Ezekiel 10 explained: God's Glory Leaves the Temple

Fire for the city (vv. 1-2)

Above the winged creatures called cherubim appears a throne, and God tells the man in linen to scatter burning coals over Jerusalem. This is the same figure who marked the faithful in the previous chapter, and the coals point to the city's coming burning, which Babylon carried out in 586 BC.

The glory moves to the doorway (vv. 3-5)

God's glory, the visible sign of his presence, lifts off the cherubim and moves to the temple's doorway, while a cloud fills the building. The roar of the wings sounds like thunder, an old image of God speaking, and signals that something huge is about to happen.

The fire handed over (vv. 6-8)

One of the cherubim takes fire from among them and places it in the man's hands, and he goes out. The fire comes from beside God's own throne, not from the temple altar, which many take to mean the judgment is God's deliberate act rather than chance.

Wheels, eyes and faces (vv. 9-17)

Ezekiel sees again the creatures from his first vision in chapter 1, with wheels inside wheels that can go any direction without turning and are covered in eyes. Many read this as God's presence being mobile and all-seeing; why one face is called a cherub's here but an ox's in chapter 1 is not clear.

The glory leaves (vv. 18-22)

The glory rises onto the cherubim and moves to the temple's east gate, one more step out of the building, and it does not return until chapter 43. Ezekiel now realizes these creatures are cherubim, and some interpreters think that, as a priest, he connected them with the carved cherubim over the sacred chest in the temple.

Key verse: Ezekiel 10:18

Something to think about

Have you ever sensed that whatever gave a place its meaning had quietly gone, even while the building itself still stood?