8:3-16 God showed Ezekiel four scenes of increasing abomination from the false worship that the people of Israel were performing in the Lord’s Temple. The comprehensiveness of Jerusalem’s defilement may be seen from the varied locations of their acts of idolatry, the kinds of people involved, the deities worshiped, and the varied cultures from which these deities had been imported. It was the ultimate eclectic worship service, with abomination piled upon abomination. 8:3-6 In the first abomination, the large idol was probably an image of the Canaanite goddess Asherah that had been placed at this gate to guard the city from attack. Most of Jerusalem’s historic enemies came against her from the north, which would explain the idol’s location at the north gate. This idol had made the Lord very jealous because the Lord deserved all honor and worship as Israel’s protector (Ps 121:1-4). The Lord was offended by this idol that purported to protect the Lord’s chosen city.