Sun-worship
The Allure of Sun Worship
The sun's power and brilliance made it a natural object of worship throughout the ancient world. Once humanity turned from the knowledge of the one true God, the creation itself became an object of adoration (Romans 1:20-25). Sun worship featured prominently in the religions of Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, and Canaan — the very nations that surrounded Israel. The Bible consistently condemns this practice as a fundamental rejection of the Creator in favor of what He has made.
Sun Worship in Surrounding Nations
In Babylon and Assyria, the sun god Shamash was one of the most important deities, with major cult centers at Sippar and Larsa. In Egypt, the sun god Ra held supreme status, worshipped in various forms including Horus, Atum, and Aten. The Egyptian city of Heliopolis (called On in the Old Testament and Beth-shemesh, "house of the sun," in Jeremiah 43:13) was the primary center of solar worship. Several Israelite cities also bore the name Beth-shemesh (Joshua 15:10; 19:22, 38), possibly reflecting earlier Canaanite sun worship at those locations.
Biblical Warnings Against Sun Worship
The Old Testament contains numerous warnings against sun worship and related practices. Leviticus 26:30 warns of destroying the "sun-images" if Israel turns to idolatry. Job reflects on the temptation of celestial worship when he says he has never looked at the sun in its splendor and been secretly enticed to blow a kiss to it (Job 31:26-27). The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel both reference sun-images and pillars associated with solar worship (Isaiah 17:8; 27:9; Ezekiel 6:4, 6).
Sun Worship in the Jerusalem Temple
The most shocking manifestation of sun worship in Scripture occurred when it penetrated the Jerusalem temple itself. Ezekiel received a vision of twenty-five men at the entrance of the temple, with their backs to the holy place, bowing down to the sun in the east (Ezekiel 8:16). This was presented as one of the most grievous abominations that provoked God's judgment. The book of Kings records that horses and chariots dedicated to the sun had been placed at the entrance of the temple by previous kings of Judah (2 Kings 23:11).
Josiah's Reformation
King Josiah's sweeping religious reforms specifically targeted sun worship. He removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the temple entrance and burned the sun chariots (2 Kings 23:11). He also deposed the idolatrous priests who had burned incense to the sun, moon, and constellations (2 Kings 23:5). The parallel account in Chronicles describes how he destroyed the sun-images throughout Judah (2 Chronicles 34:4, 7). Josiah's reforms stand as the Old Testament's most comprehensive attempt to purge solar worship from Israel's religious life.
The Theological Stakes
Sun worship represented more than just another form of idolatry — it was the worship of a created thing in place of the Creator. Genesis 1:16 deliberately describes the sun merely as "the greater light" without naming it, likely to counter the widespread deification of celestial bodies. The prophetic condemnation of sun worship reinforced the first commandment: the Lord alone is God, and no created thing, no matter how magnificent, deserves the worship that belongs to Him.
Biblical Context
Sun worship is referenced throughout the Old Testament. Warnings appear in Leviticus 26:30, Job 31:26-27, Isaiah 17:8 and 27:9, and Ezekiel 6:4-6 and 8:16. The most detailed accounts describe its infiltration into the Jerusalem temple (2 Kings 23:5, 11; Ezekiel 8:16) and Josiah's subsequent reforms (2 Kings 23:5-11; 2 Chronicles 34:4, 7).
Theological Significance
Sun worship epitomizes the exchange of the Creator for created things described by Paul in Romans 1. It represents humanity's fundamental temptation to worship visible, tangible power rather than the invisible God. The biblical polemic against sun worship affirms God's absolute sovereignty over all creation and the first commandment's demand for exclusive worship.
Historical Background
Sun worship was ubiquitous in the ancient Near East. The Babylonian god Shamash was patron of justice; the Egyptian Ra was king of the gods. Archaeological finds include sun-disk symbols, solar chariots, and altar-like sun pillars throughout Canaan and Israel. The Amarna period in Egypt saw Akhenaten's famous promotion of Aten (the sun disk) as supreme deity. Assyrian and Babylonian influence likely introduced or reinforced solar worship in Judah during the 8th-7th centuries BC.