Ezekiel 8:5

EZEKIEL SEES IN VISION THE WICKEDNESS OF THE CITY, AND HEARS THE SENTENCE OF JEHOVAH UPON IT, Ezekiel 8:5-18.

5. Lift up thine eyes… toward the north “The northern entrance was the most frequented, partly because the royal palace and buildings lay to the south and east, and the west was inclosed by the buildings of the temple itself.” Davidson. It was the north gate which Ezekiel had entered (Ezekiel 8:3) and he is now commanded to pause and look back to the gate through which he had just come and once more consider the heinousness of the abomination of placing within the sacred precincts that which Jehovah had expressly forbidden (Exodus 20:2).

The gate of the altar This probably was a technical name for the northern gate. The altar was within the next court, but from this gate the view would perhaps be unimpeded. The law provided that the sacrifices should be slain on the north side of the altar (Leviticus 1:5; Leviticus 1:11), and probably it was through this gate that the victims were brought into the temple. (See Temple Plan, p. 209.)

In the entry It was in the most prominent place and in full view. There was an “entry” connected with each court (Jeremiah 38:14).