The Gnashing of Teeth
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Of the Ten Commandments God delivered to Israel at the Twentieth of Exodus, the first is, “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” Probably most among us have no difficulty either understanding the statute nor avoiding the violation of it. We might assume that Israel would not as, well. Yet, they soon are worshiping a golden calf, and, by doing so, are violating not only the First Commandment, but the Second as well, which prohibited the making of graven images. By the time we get to Ezekiel Eight, God is showing that prophet a vision of multiple idolatries among the people, including weeping for Tammuz. In Babylonian mythology, Tammuz is regarded as a god of vegetation who was betrayed by a goddess of love. Autumn dying of leaves was thought to be the mourning of Tammuz, and the false deity was acknowledged by supposedly weeping with him. For those so deceived, there is no end to the weeping, nor to the gnashing of teeth.
Written and voiced by David Hayes Prophater