Keraia
Ezekiel 10

Ezekiel 10:19

God’s Glory Exits the Temple · Ezekiel 10:1–22
Read Ezekiel 10

Translations

Modern
As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.
Traditional
And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
Literal
And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and they were raised up from the earth before my eyes; and in their going out, also were the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the gate of the house of YHWH in the east, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them from above.
Latin
Et elevantia cherubim alas suas, exaltata sunt a terra coram me: et illis egredientibus, rotæ quoque subsecutæ sunt: et stetit in introitu portæ domus Domini orientalis, et gloria Dei Israël erat super ea.

Original

Hebrew
English
As I watched, the cherubim lifted their wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels beside them as they went. And they stopped at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.

Notes

Ezekiel 10:19–22

From this point on, the city was doomed.

God had shown his powerful and fearsome glory in the opening chapter of Ezekiel. Now that same God had left the city.

Without his presence, Jerusalem no longer had protection or hope. Judgment would surely come.

Ezekiel 10:3–22

The glory of the Lord did not leave the temple all at once. It moved slowly, step by step, almost as if it was unwilling to depart (Ezekiel 10:4).

First, the glory of the Lord moved from above the cherubim in the Most Holy Place. Then it went to the entrance of the temple and stopped there for a time. After that, it rose above the cherubim again (Ezekiel 10:18) and moved to the east gate of the courtyard, where it paused once more (10:19). Eventually, the glory of the Lord left the city completely (11:23).

Ezekiel 10:1–22

The temple was the earthly place where the Lord’s glory dwelled among his people. This was one of the greatest blessings of the covenant.

But this blessing depended on the people being holy (set apart for God and living in obedience to him). When they filled the temple with sin and idolatry, they defiled it.

Because of their unfaithfulness, the Lord left his house. Once his presence departed, the temple and the city were left unprotected. They became vulnerable to the coming attack by the Babylonians.

Ezekiel 8:1–11:25

This section describes how the people defiled (made unclean by sin) the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8). Because of this sin, the Lord left the temple. After he left, the city and the temple were destroyed (9:1–11:13).

At first, this sounds like only bad news. But for those already living in exile, it was also good news. The Lord was not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He would come to be with his people in exile.

By coming to dwell with them, the Lord showed that the exiles were not forgotten. They were the ones who carried hope for the future of God’s people.

Events

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

Cherub, Cherubim East Gate Ezekiel, Book of Glory Haggai, Book of Kebar Pillar of Fire and Cloud Remnant Son of Man Temple Wheel

Topics

Cloud: Pillar of Wheel: Symbolical