Ezekiel 8:5

5 Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I did. I saw a statue that made God angry. It was in the entrance of the gate north of the altar.

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 He reached out what appeared to be a hand. He took hold of me by the hair of my head. The Spirit of the LORD lifted me up between earth and heaven. In visions God gave me, the Spirit took me to Jerusalem. He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard. The statue of a god was standing there. It made God very angry.

4 There in front of me was the glory of the God of Israel. It looked just as it did in the vision I had seen on the flatlands.

5 Then the LORD said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I did. I saw a statue that made God angry. It was in the entrance of the gate north of the altar.

6 He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the people of Israel are doing here? They are doing things I hate very much. Those things will cause me to go far away from my temple. But you will see things I hate even more."

7 Then he brought me to the entrance to the courtyard. I looked up and saw a hole in the wall.