Book of Ezekiel: Chapter 10
In this chapter, Ezekiel’s vision of the destruction of Jerusalem continues. As the slaughter of the Israelites is completed, the winged creatures seen in Ezekiel’s previous vision appear once again. God’s glory then enters the Temple. His glory is described as a moving, illuminated cloud. God’s glory shortly enters the Temple, then proceeds to empty itself out of the Temple. This symbolic motion indicates that the Temple will not completely be filled with God’s glory from now on.
As God’s glory is leaving the Temple of Jerusalem, God also instructs the man in linen (who had previously marked those who would be spared God’s wrath) to spread burning coal throughout the city. This action has been interpreted to symbolize the city’s purging of sin.
God symbolically removing Himself from the Temple is a very sobering message. In one motion, he reduces the Temple from being a place where God is present to a place wherein God isn’t present. God’s patience with the Israelites was worn thin, and now the Temple would not feel the presence of God again until Jesus entered it in the New Testament.
Key Verses:
“Then the glory of the Lord moved out from the door of the Temple and hovered above the cherubim. And as I watched, the cherubim flew with their wheels to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.” ~ Ezekiel 10:18-19 NLT
Questions to ponder:
- How did the Israelites suffer from God removing his glory from their Temple?
- How could the Israelites have prevented God from taking such drastic measures against them?
