Ezekiel 8:1-5

Our God is jealous for His people!

He will not have strange gods before Him.

Ezekiel 8:1-5

8 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy. 4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.

5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.

Ezekiel’s inaugural vision also occurred on the fifth day of a month. The sixth year refers to the years of King Jehoiachin’s exile, the typical reference for Ezekiel’s dating  scheme. This event occurs in mid-September 592 bc, a year and two months after the vision in chapters. 1–3. The leaders of the exiled community are with Ezekiel in his home when he is overcome by the vision from God. The exact nature of the leaders’ business with the prophet is unstated.

The Hebrew word used here, tavnith, indicates a pattern for construction. Ezekiel uses the word synonymously with words for likeness and appearance. Ezekiel describes a supernatural, dream-like experience in which God shows him what is happening in Judah. The detailed nature of Ezekiel’s description has led to speculation that he traveled to Jerusalem during his exile. However, he would have had intimate knowledge of the temple layout from his priestly education. Further, his vision does not necessarily reflect the physical reality of events in Jerusalem. The vision is concerned with depicting the sin of Israel in a tangible way that justifies Yahweh’s punishment.

Ezekiel’s tour of the abominations in the temple begins outside the inner court. The reference is clearly to an idol  at the entrance to the inner court of the temple, but the identification is left ambiguous. Idol worship provoked Yahweh’s jealousy. Based on other uses of the term, Ezekiel might be referring to an image erected by King Manasseh. Second Chronicles says that Manasseh constructed a carved image of a semel. The parallel in 2 Kgs 21:7 indicates it was an image of the Canaanite goddess, Asherah). Faithlife Bible.

This second exact date given in Ezekiel is 592 b.c., when Ezekiel was acting out the siege of Jerusalem. The first word translated fire may also be read in Hebrew as the word meaning “man.” In the second instance fire is the expected meaning. The north gate of the inner court, called the “altar gate” was near the sacrificial altar.  There Ezekiel saw the image … which provokes to jealousy. All idolatry was forbidden, and any idol represented a violation of the loyalty that belonged to Israel’s God. The people thought that just because the temple stood among them, whatever wrong they might do could not bring ultimate disaster. They thought the temple guaranteed their security. They did not realize that their evil had actually caused God to leave His temple, which would then no longer be their protection. NKJ Bible.

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger.

Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation; I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

Ezekiel 3:22 Then the hand of the LORD was upon me there, and He said to me, “Arise, go out into the plain, and there I shall talk with you.”