Commentary - Ezekiel 8:16-18

Bird's-eye view

In this portion of Ezekiel's vision, the prophet is taken deeper and deeper into the corruptions of the Temple, which is to say, deeper into the corruptions of the people of God. What we are witnessing here is the final exhibit in God's covenant lawsuit against Judah. The prosecution is resting its case. After showing Ezekiel the lesser abominations, God brings him into the inner court, to the very heart of worship, to see the ultimate treachery. The elders of Israel, the leaders of the people, are engaged in the most flagrant idolatry imaginable, turning their backs on the living God in order to worship a creaturely power. This is not just a minor infraction; it is high treason against the throne of Heaven. The sin is then connected to the breakdown of the entire social order, filling the land with violence. God's response is therefore not surprising; it is juridical. His wrath is not a fit of pique, but rather the settled, holy, and just response of a covenant Lord whose patience has finally, and righteously, run out.

This passage is a stark reminder that God is not to be trifled with. He sees what is done in secret, and He is most offended by the corruption of worship. When the leaders of God's people lead the way into idolatry, judgment is not only inevitable, it is necessary. The principle stands for all time: worship corrupted is a nation judged.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Ezekiel chapter 8 is a single, unified vision detailing four kinds of idolatrous abominations being committed by the leadership of Judah right in the Temple complex in Jerusalem. God transports Ezekiel, an exile in Babylon, in the Spirit to show him precisely why the impending judgment on Jerusalem is so thoroughly deserved. This is not God being capricious. This is a righteous judge showing the evidence to the court.

The vision progresses from the outer court to the inner court, with each successive scene revealing a deeper level of apostasy. First was the "image of jealousy" (v. 5), then the elders worshiping creepy-crawlies in a secret chamber (vv. 10-11), then the women weeping for the pagan god Tammuz (v. 14). The scene in our text is the fourth and climactic abomination. It takes place in the most sacred space, between the porch and the altar, and is performed by the most senior leaders. This is the absolute nadir of Israel's spiritual adultery.

Verse by Verse Commentary

16 Then He brought me into the inner court of the house of Yahweh. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.

God continues to lead Ezekiel on this grim tour. Each step is a step further into the heart of the darkness that has consumed Judah. He is brought into the inner court, the place reserved for the priests, the place where the most solemn transactions between God and His people were to occur. And what does he see? "Behold." This is a word that calls for our shocked attention. Here, at the very entrance of the Temple proper, between the porch and the great bronze altar, are about twenty-five men. This location is significant; it is where the priests were to stand to plead with God on behalf of the people (Joel 2:17). Instead of interceding, they are committing treason.

Their posture tells the whole story. They have their backs to the temple of Yahweh. The Holy of Holies, the place of God's enthroned presence, is behind them. They are deliberately, contemptuously, turning their backs on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is not an accidental orientation. It is a calculated rejection. They are giving God the ultimate snub. And where are their faces? Toward the east, prostrating themselves toward the sun. They have exchanged the glory of the uncreated God for the glory of a created thing. They are worshiping the sun, one of the oldest and most common forms of pagan idolatry. These men, likely the high priest and the heads of the twenty-four priestly divisions, are leading the nation in this ultimate act of apostasy. They have rejected the Creator in favor of a cosmic gas ball.

17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to do the abominations which they have done here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me to anger still more? For behold, they are sending forth the twig to their nose.”

God speaks, and His question is filled with a holy indignation. "Do you see this, son of man?" The question is rhetorical, of course. God wants to ensure Ezekiel, and by extension all of Israel, grasps the gravity of this sin. Then He asks another question that drips with divine sarcasm: "Is it too light a thing?" Is this a trivial matter? Is it a small thing for the covenant people to engage in such rank paganism in My very house? The answer is a thunderous no.

Notice the connection God makes. Their abominations in the Temple have a direct result out in the streets. Because they have abandoned true worship, they "have filled the land with violence." This is a foundational biblical principle. When a nation's worship is corrupt, the society itself rots from the head down. Idolatry and injustice are two sides of the same coin. You cannot turn your back on God in the sanctuary and expect men to treat their neighbors righteously in the city square. They go together. Their false worship has provoked God to anger, but they are not content with that. They must provoke Him "still more."

The final clause is cryptic: "they are sending forth the twig to their nose." Scholars have debated the precise meaning of this gesture. It was likely part of a pagan ritual, perhaps connected to the sun worship, a gesture of either adoration for the idol or contempt for God. Whatever the specific rite, the meaning in context is clear. It is one more act of deliberate, insolent provocation. It is the final flick of the fingers in God's face.

18 Therefore, I also will do this in wrath: My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare; and they will cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

Here is the verdict. The "therefore" connects the judgment directly to the sin. Because they have done this, I will do this. God's action is a reaction, a just and measured response to their high-handed rebellion. He will act "in wrath." This is not an uncontrolled temper tantrum. This is the settled, judicial fury of a holy God against sin. It is the wrath of the Lamb.

The sentence is terrifying in its starkness. "My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare." The time for mercy, the time for patience, is over. The day of grace has closed. God had sent prophets, He had warned them, He had pleaded with them. But they turned their backs. Now, He will execute the curses of the covenant which they had for so long despised. And in that day of judgment, they will cry out. They will pray loud, desperate prayers. But it will be too late. The God who is ever-merciful and ready to hear the cry of the penitent will not listen to the cry of the hardened rebel who only seeks to escape the consequences. He will be deaf to them, just as they were deaf to Him. The lines of communication, which they severed by turning their backs, will remain severed. This is the terrible finality of judgment.

Application

We are tempted to read a passage like this and thank God that we are not like those sun-worshiping priests. We don't have idols of wood and stone in our churches. But we must not be so smug. Idolatry is a subtle beast, and it is the default setting of the human heart.

The fundamental sin here is turning our backs on God to worship something He made. We may not worship the sun, but what do we worship? Do we turn our backs on the sufficiency of Scripture to bow before the rising sun of cultural approval? Do we turn our backs on the Lordship of Christ to worship at the altar of political power, whether of the left or the right? Do we turn our backs on the simplicity of worship ordained in God's Word in favor of methodologies and programs that promise success and influence? Any time we substitute what God has commanded in worship for what we think will "work," we have our backs to the Temple.

And we must see the connection between corrupt worship and societal decay. We look at our land filled with violence, with abortion mills, with riots in the streets, with the breakdown of the family, and we wonder why. Ezekiel tells us why. It begins in the house of God. When the church loses its nerve, when it compromises its message, when it pollutes its worship, the land is filled with violence. A weak and worldly church is the incubator for a corrupt and violent culture. The solution, therefore, is not first political, but liturgical. It is repentance, beginning in the house of God. We must turn our faces back to the Holy of Holies, back to the enthroned Christ, and plead for His mercy, before the day comes when He will not hear.