8 In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.
(Chapter 43, verses 1 onwards) \"And he brought me to the gate that faced east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his majesty. And I saw a vision like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. And the vision that I saw was like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar. And I fell on my face.\ And the majesty of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. And the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I heard someone speaking to me from the house. And the man standing beside me said to me, 'Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they and their kings, by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings at their high places, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger.' So now they shall put far from themselves their fornication and the ruins of their kings from me, and I will dwell in their midst forever. LXX: And he brought me to the gate, which looked toward the East, and he led me out; and behold the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the East, and the voice of the camp was like the voice of many waters, and the earth shone with the brightness of the glory on every side. And the vision that I saw was like the vision that I saw when I entered to anoint the city. And the vision of the chariot that I saw was like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face. And the glory of the Lord entered the house through the way of the gate that faced east. And the spirit took hold of me and brought me into the inner court, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I stood, and behold, a voice from the house speaking to me, and a man stood beside me and said to me: Have you seen, son of man, the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel forever. And they shall no longer defile the house of Israel with their idols and with their detestable things and with all their transgressions, but I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. » First, about the variety of translation, it must be said that what the Septuagint put: 'And he led me out' is not found in the Hebrew. For if he had been led to the gate facing East, why was it necessary for him to be led out, since he was brought in to see what was being done at the Eastern gate? Then, where it is said: 'The voice was to him,' no doubt it is a voice of God, like the sound of many waters, which John also confirms in his Apocalypse, the Septuagint put: 'And the voice of the camp, like the voice of many geminators' (Apoc. XIV). In the third place, it is written in Hebrew: I saw a vision according to the appearance that I had seen when he came to destroy the city. But that one came, who at the beginning of this prophet was clothed in linen, and had an ink horn at his waist, along with six others, to destroy the city, not to anoint, which the Seventy translated as: And the vision of the chariot that I had seen, which is not found in Hebrew. Let us speak separately about each one, to the extent that the difficulty of explanation allows: lest while we strive for brevity, the veil remain not only on Moses, but also on Ezekiel the prophet in us, who desire to contemplate the revealed truth of the Lord (Exod. 34; 2 Cor. 3). Therefore the glory of the God of Israel enters by the eastern way, by which it had also departed when the city of the Lord was struck by fury. It enters, or rather returns to it, because it had shown the temple of the Lord built on the mountain. And yet there is much more that is said in what follows: The spirit lifted me up and brought me into the outer court, and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house. For here is where only the glory of the God of Israel enters; but there it is said that the fullness of the glory of the Lord was in the temple, as Isaiah also writes: I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the house was full of his glory (Isaiah 6:1); when we contemplate the revealed face of the glory of the Lord, we are transformed into the image of the Creator. There was also the voice of God, like the voice of many waters, that is, of all the peoples in the whole world, as John the Evangelist explains (Apoc. XIV): or like the voice of armies, and like the voice of many praising God, that the army of God might know the sacraments. Jacob, understanding this, called the name of that place Camp (Genes. XXXII). And elsewhere it is written: The chariots of God are multiplied by ten thousand, thousands of rejoicers (Ps. LXVII, 18). But one voice is said to be of the camp and the multitude, because of the unanimous praise of God. And the voice of those singing is doubled for the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit: Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts, the earth is full of his glory (Isa. VI, 3). It follows: And the earth shone with his majesty (Psalm XVIII). Which properly happened at the coming of Christ; when the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Rom. XVIII): and it is fulfilled daily in believers, and will be fulfilled completely, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (I Cor. XV). But the following is added: 'And I saw a vision in the likeness of the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city.' For which the Seventy have rendered: 'When I went in to anoint the city,' since it is clear contrary to the Hebrew; but according to the LXX it is very dark. How Ezekiel went in to anoint the city, and what was the purport of his prophecy, we have stated, unless we say, of course, that the prophet’s representation means the anointing of the city, and that the anointing with oil of joy is sacerdotal and regal, and that they become anointed of the Lord who willingly receive and hear Him to whom it is written: 'Do not touch My Christs;' and to those who touch them: 'My prophets, do not harm.' (Ps. 104:15). But he can anoint the city according to the anagoge, of which it is written: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God (Psalm 86:2); he who saw the vision of the chariot and the mysteries of God, which Ezekiel witnessed by the river Chebar, which signifies the burden and weight. For what is heavier than the Babylonian rivers, over which David sat and wept when he remembered Zion? Of which it is written: For the form of this world is passing away (Psalm 136). And I think that there is nothing perpetual in the confusion of this world, but everything passes and flows (1 Corinthians 7:31). Whoever considers this will fall on their face, understanding how far they are from the majesty of God, and will bow their knees to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ. And when, he says, I had fallen, the majesty of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east, and immediately the spirit lifted me up (for I could not go on lying down), and he led me into the court of annihilation, for I had fallen outside; and behold, I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east, and I saw the glory of the Lord filling his house, and I heard a voice speaking to me from inside the house. What this is spoken about, the Scripture does not narrate, unless perhaps that of the Apostle: And I heard unspeakable words, that it is not lawful for a man to utter (2 Corinthians 12:4). But the man, he says, who stood beside the prophet, said to him: whom we clearly understand to be the Lord. For who else could it befit what follows: Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, except those who dwell in the Church in the midst of the children of Israel who behold God, and dwell forever, not according to the temple of Solomon for a time? And his place is the one about which it is written: And his place became peaceful (Psalm 75:2), which surpasses all understanding. And the place of his footsteps, as the Apostles say: Let us worship in the place where his feet stood (Psalm 31:7). And beautifully it is said, they stood: for the feet of the Lord stand in the Church, they walk in the synagogue and pass by. But in order that we may know that this is said about the Church, it is joined: And they will no longer defile my holy name, the house of Israel: which properly belongs to those who dwell in holy conversation in the Church. However, those who have defiled the holy name of God are more clearly specified: both their kings and their people, as well as their priests, in their own acts of fornication, through which they have fornicated with God; and in the ruins of their kings, who in vain, through pride, assume the royal name. Finally, it follows: And in high places. For an arrogant mind offends God; a humble one incites mercy. These people, after pride, or rather through pride, have fashioned their threshold next to the threshold of God, and their doorposts next to His doorposts. Let these women burdened with sins, carried about by every wind of doctrine, always learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; having a form of godliness but denying its power, turn away from such people. For among them are those who creep into households and captivate weak-willed women weighed down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. And the Apostle also says: But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup (I Cor. XI, 28). And to make what he said more serious, he follows it with the verse: And there was a wall between me and them; so that a very short wall would separate the priestly sacrifices and the places of the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ. And they have polluted, he says, my holy name, in the abominations which they have committed. What is the advantage of dwelling near, and a wall, the wall of the Lord's altar, between our cell and the altar of the Lord, when in those things which we do in secret, and which it is even shameful to speak of, the name of the Lord is defiled and polluted? I think this, that the name of the Lord is not polluted, except by the one who has seen his name and believed, and is considered in his name. And just as he who previously believed in Christ pollutes the name of God, so also the one who previously accepted his name in faith pollutes it. Otherwise, the Gentile and the Jew, although they are defiled and contaminated, indeed contamination itself and pollution, cannot pollute and defile the name of God: what they pollute is attributed to them, to whom it is said, 'My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you' (Rom. 2:24). Therefore, because of these reasons, I consumed them in my anger, because they did the things we have mentioned. And yet the merciful Lord again commands the prophets to tell them to remove their former fornications from themselves and to abandon the ruins of their kings and rulers, and to not only reject them from themselves, but also from God. And he immediately promises rewards for good deeds, saying: \"And I will dwell among them,\" as it is written in the Gospel: \"There stands among you one whom you do not know\" (John 1:26). And he will dwell not for a short time, like in the Synagogue, but forever, as is confirmed in the Church of Christ.
There is a wall between me and them, so that a very short wall divides the sacrifices of the priests and the place for the mystery of the body and blood of Christ.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 43:1-9