Ezekiel 10--The Glory of the LORD Leaves the Temple

Ezekiel 10
English Standard Version

The Glory of the LORD Leaves the Temple
10 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”

And he went in before my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

6 And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a 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 the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.

9 And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels.” 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Chebar canal. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.

18 Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.

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This is one of the more significant events in the book of Ezekiel and many mischaracterize this as the LORD abandoning HIs people, but that is not what is going on here.  Remember that when the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness, the glory of the LORD in the form of a pillar of cloud and pillar of fire would go with them and lead them wherever they were to go, but He would go ahead of them.  The LORD lived among His people in a temporary dwelling (a tent) called The Tabernacle, and it wasn't until the time of King Solomon that the LORD resided "permanently" in the Temple.  Now the people are about to be exiled from the Land, and their pagan mindset would tell them that the gods are attached to the Land and that if they leave the Land, they are going to leave God behind too.

Notice that God has not changed, even though His people have changed.  Ezekiel sees the LORD in the same way that He first revealed Himself.  Part of that vision was that the LORD and His throne (and all of heaven with it) moved wherever the LORD willed.  He was not fixed in one place.  Once again, we will see the glory of the LORD depart from His fixed location at the Temple and will go ahead of His people as the go into Exile.  He is not abandoning them but going with them into their place of Exile.  "I will never leave you or forsake you" and "The LORD your God will be will you wherever you go" were promises they could count on and are promises we can count on.  The LORD did not abandon HIs people, but the Temple no longer reflected His glory and majesty because it had been desecrated.  It was no longer a place suitable for HIs people or the nations to gather and worship Him or learn about His covenant.  The LORD still resides with His people who are in "exile" today through the work of the Holy Spirit.  We don't have to live in the Land and be close to a Temple to be near the LORD because He now dwells within His people who are the Temple of the Holy Spirit (that's something from the New Testament that should not be superimposed here, but I think this event points forward to the greater truth that the LORD dwells among His people and does not abandon them).