Ezekiel 8:5

Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. BEHOLD, NORTHWARD AT THE GATE OF THE ALTAR THIS IMAGE OF JEALOUSY - the principal avenue to the altar of Burnt offering; as to the northern position, see . Ahaz had removed the brasen altar from the front of the Lord's house to the north of the altar which he had himself erected. The locality of the idol enhances the heinousness of the sin, directly in front of God's own altar....

Here one profanation of the temple, is shown to the Prophet, namely, the idol erected at the entrance of the area near the altar. It may happen that the worship of God is but slightly vitiated, so that the corruption is scarcely apparent. But while the Prophet repeats that the idol was _that of jealousy, _lie points out the gross and shameful disgrace of that spectacle, so that they could not gloss over their impiety by any pretense, after they had so openly and confessedly revolted from the law of God. But when _he is ordered to raise his eyes to the way of the north, _this also avails for the confirmation of his teaching. For if the Prophet had turned his eyes that way of his own accord, his looking that way would have been of less moment, but when God directs his eyes by express command, the reproach which afterwards follows has more weight. This, therefore, is the reason why the Prop...

1-6 The glorious personage Ezekiel beheld in vision, seemed to take hold upon him, and he was conveyed in spirit to Jerusalem. There, in the inner court of the temple, was prepared a place for some base idol. The whole was presented in vision to the prophet. If it should please God to give any man a clear view of his glory and majesty, and of all the abominations committing in any one city, he would then admit the justice of the severest punishments God should inflict thereon....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 8:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS, etc. We begin with a fresh date. One year and one month had passed since the vision of Chebar, and had been occupied partly by the acted, partly by the spoken, prophecies of the preceding chapters. In the mean time, things had gone from bad to worse in Jerusalem. In the absence of the higher priests, idolatry was more rampant, and had found its way even into the temple. It is probable that tidings of this had reached Ezekiel, as we know that frequent communications passed between the exiles and those they had left behind (Jeremiah 29:1, Jeremiah 29:9,...

THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, SON OF MAN,.... That is, the glorious Person described above in this vision, the glorious God of Israel, seen by the prophet in the temple, he spoke unto him, calling him son of man; a name by which he often goes in this prophecy: LIFT UP THINE EYES NOW TOWARD THE NORTH; of the mountain of the house without the court, as Jarchi interprets it: SO I LIFTED UP MINE EYES THE WAY TOWARD THE NORTH: being obedient to the heavenly vision: AND BEHOLD NORTHWARD AT THE GATE OF THE ALTAR; at the northern gate of the inner court, where was the altar of burnt offering, brought by Ahaz; to the north of the altar he built in imitation of that at Damascus, 2 Kings 16:10; and here stood THIS IMAGE OF JEALOUSY IN THE ENTRY; or the image of this jealousy; the image before mentioned, which provoke

SON OF MAN The combined purport of the four visions of profanation in chapter 8, is idolatry set up in the entire temple, even in the holy of holies (Ezekiel 8:10); (Ezekiel 8:11) women given over to phallic cults (Ezekiel 8:14) and nature-worship (Exodus 8:16)....

CHAPTER S 8-11 Visions in Relation to Jerusalem _ 1. The vision of abomination in the temple (Ezekiel 8:1) _ 2. The vision of the linen-clothed man with the inkhorn (Ezekiel 9:1) 3. The vision of the coals of fire (Ezekiel 10:1) 4. The vision concerning the leaders: The glory departs (Ezekiel 11:1) Ezekiel 8:1. This vision shows the abomination which prevailed in the temple of Jehovah. In the visions of God, Ezekiel is brought to the door of the inner gate that looks to the north. Here was the image o

EZEKIEL 8-13. OTHER VISIONS OF SIN AND JUDGMENT. Ezekiel 8. The Idolatry of Jerusalem Illustrated. Ezekiel 8:1. The Jealousy Image. The visions which fill chs. 8- 11 occurred about a year after those that precede (Ezekiel 1:1), _i.e._ in 591 B.C. This chapter gives concrete illustrations of the kind of sin that justified the doom already announced: significantly enough, they all centre round idolatry (_cf._ Ezekiel 8:6), and most horrible of all the scene of it is the Temple itself. Thither, on the occasion of a visit of certain Judæ an elders to his house Ezekiel had been transported in ecstatic trance by the Divine Being, whose glory he had seen and described in ch. 1: there he had witnessed some think by a

_gate of the altar_ Is probably the northern inner gate. The northern entrance was the most frequented, partly because the royal palace and buildings lay to the south and east, and the west was closed by the buildings of the temple itself. In Leviticus 1:4 the sacrificial victims are commanded to be slaughtered on the north side of the altar. _in the entry_ The image was situated on the north of the altar gate, and the words in or at the entry are to be taken somewhat generally. The words are wanting in LXX....

B. The Abominations of Jerusalem 8:5-16 TRANSLATION (5) And he said unto me, Son of man, set, I pray you, your eyes to the way of the north, and behold, north of the altar gate was this image of jealousy in the entrance. (6) And He said unto me, Son of man, do you see what they are doing? the great abominations which the house of Israel are doing here that I should go far away from My sanctuary? But You shall yet see greater abominations. (7) And He brought me unto the entrance of the court; and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. (8) And He said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall. And I dug in the wall, and behold, a door. (9) And He said unto me, Go in, and see the evil abominations which they are doing here. (10) So I went in, and I saw, and behold, every form of creeping thing and detestable beasts and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round ab...