CHAPTER 10

(594 B.C.)

GODS GLORY DEPARTS FROM THE TEMPLE; DESCRIPTION OF THE CHERUBIM

¹Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the Cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. (The departure of the Glory of God from the Temple is the Vision of this Chapter. It retires unwillingly. Its Throne was the Most Holy Place. This Chapter plus the next will show the God of Israel in lingering Love forsaking His City and Temple, not to return until 43:4, which yet lies in the future.

We also learn here that the Living Creatures are Cherubims.)

²And He spoke unto the Man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the Cherub, and fill Your hand with coals of fire from between the Cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And He went in in my sight. (Righteousness is the foundation of Divine action, whether in Redemption or Judgment. He Who in Grace set the mark upon the redeemed also casts the burning fire upon the rebels. The Righteousness of God in His Judgment of sin at Calvary and in His Faithfulness in fulfilling His Promises to the Believer is the foundation of the Christians assurance of Salvation. And it is the Righteousness of God which assures eternal condemnation to the rejecter of Christ.

The coals of fire from between the Cherubims are the same as 1:13. They signify Gods Judgment against sin.)

³Now the Cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the Man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. (The phrase, And the cloud filled the inner court, was the same cloud that filled the house over 400 years before when Solomon dedicated the Temple [II Chron. 5:14]. Then it was coming, now it is going. The Reader must sense the great sadness that filled the heart of the Prophet as he observes this scene.)

⁴Then the Glory of the LORD went up from the Cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORDs Glory. (As He leaves the Temple, the Glory of the Lord pauses over the threshold of the house, which is its entrance. It is as if He does not want to go, but has no choice but to leave, because He is no longer wanted. One can literally feel the pathos of the heart of God in this description.)

⁵And the sound of the Cherubims wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaks. (It is beautiful and yet amazing that the Holy Spirit uses the Name Almighty God respecting this event. In the Hebrew, it says El Shaddai, which means The Breasted One, or The All-Sufficient One. But yet, Judah took no advantage at all of this One Who can meet every need.)

⁶And it came to pass, that when He had commanded the Man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the Cherubims; then He went in, and stood beside the wheels.

⁷And one Cherub stretched forth his hand from between the Cherubims unto the fire that was between the Cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of Him Who was clothed with linen: Who took it, and went out. (This is similar to what John saw when he spoke of the Angel, who took a censer and filled it with the fire of the Altar, and cast it into the Earth [Rev. 8:5].)

⁸And there appeared in the Cherubims the form of a mans hand under their wings. (The detailed statement of Verses 8 through 22 is not a meaningless repetition of Chapter 1. What the Holy Spirit repeats claims the deeper attention of the Believer. Much instruction is suggested here. The God of Glory Who appeared to the obedient captives by the River Chebar in blessing was the very same God of Glory Who appeared in Judgment to the rebels at Jerusalem. This was quite opposed to the religious thinking of the citizens of that guilty city. They thought themselves blessed and the captives cursed.)

⁹And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the Cherubims, one wheel by one Cherub, and another wheel by another Cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone. (The indication is that the wheels have to do with direction because of the eyes [Vs. 12].)

¹⁰And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. (The wheel in the middle of a wheel simulates constant activity, referring to sure and certain direction.)

¹¹When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. (Wheels normally turn, but these do not: they turned not as they went. But to the place whither the head looked they followed it, refers to the chief or principal wheel, which it seems determined the course of the others.

All of this is beyond the comprehension of man. Even though it was given in vision to Ezekiel, still, the Lord did not explain any of these things concerning the Throne of God. So, Ezekiel just reported what he saw, without any explanation.)

¹²And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. (In 1:18, Ezekiel said that the rings or rims of the wheels were full of eyes round about them four. However, in this Passage, he adds to it, saying that the whole body of the Cherubims, even including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes round about.)

¹³As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. (O wheel, should read, As for the wheels, it was cried unto each one of them, Move! That is, each wheel was commanded to move in order to execute the Divine purpose.)

¹⁴And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. (This description is slightly different from the first, inasmuch as the Cherub was substituted for the ox [1:10]. Here, it is first in order instead of being, as there, the third. It is as though, in this second Vision, he recognizes that this was emphatically the Cherubic form. In other words, the face of the ox, because of the Glory of the Lord, was made to look Cherubic.)

¹⁵And the Cherubims were lifted up. This is the Living Creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.

¹⁶And when the Cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the Cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the Earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. (The wheels and the wings of the Cherubims all move as by one harmonious impulse.)

¹⁷When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the Spirit of the Living Creature was in them. (For the Spirit of the Living Creature was in them, implies the Holy Spirit, as it does in 1:20.)

¹⁸Then the Glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the Cherubims. (This portrays the Holy Spirit leaving the Temple in Jerusalem. One is reminded of the wife of Phinehas, who, shortly before she died, named the child Ichabod, saying, The Glory is departed from Israel [I Sam. 4:21].)

¹⁹And the Cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the Earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORDs House; and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them above. (This describes the place of departure of the Glory of the Lord and also of its return, as described in 43:4, which has not yet happened, but most surely will, when the Temple is restored after the Second Coming of Christ.)

²⁰This is the Living Creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the Cherubims. (This is the Living Creature that I saw under the God of Israel, refers to the Cherubim being a part of the Throne of God, which is borne out by John the Beloved [Rev. 4:6-11].)

²¹Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. (The difference in Johns description and Ezekiels is that Johns has six wings, whereas Ezekiels has four wings [Rev. 4:8].)

²²And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward. (The phrase, They went every one straight forward, signifies that with the Father of Lights there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning [James 1:17].)