And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
Fire has been scattered over Jerusalem, and now the glory of God lifts off the threshold of the temple and settles on the cherubim, ready to move. Why did God leave His own house, how did He go, and will He ever come back?
Verse 18 is the turn. The glory is on the move, and it is moving out.
In verse 18 we see a move of the gravest significance… There might be a lingering over the east gate, but the glory was departing.
The glory stood in the doorway before it left the house. The cherubim are His throne, and that throne can move. The glory that once filled the house with blessing was now there for the opposite reason.
The Lord's glory had filled that house at first, for deepest blessing (see 2 Chron. 5:13-14). Now it filled the house for judgment… He leaves His throne, stands upon the threshold, and, so to say, superintends the judgment He has commanded. There is something intensely solemn in this. The cherubim and the crushing wheels of that throne could have carried it out easily. But no — the dishonoured Lord of that sadly defiled house stands on its very threshold. He Himself directs the judgment that would wipe out the house.
The glory does not vanish. It moves in slow stages: from the throne to the threshold, then back over the cherubim, then out to the mountain east of the city. The way He left matters as much as the fact that He left.
With slow and measured pace, the glory of the God of Israel took its departure from the house at Jerusalem. The Lord lingered near the spot, reluctant to depart. He had come with loving eagerness, with His whole heart and with His whole soul. He came to dwell among His people, to find a home in the very heart of His assembly. But their sins and wrongdoing forced Him away. He would gladly have stayed; but it was impossible; and yet He proved, by the very way He left, how unwilling He was to go.
Each pause left room for something that never came.
It shows how reluctantly the holy and gracious God was leaving the place where He lived. It is as though He were pleading with the people, asking if they would not yet give His holiness a place among them. Sadly, there is no response; and reluctantly He leaves the threshold and takes His place outside the temple. Still He lingers, and still there is no response, so He leaves the temple hill and goes over to the Mount of Olives. At last He departs, leaving them alone.
The building still stood. But one word now hung over it: "Ichabod," which means "the glory has departed."
When the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the house, "Ichabod" was written on that house where the God of Israel had recorded His name. How sad that the heart of man should forsake the fountain of living waters!
The loss was bigger than one building. God's throne on earth had stood in Jerusalem.
This present period is the period of the Gentiles. At its start, the throne of the Lord was taken away from Jerusalem… it departs from the house, and from the city. It is a remarkable fact that the glory of the Lord has left its earthly throne. But more: at the same time this earthly power passed from Jerusalem to the Gentiles, and government was entrusted to men. So we read in Daniel 2:36-38.
The glory leaves, but not forever.
The Lord of the temple was rejected; the house of Israel was given up; the glory was returning to heaven. When the judgments on Israel have turned them back to the Lord, the glory returns the same way it had departed. Compare Ezek. 43:1-4 and Zech. 14:1-9.
- Glory grieved. The sins of His people pushed God out of the house He had come to live in. He would gladly have stayed.
- Glory lingering. He left in stages, pausing at each one. He waited for a repentance that never came.
- Glory directing. He stood in the doorway and oversaw the judgment on the city Himself. He did not leave it to the cherubim and wheels.
- Glory gone. "Ichabod" now stood over the house. God's throne left the earth, and world government passed to the Gentiles.
- Glory returning. The road out becomes the road home. When judgment turns Israel back to the Lord, the glory returns the same way it left.
And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight, when they went out; and the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
God's presence had been seen inside the temple, above the ark, between the cherubim; here it stands outside the house, at the east gate. Why would God leave the one place on earth He had chosen, and does He mean to come back?
The cherubim here are not fixed in place. They carry a throne, and that throne is on the move.
Here we have in divine detail "the chariot of the cherubim," the chariot on which almighty Jehovah rides out in His government and judgment. Here the throne is in motion, passing with unstoppable majesty from place to place across His wide creation. Tied closely to this is the transfer of the throne from His temple to the chariot, and its removal from Jerusalem and the chosen people. The men trusted with the honour of that temple had defiled it.
This move is not God losing interest in the place. It answers what His people had done inside it. One writer adds that His choice of that place still stands, and that He will come back.
The glory was departing, not coming to dwell there. Jehovah is leaving the seat which He was pleased to choose — not leaving it for ever, for He has chosen it for ever. But meanwhile He is morally driven away by the sins and the falling away of His own people. Ezekiel's prophecy says plainly that He will return and dwell there, never to leave His home again as long as the earth lasts.
God moves out in slow stages: from between the cherubim, to the threshold, and now out to the gate. One writer hears an appeal in that slowness.
It shows how unwillingly the holy and gracious God was leaving the place where He had made His home. It is as though He were pleading with the people, asking whether they would even now give His holiness a place among them. Sadly, there is no answer. He leaves the threshold and takes His place outside the temple. Still He lingers, and still there is no response, so that He leaves the temple hill and goes over to the Mount of Olives.
The pause at the gate is real, but it settles nothing. Kelly marks verse 18 as the turning point of the whole chapter and reads the halt for exactly what it is:
There might be a lingering over the east gate, but the glory was departing.
The wheels never move on their own. Here they rise with the cherubim, and one writer reads that detail as a message about Israel.
It is God who is leaving His earthly home. Yet even as He leaves, everything takes on a greater clearness and a fuller glory. Notice once more how closely the wheels depend on the living creatures. As the cherubim rise, the wheels rise with them: they leave the earth. So as far as Israel is concerned, the sentence may be put off for a while, and we read that delay in this lingering over the east gate. Even so, we are shown that they are soon, as it were, to turn no more.
What follows this vision is not only Jerusalem's ruin but a rearrangement of world power. With the throne gone from the city, rule over the nations passes to Babylon.
At the beginning, or rather before the beginning of these four monarchies, the throne of God was on the earth at Jerusalem. In His temple, above the ark where the law was deposited, Jehovah showed His presence in a way that could be seen. But at the start of this present period, which is that of the Gentiles, the throne of Jehovah was taken away from Jerusalem. In chapter 1 the prophet had seen the glory of Jehovah near the river Chebar. In chapter 11 he sees it leave Jerusalem: it departs from the house, and from the city. It is a remarkable fact that the glory of Jehovah has left its earthly throne.
The east gate is not the last word. The same glory comes back, and by the same road.
When the visible glory of the Lord withdrew, His gracious presence left His people, and judgment followed. The return of the visible glory means His gracious presence comes back to them. It also means the judgment, which has lasted so long, is gone for ever. The glory left by the east gate, and it was last seen on the mountain on the east side of the city. The return is from the way of the east, and the glory of the Lord enters through the east gate.
- Cause. God did not lose interest in the place. He was "morally driven away" by what His people did inside His house.
- Reluctance. Innermost room, threshold, east gate, mountain — God leaves in slow stages, pleading for an answer that never comes.
- Consequence. The wheels rise with the cherubim and leave the ground. For Israel, the turning is about to stop.
- Handover. With God's throne gone from Jerusalem, the age of the Gentile nations begins, and His glory has left its earthly throne.
- Return. He leaves the seat He chose, but He has chosen it for ever. The glory that went out by the east gate comes back in by the east gate.
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
Ezekiel is far from Jerusalem, living in exile beside the Chebar canal. There he watches the glory of God lift off the temple on winged creatures, and he knows them from his first vision — now he can name them.
The prophet's first vision described four "living creatures" without saying what they were. This later chapter settles the question.
If any doubt remains in the reader's mind, Ezekiel 10 makes it plain: the living creatures are the cherubim. Here they are not two, like the figures beaten out of the ends of the pure gold that formed the mercy-seat, where God sat as on a throne. They are four — which, I take it, relates to the creature.
The cherubim were not new to Israel. Two gold ones stood over the mercy-seat on the ark, and Ezekiel knew them.
Now the cherubim mount up. At last we can fully identify the living creature with the figures on the mercy-seat. … It is, as it were, those figures on the mercy-seat that are now showing life and activity.
The name itself points in two directions.
Only two origins for the word "cherub" seem at all satisfactory. One is the word charab, "to engrave." Then "cherub" is its past participle: "the forms engraved." This fits — and alone fits — the cherubim of the mercy-seat. But Hengstenberg argues for another origin, which fits the meaning of the living creatures exactly: a compound word, che-rov, "as it were a multitude." … The reality is now taking the place of the mere symbol.
Each face carries its own meaning.
Each living creature had four faces. The first was the face of a man, which speaks of intelligence. The second was the face of a lion, which symbolises strength. The third was the face of an ox, standing for patient endurance. The fourth was the face of an eagle, which implies swift action. Together they show perfect organisation for carrying out the government of God, according to His righteous judgement.
The verse puts the creatures underneath "the God of Israel." That title reaches back to the ark, and forward to judgment.
The God of Israel dwelt between the cherubim on the ark, in the middle of His people. People came near to Him by blood, according to divine righteousness. The witness of His judicial authority guarded that righteousness. … He would judge His guilty people by Babylon as His instrument.
Ezekiel saw this throne in exile, by the river Chebar. It is the same throne now leaving the temple.
In Ezekiel the prophet's place is quite outside Jerusalem, by the river Chebar. He is carried there to see the judgment carried out, but the glory of the Lord goes there to judge. This shows that, come what may, His throne on the cherubim is always there. It reaches far beyond its special place in the middle of the people. … He had put Himself among the people in grace and wisdom that stooped low. But that was only a special showing, in great favour, to display His glory. His people had been unfaithful to it. Their unfaithfulness took away the seat of the throne — the throne, and not Jehovah off His throne.
In this chapter the cherubim are not fixed furniture. They carry the throne away from God's house.
Here we have in divine detail "the chariot of the cherubim." It is the chariot on which the almighty Jehovah goes out in His government and judgment. The throne is in motion. It passes with unstoppable majesty from place to place across His wide creation. Bound up with this is the move of the throne out of His temple and onto the chariot, away from Jerusalem and the chosen people. Sinful men held the honour of that temple in trust, and they defiled it.
So is God finished with the place He chose?
The glory was departing, not coming to dwell there. Jehovah is leaving the seat He was pleased to choose — not leaving it for ever, for He has chosen it for ever. But meanwhile the sins and the turning away of His own people have morally driven Him out. Ezekiel's prophecy says plainly that He will return and dwell there. He will never leave His home again, as long as the earth lasts.
- Same creatures. Ezekiel's first vision left the living creatures unnamed. Here he names them: cherubim. One vision, not two.
- Same figures. The gold shapes over the mercy-seat now live and move. Symbol gives way to reality.
- Same faces. Man, lion, ox and eagle stand for intelligence, strength, patient endurance and swift action. Together they picture God's righteous rule.
- Same throne. The throne appeared by a canal in exile. God's rule was never locked inside one city. The seat moved; He did not.
- Same God returning. His people's sin drove the glory out. But the prophecy promises it will return and stay.
Each one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
Ezekiel 10 ends with one last careful look at the figures that carry God's glory out of the temple. Why count them again — four faces each, four wings each, human hands under the wings — at the very moment God is leaving?
Earlier in the vision Ezekiel could only call these figures "living creatures." Now he can name them. The name ties them to the figures on the mercy-seat — the cover of the ark inside the temple.
But now the cherubim mount up, and at last we have the full identification of the living creature with the figures upon the mercy-seat. "I knew," says the prophet just after this, "I knew that they were cherubim." It is, as it were, those figures upon the mercy-seat that are now showing life and activity.
The number four keeps returning in this verse. One writer reads it as a picture of reach — in knowledge, in movement, and in service.
There were four living creatures. That suggests these powers are universal, for there is not one spot in the whole universe beyond the control of God. Their four faces suggest that they know every movement in the universe. Their four wings speak of their universal activity, for they reach every point in the created world. The hands under the wings assure us that they can serve God both in heaven and on earth.
Each face carries its own meaning. Together they form one picture of how God rules.
Each living creature had four faces. The first was the face of a man, which speaks of "intelligence." The second was the face of a lion, which symbolises "strength." The third was the face of an ox, standing for "patient endurance." The fourth was the face of an eagle, which implies "swiftness of execution." All of them show perfect organisation for carrying out the government of God according to His righteous judgement.
Hands are the one human detail the verse names. Where they sit — under the wings — matters too.
They had human hands under their wings. This surely means they had a delicacy of touch and a power of handling things that their feet lacked. So they were not four-footed, but human. And their hands sat under wings that marked them out as fitted for a higher sphere than earth.
Set beside the wings, the hands complete a pair — one for doing, one for speed.
Activity, or skill in doing, seems to be represented by the hands of a man. The wings represent swiftness of execution from above, without a moment's turning aside from the task in hand, and with four sides, so as to move in all directions.
So who are these cherubim? One writer ties them to God's authority to judge, and says they are not a fixed order of beings at all.
The cherubim have been well described as "God's judicial executive, to whomsoever entrusted, and in whatever circumstances displayed." They do not appear to be a distinct order in the creation of God; they are rather symbolical figures. In His ways of government and judgement God sometimes uses angels and sometimes men. Whichever it may be, the instruments employed would be God's cherubim for the moment.
Ezekiel counts faces, wings and hands while the glory is on its way out of the house. Which way it is moving is the heart of the matter — and it is not the end of the story.
The glory was departing, not coming to dwell there. Jehovah is leaving the seat He gladly chose — not leaving it for ever, for He has chosen it for ever. But meanwhile the sins of His own people, and their turning away from Him, have driven Him out. Ezekiel's prophecy is clear that He will return and dwell there, never to leave His home again as long as the earth lasts. His people will then enjoy the rest of God under Messiah and the new covenant.
- Named. The living creatures of the vision are now named: cherubim. They are the figures from the mercy-seat, alive and moving.
- Faced. Four faces — man, lion, ox, eagle. They stand for intelligence, strength, patient endurance and swift action in God's government.
- Winged. Four faces and four wings each. Nothing escapes their sight, and no place lies beyond their reach.
- Handed. Human hands under the wings mean careful, skilled work — by beings fitted for a higher sphere than earth.
- Moving. These hands serve God's authority to judge. Here they carry His glory out of a house His people's sin drove Him from — a house He has chosen for ever, and will return to.
And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I had seen by the river Chebar -- their appearance and themselves they went every one straight before them.
Ezekiel has been watching the glory of God leave the temple step by step, and here he records what carried it: the same faces he had seen years before by a canal in Babylon. That repeat matters — the God who is leaving His house has not changed in power or purpose.
Ezekiel had described these beings in chapter 1 without naming them. Now he names them, and that ties the vision to the mercy-seat — the gold lid of the ark, which carried figures of cherubim.
But now the cherubim rise up, and at last we can fully identify the living creature with the figures on the mercy-seat. "The cherubim mounted up … this was the living creature that I saw by the Chebar canal." "I knew," says the prophet just after this, "I knew that they were cherubim." The identification is complete. It is as if those figures on the mercy-seat are now showing life and activity.
Each creature carried four faces. Together they picture how God governs.
The faces of these living creatures match the faces of the four living creatures in Revelation 4. Each living creature had four faces. The first was the face of a man, which speaks of "intelligence". The second was the face of a lion, which stands for "strength". The third was the face of an ox, representing "patient endurance". The fourth was the face of an eagle, which implies "swiftness of execution." All show perfect organisation for carrying out the government of God according to His righteous judgement.
What happens when power resists them? One writer follows the four faces to their outcome.
They will out-think, out-last, out-wear and out-distance every opposing power, and will never fail to carry out every detail of the will of God in the universe. Going straight forward in their might, they will sweep aside all opposition until everything is subdued. Then the glory of God comes into full view in the glorified Man, Christ Jesus.
The verse ends with each creature going straight forward. One writer explains the phrase by comparing it with the way human commanders plan.
Generals fighting a war would have what people call "a major plan". If that failed, they would fall back on "a secondary plan". But nothing here suggests a secondary plan: "Each one of them went straight forward." God needs no secondary plan. They are invincible. Nothing can deflect them or turn them aside. Nebuchadnezzar with all his power could not turn them aside.
These same creatures are now moving away from Jerusalem. One commentator notes that the vision still holds together, and that the pause at the gate changes nothing.
There is no separation of the wheels from the cherubim. There is not the least difference in how they act together, or in the result of their complex movements… There might be a lingering over the east gate, but the glory was departing.
Why would God leave at all? One writer points to the state of the people, and to how two prophets reacted.
God gave Ezekiel, whose name means "strengthened of God," the power to see this! Jeremiah, too, had said, "You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and we are called by Your Name; leave us not" (14:9); but the people were corrupt beyond cure, and He would stay no longer. This distressed Jeremiah deeply, but God did not allow Ezekiel to mourn. Slowly the glory of the Lord withdrew, first to "the threshold of the house."
The story does not end at the east gate. Later in the book the same glory travels the other way.
It is the same glory which departed, which returns; it is the same Lord, who resumes relationship with His earthly people. When the visible glory of the Lord withdrew, His gracious presence left His people, and judgment followed. When the visible glory returns, His gracious presence returns among them, and the judgment that has lasted so long is gone forever. The glory left through the east gate, and was finally seen on the mountain at the east side of the city. The return is from the way of the east, and the glory of the Lord enters through the east gate.
- Same faces. What Ezekiel saw in exile by the Chebar canal is what he now sees over Jerusalem. He names the creatures at last: the cherubim of the mercy-seat, alive and moving.
- Same God. The four faces — man, lion, ox, eagle — stand for intelligence, strength, patient endurance and swift action. Together they form a complete arrangement for God's righteous government.
- Same course. "Straight forward" means no swerve and no backup plan. Not even Nebuchadnezzar could turn them aside.
- Same slowness. The glory left in stages and lingered at the east gate, but lingering was not staying — the departure was real.
- Same return. The glory that went out by the east gate comes back by the east gate. His gracious presence returns with it, and the long judgment is over.