Ezekiel 8:10

10. Every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts Literally, every likeness of creeping things and beasts, abominations (Davidson). (Compare Ezekiel 8:3; Deuteronomy 14:19; Leviticus 11:10-11.) This certainly does not refer, as Professor W.R. Smith supposed (followed by Toy, etc.), to an ignorant and debased form of vermin worship which had lingered in the obscure depths of society for centuries, and now comes to the surface in days of skepticism and despair ( The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 366; The Religion of the Semites, pp. 272, 338). The worship of vermin was an ancient cult which had been banished for centuries from respectable heathen worship. It is inconceivable that the highest class of Israelites, distinguished by birth and education and office (Exodus 24:0; Numbers 11:0), could have fallen to these depths; and, if they had so done, it is inconceivable that Tammuz and sun worship should have been considered so much worse than this (Ezekiel 8:13; Ezekiel 8:15). The fact that there were pictures upon the wall indicates some culture and refinement of worship, and points to the Egyptian or Greek mysteries as the most probable explanation of this secret gathering. These mysteries were often held in caverns. Belzoni discovered one in Egypt to which there was no entrance except through a narrow hole. The inner chambers of Egyptian temples had no windows, and the walls were covered with figures which a Hebrew prophet would have described just as Ezekiel describes this secret chamber. More than this, it is now known that the Greek mysteries which even Herodotus acknowledges came from Egypt experienced a revival 600-500 B.C., and it was probably this revival which was making itself felt in Jerusalem; for the Greeks, as well as the Egyptians, had great influence in Palestine just at this era. (Introduction to Daniel, III, 4, and Duruy, 2:374.) The mysteries, when compared with Tammuz worship, etc., agree perfectly with the prophet’s statement (Ezekiel 8:13; Ezekiel 8:15). There was no kind of ancient heathenism less objectionable than the mysteries in their purest form. This was the esoteric religion of the most cultured people. It encouraged reverence and self-restraint. It taught that there was an eternal unity pervading all things; a “golden chain” connecting heaven and earth. It sought to explain the deep secrets of life and death, and plainly taught that there was a life beyond the grave. Noble sentiments and sublime truths were mixed with the follies contained in the mysteries, as even the early Christian fathers were constrained to acknowledge, and it seems that St. Paul himself may have referred to these with no sign of disrespect. ( Bibliotheca Sacra, vol. 50:613.)