One long vision is contained in Ezekiel 8-11 (compare 8:1-3 with 11:23-24). This vision took place on the day we would know as September 18, 592 BC. Fourteen months have passed since the opening vision of the book. Ezekiel has completed the 390 days of lying on his left side, and he is in the midst of the 40 days on his right side. The elders of Judah have come to visit him, presumably asking about the future of Jerusalem and hoping to hear positive news about when they will be returning home (v 1). Instead of comfort, what the elders hear from Ezekiel is a comprehensive denunciation of their sins and the sins of the community they represent. As the vision opens, the prophet once again sees something of the glory of God, and is then transported by the Spirit to the temple in Jerusalem. As Iaian Duguid explains, here Ezekiel will be shown “four scenes of increasing abomination, with the offense to God being greater as the scenes in which they take place move nearer to the center of the temple” (v 2-3a). First, he witnesses the idol that “provokes” God to “jealousy.” Possibly this was an image of Asherah, the lustful Canaanite goddess of love. God’s people had become disloyal and adulterous in their worship. As a faithful Husband, He expects our exclusive devotion, and with a holy jealousy He guards this special relationship. God will not share what rightfully belongs to Him, so Israel’s spiritual unfaithfulness has driven Him out of His own house! (v 3b-6). Second, Ezekiel is shown seventy elders in a secret chamber. These men are actually worshiping creatures that, according to the Mosaic covenant, were unclean even for eating or touching. Even Jaazaniah is participating, though his family had assisted King Josiah in an earlier revival (2 Ki 22). Moses’ seventy elders had the unique privilege of seeing God (Ex 24:1-11), but these seventy think that God can’t see them! Since they believed that God had abandoned them, they felt justified in pursuing other deities who might help out (v 7-13). Third, Ezekiel sees Jewish women engaged in an annual Babylonian ritual, mourning the autumn death of Tammuz, a god who supposedly came back to life each spring. By this they hoped to see a bountiful crop (v 14-15). Finally, Ezekiel is brought into the inner court of God’s house, where he sees twenty-five priests. Perhaps influenced by the Egyptian sun god, they are turning their backs on the Creator to worship His creation. In all this idolatry, the people remain defiant, thumbing their noses at God. As a result, He will have no pity and will not hear their cries when He acts in wrath (v 16-18). For further meditation: