Ezekiel 8:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Spirit transported me and guided me to the eastern entrance of the Lord's house, where I observed twenty-five men positioned with their backs to the Lord's temple and their faces directed toward the east, where they paid homage to the sun. The One who found pleasure in the Prophet brought him deeper into the space between Elam and the altar, revealing twenty-five men once more with their backs to the temple and their faces toward the east, engaged in the worship of the rising sun. They rendered oaths over the sanctuary, displaying contempt for it while honoring the sun through their acts of worship. If their intent had not been to denounce the temple, they could have chosen a different location to offer their adoration to the sun, rather than standing between Elam and the altar.

This represents a profound and grievous act of iniquity; for when we turn away from the Lord to serve a created being like ourselves, is it not the epitome of folly? Elam the Prophet referred to the courtyard of God's temple, where an altar of brass was established prior to its construction. It is reported that, standing between Elam and the altar, they ventured to commit wrongdoing. Through this explicit guidance, the Lord, as if vindicating His actions to His servant for correcting the Jews, speaks to him with clarity and grace:

What if, even at this moment, the Lord instructed His servant to look beyond the facades of tradition, to see through the shrouds of insincerity, and to delve into the hearts of the congregation gathered for Divine Worship: ‘Son of man, dig up the wall’ (Ezekiel 8:8)? Would he not witness individuals ‘giving their backsides to the temple of the Lord ... and bowing down to the sun’ (Ezekiel 8:16)? Would he not see those who are inattentive, desiring to be heard by God while ignoring their own prayers, or those who, while appearing reverent in spirit for the Lord, are distracted by their worldly pursuits?