The Glory Prepares to Leave

Ezekiel 10 continues the temple vision and links it to chapter 1. Ezekiel says he saw above the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. The man in linen, who had marked the faithful in chapter 9, was now sent among the whirling wheels to take coals of fire and scatter them over the city. The fire that once came from God's presence to purify now signaled judgment.

Yahweh's glory mounted up from the cherub and stood over the threshold of the house. The house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory, much as when the glory filled the tabernacle and Solomon's temple. The sound of the wings carried to the outer court like the voice of God Almighty. Ezekiel describes four faces, four wings, hands under their wings, and wheels full of eyes all around, like a wheel within a wheel.

Then Ezekiel makes a discovery. He says these were the same living creatures he had seen under the God of Israel by the river Chebar, and he knew that they were cherubim. The God who met him in exile was the same God enthroned in Jerusalem. Step by step the glory moved: from the cherub to the threshold, then out to the east gate. Sin had made God's house unfit for his presence, yet he went slowly. In the New Testament, 2 Peter 3:9 says: The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us.