In my introduction to Glory study, I followed the movement of Jehovah’s Glory from the house to the mountain east of the city, and later its return from the east.
Now I want to slow down and return to what Ezekiel is shown before that departure is completed.
Ezekiel 8 opens with the elders of Judah sitting before Ezekiel in his house. The hand of the Lord Jehovah falls upon him there. In the vision that follows, the Spirit lifts him and brings him to Jerusalem.
What unfolds is an examination of what is happening within the places associated with worship.
The Glory Is Still There
Ezekiel 8:3–6
Ezekiel is brought to the entrance of the inner gate facing north, where an image provoking jealousy stands.
Immediately afterward, verse 4 says that Glory of the God of Israel is there, like the appearance Ezekiel had seen in the plain.
This is where I want to pause.
The image is there. The abominations are there. Yet Glory is also still there.
The chapter does not begin with a house already emptied of God’s presence. Ezekiel is being shown what is taking place before the departure has fully unfolded.
In verse 6, the abominations are connected with being driven far from the sanctuary. But the vision continues to expose the conditions within it.
For me, this raises a question worth carrying through the study: What does it mean to occupy a place associated with God while acting against Him?
Behind the Wall
Ezekiel 8:7–13
Ezekiel is brought to the entrance of the court, where he sees a hole in the wall. He is told to dig through it. He then finds an entrance and is instructed to go in and see.
Inside are representations of creeping things, detestable animals, and idols portrayed on the walls.
Seventy elders of the house of Israel stand before them, each holding a censer, with a cloud of incense rising. Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, is specifically named among them.
The details matter: an entrance, a wall, a concealed space, images, elders, and incense.
These are people performing acts of worship, but the vision exposes the objects toward which that worship is directed.
Verse 12 also records what they are saying: Jehovah does not see them, and He has forsaken the land.
I notice a sharp contrast between their claim and the vision itself. They speak as though they are unseen, while Ezekiel is being shown what they are doing.
What is hidden from other people is not hidden from God.
I also want to preserve the order. Their statement that Jehovah has forsaken the land is reported within a chapter that has already shown His Glory there. Their explanation should not simply be accepted as the narrator’s description of the situation.
At the North Gate
Ezekiel 8:14–15
Ezekiel is next brought to the entrance of the north gate of Jehovah’s house. Women are sitting there, weeping for Tammuz.
The passage names the object of their mourning, but it does not explain the full background of the practice. For this study, I want to begin with what it actually gives us: the women, their position at the gate, and their weeping for Tammuz.
Ezekiel is again told that he will see greater abominations.
The repeated invitation to look keeps the chapter moving. He is not shown everything at once.
Their Backs Toward the Temple
Ezekiel 8:16
Ezekiel is brought into the inner court. At the entrance of the temple, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men stand with their backs toward Jehovah’s temple and their faces toward the east.
They bow toward the sun.
Here, direction becomes especially striking.
Their location brings them near the temple, but their bodies are turned away from it. The passage explicitly describes both their backs and their faces, then identifies the worship taking place.
For me, this is one of the chapter’s clearest pictures of the difference between outward position and allegiance.
Being physically near a sacred place does not, by itself, tell us where someone’s worship is directed.
I also want to keep this eastward orientation distinct from the later eastward movement of Glory. The same direction appears in both accounts, but that alone does not give the actions the same meaning.
The Land Is Filled With Violence
Ezekiel 8:17–18
The closing verses bring violence into the account alongside the abominations.
This matters because the chapter’s concern is not confined to objects, images, or the outward form of worship. What is happening among the people also belongs to the indictment.
Verse 17 includes the expression about putting a branch to the nose. I am leaving that detail as a question for closer study rather than building a conclusion on wording I have not yet fully examined.
The chapter ends with a declaration of judgment.
That leads us toward Ezekiel 9, where the vision distinguishes those who sigh and groan over the abominations from those participating in them.
What I Notice in the Movement
Ezekiel is repeatedly brought somewhere and told to look.
The vision moves through the image at the northern entrance, the concealed chamber, the women at the north gate, and the men in the inner court.
The locations and actions are not incidental details. They help us follow what is being exposed.
What stays with me is that Glory is still present while the corruption is being revealed. I do not want to rush straight to its departure and lose the examination that comes first.
Nor do I want to assume that everyone within the city has the same inward response. The next chapter will make that distinction important.
Threads to Follow
Seeing and being seen: The claim that Jehovah does not see, alongside what He reveals to Ezekiel.
Outward position and inward allegiance: Being in the house while directing worship elsewhere.
Faces, backs, and direction: Preserving what each passage says before assigning symbolic meaning.
Incense and worship: Comparing the use of sacred practices without assuming every use is approved.
Those who sigh and groan: The distinction introduced in Ezekiel 9.
Cleansing and dwelling: A question to carry toward the returning glory and, later, the Tishri comparisons.
For now, I want to remain with the chapter’s opening fact: Glory, of the God of Israel, is there, and Ezekiel is being shown what is happening in the house.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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