Abomination

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1. The Meaning of the Metaphor: God’s Actions

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   This prophetic unit is one of the harshest that is delivered to the nation anywhere in Tanakh. The prophet begins by defining and illuminating the severity of the actions of the people. Not only have they not fulfilled God’s commandments; they have even been less loyal to God than the surrounding nations have been towards their own deities.

   The nation had not internalized the idea that God might destroy His Temple. They knew that the Destruction of the Temple would be perceived by the nations as weakness on the part of God, reflecting God’s inability to defend His Temple and ward off its enemies. Thus, the Destruction of the Temple would entail a desecration of God’s Name among the nations. The nations would assume that God had lost His power and might, so much so that He could not even prevent the downfall of His Temple. The nations surrounding Jerusalem would have considered the deliberate divine Destruction of Jerusalem so strange that the people of Jerusalem were lulled into believing that this would be enough to prevent the Temple being destroyed despite their severe sins.

   But Yehezkel describes that the people have defiled the Beit HaMikdash with “detestable things and abominations” – a combined term that is used over 80 times in the book that refers to the range of sins that the people have committed which are detailed by the prophet in the coming chapters. Thus the nations will come to understand how God inflicts such devastating damage on His people not as a sign of weakness but as a Divine punishment.

2. The Biblical Background for the Nation’s Sins

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The prophetic message in Yehezkel chapter 6 is that at this point in time, the nation is being punished for the deeds depicted in Vayikra 26. What they are suffering now is what was defined in Vayikra as the punishment for those sins. The verses of rebuke in Vayikra are linked to the situation in Yehezkel’s prophecy by describing the people’s sins with the same expressions that appear in Sefer Vayikra. These expressions are not common in Tanakh; therefore their very mention causes the warnings and punishments set down in Sefer Vayikra to echo in the ears of Yehezkel’s listeners.

   However, there seems to be more of a link between our prophecy and Sefer Vayikra – this time, on a more optimistic note. Chapter 26 of Sefer Vayikra makes mention of God’s covenant with His people right after the rebuke for their unspeakable deeds. Even when the nation’s actions causes a rift between itself and God, the covenant forged between them will stand the nation in good stead and protect them, even in the most difficult times.

3. The Deeds of the People in the Temple

   Part 1

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   Yehezkel pronounces a Divine vision whose message is that although the Temple is still standing, it is effectively empty and worthless. Yehezkel sees, by means of a Divine vision, four symbolic sins, each sight worse than its predecessor. Yehezkel uses terms unique to Devarim chapter 4 which describes the prohibitions of idolatry at length, the covenant with God and the warning of exile if the covenant is violated through idol worship.

4. The Departure of God’s Glory from the Temple

   Part 2

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The people of the city concede that difficult times are on their way. But the people nevertheless maintain that even if they “cook” in the fire of the troubles that await them, they will be saved from annihilation, just as meat in a cauldron is saved from burning. Thus the people prepare themselves for the siege, certain however that they will prevail.

   God’s response emphasizes that despite their claim, they are destined to be brought out of Jerusalem and be judged on the border of Israel.

   After these prophecies of destruction, Yehezkel transmits the promise that the exiles are destined to return to their land. God will bring back His people to the land in the future, but without the people having repented. So God Himself will have to give them a new heart of flesh that will ensure that henceforth they will follow God’s laws. While superficially this appears to be a prophecy of consolation, in fact it actually offers little comfort.

   The chapter concludes with God’s glory departing not only from the Temple, but also from the city of Jerusalem. Any hope of the people finally internalizing the message of Yehezkel’s prophecy is shattered by God’s statement depicting the people as rebellious.

5. The Soul that Sins – It Shall Die

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The people of Yehezkel’s generation claimed that since the destruction was inevitable, their individual actions no longer had any importance and it made no difference whether they remained loyal to God’s commandments or not. Others believed that “The way of the Lord is unfair”.  Therefore Yehezkel repeats and emphasizes the responsibility of every individual for his actions and the life-and-death consequences that follow. Yehezkel concludes by stating that the people’s claim – that the son dies because of the sins of the father – is simply incorrect.

   The prophet also declares that the gates of repentance remain open to the individual. These verses are quite unusual given that nowhere in the book is there any call for the people to mend their ways so that God will not destroy His Temple. Although the prophet here calls upon the people to repent, he offers no promise that this will prevent the destruction; he only speaks of deliverance from the death for the sinners when the destruction comes.

   The sins brought about the imminent destruction of the city according to Yehezkel are idolatry, sexual immorality and bloodshed. Yehezkel does not seem to attribute the destruction of the First Temple to the social transgressions of the nation as a whole – in neither the prophecies before nor after the Destruction.

    

   In Chapter 22 as the Destruction of Jerusalem draws nearer the prophet appears to place more of an emphasis on the personal responsibility that the leaders of the people bear for their actions, along with the dire consequences of their corrupt leadership for the nation as a whole. This chapter attributes sins both social and religious in nature to the office-bearers in leadership positions. Thus, the fate of the city is sealed because of idolatry, sexual immorality, bloodshed, and – finally – the deeds of the leadership.