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Glory and Cheribum
Glory and Cheribum
Glory and Cheribum
iii. “Fire that proceeds from Him will be absolutely just in its activity. It will
harm nothing save that I which is evil. The wrath of God is terrible, I but it is
never passion overleaping the boundaries of righteous action. It is always
restrained by the strictest justice.” (Morgan)
b. He went in and stood beside the wheels: The man clothed in linen promptly
obeyed the command of God.
c. The cherub stretched out his hand: The man clothed in linen did not take the
fire directly, but received it from a cherub. Ezekiel explained that the cherub was
able to do this because he appeared to have the form of a man’s hand
under his wings.
i. “Possibly it was meant to show that even an angelic messenger like the man
clothed in linen had to keep his distance from the aweful throne of God.”
(Taylor)
d. Put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen: Now this angel (angels are
sometimes described as men in the Bible) could fulfill the command to scatter the
coals of fire over the city (Ezekiel 10:2).
B. The appearance of the cherubim.
ii. If the wheels and the cherubim represent God’s chariot or chariot-throne,
then it is clear that Ezekiel was to understand that it was on the move. It was
in Babylon, now it is in Jerusalem at the temple.
b. The color of a beryl stone: The mineral beryl can come in many different colors,
but one of the more notable and precious is the emerald. This may mean that the
wheels and their workings gave off a green color.
c. Their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels
that the four had, were full of eyes all around: Ezekiel 1:18 described eyes in
connection with the wheels. Here we learn that the cherubim themselves were full
of eyes all around. This matches the later description of cherubim found
in Revelation 4:6.
i. “The image seems bizarre to the modern reader, but one must remember
that this is a visionary experience, and surrealistic features may overwhelm
realism.” (Block)
ii. Adam Clarke spoke for many who are mystified at the nature and
complexity of these descriptions: “And perhaps from the whole of this vision
and its difficulties, he will see the propriety of the council of rabbins ordering
Rabbi Ananias three hundred barrels of oil to light his lamp during the time it
would be necessary for him to employ in explaining this one vision.”
2. (Eze 10:14-17) The faces and the movement of the cherubim.
Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the
face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. And the
cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar. When
the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their
wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside
them. When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted
up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
a. Each one had four faces: This is almost the same description of the cherubim
found in Ezekiel 1:10-14. Here Ezekiel didn’t describe four faces on each cherub,
just the one face turned toward him. Another difference lies in that in the previous
passage the faces were listed as a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Here they are
listed as a cherub, a man, a lion, and an eagle. For some reason Ezekiel chose to
use the word cherub to describe the face associated with the ox.
· Some explain this by saying that since these beings are cherubim and each face is
actually the face of a cherub, there was simply some unknown reason why the a
substitute word was used (Wright, Wiersbe).
· Some explain this by saying that the face of a cherub is something like the face of
an ox (Alexander, Smith).
· Some explain this by the error of a scribe who copied the text (Taylor).
b. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar: This is a direct reference
to the vision of Ezekiel 1 (Ezekiel 1:1).
c. The same wheels also did not turn: This is the same description of the wheels
and their association with the cherubim as described in Ezekiel 1:17, 1:20-21. The
idea is that the cherubim and the wheels are perfectly coordinated in their motions
together. They were so closely connected that Ezekiel could write, the spirit of the
living creatures was in them.
3. (Eze 10:18-19) The glory of the Lord and the cherubim at the door of the temple.
Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over
the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in
my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the
door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above
them.
a. Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and
stood over the cherubim: Earlier in Ezekiel 10 the glory of the Lord was described
as moving to the threshold of the temple (Ezekiel 10:4). Here it continued to move,
and departed from the threshold of the temple.
i. “The Jews dreamed that God could not depart from his temple; indeed,
whilst it was his, and used as his, he did not, nor would he depart, but he will
abandon it when profaned, and thereby made not his.” (Poole)
b. The cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth: The cherubim
were something like guardians or attendants to this visible representation of the
glory of God. Ezekiel noted in his vision that as the glory moved, so did the
cherubim.
i. “The chariot not only serves as a vehicle to proclaim Yahweh’s glory and his
sovereignty (ch. 1) but also provides the means whereby he will abandon his
temple, by which he declares the termination of his special relationship with
Jerusalem and with his covenant people.” (Block)
c. They stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house: The sense seems to
be that the glory of God travelled from the holy of holies to the threshold of the
temple building, to across the court of the temple, and now stood at the door of
the east gate. It was moving away from the temple and about the leave the
temple courts.
i. The last mention of the east in this vision goes back to Ezekiel 8:16, where
25 priestly men faced east and worshipped the sun. “But the men who faced
east worshipping the sun must have looked through the vision at the gate:
their eyes were so dazzled by the created ball of light that they could not see
the True Light.” (Wright)
ii. It is striking and shocking thought that the glory of God was about to leave
the temple altogether. Yet, Ezekiel also will later tell us (Ezekiel 43:2-4) that it
will come back. “But turn to Eze 43:2-4. The glory of the Lord returned to the
renovated temple. Like the dawn of a new day; like the sound of many waters,
it came, it came. ‘This,’ God said, ‘is the place of My throne;... and the house
of Israel shall no more defile.’” (Meyer)
iii. “Note that when the Lord does finally return, He is seen coming back
through the East Gate (Ezekiel 43:4).” (Wright)
d. The glory of the God of Israel was above them: Ezekiel phrased this with a bit of
irony, or perhaps tragedy. The God of Israel should have His glory rest in Israel, but
now that glory was about to depart.
i. “The departure of the glory signals the end of a relationship that existed for
almost four centuries. The divine king has abandoned his residence.” (Block)
4. (Eze 10:20-22) The connection with the vision of the cherubim recorded in Ezekiel 1.
This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I
knew they were cherubim. Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the
likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. And the likeness of their
faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their
appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.
a. I knew they were cherubim: Ezekiel again connected what he saw in this vision
with what he saw in a vision at the River Chebar, recorded in Ezekiel 1.
b. They each went straight forward: “The final word is that every cherub went
straight forward, thus proclaiming the impossibility of thwarting or frustrating the
plans of God. They kept their object and mission undeviating before them at all
times.” (Feinberg)