What is the context?
At the north gate, Ezekiel sees women mourning for Tammuz. He is then taken into the inner court, where about twenty-five men stand between the porch and the altar. With their backs toward the Lord’s temple, they face east and worship the sun.
Tammuz is a Mesopotamian deity also known as Dumuzi. Penn Museum’s account of Sumerian stories identifies Dumuzi as a shepherd-god associated with the goddess Inanna. Ezekiel’s point is that mourning for this other god is taking place at the Lord’s house.
The sun worshipers make the rejection visible: they turn their backs on the sanctuary to worship something God made. The Lord also charges the people with filling the land with violence. Wrong worship and wrongdoing toward others stand together in His indictment.
The branch raised to the nose is another act of provocation. The vision ends with the Lord’s announcement that loud cries will not turn away the judgment He has declared.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry and Wesley understand the scenes as increasingly serious dishonor within the sacred place. They read the men’s turned backs as a visible rejection of the Lord in favor of the sun.
The exact meaning of the branch gesture is less clear. Henry associates it with an idolatrous custom; Wesley proposes a comparison with another form of worship. The Cambridge commentary questions a proposed Persian explanation and notes an alternative understanding as mockery. The surrounding charge is clear even though the specific gesture is uncertain: the people are provoking the Lord while the land is full of violence.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.