Old Testament
Ezekiel 10
The Glory Abandons the Sanctuary
Overview
As cherubim mediate coals of divine fire for judgment upon Jerusalem, the Glory of God lifts from the inner sanctuary and moves in deliberate stages toward the east gate of the Temple, while Ezekiel recognizes these same cherubim — with their fourfold faces, unified spirit, and eye-covered wheels — as the living creatures he first encountered at the river Chebar.
Passages
Study Resources
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Ezekiel 10
1Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, “Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” He went in as I watched.
3Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4Yahweh’s glory mounted 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 Yahweh’s glory. 5The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7The cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8The form of a man’s hand appeared here in the cherubim under their wings.
9I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub. The appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. 10As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. 11When they went, they went in their four directions. They didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it. They didn’t turn as they went. 12Their whole body, including their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. 13As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “the whirling wheels”. 14Every one of them had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was the face of a lion. The fourth was the face of an eagle.
15The cherubim mounted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 16When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn’t turn from beside them. 17When they stood, these stood. When they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
18Yahweh’s glory went out from over the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. 19The cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went out, with the wheels beside them. Then they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
20This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21Every one had four faces, and every one four wings. The likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves. They each went straight forward.