Contents:
Summary
Chapters with Brit-Am Commentary

Summary:
Chapter 6: THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL is condemned for continuing to practise idolatry and Caaanite worship in its lands of Exile.
Chapter 7: The evil we do brings punishment upon us and in a way it itself is punishment.
Chapter 8: The Elders of Judah and of Israel along with their womenfolk worshipped foreign gods in secret.
Chapter 9: A command is given to slay every one in the city who do not have the mark on their forehead. Israel and Judah have sinned exceedingly and failed to recognize the involvement of the Almighty in the affairs of men.
Chapter 10: God makes HIS Presence felt through HIS Divine Chariot one interpretation of being that it synbolizes the Twelve Tribes of Israel in our world.

Contents:
Chapters with Brit-Am Commentary:
Ezekiel 6 to 10
Ezekiel 6
 [Ezekiel 6:1] AND THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING,                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:2] SON OF MAN, SET THY FACE TOWARD THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL, AND PROPHESY AGAINST THEM,                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:3] AND SAY, YE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD GOD; THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD TO THE MOUNTAINS, AND TO THE HILLS, TO THE RIVERS, AND TO THE VALLEYS; BEHOLD, I, EVEN I, WILL BRING A SWORD UPON YOU, AND I WILL DESTROY YOUR HIGH PLACES.                     
<<YE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL: Sometimes in Scripture "mountains" represent nations.
Even though Ezekiel uses the expression "Israel" according to the simple context the Prophet is referring to Judah just before the Babylonian Exile. The Jews were destined to be exiled to Babylon and to other places. After seventy years a portion of them began to return but the majority remained in Exile. This was the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora.
 
[Ezekiel 6:4] AND YOUR ALTARS SHALL BE DESOLATE, AND YOUR IMAGES SHALL BE BROKEN: AND I WILL CAST DOWN YOUR SLAIN MEN BEFORE YOUR IDOLS. 
 <<IMAGES: in Hebrew "Chamanim" meaning "sun-images" apparently depicting the sun.                   
 
[Ezekiel 6:5] AND I WILL LAY THE DEAD CARCASES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BEFORE THEIR IDOLS; AND I WILL SCATTER YOUR BONES ROUND ABOUT YOUR ALTARS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:6] IN ALL YOUR DWELLING PLACES THE CITIES SHALL BE LAID WASTE, AND THE HIGH PLACES  SHALL BE DESOLATE; THAT YOUR ALTARS MAY BE LAID WASTE AND MADE DESOLATE, AND YOUR IDOLS  MAY BE BROKEN AND CEASE, AND YOUR IMAGES MAY BE CUT DOWN, AND YOUR WORKS MAY BE ABOLISHED.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:7] AND THE SLAIN SHALL FALL IN THE MIDST OF YOU, AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:8] YET WILL I LEAVE A REMNANT,  THAT YE MAY HAVE SOME THAT SHALL ESCAPE THE SWORD AMONG THE NATIONS, WHEN YE SHALL BE SCATTERED THROUGH THE COUNTRIES.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:9] AND THEY THAT ESCAPE OF YOU SHALL REMEMBER ME AMONG THE NATIONS WHITHER THEY SHALL BE CARRIED CAPTIVES, BECAUSE I AM BROKEN WITH THEIR WHORISH HEART, WHICH HATH  DEPARTED FROM ME, AND WITH THEIR EYES, WHICH GO A WHORING AFTER THEIR IDOLS: AND THEY SHALL  LOATH THEMSELVES FOR THE EVILS WHICH THEY HAVE COMMITTED IN ALL THEIR ABOMINATIONS. 
We shall all yet repent of our ways and be healed.                    
 
[Ezekiel 6:10] AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, AND THAT I HAVE NOT SAID IN VAIN THAT I WOULD DO THIS EVIL UNTO THEM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:11] THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; SMITE WITH THINE HAND, AND STAMP WITH THY FOOT, AND SAY, ALAS FOR ALL THE EVIL ABOMINATIONS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL! FOR THEY SHALL FALL BY THE  SWORD, BY THE FAMINE, AND BY THE PESTILENCE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:12] HE THAT IS FAR OFF SHALL DIE OF THE PESTILENCE; AND HE THAT IS NEAR SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD; AND HE THAT REMAINETH AND IS BESIEGED SHALL DIE BY THE FAMINE: THUS WILL I ACCOMPLISH MY FURY UPON THEM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 6:13] THEN SHALL YE KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, WHEN THEIR SLAIN MEN SHALL BE  AMONG THEIR IDOLS ROUND ABOUT THEIR ALTARS, UPON EVERY HIGH HILL, IN ALL THE TOPS OF THE MOUNTAINS, AND UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE, AND UNDER EVERY THICK OAK, THE PLACE WHERE THEY DID OFFER SWEET SAVOUR TO ALL THEIR IDOLS.                     
<<UNDER EVERY THICK OAK: The oak was a sacred tree for the druids of Britain and religious ceremonies were held in its shade.
 
[Ezekiel 6:14] SO WILL I STRETCH OUT MY HAND UPON THEM, AND MAKE THE LAND DESOLATE, YEA, MORE DESOLATE THAN THE WILDERNESS TOWARD DIBLATH, IN ALL THEIR HABITATIONS: AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.
 The Israelites were pagans or half-pagans before their exile. They worshipped the gods of Canaan, of Egypt and of the Middle East as well as a synthesis of Hebrew traditions with pagan ones.
Remnants of these practices were evident amongst the "Celtic" peoples of Britain and Western Europe.
 
Adapted from "Lost Israelite Identity":
Britain, said Julius Caesar, was the centre of the Druidical religion. Strabo reported that Ceres and Proserpine were worshipped in Britain according to the Samothracian (i.e. Phoenician) rites25. In Britain the Canaanite god Baal was worshipped and was called Bel.. The name "Bel" for "baal" is also found as a root in some of the names of British kings e.g. "Cassi-belin", "Cuno-belin"; one of the names of the sun in Gaul was Belis and Baal (or "Bel") was a sun-god. There was a feast known as "Beltane" which in Scottish means "Fire of Bel". The custom in Britain, Sweden, and northern Europe of jumping over fires and leading cattle, etc. through the smoke and flames at the feast of Beltane is a pagan Canaanite custom still practised until very recently in northern Europe, in Celtic and Scandinavian lands. Bel god of the Britons was also known as Belus or Belinus similar to Bel or Belus the Assyrian form of "baal"26. The Syrian Belmarcos had altars in the region of Paris; many Gallic peoples worshipped the sun god Belenus who became equated with Apollo; in Brittany (Armorica) a priest is still (even today) referred to as a BELEC meaning "servant of Bel"27 and BEL was an alternative pronounciation in the Middle East for Baal!
            In Gaul three main gods were worshipped and a host of smaller ones. Samuel Bochartus traced these gods to Phoenician sources*28. Taramis (or Taranis) was the god of thunder, in Hebrew RAM means thunder and in verbal form can be rendered TARAM. Taramis was considered (says Bochartis) the equivalent of Zeus or Jupiter; Hesus (Mars) derived from the Syrian Ezuzo and in Hebrew Ezuz connotes Strength and in the Psalms (24;8) the appellation "Ezuz" is applied to God. The name Belenus (Apollo) derives from the Phoenician Bel (Baal). Other parallels are Celtic "Onuana" and Phoenician Onga; Gallic Minerva Belisama and Phoenician "Belsamen"; The figures of Hercules and Ogmus came from the Phoenician Melicerte. The cult of Gallic Camule paralleled the Oriental Cadmil; the Gallic Gwyon equalled the Phoenician Gigon.
            In southwest Gaul (Aquitaine) the Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped in  the Dordogne River Valley from pre-Roman times29. Both Phoenicians and Israelites in the Land of Israel prior to their exile are proven by archaeological findings to have adopted Egyptian deities.
     
             Pliny (N.H.30.1.4) is often quoted as saying that British Druidical practices had been learnt directly from the Persians. Actually, Pliny (in the Latin) may equally be understood to say: "..as if they had taught the Persians, not the Persians them"30. Persian religion was a mixture of Israelite, Canaanite, and Babylonian beliefs with some "Indo-European" additions.   
             The frequent conjunction of a ship with the solar disc on rock sculptures is found in Sweden, Ireland, and Brittany. This is an Egyptian symbol31. It is also found in the Pict region of Scotland32.
 
            "It is thought that the Druidical doctrine was discovered already in existence, in Britain and was brought from there to Gaul. Even today it is the rule  for those who want to become really expert in the doctrine to go to Britain and learn it there" (Julius Caesar B.G. vi;2).  
 
            In Gaul the territory of the Carnutes was a Druidical centre. The name of the CARNUTES contains the root CRN derived from the Hebrew KeReN (meaning "horn") and found frequently with Celtic tribal-names especially those of Britain and in Britain especially amongst tribes of the Picts in the north. [The name "Karnayim" (two horns) had also been given to an important region in the territory of Menasseh]. The Druids practised human sacrifice. They believed in transmigration (reincarnation) of the soul after death as did the ancient Egyptians. It was possible amongst the Celts to give a promissory note on debt, payable in the next world; this custom is considered to be an Egyptian one34.
            The Druidical priests of Ireland seem to have employed a type of hair tonsure found also in Arabia and the east. In Irish a priest was called a "cois" and it is known that in the Phoenician colony on Samothrace (off the coast of Greece) a priest was termed a "coies" equivalent to the Hebrew "cohen". In Ireland the supreme god was known as Beal (meaning baal) or as Beal Samhan which name is paralleled by that of the Syrian god "Baal Samim" whose name in Hebrew (Baal Shamayim) means "lord of heaven". The Canaanite worship of Moloch was also practised and was known to the Celts as Crom Cruach. The Celtic goddess Aistorith (also worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons according to Bede) was a version of Canaanite Ashtoreth. Religious associations and customs paralleled those recorded concerning the ancient Egyptians, the Canaanite Phoenicians, and the Phoenicians of Samothrace35.. The Irish funeral ceremonies recall those of ancient Greece and Egypt36.               
            In Britain and Ireland numerous Celtic place-names retain the term "baal" or derivations of it: Baal-y-bai, Beal-Tene, Balhomais, Ballinluig, Balmuick, Balnaguard, etc. it is claimed that in Britain place-names associated with baal are usually near stone circles or other megalithic remains37. In Ireland "baal" place-names are especially numerous. The "sidhe" in Irish appears to have connoted the fairy people or gods; this name, "sidhe" is of Hebrew or Phoenician origin. In Hebrew "shed" means demon while "Shadi" is one of the names for God.
 
            La Tour d'Auvergne wrote a History about the Origins of the Gauls emphasising Brittany in France based on traditions and sources that have since disappeared in many instances. La Tour d'Auvergne reported:
            *Huesi was an old name for the Israelites given them by the Egyptians. Hoesus was a major god of the Gauls, identified by the Romans with Mars.
            *Hissione was considered the ancestor of the Romanised Gauls, the Alans, Franks, Alamans, and Britons all peoples who populated France. HUESI (i.e. Israelites), Hoesus( the god), and Hissione (ancestor of the Gauls) all appear to be  forms of the same appellation. Hu Gadarn legendary ancestor of the British Cymry is referred to in one Welsh version as "Hu Gadarn Hysicion" and "Hysicion" was apparently understandable to the Welsh as meaning "Isaacson", i.e. son of Isaac, forefather of Israel. The Northern Ten Tribes are referred to in the Bible as "Isaac" or "House of Isaac" (cf. Amos 7;16).
            *The name Jupiter (the chief Roman god) according to La Tour was rendered in primitive Celtic as Iou, Iaou, and other forms. The Hebrew ineffable name for GOD transliterated as Jehovah or Yahwah was sometimes also rendered by writers in Greek as Iou or Iaou and identified by them with Zeus which became the Roman Jupiter. In other words, to the extent that the primitive Celts believed in a Supreme Deity they identified this Deity with the One God of the Hebrews and called Him by the same name.
 
            Very soon after the conversion of Ireland to Christianity the whole country was covered by monasteries, whose complete organisation seems to indicate that they were really Druidic colleges transformed en masse38.
             The early Celtic Church was very Hebraic in its injunctions and tended to adopt much of the Mosaic Code as they understood it. The Celtic Church assimilated Druidic practices and personnel. The Druidical connection appears to have been a factor in "Judaising" tendencies since the Druids had always had practices parallel to Hebrew ones.
            Hebraic practices in themselves do not necessarily prove anything but when taken into account together with other signs, such as vestiges of Middle Eastern paganism (which was adopted by the Northern Israelites before their exile) alongside significant traces of Hebrew origins, they add to the sum total of evidence.
   
Ezekiel 7
[Ezekiel 7:1] MOREOVER THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING,                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:2] ALSO, THOU SON OF MAN, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD UNTO THE LAND OF ISRAEL; AN END, THE END IS COME UPON THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE LAND.
 <<UPON THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE LAND: Rabbi Moshe Eisemann (ArtScroll: "Yechezkiel") shows that the Commentators proved this has a double meaning: On one level it referred to the Land of Israel apparently at the time of the Babylonian Exile. On another level it refers to the whole world, possibly in the near future.                      
 
[Ezekiel 7:3] NOW IS THE END COME UPON THEE, AND I WILL SEND MINE ANGER UPON THEE, AND WILL JUDGE THEE ACCORDING TO THY WAYS, AND WILL RECOMPENSE UPON THEE ALL THINE ABOMINATIONS.
<<RECOMPENSE UPON THEE ALL THINE ABOMINATIONS:  The Commentary "Daat Mikra" (Yechiel Tzvi Moshkovitz) quotes Luzatto that this can be interpreted as saying that the evil deeds a person does become the very means through which he receives punishment.                    
 
[Ezekiel 7:4] AND MINE EYE SHALL NOT SPARE THEE, NEITHER WILL I HAVE PITY: BUT I WILL RECOMPENSE THY WAYS UPON THEE, AND THINE ABOMINATIONS SHALL BE IN THE MIDST OF THEE: AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:5] THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; AN EVIL, AN ONLY EVIL, BEHOLD, IS COME.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:6] AN END IS COME, THE END IS COME: IT WATCHETH FOR THEE; BEHOLD, IT IS COME.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:7] THE MORNING IS COME UNTO THEE, O THOU THAT DWELLEST IN THE LAND: THE TIME IS COME, THE DAY OF TROUBLE IS NEAR, AND NOT THE SOUNDING AGAIN OF THE MOUNTAINS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:8] NOW WILL I SHORTLY POUR OUT MY FURY UPON THEE, AND ACCOMPLISH MINE ANGER UPON THEE: AND I WILL JUDGE THEE ACCORDING TO THY WAYS, AND WILL RECOMPENSE THEE FOR ALL THINE ABOMINATIONS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:9] AND MINE EYE SHALL NOT SPARE, NEITHER WILL I HAVE PITY: I WILL RECOMPENSE THEE ACCORDING TO THY WAYS AND THINE ABOMINATIONS THAT ARE IN THE MIDST OF THEE; AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THAT SMITETH.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:10] BEHOLD THE DAY, BEHOLD, IT IS COME: THE MORNING IS GONE FORTH; THE ROD HATH BLOSSOMED, PRIDE HATH BUDDED.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:11] VIOLENCE IS RISEN UP INTO A ROD OF WICKEDNESS: NONE OF THEM SHALL REMAIN, NOR OF THEIR MULTITUDE, NOR OF ANY OF THEIR'S: NEITHER SHALL THERE BE WAILING FOR THEM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:12] THE TIME IS COME, THE DAY DRAWETH NEAR: LET NOT THE BUYER REJOICE, NOR THE SELLER MOURN: FOR WRATH IS UPON ALL THE MULTITUDE THEREOF.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:13] FOR THE SELLER SHALL NOT RETURN TO THAT WHICH IS SOLD, ALTHOUGH THEY WERE YET ALIVE: FOR THE VISION IS TOUCHING THE WHOLE MULTITUDE THEREOF, WHICH SHALL NOT RETURN; NEITHER SHALL ANY STRENGTHEN HIMSELF IN THE INIQUITY OF HIS LIFE.                     
<<FOR THE SELLER SHALL NOT RETURN TO THAT WHICH IS SOLD: IN those times a person would sell his ancestral holding and be able to redeem it later and at the very last in the Jubilee Year (every fifty years) he would receive it back.  Now this was not to be. They were about to be exiled and the Jubilee would no longer be practiced.
 
[Ezekiel 7:14] THEY HAVE BLOWN THE TRUMPET, EVEN TO MAKE ALL READY; BUT NONE GOETH TO THE BATTLE: FOR MY WRATH IS UPON ALL THE MULTITUDE THEREOF.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:15] THE SWORD IS WITHOUT, AND THE PESTILENCE AND THE FAMINE WITHIN: HE THAT IS IN THE FIELD SHALL DIE WITH THE SWORD; AND HE THAT IS IN THE CITY, FAMINE AND PESTILENCE SHALL DEVOUR HIM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:16] BUT THEY THAT ESCAPE OF THEM SHALL ESCAPE, AND SHALL BE ON THE MOUNTAINS LIKE DOVES OF THE VALLEYS, ALL OF THEM MOURNING, EVERY ONE FOR HIS INIQUITY.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:17] ALL HANDS SHALL BE FEEBLE, AND ALL KNEES SHALL BE WEAK AS WATER.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:18] THEY SHALL ALSO GIRD THEMSELVES WITH SACKCLOTH, AND HORROR SHALL COVER THEM; AND SHAME SHALL BE UPON ALL FACES, AND BALDNESS UPON ALL THEIR HEADS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:19] THEY SHALL CAST THEIR SILVER IN THE STREETS, AND THEIR GOLD SHALL BE REMOVED: THEIR SILVER AND THEIR GOLD SHALL NOT BE ABLE TO DELIVER THEM IN THE DAY OF THE WRATH OF THE LORD: THEY SHALL NOT SATISFY THEIR SOULS, NEITHER FILL THEIR BOWELS: BECAUSE IT IS THE STUMBLINGBLOCK OF THEIR INIQUITY.                     
Money will no longer help them. They will not be able to ransom themselves or purchase alleviation for their suffering.
 
[Ezekiel 7:20] AS FOR THE BEAUTY OF HIS ORNAMENT, HE SET IT IN MAJESTY: BUT THEY MADE THE IMAGES OF THEIR ABOMINATIONS AND OF THEIR DETESTABLE THINGS THEREIN: THEREFORE HAVE I SET IT FAR FROM THEM.                     
They disgraced the Temple by inserting pagan instruments within it. Therefore the Divine Presence that they could once connect to through the Temple will be distanced from them.
 
[Ezekiel 7:21] AND I WILL GIVE IT INTO THE HANDS OF THE STRANGERS FOR A PREY, AND TO THE WICKED OF THE EARTH FOR A SPOIL; AND THEY SHALL POLLUTE IT.
The Temple will be polluted by foreigners. This means that even if they then ewant to repent and return to the Almighty it will be much more difficult to do so. It will be as if God will turn away from them. They turned away from God and diluted the purity of His worship and therefore when they need Him it will be as if He distanced Himself from them.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:22] MY FACE WILL I TURN ALSO FROM THEM, AND THEY SHALL POLLUTE MY SECRET PLACE: FOR THE ROBBERS SHALL ENTER INTO IT, AND DEFILE IT.                     
Eisemann points out the Divine Presence is always on the site of the Temple. No where does Scripture say that this is not so. It merely says that due to our sins our means of access are limited. On the one hand God turns His face away from us. On the other hand He is still there.
 
[Ezekiel 7:23] MAKE A CHAIN: FOR THE LAND IS FULL OF BLOODY CRIMES, AND THE CITY IS FULL OF VIOLENCE.
 <<MAKE A CHAIN: They will be taken into exile in chains. It is as if through bloody crimes and violence they create the very chains that will be put on them to take them into captivity.                    
 
[Ezekiel 7:24] WHEREFORE I WILL BRING THE WORST OF THE HEATHEN, AND THEY SHALL POSSESS THEIR HOUSES: I WILL ALSO MAKE THE POMP OF THE STRONG TO CEASE; AND THEIR HOLY PLACES SHALL BE DEFILED.
  <<THE WORST OF THE HEATHEN: Some non-Israelites are quite civilized and decent but when God punishes us He will bring the worst of them upon us. The above verse could also be translated thusly:
<<I will bring the worst of the Gentiles and they shall inherit their houses and I will cause to cease the pride of the bravemen and they shall inherit their holy places  i.e. the worst of the gentiles shall come and take the houses of the Israelites whose bravemen will be broken. The holy places of the Israelites will be bequeathed to the worst of the Gentiles. This is the case today to a degree. The Palestinians are pretty much the worst of the gentiles and they have effective control of the Temple Mount and other places holy to Israel. 
Despite the impression you may receive in the media things in the State of Israel are now far better than they were a short while ago. Under the leadership of Barak (before the time of Sharon) and those who went before him we had the feeling of impending disaster, of complete disgrace, and national impotency. God has helped us and shown us that it is possible to make things better. On the other hand the situation is still bad and it could get worse. The foregoing words were written when Sharon still seemed to be himself and before the time of Olmert who brought Barak back. We must do the best we can and take note of who our friends are and learn what the Almighty expects of us.
Whatever our faults and shortcomings the Brit-Am doctrine and understanding on the whole has stood the test of reality more than any alternative. We may not have complete answers but we do have a path to go in.              
 
[Ezekiel 7:25] DESTRUCTION COMETH; AND THEY SHALL SEEK PEACE, AND THERE SHALL BE NONE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 7:26] MISCHIEF SHALL COME UPON MISCHIEF, AND RUMOUR SHALL BE UPON RUMOUR; THEN SHALL THEY SEEK A VISION OF THE PROPHET; BUT THE LAW SHALL PERISH FROM THE PRIEST, AND COUNSEL  FROM THE ANCIENTS. 
There may come a time when we will not be able to learn and teach and the answers not be available. We should endeavor to do as much as we can, while we can.                   
 
[Ezekiel 7:27] THE KING SHALL MOURN, AND THE PRINCE SHALL BE CLOTHED WITH DESOLATION, AND THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND SHALL BE TROUBLED: I WILL DO UNTO THEM AFTER THEIR WAY, AND ACCORDING TO THEIR DESERTS WILL I JUDGE THEM; AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD. 
We shall know that God is our master.                   
 
Ezekiel 8
[Ezekiel 8:1] AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE SIXTH YEAR, IN THE SIXTH MONTH, IN THE FIFTH DAY OF THE MONTH, AS I SAT IN MINE HOUSE, AND THE ELDERS OF JUDAH SAT BEFORE ME, THAT THE HAND OF THE LORD GOD FELL THERE UPON ME.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:2] THEN I BEHELD, AND LO A LIKENESS AS THE APPEARANCE OF FIRE: FROM THE APPEARANCE OF HIS LOINS EVEN DOWNWARD, FIRE; AND FROM HIS LOINS EVEN UPWARD, AS THE APPEARANCE OF BRIGHTNESS, AS THE COLOUR OF AMBER.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:3] AND HE PUT FORTH THE FORM OF AN HAND, AND TOOK ME BY A LOCK OF MINE HEAD;  AND THE SPIRIT LIFTED ME UP BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE HEAVEN, AND BROUGHT ME IN THE VISIONS OF GOD TO JERUSALEM, TO THE DOOR OF THE INNER GATE THAT LOOKETH TOWARD THE NORTH; WHERE  WAS THE SEAT OF THE IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, WHICH PROVOKETH TO JEALOUSY.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:4] AND, BEHOLD, THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL WAS THERE, ACCORDING TO THE VISION THAT I SAW IN THE PLAIN.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:5] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, LIFT UP THINE EYES NOW THE WAY TOWARD THE NORTH. SO I LIFTED UP MINE EYES THE WAY TOWARD THE NORTH, AND BEHOLD NORTHWARD AT THE GATE OF THE ALTAR THIS IMAGE OF JEALOUSY IN THE ENTRY.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:6] HE SAID FURTHERMORE UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, SEEST THOU WHAT THEY DO" EVEN THE GREAT ABOMINATIONS THAT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL COMMITTETH HERE, THAT I SHOULD GO FAR OFF FROM  MY SANCTUARY" BUT TURN THEE YET AGAIN, AND THOU SHALT SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:7] AND HE BROUGHT ME TO THE DOOR OF THE COURT; AND WHEN I LOOKED, BEHOLD A HOLE IN THE WALL.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:8] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, DIG NOW IN THE WALL: AND WHEN I HAD DIGGED IN THE WALL, BEHOLD A DOOR.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:9] AND HE SAID UNTO ME, GO IN, AND BEHOLD THE WICKED ABOMINATIONS THAT THEY DO HERE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:10] SO I WENT IN AND SAW; AND BEHOLD EVERY FORM OF CREEPING THINGS, AND ABOMINABLE BEASTS, AND ALL THE IDOLS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, PORTRAYED UPON THE WALL ROUND ABOUT.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:11] AND THERE STOOD BEFORE THEM SEVENTY MEN OF THE ANCIENTS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, AND IN THE MIDST OF THEM STOOD JAAZANIAH THE SON OF SHAPHAN, WITH EVERY MAN HIS CENSER IN HIS HAND; AND A THICK CLOUD OF INCENSE WENT UP.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:12] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, SON OF MAN, HAST THOU SEEN WHAT THE ANCIENTS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL DO IN THE DARK, EVERY MAN IN THE CHAMBERS OF HIS IMAGERY; FOR THEY SAY, THE LORD SEETH US NOT; THE LORD HATH FORSAKEN THE EARTH. 
Ezekiel is describing a secret ceremony conducted in the Temple by seventy leading members of the people. Jeremiah and the other prophets who were in Jerusalem at the time, and better acquainted with the upper echelons of society than Ezekiel was, knew nothing of this.  
Ezekiel is speaking about "THE ANCIENTS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL". The possibility arises that no such event really took place but it is all a vision whose pertinence was applicable to the distant future.                
 
[Ezekiel 8:13] HE SAID ALSO UNTO ME, TURN THEE YET AGAIN, AND THOU SHALT SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS THAT THEY DO.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:14] THEN HE BROUGHT ME TO THE DOOR OF THE GATE OF THE LORD'S HOUSE WHICH WAS TOWARD THE NORTH; AND, BEHOLD, THERE SAT WOMEN WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:15] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, HAST THOU SEEN THIS, O SON OF MAN" TURN THEE YET AGAIN, AND THOU SHALT SEE GREATER ABOMINATIONS THAN THESE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:16] AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE INNER COURT OF THE LORD'S HOUSE, AND, BEHOLD, AT THE DOOR OF THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE ALTAR, WERE ABOUT FIVE AND TWENTY MEN, WITH THEIR BACKS TOWARD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, AND THEIR FACES TOWARD THE EAST; AND THEY WORSHIPPED THE SUN TOWARD THE EAST.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:17] THEN HE SAID UNTO ME, HAST THOU SEEN THIS, O SON OF MAN" IS IT A LIGHT THING TO THE HOUSE OF JUDAH THAT THEY COMMIT THE ABOMINATIONS WHICH THEY COMMIT HERE" FOR THEY HAVE FILLED THE LAND WITH VIOLENCE, AND HAVE RETURNED TO PROVOKE ME TO ANGER: AND, LO, THEY  PUT THE BRANCH TO THEIR NOSE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 8:18] THEREFORE WILL I ALSO DEAL IN FURY: MINE EYE SHALL NOT SPARE, NEITHER WILL I HAVE PITY: AND THOUGH THEY CRY IN MINE EARS WITH A LOUD VOICE, YET WILL I NOT HEAR THEM.
 
Exekiel saw the Israelites worshipping Tammuz in Jerusalem.
Who was Tammuz"
The pagans of the Middle East (such as those of Assyria) had the practice when things went wrong of killing their king to atone for their sins. Later a substitute would be found, made king for a day and put to death.
 
I put "Tammuz" in a search engine on the net and these are some of the answers I came up with:
 
Tammuz, Babylonian God Of Vegetation
Tammuz was an ancient nature deity worshipped in Babylonia. A god of agriculture and flocks, he personified the creative powers of spring. He was loved by the fertility goddess Ishtar, who, according to one legend was so grief-stricken at his death, that she contrived to enter the underworld to get him back. According to another legend, she killed him and later restored him to life. These legends and his festival, which took place in the early Spring, commemorating the yearly death and rebirth of vegetation, corresponded to the festivals of the Phoenician and Greek Adonis and of the Phrygian Attis. The Sumerian name of Tammuz was Dumuzi.
The fullest history extant of this saviour is probably that of Ctesias (400 BC), author of Persika. The poet has perpetuated his memory in rhyme.
Trust, ye saints, your Lord restored,
Trust ye in your risen Lord;
For the pains which Tammuz endured
Our salvation have procured.
Tammuz was crucified as an atonement offering: Trust ye in God, for out of his loins salvation has come unto us . Julius Firmicus speaks of this God rising from the dead for the salvation of the world.

Tammuz (Ezek. 8:14) is equivalent to Osiris (Hay-Tau) in Egypt and Adonis [Greek Adonis, from Phoenician adon, lord]. Osiris is Dionysus in the Greek tongue, and the Roman Bacchus. Tammuz was killed by a wild boar while shepherding his flocks. His wife rescued him from the underworld. His death was taken to represent the onset of winter. The Adonis Cult parallels Dumuzi, Tammuz, and Attis.
When the Israelites were about to conquer the land of Canaan God warned them not to copy the ways of the nations they were about to drive out but the Israelites did so.
 
[Deuteronomy 12:29] WHEN THE LORD THY GOD SHALL CUT OFF THE NATIONS FROM BEFORE THEE, WHITHER THOU GOEST TO POSSESS THEM, AND THOU SUCCEEDEST THEM, AND DWELLEST IN THEIR LAND;
 
[Deuteronomy 12:30] TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU BE NOT SNARED BY FOLLOWING THEM, AFTER THAT THEY BE                      DESTROYED FROM BEFORE THEE; AND THAT THOU ENQUIRE NOT AFTER THEIR GODS, SAYING, HOW DID THESE NATIONS SERVE THEIR GODS" EVEN SO WILL I DO LIKEWISE.
 
[Deuteronomy 12:31] THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: FOR EVERY ABOMINATION TO THE  LORD, WHICH HE HATETH, HAVE THEY DONE UNTO THEIR GODS; FOR EVEN THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS THEY HAVE BURNT IN THE FIRE TO THEIR GODS.               
 
Why were the Ten Tribes exiled" Because they worshipped other gods, practiced paganism and also applied pagan notions to the God of Israel.
[2-Kings 17:1] IN THE TWELFTH YEAR OF AHAZ KING OF JUDAH BEGAN HOSHEA THE SON OF ELAH TO REIGN IN SAMARIA OVER ISRAEL NINE YEARS.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:2] AND HE DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, BUT NOT AS THE KINGS OF ISRAEL THAT WERE BEFORE HIM.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:3] AGAINST HIM CAME UP SHALMANESER KING OF ASSYRIA; AND HOSHEA BECAME HIS SERVANT, AND GAVE HIM PRESENTS.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:4] AND THE KING OF ASSYRIA FOUND CONSPIRACY IN HOSHEA: FOR HE HAD SENT  MESSENGERS TO SO KING OF EGYPT, AND BROUGHT NO PRESENT TO THE KING OF ASSYRIA, ASHE HAD DONE YEAR BY YEAR: THEREFORE THE KING OF ASSYRIA SHUT HIM UP, AND BOUND HIM  IN PRISON.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:5] THEN THE KING OF ASSYRIA CAME UP THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND, AND WENT UP TO SAMARIA, AND BESIEGED IT THREE YEARS.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:6] IN THE NINTH YEAR OF HOSHEA THE KING OF ASSYRIA TOOK SAMARIA, AND CARRIED ISRAEL AWAY INTO ASSYRIA, AND PLACED THEM IN HALAH AND IN HABOR BY THE RIVER  OF GOZAN, AND IN THE CITIES OF THE MEDES.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:7] FOR SO IT WAS, THAT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL HAD SINNED AGAINST THE LORD THEIR GOD, WHICH HAD BROUGHT THEM UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, FROM UNDER THE HAND  OF PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT, AND HAD FEARED OTHER GODS,                     
 
[2-Kings 17:8] AND WALKED IN THE STATUTES OF THE HEATHEN, WHOM THE LORD CAST OUT  FROM BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL, WHICH THEY HAD MADE.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:9] AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID SECRETLY THOSE THINGS THAT WERE NOT RIGHT AGAINST THE LORD THEIR GOD, AND THEY BUILT THEM HIGH PLACES IN ALL THEIR CITIES, FROM THE TOWER OF THE WATCHMEN TO THE FENCED CITY.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:10] AND THEY SET THEM UP IMAGES AND GROVES IN EVERY HIGH HILL, AND UNDER EVERY GREEN TREE:                     
 
[2-Kings 17:11] AND THERE THEY BURNT INCENSE IN ALL THE HIGH PLACES, AS DID THE HEATHEN WHOM THE LORD CARRIED AWAY BEFORE THEM; AND WROUGHT WICKED THINGS TO PROVOKE THE LORD TO ANGER:                     
 
[2-Kings 17:12] FOR THEY SERVED IDOLS, WHEREOF THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO THEM, YE SHALL NOT DO THIS THING.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:13] YET THE LORD TESTIFIED AGAINST ISRAEL, AND AGAINST JUDAH, BY ALL THE PROPHETS, AND BY ALL THE SEERS, SAYING, TURN YE FROM YOUR EVIL WAYS, AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS AND MY STATUTES, ACCORDING TO ALL THE LAW WHICH I COMMANDED YOUR FATHERS, AND WHICH I SENT TO YOU BY MY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:14] NOTWITHSTANDING THEY WOULD NOT HEAR, BUT HARDENED THEIR NECKS, LIKE  TO THE NECK OF THEIR FATHERS, THAT DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE LORD THEIR GOD.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:15] AND THEY REJECTED HIS STATUTES, AND HIS COVENANT THAT HE MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS, AND HIS TESTIMONIES WHICH HE TESTIFIED AGAINST THEM; AND THEY FOLLOWED VANITY, AND BECAME VAIN, AND WENT AFTER THE HEATHEN THAT WERE ROUND ABOUT THEM, CONCERNING WHOM THE LORD HAD CHARGED THEM, THAT THEY SHOULD NOT DO LIKE THEM.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:16] AND THEY LEFT ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD THEIR GOD, AND  MADE THEM MOLTEN IMAGES, EVEN TWO CALVES, AND MADE A GROVE, AND WORSHIPPED ALL THE HOST OF HEAVEN, AND SERVED BAAL.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:17] AND THEY CAUSED THEIR SONS AND THEIR DAUGHTERS TO PASS THROUGH THE  FIRE, AND USED DIVINATION AND ENCHANTMENTS, AND SOLD THEMSELVES TO DO EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, TO PROVOKE HIM TO ANGER.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:18] THEREFORE THE LORD WAS VERY ANGRY WITH ISRAEL, AND REMOVED THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT: THERE WAS NONE LEFT BUT THE TRIBE OF JUDAH ONLY.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:19] ALSO JUDAH KEPT NOT THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD THEIR GOD, BUT WALKED IN THE STATUTES OF ISRAEL WHICH THEY MADE.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:20] AND THE LORD REJECTED ALL THE SEED OF ISRAEL, AND AFFLICTED THEM, AND DELIVERED THEM INTO THE HAND OF SPOILERS, UNTIL HE HAD CAST THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:21] FOR HE RENT ISRAEL FROM THE HOUSE OF DAVID; AND THEY MADE JEROBOAM  THE SON OF NEBAT KING: AND JEROBOAM DRAVE ISRAEL FROM FOLLOWING THE LORD, AND  MADE THEM SIN A GREAT SIN.                     
 
[2-Kings 17:22] FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WALKED IN ALL THE SINS OF JEROBOAM WHICH HE DID; THEY DEPARTED NOT FROM THEM;                     
 
[2-Kings 17:23] UNTIL THE LORD REMOVED ISRAEL OUT OF HIS SIGHT, AS HE HAD SAID BY ALL  HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS. SO WAS ISRAEL CARRIED AWAY OUT OF THEIR OWN LAND TO  ASSYRIA UNTO THIS DAY.                     
 
The application of pagan notions applied to the God of Israel by the Israelites has been confirmed by archaeological findings:
A stele from Byblos, specifically cites Yaveh-Melek, 'Yahweh
the King', [who] worships the Queen of Heaven.
 
At Kuntillet Ajrud, in southern Israel, in the former territory of Simeon are depictions of "Yahweh" with a consort goddess alongside an image of  the Egyptian god Bes.  For Dever, the inscriptions prove that in Israel Yahweh could be closely identified with the cult of Asherah, and in some circles the goddess was actually personified as his consort (1984:31).
David Noel Freedman: "worship of a goddess, consort of Yahweh, was deeply rooted in both Israel and Judah in pre-exilic times, in spite of vigorous prophetic protests and strenuous efforts by reforming kings" (1987:249).
Similarly, Rainer Albertz remarks: "The popularity of worship of a goddess alongside Yahweh throughout the whole pre-exilic period can hardly be overestimated" (1994:86; also see Gilula 1978-1979: 135).
 
An inscription on the spot refers to:
     `Yahweh   of Samaria,' (depicted in the form of a calf) "and his consort Asherah"
From this inscription we can deduce:
1. Simeon though in the south was probably subservient to the northern kingdom ("Samaria") as hinted at by the Bible and included in the Ten tribes who were exiled by Assyria.
2. The worship of the God of Israel was paganized and mixed up with pagan notions.
The prophets refer to this and frequently condemn it but do not go into most of the details probably due to respect.
 
<<Baal was a son of god, the local god of the small states and had a
variety of local names besides his generic name, Baal. Baal is found in Phoenicia, Galilee, Israel and Judaea, as well as further north in the Levant. Yehouah is found in Israel, Judah,and Edom.
<<El was the authority behind Baal and Baal was the authority
behind the local king.
<<Elements in personal names, including royal names, from the early Bronze Age city of Ebla and the late Bronze Age city of Ugarit, suggest a god with the name Yeho.
<<altars apparently dedicated to Yehouah or an equivalent god have been uncovered at Arad and Beersheba. Yehouah is mentioned at Nebo and in Samaria and Teman [of Edom].
<<Yehouah is declared the god of Samaria (Israel) and his consort is Asherah.
 
Ezekiel 9
[Ezekiel 9:1] HE CRIED ALSO IN MINE EARS WITH A LOUD VOICE, SAYING, CAUSE THEM THAT HAVE CHARGE OVER THE CITY TO DRAW NEAR, EVEN EVERY MAN WITH HIS DESTROYING WEAPON IN HIS HAND.                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:2] AND, BEHOLD, SIX MEN CAME FROM THE WAY OF THE HIGHER GATE, WHICH LIETH  TOWARD THE NORTH, AND EVERY MAN A SLAUGHTER WEAPON IN HIS HAND; AND ONE MAN AMONG THEM WAS CLOTHED WITH LINEN, WITH A WRITER'S INKHORN BY HIS SIDE: AND THEY WENT IN, AND STOOD BESIDE THE BRASEN ALTAR. 
<<SIX MEN: Eisemann (Artscroll Commentary: "Yechezkel") explains the Sages (in Midrashim) as explaining that: Or these were actually angles of destruction or they were men representing the higher forces of devastation.
<<THE WAY OF THE HIGHER GATE: The north-east side of the Temple.                   
 
[Ezekiel 9:3] AND THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL WAS GONE UP FROM THE CHERUB, WHEREUPON HE WAS, TO THE THRESHOLD OF THE HOUSE. AND HE CALLED TO THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN, WHICH HAD THE WRITER'S INKHORN BY HIS SIDE;
<<FROM THE CHERUB: There were actually two cherubim (angelic childlike figures) placed over the Ark. One tradition says that these were taken to Babylon with the exiles; another tradition says they were buried somewhere on the Temple Mount or near it. Eisemann quotes traditions that say that at times of favor the two cherubs became joined and could be counted as one. At a higher level the very act of God punishing us carries within it the foundation for reconciliation and unity.                    
 
[Ezekiel 9:4] AND THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, GO THROUGH THE MIDST OF THE CITY, THROUGH THE MIDST OF JERUSALEM, AND SET A MARK UPON THE FOREHEADS OF THE MEN THAT SIGH AND THAT CRY  FOR ALL THE ABOMINATIONS THAT BE DONE IN THE MIDST THEREOF.  
 "A MARK": In Hebrew "tav" signifying the last letter of the Hebrew Alphabet. In the Old Hebrew script ("Canaanite") a "tav" usually looked like an "X".  "Tav" represents the English sound "t" or "th".               
 
[Ezekiel 9:5] AND TO THE OTHERS HE SAID IN MINE HEARING, GO YE AFTER HIM THROUGH THE CITY, AND SMITE: LET NOT YOUR EYE SPARE, NEITHER HAVE YE PITY:                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:6] SLAY UTTERLY OLD AND YOUNG, BOTH MAIDS, AND LITTLE CHILDREN, AND WOMEN: BUT COME NOT NEAR ANY MAN UPON WHOM IS THE MARK; AND BEGIN AT MY SANCTUARY. THEN THEY BEGAN AT THE ANCIENT MEN WHICH WERE BEFORE THE HOUSE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:7] AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, DEFILE THE HOUSE, AND FILL THE COURTS WITH THE SLAIN: GO YE FORTH. AND THEY WENT FORTH, AND SLEW IN THE CITY.                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:8] AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHILE THEY WERE SLAYING THEM, AND I WAS LEFT, THAT I FELL UPON MY FACE, AND CRIED, AND SAID, AH LORD GOD! WILT THOU DESTROY ALL THE RESIDUE OF ISRAEL IN THY POURING OUT OF THY FURY UPON JERUSALEM" 
<<AND I WAS LEFT: Hebrew: "Ve-Ne-Ashar" written in an unusual (full) "Canaanite" way. This usage is supportive of the interpretations of Orjan Svensson. Orjan has interpreted several runic stones in his home district of Sweden as having been written in an Old Hebrew dialect in some cases and in an Aramaic-Old Hebrew dialect in others.                   
 
[Ezekiel 9:9] THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, THE INIQUITY OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH IS EXCEEDING GREAT, AND THE LAND IS FULL OF BLOOD, AND THE CITY FULL OF PERVERSENESS: FOR THEY SAY, THE LORD HATH FORSAKEN THE EARTH, AND THE LORD SEETH NOT. 
<<THE INIQUITY OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH: "Judah" and the Lost Ten Tribes"
<<THE LAND IS FULL OF BLOOD: There were too many murderers going unpunished. In principle the Bible stands for the death penalty for murder BUT liberal room for exceptions should exist. The Bible does exact from us the need to have strict law enforcement and to put away wrong doers who corrupt others.
<<WHOSO SHEDDETH MAN'S BLOOD, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED: FOR IN THE IMAGE OF GOD MADE HE MAN.                     
<< AND YOU, BE YE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY; BRING FORTH ABUNDANTLY IN THE EARTH, AND MULTIPLY THEREIN [Genesis 9:6].                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:10] AND AS FOR ME ALSO, MINE EYE SHALL NOT SPARE, NEITHER WILL I HAVE PITY, BUT I WILL RECOMPENSE THEIR WAY UPON THEIR HEAD.                     
 
[Ezekiel 9:11] AND, BEHOLD, THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN, WHICH HAD THE INKHORN BY HIS SIDE, REPORTED THE MATTER, SAYING, I HAVE DONE AS THOU HAST COMMANDED ME.                     
 
Ezekiel 10
[Ezekiel 10:1] THEN I LOOKED, AND, BEHOLD, IN THE FIRMAMENT THAT WAS ABOVE THE HEAD OF THE CHERUBIMS THERE APPEARED OVER THEM AS IT WERE A SAPPHIRE STONE, AS THE APPEARANCE OF THE LIKENESS OF A THRONE.     
Eisemann quotes Hirsch and other Commentators as understanding this chapter to say that:
Previously the presence of God had been felt in a relative fashion more or less directly through the Temple and the presence of God above the Cherubim:
 << THE LORD REIGNETH; LET THE PEOPLE TREMBLE: HE SITTETH BETWEEN THE  CHERUBIMS; LET THE EARTH BE MOVED.                     
<< THE LORD IS GREAT IN ZION; AND HE IS HIGH ABOVE ALL THE PEOPLE  [Psalms 99:1].
 
<<AND WHEN MOSES WAS GONE INTO THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION TO SPEAK WITH HIM, THEN HE HEARD THE VOICE OF ONE SPEAKING UNTO HIM FROM OFF THE MERCY  SEAT THAT WAS UPON THE ARK OF TESTIMONY, FROM BETWEEN THE TWO CHERUBIMS: AND HE SPAKE UNTO HIM [Numbers 7:89]. 
 
Now the Temple was about to be destroyed and God henceforth would make his Presence felt in a hidden and more obscure way through the Divine Chariot.
We saw in the description of the chariot that it had four faces for four directions:
 <<ALSO OUT OF THE MIDST THEREOF CAME THE LIKENESS OF FOUR LIVING CREATURES. AND THIS WAS THEIR APPEARANCE; THEY HAD THE LIKENESS OF A MAN.  
<<AND EVERY ONE HAD FOUR FACES, AND EVERY ONE HAD FOUR WINGS [Ezekiel 1:5-6].                     
 
<AS FOR THE LIKENESS OF THEIR FACES, THEY FOUR HAD THE FACE OF A MAN, AND THE FACE OF A LION, ON THE RIGHT SIDE: AND THEY FOUR HAD THE FACE OF AN OX ON THE LEFT SIDE; THEY FOUR ALSO HAD THE FACE OF AN EAGLE [Ezekiel 1:10].
There were four angels and each angel had four faces.  
At the end of this message is a message concerning the stones of the tribes and their encampment around the Tabernacle:
The twelve tribes were split up into four sections of three tribes each facing the four directions of the compass.
Reuben, Ephraim, Judah and Dan were the heads of the four tribal groups. Each dominated a different direction: Reuben in the south (over Simeon and Gad); Ephraim in the west (over Menasseh and Benjamin); Judah in the east (over Issachar and Zebulon);  Dan in the north over Naphtali and Asher.
Nachmanides (Numbers 2:2):
Nachmanides says:
            The Standard of Reuben depicted the form of a man as well as Dudaim (Mandrakes). {Some say that Dudaim were the root of a plant. The root was in the shape of a man. This would allow for both Dudaim and the form of man to be represented}. Ephraim had a bull. Judah had a lion. Dan had an eagle. These four figures (man, bull, lion, eagle) represented the four angelic forms in the Chariot of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1;10).
 
The Divine Chariot therefore represents the physical tribes of Israel through whom the Almighty makes His presence felt in this world.
 
To quote briefly from W.H. Bennett, "Of the twenty-two tribal emblems of ancient Israel, at least nineteen still are, or until very recently have been, emblems of one or another section of the Celto-Saxon people. We also noted that, of the four Brigade emblems, two, the lion and the Eagle, are the chief emblems of Britain and the United States; that another, the Man, is a prominent feature of the official Arms of Denmark, Iceland and Greece; and that the Ox is also common to the heraldry of several sections of the Celto-Saxons. So all four of Israel's Brigade emblems are in use among the Celto-Saxons today." (Symbols Of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, page 89)
 
[Ezekiel 10:2] AND HE SPAKE UNTO THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN, AND SAID, GO IN BETWEEN THE WHEELS, EVEN UNDER THE CHERUB, AND FILL THINE HAND WITH COALS OF FIRE FROM BETWEEN THE  CHERUBIMS, AND SCATTER THEM OVER THE CITY. AND HE WENT IN IN MY SIGHT.   
<<UNTO THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN: Traditionally identified with the angel Gabriel.                 
 
[Ezekiel 10:3] NOW THE CHERUBIMS STOOD ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HOUSE, WHEN THE MAN WENT IN; AND THE CLOUD FILLED THE INNER COURT.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:4] THEN THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT UP FROM THE CHERUB, AND STOOD OVER THE THRESHOLD OF THE HOUSE; AND THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH THE CLOUD, AND THE COURT WAS FULL OF THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE LORD'S GLORY.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:5] AND THE SOUND OF THE CHERUBIMS' WINGS WAS HEARD EVEN TO THE OUTER COURT, AS THE VOICE OF THE ALMIGHTY GOD WHEN HE SPEAKETH.                     
<<THE ALMIGHTY GOD: In Hebrew "El Shaddai".
 
[Ezekiel 10:6] AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT WHEN HE HAD COMMANDED THE MAN CLOTHED WITH LINEN, SAYING, TAKE FIRE FROM BETWEEN THE WHEELS, FROM BETWEEN THE CHERUBIMS; THEN HE WENT IN, AND STOOD BESIDE THE WHEELS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:7] AND ONE CHERUB STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND FROM BETWEEN THE CHERUBIMS UNTO THE FIRE THAT WAS BETWEEN THE CHERUBIMS, AND TOOK THEREOF, AND PUT IT INTO THE HANDS OF HIM THAT WAS CLOTHED WITH LINEN: WHO TOOK IT, AND WENT OUT.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:8] AND THERE APPEARED IN THE CHERUBIMS THE FORM OF A MAN'S HAND UNDER THEIR WINGS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:9] AND WHEN I LOOKED, BEHOLD THE FOUR WHEELS BY THE CHERUBIMS, ONE WHEEL BY ONE CHERUB, AND ANOTHER WHEEL BY ANOTHER CHERUB: AND THE APPEARANCE OF THE WHEELS WAS  AS THE COLOUR OF A BERYL STONE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:10] AND AS FOR THEIR APPEARANCES, THEY FOUR HAD ONE LIKENESS, AS IF A WHEEL HAD BEEN IN THE MIDST OF A WHEEL.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:11] WHEN THEY WENT, THEY WENT UPON THEIR FOUR SIDES; THEY TURNED NOT AS THEY WENT, BUT TO THE PLACE WHITHER THE HEAD LOOKED THEY FOLLOWED IT; THEY TURNED NOT AS THEY WENT.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:12] AND THEIR WHOLE BODY, AND THEIR BACKS, AND THEIR HANDS, AND THEIR WINGS, AND THE WHEELS, WERE FULL OF EYES ROUND ABOUT, EVEN THE WHEELS THAT THEY FOUR HAD.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:13] AS FOR THE WHEELS, IT WAS CRIED UNTO THEM IN MY HEARING, O WHEEL.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:14] AND EVERY ONE HAD FOUR FACES: THE FIRST FACE WAS THE FACE OF A CHERUB, AND THE SECOND FACE WAS THE FACE OF A MAN, AND THE THIRD THE FACE OF A LION, AND THE FOURTH THE FACE OF AN EAGLE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:15] AND THE CHERUBIMS WERE LIFTED UP. THIS IS THE LIVING CREATURE THAT I SAW BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:16] AND WHEN THE CHERUBIMS WENT, THE WHEELS WENT BY THEM: AND WHEN THE CHERUBIMS LIFTED UP THEIR WINGS TO MOUNT UP FROM THE EARTH, THE SAME WHEELS ALSO TURNED NOT FROM BESIDE THEM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:17] WHEN THEY STOOD, THESE STOOD; AND WHEN THEY WERE LIFTED UP, THESE LIFTED UP THEMSELVES ALSO: FOR THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING CREATURE WAS IN THEM.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:18] THEN THE GLORY OF THE LORD DEPARTED FROM OFF THE THRESHOLD OF THE HOUSE,  AND STOOD OVER THE CHERUBIMS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:19] AND THE CHERUBIMS LIFTED UP THEIR WINGS, AND MOUNTED UP FROM THE EARTH IN  MY SIGHT: WHEN THEY WENT OUT, THE WHEELS ALSO WERE BESIDE THEM, AND EVERY ONE STOOD AT  THE DOOR OF THE EAST GATE OF THE LORD'S HOUSE; AND THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL WAS  OVER THEM ABOVE.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:20] THIS IS THE LIVING CREATURE THAT I SAW UNDER THE GOD OF ISRAEL BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR; AND I KNEW THAT THEY WERE THE CHERUBIMS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:21] EVERY ONE HAD FOUR FACES APIECE, AND EVERY ONE FOUR WINGS; AND THE LIKENESS OF THE HANDS OF A MAN WAS UNDER THEIR WINGS.                     
 
[Ezekiel 10:22] AND THE LIKENESS OF THEIR FACES WAS THE SAME FACES WHICH I SAW BY THE RIVER OF CHEBAR, THEIR APPEARANCES AND THEMSELVES: THEY WENT EVERY ONE STRAIGHT FORWARD.
 
The sacred chariot may be understood to represent the twelve tribes of Israel and their role in history. Through Israel God expresses Himself in this world.
            Midrash Numbers Rabah: BaMidbar 2;7: <<Each Tribe had its own sign and color on its standard. The color was the same as that of the Tribe"s precious stone [on the Ephod on the heart of Aaron]. Reuben had the Odem ("Ruby") stone [in Hebrew "Odem" means red] and his flag was red. Dudaim ["mandrakes"] were depicted on it.
            Shimeon had the pitda stone, his flag was colored green and depicted the city of Schechem.
            Levi had the bareket stone and his flag was one third white, one third black, one third red. The Urim and Tummin were depicted on it.
            Judah had the nophech stone, the color of his flag was like the sky. It depicted a lion.
            Issachar had the sapir stone, it depicted the sun and moon, as it says "AND OF THE CHILDREN OF ISSACHAR, WHICH WERE MEN THAT HAD UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES"  [1-Chronicles 12:32].
            Zebulon had the yeholam (diamond) stone. His flag was whitish and a ship was depicted on it as it says, "ZEBULON SHALL DWELL ON THE BEACHES OF THE SEA" (Genesis 49;13).
            Dan had the leshem stone, The color of his flag was like a sapphire and it depicted a snake as it says, "DAN SHALL BE A SNAKE BY THE WAYSIDE"  (Genesis 49;17).
            Gad had the shevo stone. The color of his flag was not white and not black but mixed black and white. It depicted an encampment, as it says, "GAD SHALL BE A TROOP: BUT HE SHALL OVERCOME AT THE LAST" (Genesis 49:19).
            Naphtali had the achlama stone. The color of his flag was like clear wine, reddish but not strongly so. A hind was depicted on it, as it says, "NAPHTALI IS A HIND LET LOOSE: HE GIVETH GOODLY WORDS" (Genesis 49:21).
            Asher had the tarshish stone. The color of his flag was like that of the precious stone women use to decorate themselves. An olive tree was depicted on it: "OUT OF ASHER HIS BREAD SHALL BE FAT, AND HE SHALL YIELD ROYAL DAINTIES" (Genesis 49:20). 
            Joseph had the shoham stone. The color of his flag was the deepest black. On the flag of Joseph for the two princes of Ephraim and Menasseh was depicted a representation of Egypt since their origins were in Egypt.
            On the flag of Ephraim was depicted a bull: "HIS GLORY IS LIKE THE FIRSTLING OF HIS BULLOCK" (Deuteronomy 33:17). This was exemplified by Joshua who was from the Tribe of Ephraim.
            On the flag of Menasseh was depicted a Raem [Unicorn] as it says:
AND HIS HORNS ARE LIKE THE HORNS OF UNICORNS (Deuteronomy 33:17). This was exemplified by Gideon who was from Menasseh.
[The complete verse says:
 <<HIS GLORY IS LIKE THE FIRSTLING OF HIS BULLOCK, AND HIS HORNS ARE LIKE THE HORNS OF UNICORNS: WITH THEM HE SHALL PUSH THE PEOPLE TOGETHER TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: AND THEY ARE THE TEN THOUSANDS OF EPHRAIM, AND THEY ARE THE THOUSANDS OF MANASSEH>> [DEUTERONOMY 33:17].
            Benjamin had the Yaspa stone. The color of his flag was like all the 12 colors. A wolf was depicted on it: "BENJAMIN SHALL RAVIN AS A WOLF: IN THE MORNING HE SHALL DEVOUR THE PREY, AND AT NIGHT HE SHALL DIVIDE THE SPOIL" (Genesis 49:27). 
 
            All of the above symbols are those of peoples and nations whom we have identified as possessing a large proportion of Israelites amongst them.                
 
Remarks:
 Reuben had the Odem stone which was red.
Some identify this with the ruby. The Dictionary says that the name "ruby" is derived from the Old French "rubi" from the Latin "rubeus" meaning red. Even so "Ruby" is a nickname for Reuben.
 
Nachmanides (Numbers 2:2) quotes other sources:
Nachmanides says:
            The Standard of Reuben depicted the form of a man as well as Dudaim (Mandrakes). {Some say that Dudaim were the root of a plant. The root was in the shape of a man. This would allow for both Dudaim and the form of man to be represented}. Ephraim had a bull. Judah had a lion. Dan had an eagle. These four figures (man, bull, lion, eagle) represented the four angelic forms in the Chariot of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1;10).

Exekiel chs. 1 to 5

Exekiel chs. 11 to 15