Part 15 Ezekiel 8:8-15 “Then he said to me, "Son of man, dig in the wall." So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, "Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here." So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel.
And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.'"
He said also to me, "You will see still greater abominations that they commit." Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then he said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? You will see still greater abominations than these."
Idolatry everywhere by everyone in Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel. These sinful leaders/elders thought they could hide their idolatry from God, which no one can. But now we discover the women weeping for Tammuz. Who is he?
While there is still a considerable disagreement among scholars as to all the details, this is what most would confirm. Nimrod married Semiramus, who considered herself to be the moon goddess. Her other name was Ishtar from which we get the English name of Easter. She was the fertility goddess of the ancient world, just as Nimrod was considered the sun god.
After God separated all from Babel by confusing the languages, these two self-acclaimed god and goddess became know in many other cultures and under many different names. Tammuz was their son and therefore the son of god. So here began a host of pagan religions, all with a father god, a mother god, and a son of god. Semiramus or Ishtar was also known as the queen of heaven.
How and where this all played out will be detailed in Part 16.