Introduction
In this chapter we read about the burning of Jerusalem, and withdrawal of the glory of Yahweh from the sanctuary.
1. Jerusalem to be burned with fire, the angel scatters coals of fire over Jerusalem. Ezekiel 10:1-8.
2. The glory of Jehovah forsakes the Temple. Ezekiel 10:9-22.
SUMMARY
1. The man in linen scatters burning coals over the city.
2. We get another description of the war chariot.
3. The glory of the Lord leaves the sanctuary.
THE BURNING COALS SCATTERED
‘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. 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. 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 10:1-8
Ezekiel looks and sees the cherubim that he had seen by the river Kebar, Ezekiel 10:1 / Ezekiel 1:22 / Ezekiel 1:26. Over their heads he again sees God’s throne chariot that looked like lapis lazuli, which is a precious and beautiful stone, Ezekiel 10:1 / Ezekiel 1:26.
God addresses the man clothed in linen once again, Ezekiel 10:2. This time his work is different. In Ezekiel 9, he is the one element of mercy amongst the seven men working for God. Now we see that mercy and justice are intermingled.
In Ezekiel 9, this man marked the innocent, but now he is instructed to throw burning coals over the city, Ezekiel 10:2, which was a sign of cleansing and destruction, Genesis 19:24 / 2 Kings 25:9 / Psalms 18:10-15 / Isaiah 6:6 / Isaiah 33:14 / Revelation 8:5.
Mercy doesn’t despise justice. It’s easy to do the good jobs, but this man is equally ready to carry out any job for the Lord as the man does again here, Ezekiel 10:2 / Ezekiel 9:11.
Beasley-Murray, in their commentary, says the following.
‘This vision prophesies the fires that destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C. 2 Kings 25:9, by the armies of the Chaldeans.’
Notice the cherubim are positioned on the south side of the temple building, looking east, Ezekiel 10:3. Ezekiel sees a cloud which filled the inner court, Ezekiel 10:3. The cloud is signifies the presence of God, Exodus 33:9-10 / 1 Kings 8:10-11 / Isaiah 6:1-4.
Ezekiel now sees the glory of the LORD on the move, he sees it rising from above the cherubim and moving to the threshold of the temple, Ezekiel 10:4 / Ezekiel 9:3.
The cloud, which is God’s glory, filled the temple and just lit up the court, Ezekiel 10:4. The sound of the cherubim wings must have been deafening, as it could be heard as far as the outer court. The sounds must have thundered like the sound of God Almighty when he speaks, Ezekiel 10:5 / Ezekiel 1:24 / Psalms 29:3.
Block, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The sound of the cherubim’s wings reverberates throughout the temple complex and creates an impression of restlessness, an eagerness to be off.’
The man is commanded to take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim, to which he obeys, Ezekiel 10:6. He stood beside one of the wheels, Ezekiel 10:6, and notice where he gets the coals from. One of the cherubim uses their hand to get some burning coals from within the chariot and gives them to the man who then proceeds with the job, Ezekiel 10:7 / 2 Kings 23:4-9.
Smith, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The stage was now set for the fiery destruction of Jerusalem which here is symbolically represented as coming from the Lord himself.’
Ezekiel once again sees that the cherubim had which appears to be human hands under their wings, Ezekiel 10:8 / Ezekiel 1:8. Ezekiel will like the nice easy work of the priest, looking after the ‘innocent’, but he doesn’t care for the work of the prophet handing out messages of judgement to those who appear innocent but are rotten. He is being told to do as the man in linen is doing, to carry out tasks of justice as well as mercy.
‘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.’ 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. 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. 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. 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 10:9-22
The chariot here is another picture of the chariot we saw in Ezekiel 1. Why is it here? To remind Ezekiel of the terrible judgement coming on Jerusalem and her inhabitants.
Ezekiel sees beside the cherubim four wheels, one wheel beside each of the four cherubim, Ezekiel 10:9, as he saw back in Ezekiel 1:15-21. The main role of the cherubim was protection, Genesis 3:24 / Exodus 25:18-22 / Exodus 41:18 / 2 Chronicles 3:17.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following, concerning Ezekiel 10:10-11.
‘Secondary vertical wheels evidently intersected the primary wheels and made it possible for these wheels to move in any direction horizontally, Ezekiel 1:16-17.’
Notice their entire bodies and the wheel are filled with eyes, Ezekiel 10:12 / Ezekiel 1:18. Look at the footnote in R.S.V. Ezekiel 10:20, identifies the living creatures as cherubim.
The eyes are symbolic of divine omniscience in the workings of nature and history, Zechariah 3:9 / Zechariah 4:10 / Revelation 4:6 / 2 Chronicles 16:9 / Proverbs 15:3.
Ezekiel hears the noise of the wheels and describes the whirling noise they made when I motion, Ezekiel 10:13. In Ezekiel 10:14, and Ezekiel 10:22, we see that the face of the ox or bull has been substitutes for a cherub, Ezekiel 1:10-14. Why this is done is uncertain. Perhaps this was the predominant face.
Ezekiel now sees these same cherubim, which he saw in his vision by the river Kebar, rise up, Ezekiel 10:15 / Ezekiel 1:1. Notice how the wheels work in harmony with each other, Ezekiel 10:16-17 / Ezekiel 1:17 / Ezekiel 1:20-21. Their harmony was so perfect because the spirit of the living creatures was in them, Ezekiel 10:17.
Ezekiel sees God move from the front door of the temple, Ezekiel 10:4, to a position above the cherubim, Ezekiel 10:18 / Ezekiel 1:22-26. The cherubim spread their wings and rise from the ground, and the wheels went with them, Ezekiel 10:19.
When God’s glory moved, so did the cherubim. When they stopped, God’s glory was above them, Ezekiel 10:19. It was moving away from the temple and about to leave the temple courts.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Lord was mounting his throne-chariot, which the cherubim would carry, to ride out of the temple and the city. The cherubim taxied God in His throne-chariot up to a position above the east gate of the temple, 1 Samuel 4:4 / 2 Samuel 6:2 / 2 Kings 19:15 / 1 Chronicles 13:6 / 1 Chronicles 28:18 / Psalms 18:10 / Psalms 80:1 / Psalms 99:1. This was the main entrance into the temple courtyards from the outside world. The Lord in His glory and the cherubim then hovered above this gate. God had warned His people that He would remove the glory of His presence from them if they departed from His will, Deuteronomy 31:17 / 1 Samuel 4:21 / Hosea 9:12.’
Henry, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It was sad to see that God was forsaking his sanctuary, where his honour and glory had so long dwelt; but it was pleasant to see that God was not forsaking the earth, as the idolaters had proclaimed, Ezekiel 9:9.’
Plumptre, in his commentary, says the following.
‘From that hour, the temple would be what Shiloh had been, a God-deserted place.’
Wright, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Note that when the Lord does finally return, He is seen coming back through the East Gate, Ezekiel 43:4.’
Ezekiel remembers that these are the same the living creatures he had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, Ezekiel 10:20 / Ezekiel 1:1. He now identifies them as cherubim, Ezekiel 10:20 / Ezekiel 1:5.
His description of them is the same as he described them earlier, Ezekiel 10:21 / Ezekiel 1:6 / Ezekiel 1:8. His description of their faces is also the same as he described them earlier, Ezekiel 10:22 / Ezekiel 1:9 / Ezekiel 1:12.
Notice that each one went straight ahead, Ezekiel 10:22.
Feinberg, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The final word is that every cherub went straight forward, thus proclaiming the impossibility of thwarting or frustrating the plans of God. They kept their object and mission undeviatingly before them at all times.’
Having destroyed the people, Ezekiel 9, and the city, Ezekiel 10, the chariot leaves the sanctuary.
