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.
Hast thou seen what the ancients of ... Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery?
The elders ("ancients") are here the representatives of the people, rather than to be regarded literally. Mostly, the leaders of pagan superstitions laughed at them secretly while publicly professing them, in order to keep the people in subjection. Here what is meant is, that the people generally addicted themselves to secret idolatry, led on by their elders: there is no doubt, also, allusion to the mysteries, as in the worship of Isis in Egypt, the Eleusinian in Greece, etc., to which the initiated alone were admitted. "The chambers of imagery" are their own perverse imaginations, answering to the priests' chambers in the vision, whereon the pictures were pourtrayed (Ezekiel 8:10).
The Lord hath forsaken the earth. They infer this because God has left them to their miseries, without succouring them, so that they seek help from other gods. Instead of repenting, as they ought, they bite the curb (Calvin).