The Pulpit Commentary — Ezekiel — Volume 1 — Section 167

God is perfectly acquainted with every one of them. Our secret sins are set in tho light of his countenance (cf. Ps. xc. 8). The revelation to the prophet of the wicked abominations practised in the dark in the chambers of imagery, is suagestivo of the unveiling of all secret sins. 1. In the present life circumstances someti;;es arise which occasion the revelatwn of hidden sins. Afflictions sometimes strip off the mask from the face of the hypocrite. Or the near approach of death leads to the acknowledament of concealed vice or crime. 2. In the future life there will be an awful Tevelation of human characte?" and conduct. "For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." "Judge nothina before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things (rl dark- ness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts." CoNCLUSION. 1. "Create in me a clean heart, 0 God;" "Cleanse thou me from secret faults." 2. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."-W. J, Vers. I 4-18.-Man's provocations of God, and God's punishment of man. "Then Le brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north," etc. I. MAN's PROVOOATIONS OF Gon. In ver. 17 it is said, "They returned to provoke me to anger." The sins mentioned in this paragraph were not the only provocations of the Most High, as the words of the clause imply. Professor Cheyne translates, " pro- voke me to anger again and again." And Ewald, "exasperated me repeatedly." The various idolatries and other sins committed by the people were so many provocations of the Lord. But as to those mentioned in the text, notice: 1. The foul idolatry of t!te women. "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." The meaning of Tammuz is not certain, but the conjecture which is by far the most probable is that it is the Hebrew and Syriac name for the heathen god Adonis, who, according to the fable, was the beautiful paramour of Venus. He was said to have been killed by a. boar in the chase, and afterwards to have returned to life, 'l'he worship of Adonis took its rise at Byblos, in Phrenicia. "From Byblos it spread widely over the East, and was thence carried to Greece." It was probably introduced to the Jews from Syria. The festival of Adonis was celebrated in the fourth month (corresponding to portions of our J nne and July). This celebration "was of a twofold character: first, that of mourning, in which the death of Adonis was bewailed with extravagant sorrow; and then, after a few days, the mourning gave place to wild rejoicings for his restora- tion to life. This was a revival of nature-worship under another form-the death of Adonis symbolized the suspension of the productive powers of nature, which were in due time revived. Accordingly, the time of this festival was the summer solstice, when in the East nature seems to wither and die under the scorching heat of the sun, to burst forth again into life at the due season" (' Speaker's Commentary'). For seven days the women gave themselves up to this lamentation, chanting mournful songs to the accompaniment of pipes, cutting their breasts with knives, and either cutting off their hair as a sacrifice to the god, or presenting to him the more costly and shocking sacrifice of their chastity. Well does Fairbairn say, "This Phrenician abomination had become one of the festering sores of Judah's disease." 2. The idolatry of the men. "And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord," etc. (ver. 16). Most expositors follow Lightfoot in regard- ing these five and twenty men as the presidents of the twenty-four orders into which the priesthood was divided (1 Chron. xxiv.), with the high priest at their head; and thus they look upon them as representing the entire priesthood. This, however, is by no means certain. As a matter of fact, the priesthood as a whole had never given them- selves up to idolatry. Professor Cheyne says," The number (twenty-five) is a round one, as in eh. xi. 1. Had it been stated that the men were priests, we might have sup- posed that they were the heads of the twenty-four courses, together with the high vriest. But no; they were 'elders' (eh. ix. 6), i.e. laymen. The inner court was not closed to the laity till afLer the return from exile (see 1 Kings viii. 22, 64:; ix. 25; 2 Kings xi. 4-15)." But to whatever class these men belonged, they were offering provocation to God by worshipping tho sun. 'l'his form of idolatry was of very ancient on. vm. 1-18.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 161