Ezekiel 10
The Glory Departs the Temple
“I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of lapis lazuli above the vault that was over the heads of the cherubim. The Lord said to the man clothed in linen, ‘Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.’ And as I watched, he went in” (Ezekiel 10:1-2).
In the previous chapter, Ezekiel is shown the destruction that comes to the people in Judah and its leaders due to their many sins and idolatry, including inside His temple. God’s executioners had been sent throughout Judah, starting with the temple’s leaders, and the body count amongst the idolatrous people was massive. Unfortunately, this was the Lord’s last resort, which came to fruition due to their abominable practices and behavior towards God and one another.
In this next scene, which is a continuation of the previous, Ezekiel describes what looks like a throne made of sapphire rock or lapis lazuli, which is a blue metamorphic rock that has been used as a gemstone or semi-precious stone and pigment over the centuries. The name sapphire is derived from the Greek word sapheiros, which means blue. Now, some bible translations use the word sapphire to describe God’s throne, while others interpret it as lapis lazuli. While the type of stone and its translation may be debated by scholars, the color blue is what’s important, thus representing the glory, power, supremacy, and holiness of the Lord.
Another aspect of this vision recaps the first vision Ezekiel was shown in chapter one. However, there is one difference being the temple context where things are much transparent for understanding. Thus, as mentioned in lesson one of this series, the four-living creatures were cheribum, which Ezekiel sees once again in this vision.[1] Above the cheribum was the Lord’s throne above the vault (sky). Then God said to the man in linen to where the wheels were beneath the cheribum and gather coals in his hands to scatter over Jerusalem. These coals were symbolic of the judgment that God was rendering over Jerusalem. The city would be utterly destroyed as Babylon, God’s tool for justice, besieged the city and brought it to complete ruin in 586 B.C. Ezekiel watched as these events took place.
The coals or fire used was the purify the city of its iniquity, parallel to what the Lord did with Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord also used a coal to purify Isaiah. The Bible says: “Woe to me!” I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:5-6).
“Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord. The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks” (Ezekiel 10:3-5).
The Shekinah glory, represented by the cloud, filled the temple court when the man in linen went in. The glory of the Lord was on the south side of the temple, far removed from the northern side of the city where the abominations had occurred. Ezekiel then sees the cloud fill the temple as the glory of God moves, with the sound of the cherubim’s wings being heard likened to God’s voice. Ezekiel could see the glory getting prepared to leave the temple. The cherubims represent God’s glory as they worship the Lord and stand over the mercy seat on both sides of God’s glory. The Bible says: “And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth” (2 Kings 19:15).
This should have been a glorious occasion with the Shekinah glory being in the temple, but this was quite the opposite. The glory of the Lord was preparing for departure. No longer would the Lord’s glory dwell inside the temple that had been defiled first by Judah, and then would be defiled again by the Babylonians being permitted to remove the Lord’s articles from His house. It was as if a stranger had broken in where the resident no longer felt safe to reside permanently.
“When the Lord commanded the man in linen, ‘Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,’ the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. (Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like human hands)” (Ezekiel 10:6-8).
The man clothed with linen obeyed the command to go and get the fire, for this was the judgment that was to come down on all of Judah. After which, he stood beside the wheel as the cheribum took some of the fire to place inside the man in linen’s hands. The cherubim appeared to have human-looking hands that were used to accomplish God’s command. Even the angles are subject to the will of God and operate as He directs, but Judah failed to learn this lesson. The Bible says: “Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word” (Psalm 103:20).
“I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like topaz. As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels” (Ezekiel 10:9-13).
You will see in these verses that they are reminiscent of chapter 1. Here are a few key notes from lesson one that coincide with these verses.
· The Cheribum and wheels worked together in unison and pace.
· The four cherubim are guardians of the Lord’s holiness.
· Cheribum maintain order and keep sin out.
· Cherubim's wings allow them to fly wherever the Spirit leads them.
· The wheels described in this vision are called Ophanim (אוֹפַנִּים) in Hebrew and are also referred to as the wheels of God.
· The brilliance of the Ophanim shined like a yellowish, precious stone or a stone of fire, as topaz is called, in the presence of the Lord.
· Their eyes allowed them to see everything in secret and full view. Their eyes were filled with wisdom to render judgments according to God’s righteousness and awesome justice.
“Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a human being, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle” (Ezekiel 10:14).
Ezekiel saw that each cherubim had for faces as he had seen in his first vision. Let’s do a recap of what these faces represent from lesson one.
The face of the cherub:
a.) The cherub symbolizes the same as the ox from the first vision, embodying Jesus’ mission to accomplish the will of the Father by becoming a servant.
b.) Jesus put on the yoke of sin for mankind and paid the price through His death on the cross but rose again.
c.) Jesus was humble, subservient, and loyal to the Father.
The face of the man:
a.) Jesus accomplished what Adam couldn’t by living perfectly obediently to the Father.
b.) Jesus came in human form to save man from sin.
c.) Man was made a little lower than the angels, and Jesus became as such on earth.
The face of a lion:
a.) Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, just as the lion is king of the jungle.
b.) Jesus is a strong tower, and we can get all strength from Him.
The face of an eagle:
a.) Jesus rose above all challenges as the eagle to provide and care for His children.
b.) Jesus never leaves us to fend for ourselves, and we can find safety under His wings.
“Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them” (Ezekiel 10:15-17).
The cherubim prepared to move as the Spirit led, for the Shekinah glory was ready to depart the temple. The wheels moved in sync with the cherubim, for there was no confusion about what they should do. As we talked about in Lesson One, the cherubim moved in sync with the Spirit and as He led. Believers in Christ need to follow as the Spirit leads as well. Do not sway to the right or left but as He follows.
“Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them” (Ezekiel 10:18-19).
The presence of God moved forward with His departure from the temple, moving above the threshold over the four cherubim and away from the temple. The people had departed from the ways of God and His decrees, so He no longer dwelt amongst them. The glory had departed through the eastern gate, and now, Judah was in an Ichabod (the glory has departed) state, thus left to their own devices of destruction.
“These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like human hands. Their faces had the same appearance as those I had seen by the Kebar River. Each one went straight ahead” (Ezekiel 10:20-22).
Once again, Ezekiel describes the cherubims he saw in his first vision. It is important to understand that when the Lord sends a revelation regarding something twice, it means that a thing has been established and will not be turned back. The Bible says: “The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon” (Genesis 41:32). Ezekiel had been shown a similar vision twice, and the final judgment of Judah was already in the making. The cherubim had served the Lord well, and now, it was time for them to depart.
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