government.
You say, but when does he become a religious leader where they begin to worship him?
He gets a wound to his, he's wounded to death in his head, that's what the Bible says, and
his deadly wound is healed.
So basically he gets assassinated, and then he comes back to life, again mocking and copying
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you noticed that Satan always copycats what God does?
God has a word, so what does he do?
He copies a corrupt word.
God has the Son of God die and resurrect, so he performs the same thing with the Antichrist.
Look at verse 12 of Revelation 13, and he exercises all the power of the first beast
before him, this is the false prophet, and calls it the earth, and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, notice, why are they worshipping the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed?
Look at verse 14, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do on the side of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth
that they should make an image to the beast which had, why are they making an image?
Which had the wound by a sword and did live.
So again, when we get to Ezekiel's abominations tour, what do we see?
We see an image in the temple, what do we see with the end time prophecy?
We see the abomination of desolation, an image in the temple.
Then he goes and he sees the women weeping for this Tammuz, which history tells us is
a false god that represented death and resurrection, and then we've got the Antichrist who's going
to die and resurrect, to basically trick the world or deceive the world into believing
that he's the Messiah.
Go back to Ezekiel chapter 8, let me give you tour number 4, the last tour in this tour
of abominations.
The last stop in this tour, look at Ezekiel 8 and verse 16, and he brought me into the
inner court, so now he's going 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 5 and 20 men.
So before we saw 70 men, now we see 25 men, you know, 25 from the 70 maybe, I tend to
think it's a different 25 men, notice what it says, with their backs toward the temple
of the Lord.
Now when you put your back to something, you know, that's a sign of disrespect, and they've
got their backs toward the temple of the Lord, why their backs toward the temple of the Lord,
notice, and their faces toward the east, and they worship the sun toward the east.
So you know, as God takes them through these tours, he says look, they've got this image
in the temple, they've got the portrayal of images inside of the temple, you've got the
women weeping for Tammuz, then he brings them to the last place, and he sees these 25 men,
they've got their back to the temple, and they're worshiping the sun, and of course
this is a common thing that false religions and pagans have done through the years is
worship the sun, and eat like the Japanese have worshiped the sun, and things like that.
Go to Malachi chapter 4, it's the last book in the Old Testament, Malachi chapter 4, and
let me show you something that's interesting about this.
You say how are we having a foreshadowing of end times, I can see the image, and I can
see the dying and rising false god, but what can we learn here, what's the foreshadow
of them worshiping the sun?
You know what's interesting is that throughout the Bible, you may not know this, but throughout
the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ is represented or illustrated by the sun.
The s-o-n of God is pictured by the s-u-n of God.
And I'll just give you some verses to kind of prove that.
And there's lots of verses we can look at, I'm going to give you three.
Malachi chapter 4, look at verse 1.
Last book in the Old Testament should be fairly easy to find, Malachi chapter 4 and verse
number 1 says this, For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud
yea, and all that do wickedly shall be a stubble, and that day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
Look at verse 2, But unto you that fear my name, so this is a prophecy of those who fear
the Lord, the Lord's people, he says, But unto you that fear my name shall the sun,
so notice s-u-n, of righteousness arise with healing in, notice how it says his wings,
so when he says sun there, s-u-n, he's talking about a person, he says, Shall the son of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings, and he shall go forth and grow up as calves
of the stall.
And this is a prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, why?
Because the sun goes down and then the sun comes up, and that actually pictures the fact
that in the same way that the s-u-n went down and comes up, the s-o-n will go down and will
also arise or resurrect from the grave, and here we have Malachi, a prophet of God, and
he has this play on words where he's calling the s-o-n, the s-u-n, of righteousness that
shall arise with the healing in his wings.
You say, I don't know about that, does that really show that the sun in scripture represents
the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, let me give you another example, go to Revelation 22, look at verse 16, we're
almost done, we're just going to look at a few passages and we'll finish up, all right?
So just stay with me and we'll finish up here in a minute.
Revelation 22, 16, so we're going from the last book in the Old Testament to the last
book in the New Testament, all right?
Revelation 22, verse 16, notice what the Bible says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify
unto you these things in the churches, this is Jesus speaking, if you've got a red letter
edition Bible, the words are being read, but you don't need that because it says there,
I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches, so it's
Jesus speaking.
Notice what he says, I am the root and the offspring of David, that's a claim to deity,
the fact that he's not a production of, he's the root and the offspring, he's the alpha
and omega, he's the beginning and the end, he's the first and the last, he says, I am
the root and the offspring of David, but then he says this, and the bright and morning star.
He refers to himself as the bright and morning star.
Now look, if you get up in the morning and you look up in the sky, you only see one star,
you know what it is?
The sun.
It's the S-U-N, and he says, I'm the bright and morning star, he said, all the other stars
come out at night, he said, but I'm the sun, I'm the star that comes out in the morning,
I'm the bright and morning star, you say, I don't know about that.
Okay, let me give you another one, go to 2 Peter chapter 1, if you're there in Revelation,
just head backwards, Jude, third second and first, John, 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1, a
threefold chord, right?
2 Peter chapter 1, look at verse 19, 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 19 says this, 2 Peter
1 19 says, we have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, right, the day
dawn, that's the morning, look, and the day star arise in your heart.
Again, what's the star that comes out in the day?
It's the sun.
So here he's referred to as the day star, and Revelation refers to himself as the bright
and morning star, the prophet Malachi referred to him as the sun of righteousness, A-S-U-N,
arise with healing in his wings, here's all I'm trying, and there's other verses, we could
go spend all night looking at verses, that picture, the S-O-N of God, is represented
or pictured as the S-U-N of God, so here's what's interesting, they're worshiping the
sun, S-U-N, when they should be worshiping God, right?
They're replacing the S-O-N with the literal S-U-N, you say how is that a foreshadowing
of end times?
Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, and we're going to finish up there, right?
2 Thessalonians chapter 2, find all the T-books, they're all clutched together, 1 Thessalonians
chapter 2, because remember we saw they placed an image in the temple, and that foreshadows
the abomination of desolation of the antichrist, right?
And then they're weeping for Tammuz, the dying and rising false god, and that foreshadows
the antichrist who will also be a dying and rising false god, and then we have a replacement
where they're not worshiping the son of God, you know, the real God, the one and only God,
you know, the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're worshiping instead the physical S-U-N, so
they're replacing the true deity with a false deity, and in the end times the same thing
will happen, they're going to replace the son of God with somebody else, and who will
that be?
2 Thessalonians 2, look at verse 1, 2 Thessalonians 2, 1 says this, Now we beseech you brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.
And by the way, you know, people often try to mock at us and say, you guys don't understand
the rapture, you know, you confuse the rapture with the coming, the second coming of Christ,
those are two different events.
Well, the problem with that is that that's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says, notice what he says, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him, those are the same event, he says, when the Lord Jesus Christ
comes back, he's going to gather us unto him.
He says that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by
word, nor by letter, as from us.
He says, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
What is the day of Christ?
The day of Christ is a day that he will be coming, that he will be gathering us together,
and again, you can study that out later, I don't have time to go through all those references,
but he says, as that the day of Christ is at hand, at hand, meaning that it can happen
at any moment.
This is, you know, today you've got the pre-tribbers that say the rapture can happen at any moment.
The imminent return of Christ is going to happen at any moment.
Well, hey, the Bible says, be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit,
nor by word, nor by letter from us, as that that day of Christ is at hand.
Like he's saying, don't think that it can just happen at any moment.
Verse three, let no man deceive you by any means, you say, why?
For that day, what day?
The day of Christ, the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, he says, for that day shall not come.
You say, well, most people out there believe in the imminent return of Christ.
Well, they're wrong, because God says it shall not come.
So something else has to happen first.
What?
Except they're coming, falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of
perdition.
Now look, and again, I don't have time to go through all of that, you know, I've done
sermons on that before, but that's the abomination of desolation.
That's when the antichrist comes out as, you know, the man of sin, when he's revealed
as the son of perdition.
So I want you to notice that the true worship of the son of God is replaced with the worship
of the son of perdition.
And what does that look like?
Look at verse four.
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped,
so that, notice what it says.
He, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
And we just come back full circle, right?
Because they set up the abomination of desolation in the temple to basically declare the antichrist
as the Messiah, the God, why?
Because he was wounded to death, and he was healed, and then he sitteth in the temple
of God, showing himself that he is God.
So what we find in Ezekiel chapter 8 is this, you know, tour of abominations where Ezekiel
is caught up by a lock and brought into Jerusalem, and he sees these things happening in Jerusalem,
but they all kind of have just a foreshadowing of things that we will see soon again, with
the image in the temple, with the worshipping of a false god that dies and rises again,
and with the replacing of the true son with another son, and they've replaced him with
the physical son, but in the end times, they'll replace him with the son of perdition.
So we see these foreshadowing of end times false religion.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word, and Lord, thank you for this study and
just the fact that we can compare spiritual things with spiritual and make connections
and see things in Scripture.