Ezekiel 8:14-15 – Only in Christ, will life be rich and abundant.

In Ezekiel 8:14-15, Ezekiel still in the spirit was brought to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord. There he saw women weeping for Tammuz.  Earlier, in verses 7-13. what Ezekiel saw was the leaders of Judah worshipping idols secretly. In contrast to their men's covert worship, the women's worship of another deity was more overt and blatant.

Who was Tammuz? In ancient Mesopotamia, religious worship was a very foundational part of their cultural life. The people worshipped a massive pantheon of deities whom they believed to have power over different aspects of life, including fertility and agriculture. Tammuz was thought to be the deity of fertility and agriculture. His followers would hold two significant events annually. One to celebrate Tammuz's marriage to the goddess Inanna. Their union was believed to bring about fertility and abundance. The other was to commemorate his death caused by the demons in the underworld. A period of grief and sorrow would be observed. The observation of these two events was thought to foster their connection with Tammuz which would bring blessings to their agricultural activities.   

What were the women doing? Here Ezekiel 8:14, the women of Judah were commemorating the death of Tammuz.  The weeping for this foreign deity openly showed how pervasive Babylonian deities had infiltrated the community. The women’s affection that should have been directed to God was now redirected to the observation of a useless festival of the false deity. What audacity it was for the Israelites to adopt the religious practice of the worship of Tammuz in their sacred temple! What other abominations would they not engage in? No wonder the wrath of God was greatly provoked. Yet this was the end of their abominations, there was more to come.

The pagans thought that their fertility and abundance came from their deity. So, they have events to honor and venerate their false gods. But the people of God should have known better. How many times had Yahweh, the covenant God delivered them from the crises? Yet foolishly they would ignore Him and blatantly adopted and engaged in those silly idolatrous practices hoping for fertility and abundance.

For us Christians, abundant life came through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He died for us so that we who believe in Him will have everlasting life. He said I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. Only in Christ can a rich and abundant be found and nowhere else!