Secret Cults Inside Jerusalem Temple Courts

In 592 b.c. Ezekiel sits inside his mud-brick house near a Babylonian irrigation canal. Several exiled Judean leaders wait before him on the packed dirt floor. A sudden physical collapse overtakes the captive priest during this local meeting. He describes a powerful force lifting him upward by his own hair. This force transports his mind across roughly 550 miles of open desert. His vision deposits him at the northern gate of the Jerusalem temple.

The Jerusalem temple precinct functions as a staging ground for imported rituals. A large offensive idol stands near the main northern entrance of the courtyard. Ezekiel pushes through a heavy wooden door into a dark hidden chamber. Inside this windowless room seventy local leaders burn thick clouds of incense. They stand before interior walls heavily carved with images of crawling reptiles. Further north women perform loud mourning rituals for a Mesopotamian fertility god.

The final scene takes place in the sacred inner courtyard of the temple. This open space lies between the entrance porch and a bronze altar measuring thirty feet square. Twenty-five men stand with their backs turned toward the sanctuary of the God of Israel. They look directly eastward to bow down and worship the rising sun. This physical alignment represents a total rejection of the traditional national religion.

Have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures?

The God of Israel firmly refuses to tolerate these blatant territorial violations. The creator declares an immediate end to his protective presence over the capital city. The temple complex will soon face complete destruction by the approaching Babylonian army. Ezekiel watches as divine judgment prepares to sweep through the corrupted sanctuary walls.