Ezekiel 8:5

5 God said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I looked toward the north, and there in the entrance to the north gate beside the altar, I saw the idol that stirs up [God's] anger.

Ezekiel 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 8:5

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 16:10-14 ) ; and here stood this image of jealousy in the entry;
or the image of this jealousy; the image before mentioned, which provoked the Lord to jealousy; this stood at the entry of the northern gate, which led into the inner court, and to the altar.

Ezekiel 8:5 In-Context

3 It stretched out what looked like a hand and grabbed me by the hair on my head. In these visions from God, the Spirit carried me between heaven and earth. He took me to Jerusalem, to the entrance to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the temple. That was where an idol that stirs up [God's] anger was located.

4 There I saw the glory of Israel's God as I did in the vision that I saw in the valley.

5 God said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I looked toward the north, and there in the entrance to the north gate beside the altar, I saw the idol that stirs up [God's] anger.

6 He asked me, "Son of man, do you see what the people of Israel are doing? The people of Israel are doing very disgusting things here, things that will force me to go far away from my holy place. But you will see even more disgusting things."

7 Then he took me to the entrance of the courtyard. As I looked, I saw a hole in the wall.