Night in a temple court: the porch between two bronze pillars, and a cloud full of brightness pouring out over the threshold and down the steps across the dark paving.

The glory departs

Ezekiel 10

What would you lose if God’s presence left?

22 verses≈ 4 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchman
4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes eastChapter 10
12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vine
16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sins
20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeated
40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the land

God’s Glory Exits the Temple

Ezekiel

And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.

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Ezekiel

Night over the flat roofs of an ancient hill city: glowing coals falling like a slow shower of embers out of a dark cloud onto the roofs and lanes below.

And the LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork 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

Now when the man went in, the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple, and a cloud filled the inner court.

Ezekiel

A temple court by day filled with a great white cloud to its walls, and from the temple’s threshold a brilliant light shining through it so the paving and the bronze pillars glow.

Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Ezekiel

When the LORD commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand and took some of the fire that was among them. And he put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who received it and went out. (The cherubim appeared to have the form of human hands under their wings.)

Question

Quick question

Look again at what the LORD told the man in linen to do.

What was the man in linen told to scatter over the city?

Ezekiel

On the paving of a temple court, great upright wheels of five spokes, each with a second wheel set crosswise within it, their high rims gleaming pale gold-green, the lower edges of vast wings of light beside them.

Then I looked and saw four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. And the wheels gleamed like a beryl stone. As for their appearance, all four had the same form, like a wheel within a wheel. When they moved, they would go in any of the four directions, without turning as they moved. For wherever the head faced, the cherubim would go in that direction, without turning as they moved.

Ezekiel

Their entire bodies, including their backs, hands, and wings, were full of eyes all around, as were their four wheels. I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.”

Ezekiel

Each of the cherubim had four faces: the first face was that of a cherub, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.

Ezekiel

In a temple court, great wings of bronze-white fire beating upward and gleaming wheels lifting with them off the paving, dust and smoke swirling in a ring across the stones.

Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the River Kebar. When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them, and even when they spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not veer away from their side. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels also stood still, and when they ascended, the wheels ascended with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

Ezekiel

A plain massive stone gateway with a flat lintel at first light, and above and within it a brilliant white-gold brightness hovering, the dark ridge of a mountain beyond.

Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stood above the cherubim. As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

Ezekiel

Dawn over a wide, straight canal in the flat Babylonian plain: reed beds and date palms below, low mud-brick houses on the far bank, and far off to the north a towering storm cloud with a faint amber glow inside it.

These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the River Kebar, and I knew that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings. Their faces looked like the faces I had seen by the River Kebar. Each creature went straight ahead.

0:20

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

LORD, Your glory filled Your house, and Your people drove You out. Do not take Your presence from me. Make my life a place where You are glad to stay. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 10

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A verse to carry with you

Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and stood over the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD.

Ezekiel 10:4

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