SCRIPTURE: EZEKIEL 10
THE GLORY DEPARTS FROM THE TEMPLE (vs. 1-22)
Ezekiel saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse 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”. When the man went in, a cloud filled the inner court and 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 Lord commanded the man in linen to take fire from among the wheels and cherubim. So the man went in and stood beside a wheel. Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire and took up some and put it into the hands of the man in linen.
Then, beside the cherubim, Ezekiel saw 4 wheels- one beside each of the cherubim, the wheels sparkled like chrysolite. The four wheels look alike like a wheel intersecting a wheel. As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim face; 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. The wheels were being called ‘the wheeling wheels”. Each of the cherubim had four faces. One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. (vs. 9-14)
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 stook still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them. (vs. 15-17)
Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. (vs. 18-19)
The living creatures that Ezekiel saw were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man.
THOUGHTS:
God’s perfect holiness demands judgment for sin. The cherubim are mighty angels scattering coals over the city representing the purging of sin. The people sinned and refused to repent so that the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem by fire.
God’s glory departed from the temple because of their sins. His holiness does not allow people to defile it. In order for true worship to be revived, we must commit ourselves to faithfully follow Him so that God will not abandon us.