Keraia
Ezekiel 8

Ezekiel 8:16

The Vision of Idolatry in the Temple · Ezekiel 8:1–18
Read Ezekiel 8

Translations

Modern
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.
Traditional
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.
Literal
And He brought me into the inner court of the house of YHWH, and behold, at the opening of the temple of YHWH, between the porch and between the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of YHWH and with their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping eastward to the sun.
Latin
Et introduxit me in atrium domus Domini interius, et ecce in ostio templi Domini, inter vestibulum et altare, quasi viginti quinque viri dorsa habentes contra templum Domini, et facies ad orientem: et adorabant ad ortum solis.

Original

Hebrew
English
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing to the east in worship of the sun.

Notes

Ezekiel 8:16

  • The fourth and final act of idolatry took place in the very center of the temple complex. It happened in the inner courtyard of the temple of the Lord. This was as close as a person could come to the temple building without entering it.

  • The 25 men worshiping the sun were likely priests, since only priests should have accessed this area. It is also possible that they were not priests and were openly breaking the rules.

    These men stood physically closer to the Lord’s presence than anyone else. Yet they had turned their backs toward the sanctuary. Instead of worshiping their Creator, they worshiped something he had created (see Romans 1:25).

Ezekiel 8:3–16

God showed Ezekiel four scenes of increasing abomination (a deeply offensive act). In each scene, the people of Israel were worshiping false gods inside the Lord’s temple.

Jerusalem’s defilement (moral and spiritual uncleanness) was complete. Idolatry (the worship of false gods) took place in many parts of the temple. Different groups of people were involved. They worshiped different gods. These gods came from many foreign cultures.

This was not one small sin. It was a mixture of many false religions brought together in one place. One abomination was added to another.

Ezekiel 8:1–18

In a vision, the prophet Ezekiel saw four ways the people defiled their land. This vision explains why the Lord's presence left his sanctuary.

Ezekiel 8:1–11:25

This section describes how the people defiled (made unclean by sin) the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8). Because of this sin, the Lord left the temple. After he left, the city and the temple were destroyed (9:1–11:13).

At first, this sounds like only bad news. But for those already living in exile, it was also good news. The Lord was not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He would come to be with his people in exile.

By coming to dwell with them, the Lord showed that the exiles were not forgotten. They were the ones who carried hope for the future of God’s people.

Events

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of

Topics

Altar in the Tabernacle: Location of Answers To Prayer: Denied to Those Who are Idolaters Idolatry: Objects of Sun, Moon, and Stars Idolatry: Warnings Against, and Punishments of Sun: Worshiped Temple: Solomon's: Ezekiel's Vision Concerning The Sun: Worshippers of, Turned Their Faces Towards the East