In Italian, it's a vulgar, vile gesture . . .

Just as John, in the Book of Revelation, makes reference to the Antichrist as “the image of the beast,” Ezekiel talks about “the man of sin” as "the image of jealousy.”

Specifically, Ezekiel writes, “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
[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.
[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.”

“Prophetically, that ‘image of jealousy’ is the Antichrist, but historically it’s a reference back to the image Manasseh set up in the temple when he set up the idols,” explains Jordan.

“Folks, Israel carried idols with them from the time they left Egypt. In fact, they carried the idols around with an idolatrous tabernacle for them to live in the wilderness when they wandered those 40 years. They never did get rid of that stuff.

“That’s why whenever one of those kings would ‘get right,’ he’d always goes out and bust up a bunch of images.

“Those things were sitting in the corner of the temple and the people, over and over, would get ’em out and dust ’em off and start worshipping them again and make new ones.

“Well, Manasseh did all that and then Josiah came along and the Israelites have a tremendous revival under him in II Kings. Here’s the reason the revivals came along:

“II Kings 22:8 says, [8] And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.

“It’s because the Word of God begins to be spread in their midst again. Shaphan is a tremendous influence in Israel’s history and he’s a tremendous figure in the revival under Josiah, going out and teaching the Word and the truth of God.

“Shaphan had three boys and two of them are good friends of Jeremiah. They’re mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. This other son, though, this Jaazaniah, he’s a total apostate.

“Ezekiel 8:11-12 says, ‘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. 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.”

Jordan explains, “Those are the 70 elders that rule the nation like in Numbers 11 when Moses established them back there. Here are the leaders, the hierarchies, the ancients of the nations and what do they do?

“These people, in the chambers of their heart down inside, are imagining vain things. Ezekiel 14:3 says, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?’

“He’s showing you what’s in the heart of these men. You understand these men were still the priests of the Lord. They were the leaders of Israel in the temple of God! They had the outward form of the true worship but their heart wasn’t worshipping God. Their heart was serving Baal.

“I mean, folks, the idea here that the son of this illustrious and God-fearing scribe could become a leader among the idolatrous animal worshippers of Baal, in the midst of Israel’s temple, no doubt was a living example to Daniel of the fruits of compromise and the result of it.

“You know something, I have never seen, and I don’t think you’ve ever seen, one legitimate reason to compromise one truth. Daniel knew that. You know where compromise always leads? You become a Jaazaniah, burning incense in the house of God, of the devil.”

*****

Ezekiel writes in chapter 8, “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.
[13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
[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.”

“Tammuz was the son of the goddess of the sun. In the Baal worship system there’s always a Madonna and child. Tammuz is the baby and he has two tremendous things happen in his life. One is he’s killed. Then, later on, he’s resurrected.

“He dies in the fall of the year as the ‘god of agriculture’ and as the winter approaches, and in the spring of the year he’s resurrected. These women are weeping not for their sin, or the judgment of God that’s coming. They’re weeping for Tammuz of all things.

“Verse 15 says, ‘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.’

“You see what these guys are doing? They’re in the temple and they’re making out like they’re worshipping Jehovah and yet they’re really just eyeball deep in Baal worship.

“Verse 17 says ‘they put the branch to their nose.’ That’s quite a statement, isn’t it? You know, four times in Old Testament the Lord Jesus is called by the title ‘the branch.’ Isaiah 4, Jeremiah 23, Zachariah 3 and 6.

“Each one of those four references is a reference to a particular characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ that’s reflected in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s a fascinating portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Author of life.

“This idolatrous system here has taken that title and developed their own idolatrous source of life. God is love, therefore love is God, and the highest act a man can perform is to create life. That’s why the tremendous sexual abominations that were involved in this—in fact, the word used there is the word used for 'phallus.' The Greek phalex that later on shows up.

“You know, we say you’re ‘thumbing your nose at God.’ That’s the modern-day derivative of this term here. The Italians have a vulgar, vile gesture that they use that’s a similar kind of a thing. They just show the earthy, abominable nature and that’s what’s going on there.”