Ezekiel 10
OGCREVIEW QUESTIONS
At what point in his ministry did the elders begin to assemble at the house of Ezekiel? Why did they come?
How can you explain Ezekiel’s transmigration to Jerusalem?
What was the image of jealousy?
What was the likely source of the animal worship being secretly practiced by the seventy elders?
Why was Jaazaniah singled out for special mention among the apostate elders?
What popular attitudes toward God does Ezekiel refute in these Chapter s?
What role were women playing in the apostasy?
Who was Tammuz?
To what extent had some of the priests gone in their apostasy?
Who were the six executioners whom Ezekiel saw approaching Jerusalem? How were they armed?
What act of mercy had to precede the judgment by the six executioners?
What possible significance is there in the mark placed upon the brow of the faithful few in Jerusalem?
What evidence is there in this chapter of Ezekiel’s role as intercessor?
What significance is there in the movements of the throne chariot in this series of visions?
In what ways does the vision of the throne-chariot in chapter 10 differ from that found in chapter 1?
Was the death of Pelatiah an actual occurrence, or was it only part of the vision?
In what sense had the Jerusalem leadership multiplied your slain in this city?
What great theological truth emerges here regarding worship sanctuaries?
What picture does Ezekiel paint of the New Israel of God?
Ezekiel 10:1-8
B. Jerusalem Destroyed by Fire 10:1-8
TRANSLATION
(1)
Then I looked, and behold, upon the platform which was above the head of the cherubim there appeared something like a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. (2) And He spoke unto the man clothed in linen and said, Go in between the wheels under the cherubim[236] and fill your hands with coals of fire found between the cherubim and scatter them over the city. And he went in my sight. (3) Now the cherubim were standing on the right of the house as the man entered; and smoke filled the inner court. (4) And the glory of the LORD had arisen from over the cherubim and was over the threshold of the house. And the house was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. (5) And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court, like the voice of almighty God, when He spoke. (6) And it came to pass when He had commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went and stood beside the wheels. (7) And the cherub put forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the man who was between the cherubim and he lifted up and gave unto the hands of the man clothed with linen. And he took it and went out. (8) And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
[236] A singular noun used in the collective sense
COMMENTS
At the close of chapter 8 the stage is set for a graphic description of the destruction of Jerusalem. The man clothed in linen has completed his God-assigned task of marking the faithful for salvation (Ezekiel 9:11). It is time for the six executioners to expand their work from the court of the Temple to the rest of Jerusalem. Yet in all of chapter 10 these agents of God are not mentioned. They disappeared from the scene. Only the man clothed in linen remained. But to this beneficent character a new role was assigned. He now became the agent of fiery judgment. Jerusalem is to be destroyed by sword and by fire, and these two aspects of the judgment are successively portrayed to the prophet in Chapter s 9 and 10.
Again the throne-chariot of the Lord appears before the prophet’s mind. He saw the platform over the heads of the cherubim upon which stood the sapphire-like throne of the Almighty (Ezekiel 10:1; cf. Ezekiel 1:26). The throne was initially empty, awaiting the moment when the Lord would once again occupy it (cf. Ezekiel 10:18). The relationship between the glorious presence of God and the throne in these Chapter s is a bit difficult to follow. The following tabulation of references may assist in tracing this aspect of the vision.
LOCATION OF THE GLORY OF GOD
In the Holy of Holies
At* the* Temple Threshold
In the Holy of Holies
At the East Gate
Mountain East of the City
On the Throne
Separate from the Throne
On the Throne
On the Throne
On the Throne
For the first time it comes to light in Ezekiel 10:1 that the living creatures in Ezekiel’s throne vision (Ezekiel 1:5 ff.) were cherubim. It is useless to speculate as to why Ezekiel waited until this point to make this identification. The delay is surely not due to the fact that Ezekiel would not have known what cherubim actually looked like until he saw the interior of the Temple.[237] Surely as a member of a priestly family he would have received such information.
[237] As suggested by Taylor, TOTC, p. 104.
The cherubim are assigned a variety of roles in the Old Testament. They first appear in connection with the Garden of Eden where they guarded the entrance to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). In Solomon’s Temple they served as attendants and guardians of the Holy of Holies (1 Kings 6:23). They were depicted on the lid of the ark of the covenant with their heads bowed and their faces looking downward towards the mercy seat as if in silent adoration (Exodus 25:18-20). In a number of passages the Lord is described as being enthroned on (or above) the cherubim.[238] Here Ezekiel sees the cherubim in their traditional role as guardians as they protect access to the holy fire. In at least one passage God is said to ride on a cherub (Psalms 18:10). This is very much like the function performed by cherubim in Ezekiel’s vision where these heavenly beings bear up the throne of God and provide locomotion for the entire complicated structure.
[238] 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalms 80:1, etc.
The real connecting link between the previous and the present chapter the man with the linen garment appears in Ezekiel 10:2. Ezekiel now heard the voice of the Almighty speaking again to this anonymous angel.[239] In Ezekiel 9:3 the divine Presence departed from the throne-chariot and stood at the threshold of the sanctuary. Here again the divine Presence is connected with the throne-chariot.
[239] Later writers attempted to identify the man in the linen as Gabriel or Raphael.
The man in linen garb was instructed to go into the midst of the wheels of the throne-chariot and pick up with both hands the hot coals which he found there (cf. Ezekiel 1:13). Hot coals apparently symbolize judgment and purgation (Isaiah 6:6 f.). That both hands are to be employed in the task points to the severity of the anticipated judgment. The agent was to scatter the coals over the wicked city of Jerusalem. As the vision continued Ezekiel actually saw the linen-clad man begin to carry out those instructions (Ezekiel 10:2).
The symbolic import of this part of the vision is obvious. The judgmental fire which was to fall on Jerusalem would come from the Holy One of Israel. The tragic theology of the day denied that God could ever turn against the city in which He was enthroned between the cherubim. The Babylonian exiles could not or would not hear. Desperately the prophet proclaimed the incredible truth that Yahweh would purge Jerusalem. Six years later when Jerusalem received that awful baptism of fire only a few recognized it as being the fire of God. Those few had been prepared by the preaching of men like Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 10:3-5 parenthetically describe in vivid detail the situation in the Temple at the moment the linen-clad man proceeded to execute the command of the Lord. Five points are made:
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The cherubim were standing on the right (i.e., south) side of the Temple, far removed from the ritualistic abominations being practiced on the north side of that house (cf. Ezekiel 8:14).
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The cloud[240] which accompanied the divine Glory filled the inner court (Ezekiel 10:3) and the house (i.e., the Holy Place; Ezekiel 10:4).
[240] This cloud is mentioned also in 1 Kings 8:10-11 and Isaiah 6:1-2 The Jews called this cloud the Shechinah.
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That deep and dark cloud filled the inner court and house because the Glory of the Lord had risen up and was now over the threshold of the house. This is the first stage of the divine departure from that place (Ezekiel 10:4; cf. Ezekiel 9:3). The cherubim had been left behind to perform a significant task, viz., to give the divine messenger of destruction his means of destroying the city.
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Because of the presence of the Glory of the Lord, the outer court was filled with ineffable radiance (nogah; Ezekiel 10:4).
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From within the Temple, the sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard even to the outer court. The sound resembled the voice of God Almighty (El Shaddai).[241] Psalms 29 equates the voice of Yahweh with the roar of thunder. Probably Ezekiel intends the same comparison here. Normally the wings of the cherubim were motionless and made no sound. But in this vision as in the first one of the book (Ezekiel 1:24) they made a loud noise when God spoke. Nevertheless, the voice of God was not thereby drowned out, for it was heard both by Ezekiel and the linen-vested minister. The thundering pulse of those angelic wings signaled the imminent departure of those heavenly creatures.
[241] The name El Shaddai expresses the fact that God rules over all nature. The name was more common in the early stages of Old Testament history. See Exodus 6:3.
Ezekiel 10:6 continues the narrative from Ezekiel 10:2 following the parenthetical interjection of Eze 10:3-5. The divine voice had bidden the linen-clad angel to enter among the cherubim and take hot coals from between the wheel work or chariot (galgal).[242] Without any hesitation the man made his way to one of the magnificent wheels which moved in conjunction with the cherubim.
[242] The word is singular and collective and means literally, the whirling thing. It is used elsewhere of the wheel of a war chariot (cf. Isa. 5:58). It has been suggested that the word could be translated chariot in this context.
Before the man dressed in linen could fill his hands with hot coals, one of the cherubim presumably the one closest to Ezekiel put forth his hand into the fire, drew forth hot coals and placed them in the hands of the man. This was possible, Ezekiel 10:8 parenthetically explains, because there appeared under the wing of each of the cherubim the form of a man’s hand. Perhaps the lesson here is that even an angelic messenger like the man clothed in linen had to keep his distance from the awful throne of God. As guardians of the fire it was appropriate that one of the cherubim should actually give the fire to the destroying angel. Having received those coals of judgment fire, the man with the linen garment went out (Ezekiel 10:7) from the Temple to execute the command to set fire to the city (cf. Ezekiel 10:2). This visionary and symbolic representation of the burning of Jerusalem found fulfillment in 587 B.C.
Ezekiel 10:9-17
C. The Throne-Chariot of God 10:9-17
TRANSLATION
(9) And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, a wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a tarshish stone. (10) Now as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness as when a wheel is in the midst of a wheel. (11) When they moved, they moved unto their four sides; they did not turn as they moved, but to the place which the head turned, they followed; they did not turn as they moved. (12) And all their body, their backs, their hands and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about, the wheels which the four had. (13) As for the wheels, to them one was calling in my presence, O wheel. (14) And each one had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. (15) And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature which I saw at the river of Chebar. (16) And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them, and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise above the earth, these same wheels did not turn from beside them. (17) When these stood, they stood, and when they were lifted up, they lifted themselves up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
COMMENTS
One might expect to find in the remaining verses of chapter 10 a graphic description of the conflagration which was to befall Jerusalem. But such is not the case. Instead the prophet again describes the throne-chariot which had occupied his attention in chapter 1. The variations in the two descriptions serve to underscore the visionary and symbolic import of the entire narrative.
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A tarshish colored wheel appeared along side each of the four cherubim (Ezekiel 10:9).
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The four wheels were identical, each appearing to consist of a wheel within a wheel (Ezekiel 10:10; cf. Ezekiel 1:16).
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The wheels were such that they could move in any direction without benefit of a turning mechanism (Ezekiel 10:11; cf. Ezekiel 1:17). Which ever direction the head, i.e., the cherub,[243] looked, the wheel followed. The cherubim were the principal driving force of the chariot. The spirit of the living creatures (cherubim) was in the wheels, and that gave unity to the whole operation.
[243] Others take the head to refer to the front wheel.
- Whereas in chapter 1 the rings of the wheels were full of eyes (Ezekiel 1:18), here the eyes are everywhere. The entire bodies of the cherubim, their backs, hands and wings as well as the wheels are covered with eyes (Ezekiel 10:12).[244] Multiplied eyes are here, as always in Scripture, symbolic of omniscience.[245]
[244] Others limit Ezekiel 10:12 to the wheels and thus maintain the harmony between chapter 1 and the present vision. The term backs is taken to mean rings or felloes (as in Ezekiel 1:18) and the hands are understood as axles. But what part of a wheel could be designated as a *wing?
[245]* Zechariah saw seven eyes on the Messianic stone set symbolically before the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 3:9). The living creatures of Revelation were covered with eyes (Revelation 4:6).
- The elaborate wheels were identified in the hearing of Ezekiel as being the chariot (haggalgal). He recognized that as the correct name for the mysterious and complex visionary object (Ezekiel 10:13).
Attention shifts in Ezekiel 10:14 from the wheels to the cherubim. As in chapter 1, each cherub had four faces. Three of the faces are the same as those seen in chapter 1 the man, the lion, the eagle. But the face of the ox (Ezekiel 1:10) is now described as the face of the cherub. In chapter 1 this face was third in order while here it is first. In the previous vision the creatures were called by the general term living creatures. Ezekiel now realized that they were cherubim. The ox-like face which looked straight forward is thus assumed to be the primary or real face of each cherub. The definite article the face of the cherub possibly indicates that this was the form that had given the coals of fire in Ezekiel 10:7.
Ezekiel then observed the cherubim the living creatures of chapter 1 mount up (Ezekiel 10:15). The method by which the throne-chariot became air-borne is described in Ezekiel 10:16-17. The main point here is that the wheels moved in conjunction with the flight of the cherubim (Ezekiel 10:16-17; cf. Ezekiel 1:19; Ezekiel 1:21).
Ezekiel 10:18-22
D. The Departure of the Divine Presence 10:18-22
TRANSLATION
(18) And the glory of the LORD went out from over the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. (19) And the cherubim lifted their wings and they went up from the earth in my presence; when they went out, the wheels were beside them; and it stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. (20) These were the living creatures which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. (21) Each had four faces, and each had four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. (22) And the likeness of their faces were the faces which I saw beside the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; each went straight forward.
COMMENTS
The throne-chariot was ready for the Royal Rider. The glory cloud took its place again upon that throne, and the departure began (Ezekiel 10:18). The departure route was by way of the east gate of the Temple, where for a time the throne-chariot stood (Ezekiel 10:19). The east gate was the most important gate since it faced the front of the Temple. The temporary stand at the eastern exit has no further significance other than to dramatize the divine departure. The departure clears the way for the destruction of the city. Through this same gate Ezekiel would later see the glory of the Lord return to His Temple (Ezekiel 43:4).
In the last three verses of chapter 10 Ezekiel underscores the fact that the throne-chariot which he saw here in the Temple was the same which he had seen in his first vision by the river Chebar. The living creatures[246] were cherubim (Ezekiel 10:20) each of which had four faces, four wings and the likeness of man’s hand under their wings (Ezekiel 10:21). The faces of the creatures in both visions were the same as was the fact that the heavenly vehicle could move straight forward in any of the four directions which the four faces faced (Ezekiel 10:22).
[246] Singular in Hebrew used collectively