Jealousy, Image of

The "image of jealousy" was an idolatrous object seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the abominations being practiced in the Jerusalem temple (Ezek. 8:3–5). He was taken in vision to the north gate of the inner court where he saw this image standing in the entrance — an idol provoking God's jealous response because it claimed the worship that belonged to God alone in his own sanctuary. The image may have been an Asherah pole or a statue of a foreign deity installed by the apostate priests of Ezekiel's day. The vision of this image was the first of four escalating abominations Ezekiel saw in the temple precincts (Ezek. 8:5–16), culminating in the departure of the divine Glory from the temple (Ezek. 10–11).