Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, “Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” He went in as I watched.
Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. Yahweh’s glory mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh’s glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. The 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 him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. The form of a man’s hand appeared here in the cherubim under their wings.
I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub. The appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. When they went, they went in their four directions. They didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it. They didn’t turn as they went. Their whole body, including their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “the whirling wheels”. Every one them had four faces. The first face was the face of the cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was the face of a lion. The fourth was the face of an eagle.
The cherubim mounted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 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 also didn’t turn from beside them. When they stood, these stood. When they mounted up, these mounted up with them; for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
Yahweh’s glory went out from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went out, with the wheels beside them. Then they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. Every one had four faces, and every one four wings. The likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves. They each went straight forward.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 Here the Prophet relates another vision which has a…
Here the Prophet relates another vision which has a great likeness to the first which he related to us in the first chapter, but it has another object, as we shall soon see. Since we discussed the chief members of the vision in the first chapter, I shall now therefore be shorter. I shall only glance at what I formerly said, and at the same time point out any difference. But before we descend to that, God’s design in this vision must be understood. God wished to bear witness to the Jews that he had nothing further in common with them, because he intended to leave the temple, and then to consume the whole city with burning. But lest this threat should be unheeded by the Jews, God’s majesty was placed before them so fearfully that it might strike even the obstinate with fear. Now I come to the words. He says, that he saw again over the heads of the cherubim a throne, whose color was like sapphire Instead of living creatures he now puts cherubim, and there is no doubt that those living creatures of which he formerly spoke were cherubim. But because the vision occurs in the temple, God begins familiarly to explain to his servant what was previously too obscure. For he had seen the four living creatures near the river Chebar, namely, in a profane country. When therefore the Jews and Israelites were absent as exiles far from the temple, it is no wonder that God did not appear so clearly to his Prophet as he now does when brought into the temple. For although the Prophet has not changed his place, yet he does not seem to have been transferred to Jerusalem in vain, and to behold what was done in the temple. This is the reason why he now calls those cherubim which he had before called simply living creatures. But we have explained why four cherubim were seen, while only two were in the sanctuary, namely, because the Jews were almost buried in gross ignorance. They had long ago departed from the pursuit of sincere piety, and the light of celestial doctrine had been almost extinct among them. Since, therefore, the ignorance of the people was so gross, something rude must be put before them, or otherwise they could not understand what they ought to learn.
Now it is by no means doubtful that God obliquely wishes to reprove that base ignorance, because it was not his fault that they did not perceive in the law and the temple whatever was useful to be known for their salvation. When, therefore, God changes this legal form, there is no doubt he shows how degenerate the people was, just as if he had transfigured himself. But we must also remember what I then said, that four cherubim were offered to the Prophet that God might show that he embraced the whole world under his own dominion. We saw a little while ago, that the Jews, While they thought themselves already without God’s care, being thoroughly callous, were so blind that they supposed at the same time that God exercised no care over the world. In vain, therefore, in their perverse imaginations they shut up God in heaven; he shows that he rules the whole universe, and that nothing moves except by his secret power. Since then four cherubim are put instead of two, it is just as if God showed that he reigned throughout the four quarters of the globe, and that his power is extended in all directions, and hence that it was the height of impiety for the Jews to imagine that he had deserted the earth Thirdly, we must remark what has also been said before, that the cherubim had four heads, that God might show that angelic motions flourish in all creatures. But I shall repeat this last comment in its proper place. I now only touch it shortly.
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We must now see why the Prophet says, there was a throne whose color was like sapphire, and the throne itself was above the four cherubim: because in truth God has his angels at hand to obey him: hence they are placed under his feet, that we may know that they are not independent, but are so subject to God that they always depend upon his nod, and are borne wherever he commands them. This is the reason why they were placed under the expanse where God’s throne was As far as the expanse is concerned, it is the noun which Moses uses in relating the creation of the world. (Genesis 1:6, 7, 8.) The Greeks translated it by στερεωμα but badly: the Latins imitated them when they used the expression “firmament:” but it is taken for the heavens, and for the whole space between us and heaven, and yet it is above the world. God shows his throne above the expanse of heaven, not without himself, lest the Prophet should conceive anything earthly. For we know how inclined men’s minds are to their own fictions. But when God is mentioned, we cannot conceive anything aright unless we raise all our senses above the whole world. God, therefore, to raise up the mind of his Prophet, and to show himself at hand that the Prophet may reverently attend to the oracles, and then that he may regard the heavenly glory of God with becoming humility, interposed the expansion between his throne and the earth. It follows —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 20 Which in Ezek. 1:5, he called the four beasts.
Which in Ezek. 1:5, he called the four beasts.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–22 Eze 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the…
Eze 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
Ver. 1. Then I looked, and behold in the firmament.] Heb, In that expanse or firmament mentioned, Eze 1:22.
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That was above the head of the cherubims.] Called before "living creatures." {Eze 1:5; Eze 1:13-15; Eze 1:19} Now God is represented as in his temple, where things are more clearly descried and described. {Psa 29:9} In his temple doth every one speak of his glory. Cherubims the angels are called, from the greatness of their knowledge, saith Jerome, as God’s Rabbis; or rather, because the Lord rideth upon them {Psa 80:1; Psa 99:1} as upon his chariot. {1Ch 28:18} Here they are said to be under the firmament and near the throne to execute God’s commands with expedition. It is not therefore as those miscreants said, {Eze 9:9} The Lord hath forsaken the earth.
There appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone,] i.e., Jehovah in his glory.
As the appearance.] It was but as, and as the appearance: we cannot see God as he is. Some have seen Mercabah velo harocheb, say the Hebrews, the chariot, but not the rider therein.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22 Then, or And, which connecting this with the ninth…
Then, or And, which connecting this with the ninth chapter, will connote the time wherein he thus saw.
I looked, in spirit or vision; and this vision is the same of Eze 1., repeated, or very little differing from it, and with some particular design, which that of Eze 1 did not express, viz. a design of leaving the temple and city desolate. In the firmament: see Eze 1:22,26.
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The cherubims; called living creatures Eze 1:5, which see.
A sapphire stone: see Eze 1:26,27, where these things are spoken to.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 To inspire us with a holy awe and dread…
To inspire us with a holy awe and dread of God, and to fill us with his fear, we may observe, in this part of the vision which the prophet had,
I. The glorious appearance of his majesty. Something of the invisible world is here in the visible, some faint representations of its brightness and beauty, some shadows, but such as are no more to be compared with the truth and substance than a picture with the life; yet here is enough to oblige us all to the utmost reverence in our thoughts of God and approaches to him, if we will but admit the impressions this discovery of him will make. 1. He is here in the firmament above the head of the cherubim, Eze 10:1. He manifests his glory in the upper world, where purity and brightness are both in perfection; and the vast expanse of the firmament aims to speak the God that dwells there infinite. It is the firmament of his power and of his prospect too; for thence he beholds all the children of men. The divine nature infinitely transcends the angelic nature, and God is above the head of the cherubim, in respect not only of his dignity above them, but of his dominion over them. Cherubim have great power, and wisdom, and influence, but they are all subject to God and Christ. 2. He is here upon the throne, or that which had the appearance of the likeness of a throne (for God's glory and government infinitely transcend all the brightest ideas our minds can either form or receive concerning them); and it was as it were a sapphire-stone, pure and sparkling; such a throne has God prepared in the heavens, far exceeding the thrones of any earthly potentates. 3. He is here attended with a glorious train of holy angels. When God came into his temple the cherubim stood on the right side of the house (Eze 10:3), as the prince's life-guard, attending the gate of his palace. Christ has angels at command. The orders given to all the angels of God are, to worship him. Some observe that they stood on the right side of the house, that is, the south side, because on the north side the image of jealousy was, and other instances of idolatry, from which they would place themselves at as great a distance as might be. 4. The appearance of his glory is veiled with a cloud, and yet out of that cloud darts forth a dazzling lustre; in the house and inner court there was a cloud and darkness, which filled them, and yet either the outer court, or the same court after some time, was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory, Eze 10:3, Eze 10:4. There was a darting forth of light and brightness; but if any over curious eye pried into it, it would find itself lost in a cloud. His righteousness is conspicuous as the great mountains, and the brightness of it fills the court; but his judgements are a great deep, which we cannot fathom, a cloud which we cannot see through. The brightness discovers enough to awe and direct our consciences, but the cloud forbids us to expect the gratifying of our curiosity; for we cannot order our speech by reasons of darkness. Thus (Hab 3:4) he had rays coming out of his hand, and yet there was the hiding of his power. Nothing is more clear than that God is, nothing more dark than what he is. God covers himself with light, and yet, as to us, makes darkness his pavilion. God took possession of the tabernacle and the temple in a cloud, which was always the symbol of his presence. In the temple above there will be no cloud, but we shall see face to face. 5. The cherubim, made a dreadful sound with their wings, Eze 10:5. The vibration of them, as of the strings of musical instruments, made a curious melody; bees, and other winged insects, make a noise with their wings. Probably this intimated their preparing to remove, by stretching forth and lifting up their wings, which made this noise as it were to give warning of it. This noise is said to be as the voice of the almighty God when he speaks, as the thunder, which is called the voice of the Lord (Psa 29:3), or as the voice of the Lord when he spoke to Israel on Mount Sinai; and therefore he then gave the law with abundance of terror, to signify with what terror he would reckon for the violation of it, which he was now about to do. This noise of their wings was heard even to the outer court, the court of the people; for the Lord's voice, in his judgements, cries in the city, which those may hear that do not, as Ezekiel, see the visions of them.
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II. The terrible directions of his wrath. This vision has a further tendency than merely to set forth the divine grandeur; further orders are to be given for the destruction of Jerusalem. The greatest devastations are made by fire and sword. For a general slaughter of the inhabitants of Jerusalem orders were given in the foregoing chapter; now here we have a command to lay the city in ashes, by scattering coals of fire upon it, which in the vision were fetched from between the cherubim.
1. For the issuing out of orders to do this the glory of the Lord was lifted up from the cherub (as in the chapter before for the giving of orders there, Eze 10:3) and stood upon the threshold of the house, in imitation of the courts of judgement, which they kept in the gates of their cities. The people would not hear the oracles which God had delivered to them from his holy temple, and therefore they shall thence be made to hear their doom.
2. The man clothed in linen who had marked those that were to be preserved is to be employed in this service; for the same Jesus that is the protector and Saviour of those that believe, having all judgement committed to him, that of condemnation as well as that of absolution, will come in a flaming fire to take vengeance on those that obey not his gospel. He that sits on the throne calls to the man clothed in linen to go in between the wheels, and fill his hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. This intimates, (1.) That the burning of the city and temple by the Chaldeans was a consumption determined, and that therein they executed God's counsel, did what he designed before should be done. (2.) That the fire of divine wrath, which kindles judgement upon a people, is just and holy, for it is fire fetched from between the cherubim. The fire on God's altar, where atonement was made, had been slighted, to avenge which fire is here fetched from heaven, like that by which Nadab and Abihu were killed for offering strange fire. If a city, or town, or house, be burnt, whether by design or accident, if we trace it in its original, we shall find that the coals which kindled the fire came from between the wheels; for there is not any evil of that kind in the city, but the Lord has done it. (3.) That Jesus Christ acts by commission from the Father, for from him he receives authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of man. Christ came to send fire on the earth (Luk 12:49) and in the great day will speak this world into ashes. By fire from his hand, the earth, and all the works that are therein, will be burnt up.
3. This man clothed with linen readily attended to this service; though, being clothed with linen, he was very unfit to go among the burning coals, yet, being called, he said, Lo, I come; this commandment he had received of his Father, and he complied with it; the prophet saw him go in, Eze 10:2. He went in, and stood beside the wheels, expecting to be furnished there with the coals he was to scatter; for what Christ was to give he first received, whether for mercy or judgement. He was directed to take fire, but he staid till he had it given him, to show how slow he is to execute judgement, and how long-suffering to us-ward.
4. One of the cherubim reached him a handful of fire from the midst of the living creatures. The prophet, when he first saw this vision, observed that there were burning coals of fire, and lamps, that went up and down among the living creatures (Eze 1:13); thence this fire was taken, Eze 10:7. The spirit of burning, the refiner's fire, by which Christ purifies his church, is of a divine original. It is by a celestial fire, fire from between the cherubim, that wonders are wrought. The cherubim put it into his hand; for the angels are ready to be employed by the Lord Jesus and to serve all his purposes.
5. When he had taken the fire he went out, no doubt to scatter it up and down upon the city, as he was directed. And who can abide the day of his coming? Who can stand before him when he goes out in his anger?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–22 Then I looked, and, behold,.... After the vision of…
Then I looked, and, behold,.... After the vision of the destruction of the greater part of the inhabitants of Jerusalem by the six men with slaughter weapons, and of the preservation of a few by the man clothed with linen; another vision is seen by the prophet, in some things like to that he saw, of which there is an account in the first chapter; though in some circumstances different, and exhibited with a different view; partly to represent the destruction of Jerusalem by fire, and partly the Lord's removal from it, before or at that time:
in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim; the same with the living creatures, Eze 1:22; where the firmament or expanse of heaven is said to be over their heads, as here; See Gill on Eze 1:22,
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there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne; See Gill on Eze 1:26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 The scattering the coals of fire upon the city,…
The scattering the coals of fire upon the city, ver. 1-7. The removal of the glory of God from the temple, ver. 8-22.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 20 The same august vision which appeared to the prophet…
CHAPTER X
The same august vision which appeared to the prophet at first,
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is repeated here; and coals of fire are scattered over the city
to intimate that it was to be burned. The symbol of the Divine
presence is likewise represented as removing farther and
farther from the temple, to signify that God's protection was
about to be withdrawn from it, 1-22.
It may not be improper to remark, that whatever is particularly
intended by the cherubim, wheels, firmament, throne, c.,
described in this and the first chapter, the prophet several
times informs us (Eze 1:28; Eze 3:25; Eze 8:4; Eze 10:4; Eze 10:18,)
that his vision was a manifestation or similitude of the GLORY
of Jehovah; or, in other words, consisted of a set of
hieroglyphics by which this glory was in some measure
represented. It is also worthy of observation, that the faces
of the living creatures, of which we have an account in the
fourth chapter of the Apocalypse, are precisely the same with
those of Ezekiel's cherubim; and we may readily collect, as
Mr. Mede remarks, the quarter of the heavens in which each
cherub was situated in reference to the other three, from the
consideration that as Ezekiel saw the vision proceeding from
the NORTH, (see Eze 1:4; Eze 1:10,)
the human face of the cherubim was towards him, or the south;
on his right hand, or the east, was the face of a lion; on his
left hand, or the west, the face of an ox; and towards the
north, the face of an eagle.
NOTES ON CHAP. X
Verse 1. As it were a sapphire stone] See Clarke on Eze 1:22; "Eze 1:26". The chariot, here mentioned by the prophet, was precisely the same as that which he saw at the river Chebar, as himself tells us, Eze 10:15, of which see the description in Eze 1:26.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 8, 14, 15, 18, 20 Eze 10:1-3. Then I looked, &c. — Most of…
Eze 10:1-3. Then I looked, &c. — Most of this chapter has been explained in the notes on chap. 1. In the firmament, &c. — See Eze 1:26. The repetition of the vision here signified that the heavy and terrible judgments of God were drawing nearer and nearer. He — That sat on the throne; spake unto the man clothed in linen — To the angel, as before, Eze 9:2; and said, Go in between the wheels, under the cherub — Or, between the cherubim, according to the explication given Eze 10:7. And fill thy hand with coals of fire — Which sparkled and ran up and down between the living creatures: see Eze 1:13. This part of the vision signified that the city would shortly be consumed by fire. Coals of fire do elsewhere denote the divine vengeance. Now the cherubim — Which were part of the vision shown to the prophet; stood on the right side of the house — In the inner court, on the north side of the temple, Eze 10:18; namely, the court of the priests. And the cloud filled the court — A splendour, or brightness, went before, and a cloud followed it. The splendour signified the clearness of the judgment; and the clouds, the storms of calamity which would follow it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20 As in Ezek. 1, the vision of the glory…
As in Ezek. 1, the vision of the glory of the Lord, the particulars given identifying the two visions.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22 Throne. It was a sky blue crystal or sapphire…
Throne. It was a sky blue crystal or sapphire colour, (chap. i. 22, 26.) and was now empty, chap. i. The Lord spoke from the temple door, ver. 4. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 3. The Coals of Fire on the City (Ch.…
3. The Coals of Fire on the City (Ch. 10).
1And I saw, and, behold, on the expanse that was above the head of the cherubim,—as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne was seen [appeared] over them. 2And He spake unto the man clothed in linen, and said, Come hither between the wheels, hither under the cherub, and fill thy two hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter over 3the city. And he came before mine eyes. And the cherubim stood on the right of the house, at the coming of the man; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4And the glory of Jehovah rose up above the cherub, over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the glory of Jehovah. 5And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the court, the outer one, as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh. 6And it came to pass, at His giving the command to the man clothed in linen, when He said, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the 7cherubim; then he came, and stood beside the wheel. And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and lifted it, and gave it into the two hands of him clothed in linen; and he took it, and went out. 8And there appeared in the cherubim the form of 9a man’s hand under their wings. And I saw, and, behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and one wheel beside another cherub; 10and the appearance of the wheels as the look of the stone of Tartessus. And their appearance: one likeness to them four, as it were a wheel in the midst of a wheel. 11When they went, they went toward their four sides; they turned not in their going, for whither the head turned, they went after it; they turned not in 12their going. And all their flesh, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about; they four had their 13wheels. As regards the wheels attached to them [or: As regards the wheels, regarding14them], it was cried in mine ears, O wheels. And four faces were to every one: the face of the one was the face of the cherub, and the face of the second the face of a man, and of the third the face of a lion, and of the fourth the face of an 15eagle. And the cherubim mounted upwards: this was the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 16And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, 17the wheels also turned not from beside them. When the one stood the other stood, and when the one mounted up the other mounted up; for the spirit of the 18living creature was in them. And the glory of Jehovah went forth from above 19the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth before mine eyes, when they departed, and the wheels beside them; and it stood at the opening of the gate of Jehovah’s house, the east [gate]; and the glory of the God of Israel was 20over them above. This was the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel at the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21Every one had four faces, and every one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man 22under their wings. And [as regards] the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, [as regards] their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.
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Eze_10:2. Sept.: ... τ. ἐνδεδυκοτα την στολην—
Eze_10:6. ... τ. στολην την ἁγιαν—
Eze_10:9. ... λιθου ἀνθρακος.
Eze_10:11. …εἰς ὁν ἀν τοπον ἐπεβλεψεν ἡ ἀρχη ἡ μια—ad quem ire declinabat quæ prima erat—
Eze_10:12. ….πληρεις ὀφθαλμων κυκλοθεν τοις τεσσαρσιν τροχοις αὐτ.—plena … oculis in circuitu quat. rot.
Eze_10:13. Et rotas istas vocavit volubiles—
Eze_10:19. … K. ἐστησαν ἐπι τα προθυρα—
Eze_10:21. Sept.: ... κ. ὀκτω πτερυγες.
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
What follows is to be regarded as a second act in this dramatic vision, for the first woe closes with the report in Eze_9:11. That the vision makes a new start is shown immediately in Eze_10:1 : And I saw, and, behold (Eze_8:2); and we shall be preserved from manifold perplexity if we mix up nothing from the previous chapter with this.—Comp. first of all on Eze_1:22; Eze_1:25. By this express reference to chapter 1. it must already be clear (comp. Eze_10:20) that הכרבים are the chajoth known from that passage. Comp. farther on Eze_1:26. The throne making its appearance prepares for the command of Him who is enthroned; but nothing appears except the throne, for the glory of Jehovah is conceived of as above the cherub, from which it moves in Eze_10:4. Keil (Klief.), following the punctuation, takes נראה עליהם as an independent sentence: He (Jehovah) appeared above them.
Eze_10:2. Comp. on Eze_9:1-2.—The vision in Ezekiel 1. corresponds with the temple-vision, an application of what was seen there to the case in hand (Mat_22:7).—בוא, as usual, in contrast with הלך.—בינות לגלגל is the intermediate space in the wheelwork, hence: between the four wheels on the ground. For although גלגל does not mean “whirl,” yet neither is it quite = אופן (wheel), but it combines at the same time what was implied in the wheel, with the idea of swiftness in rolling, of repeated, frequent motion. Comp. in the meantime for illustration, on Eze_1:15 sq.—אל־תחת לכרוב confines within narrower limits the more general expression which precedes; hence כרוב here is neither the double cherub on the ark, nor the whole of the cherubim, but the definite (Eze_10:7) individual cherub.—We are not certainly to think of any hearth for material fire as being between the cherubim, nor is the altar of incense (Isa_6:6) to be dragged in for explanation; but it is the wrath of God (comp. Eze_9:8), which destroys Jerusalem, that is symbolized, in accordance with the description in Eze_1:13. [Ew.: the punishment, as in Gen_19:24, the worst. Calv. adopts the view of a silent antithesis to Lev_6:12-13.] Herewith properly everything is already said as regards the judgment on the city; the statement ויקח ויצא in Eze_10:7 brings merely in addition the execution of it, which is immediately followed up by allusions (also to the vision in Ezekiel 1.), mostly of an explanatory character, which are meant to illustrate the matter with all fulness and circumstantial exactness.
Eze_10:3 begins to supplement by telling us where the cherubim (Eze_10:1-2) in this second act appeared to the prophet as standing, where they had taken up their position: on the right of the house [on account of the inner court (of the priests) which follows, to be explained of the temple proper]; according to most: on the south side or south-eastwards (Eze_10:19, Eze_11:23), in contrast with Eze_8:5 sq., 14 (Ew.: because the south is the place of fire and death, just as the Indian Jamas dwells there and comes thence); according to others: on this very account, and because of the execution of judgment by the Chaldeans, on the north side. Along with the cherubim the whole vision is transferred from Ezekiel 1., although first of all it is merely the cloud that is mentioned, which is certainly also the first thing in Eze_1:4 (comp. there). The circumstance that it fills the court of the priests is an impressive contrast to 1Ki_8:10 sq.
Eze_10:4 is almost a verbatim repetition of Eze_9:3, and accordingly the expression מעל הכרוב is to be understood as there of the double cherub on the ark, so that, as in Ezekiel 9. in connection with the judgment on the citizens, so here in connection with the burning of their city, the abandonment of the temple on the part of Jehovah is prefigured. The prophet explains how the connection in the latter case was made clear to him,—how, namely, outside the temple-edifice the cherubim (chajoth) stood ready with the coals of fire, and the cloud threateningly filled the inner court, when at the same time in the most holy place the glory of Jehovah rose from its old resting-place, which the worship Sabbatically celebrated, so that it mounted up (וירם) over (על, which may of course be for אל, but rather stands here in contrast with אל in Eze_9:3) the threshold of the whole, visible as well as raised high above all; “cherubim” and “cherub” balancing each other in this way, that the house (in the narrower sense) became full of brightness from the cloud which filled the inner court, the (inner) court became so from the glory of Jehovah taking its departure out of the most holy place. Comp. on the “cloud” and the “brightness,” Doctrinal Reflections, p. 117. And as the brightness in this way attended the glory of Jehovah visibly through the court of the priests, so in Eze_10:5 the sound of the wings, etc., ready for movement, accompanies it audibly; comp. on Eze_1:24. The mention of its being heard as far as the (outer) court proves the correctness of the exposition given of Eze_10:4, as being parallel to Eze_9:3. Comp. besides on Eze_1:24 (Exo_19:16; Exo_19:19; Exo_20:1; Exo_20:18 sq.).
Accordingly, after the adjustment of the relation of cherub and cherubim (the explanations of Eze_10:3 sq. are attached to the latter), Eze_10:6 returns to Eze_10:2, resuming the command to the man clothed in linen. The execution of what is there commanded is described as it began. האופן אצל, i.e. beside the one definite wheel to which he went; not “an ideal combination of the wheels,” as Hengst, or = plural (Sept. [Eng. Vers.]).
Then Eze_10:7 tells us how he obtained the fire (the coals of fire of Eze_10:2). The cherub next to that wheel (Eze_10:9) took it and gave it to him. Thus the band of avengers (Ezekiel 9.) under his leadership, in whom we recognised a setting forth of the divine glory, is parallel with the cherubs of the vision; one hand grasps the other (Rev_15:7; Rev_8:5). The character in which the priestly man appears as mediating exemption from judgment (Ezekiel 9.) has thus (quite in accordance with the departure of Jehovah on the throne of grace out of the most holy place, where also no sacrificial mediation is possible any longer) assumed the form of a mediation of pure judgment. This abandonment of the temple on the part of Jehovah, which is much more prominently connected with the judgment on Jerusalem than in Eze_9:3, prefigures the ויצא of the man (comp. Eze_9:7), who thus takes his departure from the court of the priests for the city. But the mention of the hand of the cherub in Eze_10:7, as well as of the wheel in Eze_10:6, gives occasion for the continuation of explanatory additions which follows.
First comes Eze_10:8. Eze_8:3; comp. on Eze_1:8.—Then in reference to the wheel, Eze_10:9; comp. on Eze_1:15 sq., Eze_1:4; Eze_1:16. A distributive repetition of the statement.
Eze_10:10. Comp. on Eze_1:5; Eze_1:13; Eze_1:16. As the appearance of the wheels is described in two aspects, the expression is repeated, just like מראה in Ezekiel 1.
Eze_10:11. Comp. on Eze_1:17; Eze_1:8-9. The head, according to Hengst, is: “what is upmost, highest, most excellent, i.e. the wheel which for the time had the direction, and which the others required to follow.” Hitz.: “This is also the case with ordinary vehicles; but where each wheel has a fourfold movement, there are also four heads, consequently; the head which begins the movement and carries the other three heads along with it.” Keil: “whither the foremost turned.” All these explanations keep aloof from any reference to the cherubim, while in Eze_10:9 the wheels stand beside them, and the following Eze_10:12 mentions the cherubim first. Comp. Eze_10:14. הראש is therefore = פנים in Eze_1:15, to which also יפנה seems to point. Consequently it is the primus motor, the face of the cherub giving the direction, which they followed as their head (comp. on Eze_1:11).
Eze_10:12. And all their flesh, etc., can only refer to the cherubim, which accordingly are described (Rev_4:6) additionally to Eze_1:18 (comp. there). לארבעתם אופניהם expressly specifies the connection between the cherubim and wheels thus characterized.
Eze_10:13. Hengst. translates in a meaningless way: “the wheels were called the whirl in my hearing.” Comp. for גלגל, Eze_10:2, and for באזני, Eze_9:1. The verse docs not so much wind up as prepare for what follows. The call (הַ, the sign of the vocative) is not, however, addressed to the wheels, as Keil: “to the wheels, to them it was cried in my hearing, O whirl”; but it contains what was cried, as giving the signal for departure, in reference to them (as Eze_10:14 also shows), with a view to the cherubim, which are described according to their faces, which give the direction (comp. Eze_10:11). Comp. first on Eze_1:6; Eze_1:10. The description of the faces in detail makes prominent only one of each of the four cherubim. (Is it that which is directly in front of the prophet?—Keil.) [Kimchi incorrectly: the first, second, etc., of the four faces of each.] The face of the one (first) was הכרוב פני, i.e. simply of the one definitely referred to in Eze_10:2; Eze_10:7 (Klief.). That it is the ox’s face is proved from the connection. If the north side is taken for it (see on Eze_1:10), then the definition in detail of the faces, significant as it is for the quarter from which the judgment breaks forth (Eze_10:3), may possibly be according to the quarter of the heavens, and not according to the standpoint of the beholder, so that on all four sides of the vision as a whole, one face would be made prominent. [Hence it is vain to connect with this the etymology of the word כרוב, which is still spoken of as worthy of notice by Kurtz, and accepted by Schmieder, viz. כרוב = arator, according to the Syriac; which would lead, as Umbreit assumes on grounds purely conjectural, to an “ox-form as specially prominent in the whole phenomenon of the cherub, particularly on the ark of the covenant.” Hitz., following the Sept., makes the whole verse disappear as a gloss.]
Eze_10:15. Now comes the soaring aloft of the cherubim, thus prepared for (Isa_33:10); and in this connection already (Eze_10:20) we have the identification with the vision in Ezekiel 1. Comp. there, Eze_10:20.
Eze_10:16. The connection of cherubim and wheels in their harmonious movement, repeated just as in Ezekiel 1., with the mention, however, here of their wings, which were not mentioned there. Comp. Eze_1:19 (Eze_10:11).
Eze_10:17. Eze_1:21; Eze_1:20.
Eze_10:18. ויצא corresponds with ויצא in Eze_10:7. It was really the last moment before the complete departure from the temple! The glory of Jehovah, after it had risen up “from above” the cherub in the most holy place, had shown itself aloft above the threshold of the temple-edifice as a whole (Eze_10:4); now it betakes itself thence, so as to be over the cherubim (Eze_10:3); and in Eze_10:19 the now (as in Ezekiel 1.) united (ויעמד) whole—cherubim, wheels, and glory of Jehovah—completes the abandonment of the temple as a whole.—בצאתם (comp. their standing-place in Eze_10:3), corresponding with ויצא in Eze_10:18.—פתח ש׳—where the court of the people opened toward the city, at the east gate of the temple-edifice.—(הקדמוני, comp. Gen_3:24 : מקדם.)
Eze_10:20. A repetition in completed form of Eze_10:15. There the cherubim were the living creature; here the living creature is the cherubim. The recognition of the chajoth as being cherubim is the explanation of the vision of Ezekiel 1., as referring to Jerusalem, and it was brought about by means of the double cherub on the ark of the covenant. The cherubim must certainly have been well known to the priest-prophet from that quarter. The circumstance that they had appeared to Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1.) as the living creature, threatened therefore alike the dead worship in the most holy place, and the service of the dead idols everywhere in Israel, with the wrath of the living God (אלהי־יש׳), with infallibly certain judgment. Their appearance by the Chebar predicted already the departure of the glory of Jehovah from the most holy place, and the abandonment of the Holy City; it had predictions at the same time for those who were in exile, as Ezekiel 11. will show. Thus it appears important to Ezekiel to recapitulate in Eze_10:21-22 the common features which serve as proof.
DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS
1. It is much less to the judgment on the city, of which the account is a very brief one, that the prophet directs his attention, than to the showing of the coincidence with Ezekiel 1. If the vision there was that of the glory of Jehovah, as Ezekiel expressly says in summing up (Eze_1:28 : מראה׳ הוא), its relation to the glory of Jehovah above the cherubim, in the most holy place of the temple at Jerusalem, remained an open question. Has the glory of Jehovah, therefore, forsaken the temple, or will it? is it about to depart from thence, that it appears by the Chebar amid the misery of the exile? We know from the Introduction to our book how important this matter is for Ezekiel’s mission and labours. The question, then, which had remained open, is answered by Ezekiel 10; and this the prophet does not merely by repeated allusion, running throughout the whole of Ezekiel 10., to Ezekiel 1. in the description, but also by the quite definite statement in Eze_10:15, and still more expressly in Eze_10:20 : היא החיה. The removal of the presence of Jehovah (Eze_10:4; Eze_10:18) from the ark of the covenant (already in Eze_9:3), the corresponding manifestations in Eze_10:1 sq., 5, etc., to the well-known vision of Ezekiel 1. (already in Eze_8:4), form the exceedingly dramatic, and at the same time the characteristic element of our chapter, which consists in the identity of the symbol of the divine presence for purposes of worship in the most holy place of the temple with that seen in vision by the Chebar, having so important a bearing on the downfall of Jerusalem as well as on the prophetic task of Ezekiel and the prospects of his companions in exile.
2. Bunsen remarks: “Hence the glory of God in the temple was none other than that which is reflected on the spirit of the pious man from the created universe. But this implies also that to the prophet, the law, or the ark of the covenant in the most holy place of the tabernacle, and afterwards of the temple, was a temporary phenomenon, and that the time for the spiritual knowledge and worship of God was approaching. It is a foreshadowing of what is announced in Joh_4:21, shortly before the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem. But this latter already wanted the ark of the covenant and the glory of the Eternal bound up therewith. We must, moreover, compare the departure to the Mount of Olives (Eze_11:22 sq.), and the entrance into the new temple (Eze_43:2 sq.).” Cocceius says: “God’s proper dwelling-place is not between the cherubim made of gold, in which there is no life, no energy, no motion, but between the cherubim which are chajoth, i.e. living creatures, who have eyes to see, who possess the light of truth and the fire of love in themselves, God’s life in them, and who therefore glorify God: where this is the case, there is God’s dwelling, His holy temple, His glorious presence.”
3. If (Eze_10:14) it is just to the ox-faced cherub that the dispensing of the fire (Eze_10:7; Eze_10:2) is assigned, then, in fact, we have an approximation to Lange’s interpretation of the bullock as the “suffering and bleeding life-form” (Lebens-gebild), the “tragic-sacrificial animal.” Light-foot: “When the high priest approached the ark in the holy of holies, the cherub, which of necessity first met his eye on his right, was turned to him with its ox-face.”
4. The approach of the man clothed in priestly linen garments has, according to the representation of the prophet, not only something which reminds us of the entrance of the high priest into the holy of holies on the great day of atonement, but, in the fire of the divine wrath being handed out to him here, has a significant Christological feature in it, where the aspect of eternity at the fearful moment and the noble simplicity of the transaction have an overawing effect. Comp. Deu_18:15-16.
5. “The holy fire of God cleanses every creature which it touches; but in the case of the pious, the burning coal is a gracious power of cleansing, as in Isaiah 6; for those who are thoroughly corrupt, it is a consuming fire of judgment” (Schmieder).
6. In the harmony wherewith the glory and cherubim and wheels are represented as moving, there is mirrored, as Hävernick remarks, the ideal character of the heavenly world.
(For the rest, see Doctrinal Reflections on Eze_9:1.)
HOMILETIC HINTS
Eze_10:1 sq. “By this it was meant to be shown that Christ’s majesty and power are higher than the heavens (Heb_7:26),—not, indeed, in respect of a residence in space, but in respect of the greatness of His glory” (St.).—“How great is the glory of the Lord, the great God, and how terrible is His majesty, when He rises up to punish sinners! Nah_1:2” (Tüb. B.).—He who formerly made the mark for sparing, behold, he now scatters coals of fire upon the city. So the Son of man is likewise the Judge of the world (Joh_5:22; Joh_5:27).—“Christ the Messiah was the Judge not only in the destruction of the last Jerusalem, but also in the destruction of the first (Luk_19:44)” (Tüb. B.).—The exact counterpart in the New Testament to this judgment with fire on Jerusalem in the Old Testament is the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem, fiery though it also was: instead of the coals of fire, tongues of fire.
Eze_10:3. “So oughtest thou also to be prepared and to stand prepared to execute the divine will; as in heaven, so on earth ought it to be” (Stck.).—“That every one, therefore, should execute his office and calling as willingly and faithfully as the angels do in heaven” (Heidel. Cat. 124).—“For the last time, when the glory is already on the way to take its departure. But also a beautiful type of the incarnation of the Word” (B. B.).
Eze_10:4. This is to be forsaken indeed, when God prepares to forsake us. Lo! then more than ever darkness comes over all the powers of man’s spirit and over his life, and even trusted, loved countenances of friends go into shadow. Good thoughts grow ever fewer, impulses to prayer ever more rare; admonitions of conscience cease; the holy of holies in the man becomes empty down to the four walls and the usual pious furniture, etc.
Eze_10:5. “The wings of the cherubim were heard in the confession of believers and in the executionary troops” (B. B.).—So also in the announcement of the shepherds (Luk_2:15 sq.), as well as in the declaration of the wise men from the East, and then later and specially in the preaching of the apostles, was this rushing to be heard.—The thunder of the Almighty will make itself be heard more distinctly at the end, where He has hitherto spoken tenderly to draw the miserable out of the world.
Eze_10:6 sq. “In the execution of important works, one ought to offer his hand to another (Exo_4:28; Exo_4:30)” (St.).—“Willingness and ability to perform the divine will is the meaning of the man’s hand; its being concealed under the wings shows the servants of God in their mysterious dependence on God’s beck and command” (St.).
Eze_10:9 sq. Comp. Homiletic Hints on Ezekiel 1.—“By this repeated and still plainer description the ‘galgal’ is to be made very clear to us” (Cocc.).
Eze_10:10. “In the kingdom of Christ everything stands in a close union and beautiful harmony” (St.).
Eze_10:11. “Now so ought it also to be among God’s children and servants. Not the one thing here, and the other out there. At the same time, one may be in front, whom the others follow; this detracts nothing from the equality” (B. B.).—“Dear friend, take no long counsel with flesh and blood, but follow after” (St.).
Eze_10:12. “The expression: ‘full of eyes,’ points to the enlightenment for looking to the ways of the Church, for watching that the church wheels may always be on the way of righteousness” (Lampe).
Eze_10:13. It may also be cried: Revolution! that everything must be turned topsyturvy. Evolution is better. But if the people, princes, and potentates will not themselves turn, then the Spirit of God in judgment causes them to be turned in manifold ways, so that the foremost comes to be hindermost.—“Oh, involution and change of all things in the world, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of God and of His Christ!” (B. B.)—“The believer is always in motion; there is no standing still in the Christian life, but continual progress in virtue and purity” (Stck.).
Eze_10:14. “Laboriousness, humanity, heroic courage, and depth of insight into the mysteries of God are especially the gifts of grace wherewith God is wont to endow men for the spread of His kingdom” (Lange).
Eze_10:15. “So ought it to be with us also, Col_3:1 sq.”—“Where God departs, His angels go with Him” (B. B.).
Eze_10:16 sq. Repetition makes it the more certain.
Eze_10:20 sq. The prophet also grew in knowledge.
Eze_10:22. “Like them ought we, none the less keeping our goal in view, to go after Him.”
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 he--Jehovah; He who sat on the "throne."
he--Jehovah; He who sat on the "throne."
the man--the Messenger of mercy becoming the Messenger of judgment (see on Eze 9:2). Human agents of destruction shall fulfil the will of "the Man," who is Lord of men.
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wheels--Hebrew, galgal, implying quick revolution; so the impetuous onset of the foe (compare Eze 23:24; Eze 26:10); whereas "ophan," in Eze 1:15-16 implies mere revolution.
coals of fire--the wrath of God about to burn the city, as His sword had previously slain its guilty inhabitants. This "fire," how different from the fire on the altar never going out (Lev 6:12-13), whereby, in type, peace was made with God! Compare Isa 33:12, Isa 33:14. It is therefore not taken from the altar of reconciliation, but from between the wheels of the cherubim, representing the providence of God, whereby, and not by chance, judgment is to fall.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20 1. “Behold… as it were a sapphire stone, with…
1. “Behold… as it were a sapphire stone, with the appearance of the likeness of a throne upon it” (LXX.). The glory of the Lord has returned from the threshold of the house (Eze_9:3) and the prophet now sees it above the cherubim. If we follow the Septuagint it is not the color of the throne which is described as sapphire, but of the foundation, “the firmament” upon which rests the throne; and this agrees with Exo_24:10, and Rev_21:19. It is a very curious fact, pointed out by Delitzsch, that the ancients lacked color perception. No ancient language contains the word sky-blue. It was not until the Middle Ages that even the poets seem to have noticed that the sky was blue. The Hebrews alone seem to have discovered this and have expressed the thought beautifully with the help of the sapphire — which is the more precious the deeper the blue. “Sapphire blue is the blue of the heaven; blue is the color of the atmosphere illumined by the sun, through which shine the dark depths of space; the color of the finite pervaded by the infinite; the color taken by that which is most heavenly as it comes down on the earthly, the color of the covenant between God and men. And blue passes almost universally as the color of fidelity… In biblical symbolism there is associated with blue the idea of the blue sky and with the blue sky the idea of the Godhead coming forth from its mysterious dwelling in the unseen world and graciously condescending to the creature.” — Franz Delitzsch, Iris.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–20 1. in the firmament] upon or above. Eze_10:4 assumes…
1. in the firmament] upon or above. Eze_10:4 assumes that the glory of the Lord had returned from the threshold of the house, where it stood (ch. Eze_9:3), and again appeared above the cherubim. The fact was either unremarked by the prophet or at least has not been mentioned by him. On the firmament and throne, cf. ch. Eze_1:26 seq.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 19 (1) As it were a sapphire stone.—Comp. Eze_1:26. No…
(1) As it were a sapphire stone.—Comp. Eze_1:26. No mention is here made of a being upon the throne, but it is implied by the “he spake” of the following verse. The word cherubim corresponds throughout this chapter to the living creatures of Ezekiel 1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 22 Vers. 1, 2. Then I looked, etc. There follows…
Vers. 1, 2. Then I looked, etc. There follows on the work of judgment another theophany, like that of Eze_1:15-28. In the "expanse," or firmament, like the "terrible crystal," there is seen as before the likeness of a sapphire throne. (see Eze_1:26, note) The form of the man who is the manifestation of Jehovah is implied, though not named. It is he who speaks to the captain of the six ministers of vengeance, himself the seventh, and bids him go in beneath the "whirling wheels" that are beneath the cherub (collective singular, as in Eze_9:9) and fill his hands with coals of fire, (Eze_1:13) and scatter them over the city, as the symbol of its doom. We are reminded of Isaiah"s vision; (Isa_6:6) but there the work of the fire was to purify, here simply to destroy.
HOMILETICS.
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The throne of God.
The Greek conception of God was intellectual; the Hebrew, moral To the Hellenic thought he was the Supreme Mind; to the Jewish he was the Supreme Will and Authority. The one conceived him as the Architect of the universe, displaying his intelligence in a vast design; the other, as the Sovereign Ruler of all things. Thus the Hebrew symbol of the Divine is a glory above a heavenly throne, and with the Jew the most significant Divine thing is the throne. Each thought is true, and our later Christian theology combines them both. But there is an awful sublimity in the Old Testament religion springing from the moral and governmental view of God, and to miss this is to sink into naturalism. The modern tendency is in some respects diverting attention from the Hebrew Throne to the Greek Mind. We need to revive the Old Testament element of the thought of God. Perhaps greater regard to this will help us to face some of the peculiar difficulties of our own day.
I THE THRONE OF GOD IS SUPREME. The throne seen in Ezekiel"s vision was "in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim." The most exalted and glorious beings lie at the foot of that awful throne.
1. God rules. He is will as well as thought. He does not merely know; he acts.
2. God rules in the present. Men rebel against the authority of God. Nevertheless, it still exists. It is not only that we shall appear before a future judgment bar of God. Already we live under his constant reign.
3. Gods rule is supreme. Death, sin, Satan, are all beneath God, and ultimately they will be conquered and crushed, that he may be all in all Even Christ, who sits at the right hand of God, is "subject to him". (1Co_15:27, 1Co_15:28)
II THE THRONE OF GOD IS RIGHTEOUS AND THEREFORE GLORIOUS.
1. It is righteous. The justice of God"s rule is not treated in the Old Testament as a source of terror, but, on the contrary, it is always praised and rejoiced in. The old cruel earthly tyrannies were felt to be so horribly unjust, that men turned with a sense of relief to the justice of the Supreme King. God is the Personal "Power that makes for righteousness." The end of his government is the highest goodness.
2. It is therefore glorious. The old glory of mere brute force with the triumph of cruelty is a low and vulgar folly by the side of this Divine glory of righteousness. Here is the greatest glory of God not his omniscience nor his omnipotence, not the irresistible might and overwhelming majesty of his throne, but its righteousness. It is not a blood stained glory of the earthly conqueror, but the sapphire beauty of perfect purity, truth, justice, and benevolence.
III THE THRONE OF GOD IS A CENTRE OF DIVINE REVELATION. The Greek method of seeking for God is by the way of intellect. The Great Mind is looked for in his plans. The Architect cf the universe is to be found by using the "argument from design." But latterly this Aristotelian method has been confused in the minds of some though, doubtless, only temporarily and by misunderstanding through the spread of the doctrine of evolution. Meanwhile our own age seems to need to return to the Hebrew method. Our best teachers point us in this direction. God is not chiefly the Infinite Intellect. He is the Will and the Power of right. We feel him in all force. But we discern him best in our own consciences. The unanswerable voice within that whispers, "Thou shalt" or "Thou shalt not," is an utterance from the throne of God, and it bears witness to the existence, and more than the existence, the authority, of our supreme Lord and King.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Ver. 1. The throne of Deity.
The prophet, in this chapter, makes use of all the wealth of earthly and human imagery to enhance his readers" conception of the glory of the Eternal. The throne here pictured is the throne of God, and the metaphor is employed in order to gather around the Deity all associations which may help to raise the thoughts in reverence, confidence, and adoration towards the King of the universe. At the same time, every figure drawn from earth, from man, must needs come short of the great reality; for the finite can do no more than merely suggest the Infinite.
I GOD IS THE SUPREME KING BY UNDERIVED RIGHT. Earthly monarchs reign by right of conquest, or election, or inheritance. They come to reign, they begin to reign. In these respects there is contrast between the sovereigns who bear sway among men and the King of kings and Lord of lords; for he is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To examine, to question, to vindicate his right is an absurdity, an impossibility; it is the condition and foundation of all rights, and is indemonstrable and self-evident.
II GOD IS SUPREME IN THE POSSESSION AND EXERCISE OF KINGLY POWER. Earthly sovereigns differ one from another in the military and naval forces they command, in the weight they bring to the councils of nations, in the respect and tear with which they are regarded. But there is no measure by which power such as emperors wield can be compared with Omnipotence. There is One, and there can be only One, who is almighty, who wields all the resources of the universe, and of whom it may be said that all the manifestations of his might are "but the whisperings of his power.
III GOD IS SUPREME IN THE UNIVERSALITY OF HIS DOMINION. Vast as are the realms of the greatest of earthly potentates, these are but a speck, a mote, when placed beside the kingdom of the Creator. For this both transcends all and includes all the kingdoms of the earth: "His kingdom ruleth over all.
IV GOD IS SUPREME IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS CHARACTERISTIC OF HIS SWAY. The true glory of a prince does not lie so much in the extent of his dominions as in the justice of his rule and administration. All human righteousness is a mere reflection of the righteousness of the great King of heaven and earth. "A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." A throne is sometimes thought of in association with the arbitrary and despotic exercise of power; all such associations must be dismissed when we come to think and speak of the Occupant of the throne of heaven. There may be that in his government which perplexes and baffles us; but nothing is so certain to our minds as his unswerving rectitude, his inflexible justice. Our highest powers of veneration are inadequate to conceive and to adore his moral attributes. Our proper attitude is to fall down before him and acknowledge the insufficiency of our purest homage.
V GOD IS SUPREME IN HIS CLAIM UPON ALL HIS INTELLIGENT CREATION FOR HONOUR AND GLORY. It is sometimes represented by utilitarian thinkers that men"s faculties are misused and their time wasted in the attempt to "glorify God." But the view of human nature is indeed both superficial and radically false which admits of such an objection to the practice of devotion. The worship which consists only of words and gestures is indeed an unprofitable superstition. But the worship which is spiritual is both acceptable to God and profitable and elevating to man. It is well to conceive of God as a King as well as a Father. Many human relationships must concur in order to present to our minds the claims of God upon our nature. To Christians the throne of Christ is the throne of God. "Thou art the King of glory, O Christ! T.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES Vers. 1-22. The machinery of God"s providence.
A man must be embodied ignorance who should suppose that all the activities of God"s government come within the range of his vision. Our knowledge is not the measure of existence.
There are more things in heaven and earth Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.
What we know is an infinitesimal fraction of what we do not know. Hence every revelation of God"s administrative rule should be welcomed with eager delight.
I GOD"S ESSENTIAL MAJESTY IS INCONCEIVABLE. The difficulty for man to comprehend the nature and government of God lies, not on the part of God, but on the part of man. His spiritual nature is so environed with bars of flesh that he cannot discern spiritual realities. Truth finds its way into his mind mainly by the use of sensuous images. The difficulty is aggravated by long habits of neglect and self-indulgence. Under these circumstances, the marvel is that he knows as much about the world as he does. We can form no definite conception of the Infinite or of the Eternal; yet it appears to our reason that God must be infinite in capacity and eternal in duration. Possibly, God is above the conception of the oldest archangel. Possibly, God cannot reveal the whole extent of his nature to any created being. Certain it is that the wing of human imagination soon tires in its attempt to soar to the height of the Godhead. All the machinery of his rule is in harmony with himself majestic, ethereal, sublime! How shall man measure himself with God? Surely he is but a mote in the sunbeam, incomparably minute, yet to God incomparably precious!
II GOD"S PRESENCE, WITHOUT A CLOUD, IS TO MAN INSUPPORTABLE. On every occasion on which God has condescended to reveal himself to men there has been the attendant circumstance of a cloud. "God is light;" but to human sensibilities the full blaze of light is insufferable. When God appeared to Moses among the solitudes of Horeb, "the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud." The presence of God among the Hebrews in the desert was symbolized by the pillar of cloud. At the moment when the first Jewish temple was consecrated to the service of Jehovah, a mysterious "cloud filled the house of the Lord." God was known to abide in the holy of holies, in the cloud that covered the mercy seat. When Moses and Elijah descended to commune with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, "a cloud overshadowed them," and the voice of the Father "was heard out of the cloud." At the close of our Lord"s earthly mission he ascended from earth to heaven from the heights near Bethany, "and a cloud received him out of the apostles" sight." So too the prophecies which announce the next appearance of our Lord indicate the surroundings of a cloud: "Behold! he cometh with clouds;" "Ye shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven." Clouds distribute and attenuate the fierce light of the sun, and enhance the splendours of the scene. They are a manifestation of the component parts of light. They reveal its beauty and its power. So God attempers the brightness of his essential glory to suit the necessities of men.
III GOD"S ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE IS AN ELABORATE AND COMPLEX SYSTEM. Human agency is intimately allied with the dynamic forces of nature on the one side, and with the active powers of angels on the other. The wheels (with the numerical symbol, four), impressive from their magnitude and their rotatory speed, indicate the mighty forces of nature. Even in these wheels the prophet discovers eyes, which are the symbol of intelligence. The cherubic beings are represented as combining the strength of the ox, the courage of the lion, the swiftness of the eagle, and the intelligence of man. Beneath their wings there is seen, ever and anon, a human hand the index of human agency and action. Resting on this complex system of cherubic life is seen the cerulean throne of God, bright as a sapphire stone. In the destruction of Jerusalem the Chaldean armies did not act alone. Nebuchadnezzar, probably, was not conscious that any power, other than his own will, was instigating him to the war. Nevertheless, he was an instrument of justice in the hand of God. There is much service done for God which is not intended. Said God respecting Cyrus, "I girded thee, though thou hast not known me." Human kings and warriors are only parts of a complex system. Human will has a very limited circle in which to play; yet it has its place.
IV IN THIS COMPLEX SYSTEM THE MEDIATOR FULFILS AN IMPORTANT PART. (Ver. 2.) "The man clothed with linen" clearly represents the great High Priest the Divine Mediator. He who brings mercy to men is also the Minister of judgment. He who proclaims "the acceptable year of the Lord" announces also "the day of vengeance of our God." God will "judge the world by that Man whom he hath ordained." If the great Shepherd will preserve his flock, he must destroy the wolves. Justice and mercy go hand in hand. As we see here the ministrations of angels, along with God"s Son, in the work of destruction; so in later days we see, in fact, the alliance of angels with Christ in the work of men"s salvation. Nor should we fail to overlook the promptitude with which the Son fulfilled his Father"s word, "Go in between the wheels,and fill thine hand with coals of fire,and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight." Is not this a practical commentary upon Messiah"s words, "I do always the things that please him"? So with all God"s servants, "They go straight forward.
V GOD ENTERS UPON THE WORK OF DESTRUCTION SLOWLY AND RELUCTANTLY. We read in the fourth verse that the glory of the Lord withdrew from the inner court of the temple, and stood over the threshold of the house. Again, we read in the eighteenth verse that "the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight." Again, in the next chapter the record runs, "And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city." With slow and successive steps God departed from the sanctuary which he had chosen for his residence.. All this prefigured the "leaving the house desolate," and the ascension from the Mount of Olives," by our Lord. So has it always been.
The axe is laid at the root of the tree a delay of judgment that the tree may yet become fruitful. Infinite patience belongs to God. He "is slow to anger, while plenteous in mercy." A great truth is embodied in the old adage
The mill of God grinds slowly,
But it grinds exceeding small.
VI WE DISCOVER IN THIS VISION THE HARMONY OF SCRIPTURE. Between this unveiling of God"s purposes respecting Israel, and his purposes towards the world revealed in the Apocalypse of John, there are instructive resemblances. The cherubic forms again appear. Angels have special charge over the forces of nature winds and fire and earthquake. So far as human vision reaches, kings and armies act by their own free will, and to accomplish their own ambitions; but when we are lifted up to God"s pedestal, and are shown the progress of events from that high standpoint, we see that a series of Divine agents is employed men fulfilling their part in subordination to angelic ministers. In God"s great army we have generals and captains and lieutenants, as well as the rank-and-file. In the government of the universe, men fill a humble though an honourable place; and consequent on their diligence and fidelity now will be their promotion to higher office by and by. "Be thou ruler over five cities!" "Be thou ruler over ten cities!" "I appoint unto you kingdoms, as my Father hath appointed me. D.
HOMILIES BY W. JONES Vers. 1, 2, 6, 7. The vision of judgment by fire.
I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim," etc. The vision recorded in this chapter is substantially a repetition of that which is described in the first chapter, as the prophet himself intimates (vers. 20, 22). The only differences of any importance are that the prophet was not in the same place when he received this vision as when he received its counterpart, and that the symbolical actions in this have not occurred before. We shall not again notice those features of the manifestation which we considered in our treatment of the first chapter, but shall confine our attention to the symbolical actions, and at present to the scattering of coals of fire over the city. The work of judgment begun in the last chapter is continued in this one. The destroying angels have (in vision) gone forth slaying the guilty people; the dead bodies were lying in the temple courts and the city streets; and now the command is given to finish the work of judgment by scattering coals of fire over the city, and so destroying it. Three chief points call for attention.
I THE AUTHOR OF THIS JUDGMENT. "He spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels," etc. The Speaker is the enthroned One: "God the Father sitting on the throne, to the Son, to whom he has given full power to execute judgment". (Joh_5:27) Notice:
1. The majesty of his state. (Ver. 1.) It is not said that any manifestation or appearance of God was given in this vision. But Ezekiel beheld the appearance of the exalted throne over the cherubim, a throne as of pure and brilliant sapphire like the clear and deep vault of heaven. "The heaven-like colour of the throne indicates," says Hengstenberg, "the infinite eminence of God"s dominion over the earth, with its impotence, sin, and unrighteousness." The representation is intended to shadow forth the glory of God. How glorious he is! The glory of heavenly things far surpasses the highest glory of earth, and the glory of God transcends the highest of heaven. He is "glorious in holiness;" "the glorious Lord;" "the King of glory;" "the God of glory;" "the Father of glory;" and his kingdom is glorious in majesty.
2. The sovereignty of his authority. God is supreme over the forces of nature, symbolized by the wheels; over every form of life, symbolized by the cherubim, or "living creatures" (ch. 1.); over the six destroying angels (ch. 9.); and in a sense over "the man clothed with linen," who is the Agent of the Father (cf. Joh_14:31 Joh_15:10 Joh_17:18) He commands the scattering of fire over the city. The Chaldeans could not have laid waste Jerusalem but for his permission. "His kingdom ruleth over all." "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
II THE GREAT AGENT OF THIS JUDGMENT. "And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels," etc. The man clothed in linen, who was to scatter the coals of fire over the city, was, as we have seen, the angel of Jehovah, otherwise called the angel of the covenant. Notice:
1. The diverse functions ascribed to him. In the preceding chapter he was summoned to the preservation of the pious; in this he is sent forth to complete the work of destruction because of sin. This is suggestive of his two comings into our world. He came as a Saviour, to bring forgiveness to sinners, and deliverance from sin, and comfort for mourners, and strength for the weak, and hope for the despairing, and to scatter wide the blessings of Divine grace. But he will come again as a Judge in dreadful majesty. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, rendering vengeance on them that know not God," etc. But a more correct and complete analogy to these diverse functions ascribed to him in this vision is in the fact that in his future coming he will both perfect the salvation of his people, and deliver over to punishment those who have rejected him. That coming will be either the cause of ineffable rapture and adoration, (Rev_7:9-17) or of unutterable terror and anguish to every man. (Rev_6:15-17)
2. The prompt obedience rendered by him. "And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim; then he went in," etc. (vers. 6, 7). His delight was in doing the will or his Father. "Jesus saith, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." And at the close of his mission upon earth, he said with infinite satisfaction, "Father,... I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou Rarest me to do." He complied with his Father"s will at all times, in all things, and with his whole heart. How perfect is the example which he sets us in this respect! Let us imitate him, endeavouring to obey the holy will even as he did.
III THE MEANS OF THIS JUDGMENT. "Fill thine hand with coals of fire, and scatter them over the city." The fire denoted was elemental fire; for it was taken from between the wheels, and the wheels symbolize the forces of nature; and it was to be used in burning the city. In this use of fire we have an illustration of:
1. A most useful servant becoming a most terrible foe. The Most High, if he pleases, can turn our greatest comforts into our direst curses; and he may do so if we misuse them. "They had abused fire," says Greenhill, "to maintain their gluttony, for fulness of bread was one of their sins; they burned incense to idols, and abused the altar fire, which had been the greatest refreshing to their souls; and now even this fire kindled upon them." And as a matter of fact, fire was used in destroying the temple and other places in Jerusalem. Josephus tells how Nebuzaradan, by command of the King of Babylon, having despoiled the temple of its precious and sacred treasures, set fire to it. "When he had carried these off, he set fire to the temple in the fifth month, the first day of the month, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, and in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar; he also burnt the palace and overthrew the city" ("Ant.," 1. 8:5).
2. The divers uses of fire as represented in Holy Scripture. It is there used to set forth both cleansing and avenging powers. It is the symbol of the purification of the human heart and life from sin. (Isa_6:6, Isa_6:7; Mal_3:2, Mal_3:3) It is also the symbol of the punishment of the incorrigibly corrupt. (Mat_25:41) "Our God is a consuming Fire;" and we must each be brought consciously near unto him, either to be cleansed from our sin, or, failing in this, to bear the just judgment thereof; for the Divine fire is essentially antagonistic to sin.
CONCLUSION.
1. Let us eschew every form of sin.
2. Let us seek the application of the purifying fire of the Divine love to ourhearts. W.J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv2, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21 Fill thy hand with coals of fire from between…
Eze_10:2
Fill thy hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims and scatter them over the city.
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Divine forces and human agents is retribution
I. There are in the economy of God, terrific forces for the destruction of evil. The whirling globe of fire was but a symbol of the manifold elements that, through processes of pain, and it may be throes of agony, have punished and will punish sin. And very often those elements are just those that have been guiltily used by man. It was true of these Jews that they had abused fire to maintain their gluttony, for fulness of bread was one of their sins; they burned incense to idols, and abused the altar fire which had been the greatest refreshing to their souls, and now even this fire kindled upon them. Thus, indeed, is it clearly taught in the prediction of Christ, They that take the sword shall perish by the sword, that the implements of our evil become the engines of our punishment. And such engines have terrific force.
1. To avoid sin ourselves.
2. To believe in the final victory of goodness.
II. The great forces provided against evil will often be used by the instrumentality of man. A mans hand was to scatter these coals of retribution. Thus it commonly is. As man is the tempter, so is man frequently the punisher of man. Chaldean armies are instruments of Divine righteousness. Human judges are often the swords of God: human revolutionists the vindicators of liberty against despots. It is for this hand sometimes to scatter the fires of retribution; but ever to scatter the fires of purification. The consuming of the sin--sin in thought, sin in feeling, sin in habit, rather than retribution, on the sinner, may perhaps be the higher and better teaching of this vision for all of us. (Urijah R. Thomas.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 9 (3.) THE SETTING FIRE TO JERUSALEM, WITH THE WITHDRAWAL…
(3.) THE SETTING FIRE TO JERUSALEM, WITH THE WITHDRAWAL FROM THE TEMPLE (Chap. 10)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.—Eze_10:1-8. The sealing of the remnant has proved the faithfulness of the Lord to His covenant; the conflagration of the city will prove His justice by the punishment of the violators of His covenant. But before the sentence is executed the prophet is again made specially cognisant of the truth that the heavens do rule—that not only was he commissioned by the God of Israel, but also that he must be imbued with the profound conviction that every calamity which befalls the guilty city proceeds from the agencies which underlie the sapphire throne of the everlasting King. “Four potencies are engaged in the destruction of the city—He who sits on the throne, the man clothed in linen, the fire, and the cherub who hands it to the angel. The former two are absolutely ruling, the latter two absolutely ministering” (Heng.) The divine glory is manifested in changing aspects, and, while similar to the presentation in the plain of Chebar, yet shows a few differences in form and procedure. “And, to make it more manifest that the judgment is in vindication of His injured holiness and on account of the sins which had been committed against His covenant, the scene of the judicial action is laid in the Temple itself” (Fair.) Reading Eze_10:1-3; Eze_10:6-7; Eze_10:13; Eze_10:15 a, Eze_10:18-19, we get the account of what took place; the remaining verses give elucidations of the scene.
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Eze_10:1. When the watcher ceased to speak, Ezekiel’s attention was directed to the change of scenery. “And I saw, and, behold, upon the firmament which was over the head of the cherubim,” though the prophet had not recognised this special organisation till later on (Eze_10:20), yet he keeps to the designation throughout this vision as he did to that of “living creatures” throughout his first vision, the reason for the change of words probably being the presence of cherubic representation in the Temple; “as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne;” no rainbow appears now. Mercy, in a sense, is past—the marking of the spared ones is completed, and there is scope for wee only. Besides, the appearance of the likeness of a man is not noticed here, but it is indicated by the issuing of a voice. The King was on the throne, though invisible to His servant.
Eze_10:2. “And he said unto the man clothed with linen, Go between the wheels, to below the cherub;” to the space where, not material fire, but the symbol of destruction, which was in its consequences to make Jerusalem like Sodom and Gomorrah, had been seen (chap. Eze_1:13); and he had a direct act to do there, “fill thy hands with coals of fire,” putting his two hands together so as to make a hollow space, “and scatter over the city;” the fiery coals were to destroy Jerusalem, as is illustrated by the words of Isaiah (Eze_33:12; Eze_33:14), “And the people shall be as the burnings of lime; as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire … The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” “And he came before my eyes.” It is noteworthy that the man who had put the saving mark on the foreheads is now commissioned to be the agent by whom the desolation of Jerusalem is accomplished. “God has no class of servants too holy or sacred to act, if need be, in the execution of righteous judgments.” Guilt and fiery doom must be proclaimed as well as forgiveness and blessedness: yet punishment will pave the way for salvation. When the Lord washes away the defilement of the daughter of Zion, and purges the blood from Jerusalem by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then shall be a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and rain (Isaiah 4)
Eze_10:3. The man’s commission is not performed until the position which is taken by the divine glory and its accompanying phenomena is defined. Ezekiel observes that “the cherubim were standing at the right of the house when the man came,’ i.e., they were on the south side, ready for moving away from the Temple. The avengers had come from the north; they began to slay at the sanctuary; the city, which was about to be laid in ashes, was built southwards of the temple, and at that quarter the glory was impelled to depart from its chosen place; “and the cloud filled the inner court;” as in the Revelation (chap. Eze_15:8), “The Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power,” and wrath was going forth from the sacred place.
Eze_10:4. “And the glory of the Lord rose, from over the cherub, over the threshold of the house”—asimilar movement to that in chap. Eze_9:3, but with the signification here that its departure was now taking place. He leaves a shadow behind and casts a light before Him: “and the house was filled with the cloud”—with the vehicle for the divine glory, which, as the pillar of the cloud to the Egyptians, had a dark aspect in the house; so we conclude from the context, “and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.” Conjectural assertions as to what the cloud portended, and what the brightness, do not seem to be fruitful as explanations. All that appears clear is that the protection and guidance, which were associated with the presence of the glory, would no longer be granted to Jerusalem.
Eze_10:5. The movement of the glory of the Lord was accompanied by the movement of the cherubim. “And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard to the outer court,” into which we must suppose Ezekiel had gone from the inner, and from which he could see what took place. It was a thunderous sound (Psa_29:3), as in the former vision, expressive of the force with which the stroke of the wings were propelled, but conveying more than Hengstenberg suggests. “If the cherub is the concentration of all created life on earth, then its sound is the concentration of all sound on earth.”
Eze_10:6. Now Ezekiel returns to the point he had reached at Eze_10:2. The command to the man is again rehearsed, and it is added, “he came and stood beside the wheel” (Sing.); not some specially-appointed wheel, but that one which happened to be nearest as he went for the fire.
Eze_10:7-8. “And the cherub,” the one next to the wheel beside which the man was, “stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and lifted and gave into the hands of the man clothed in linen, and he took and went out” towards the doomed city, not now as the mediator of salvation, but as an executor of judgment. It is not stated that he scattered the fire then. Either Ezekiel’s vision was filled with some other sight, so that he did not observe the incidence of the destruction, or else a space of time was allowed to intervene. The latter seems most probable. The burning lies beyond the next chapter, where the glory goes away, and Ezekiel ceases to see the vision of Jerusalem. An explanatory remark is made as to the instrument of action in the cherubim: “the likeness of the hand of a man under their wings:” the symbol of human agency and activity is associated with that part of their bodies by which they could be swift in fulfilling their prescribed work, and whose movements were heard far off. The hand “may be naturally regarded as indicating that human agents should not be wanting, at the proper time, to carry into effect the judgment written” (Fair.) “Those who burned the city were immediately the Chaldeans, who are included under the cherubim; but behind them stood another” (Heng.)
HOMILETICS
UNESTIMATED INFLUENCES ON HUMAN LIFE
A new departure in the development of God’s people was taking effect. Their exile and slaughter, with the desecration of the most holy place, were events which did not result merely from Chaldean forces or natural elements, but really from Him who directs all living and inanimate things. To bring the Israelites out of the notion that they were secured against evil because of past favours received on past obedience rendered; to impress on them the latent truth that the Lord did not rule His procedure by the external words or acts of men, but by the spirit which breathed in them; to give indications of a time when He would be to all people that which He had been to one, these seem to be the grounds for the manifestations of this section. In reference to them there is signified—
I. An invisible governor. The spirit of Ezekiel sees tints of the Eternal Majesty, and becomes aware of words spoken by Him whom he does not name. In his state is a representation of that which has been experienced by multitudes. They know that God is within range of their susceptibilities, that He coins impressions from which thought and feeling proceed. They are sure that, whatever be the persons or things by which they are affected, He is King over each and all. If any wonder or even mock at the confidence they profess to have in an unseen Ruler, they reply, “I know whom I have believed;” for beneath all that is palpable they believe in God who is a Spirit, and who is King for ever and ever. “They walk by faith, not by sight.”
II. Manifold agents. In their diversity. A half-unconscious tendency disposes us to refer every good thing to the action of God, every hard, ruinous thing to the action of some law. It is a trick of our minds. If painful and disastrous things come out of broken laws, pleasant and helpful things come out of obeyed laws. And the truth symbolised in man, in cherubim, and in fire, is, that all effects, brought about by multitudinous agencies, are but the phenomenal forms of the purposes of the perfect will. The Son of God, the angels of God, men who hurt, men who suffer, coals of fire, hailstones and frost, execute a commission given by the Creator of the ends of the earth. Whatever the variety of influences which affect us, we are still with God.
In their versatility. The fire that comforts can destroy: living beings may fulfil their ends by running, flying, standing, making sounds, or carrying from place to place: the Lord Jesus says, “I will draw all men unto me,” and He also says, “Depart from me; I never knew you.” All changed conditions, in the action of natural and spiritual agencies, depend upon changes in the objects acted upon. The ministry of wrath follows the movements of wrong. They shall dwell with the devouring fire who sin and do not repent of their ungodliness. They “shall be salted with fire” who walk righteously and speak uprightly.
In their concurrence. In the order of nature forces are correlated, and in the moral order joy and ease may be transmuted into sorrow and pains, privileges into penalties, the honour of God’s dwelling-place into the uncleanness of foul orgies. Pray, wait, obey, and you will become an organ of the Lord where He will and how He will; do evil, and His face will be set against you—the light which is in you will become darkness.
III. Repeated warnings of danger. The glory moving to the threshold told of the rupture of the ties which had bound God to His people, while the sound of the wings and the taking of fire intimated that the doom of Jerusalem was on the point of being inflicted. Penalty is preceded by witness-bearing and sentences. If men neglect the immutable principles of right, if they find in their own ways the pleasure and service which they ought to find in His, He does not go on at once to destroy them. He has given them faculties by which they may discern the signs of the sky that portend a storm, so has He qualified them to notice coming evils in appearances which are passing before their eyes. He lingers that He may correct them with the words of His mouth and the events of their lives. Thus does He warn them, and from the manner in which the Bible, prayer, sanctuaries are regarded, a Christian people can conclude whether the glory has gone from their midst, and the light and truth are about to consume all despisers. He does not always force those coming tribulations upon our notice. “The works of God are done by hidden and secret means, by ways unthought of, by hands under wings. Invisible virtue hath done more than all visible instruments.” Yet, latent as they are, it is demanded from us that we watch and be sober under influences which seem to threaten our welfare, that so we may escape all those things that shall come to pass, and stand before the Son of Man.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. See what a Divine work creation is. Here,…
Eze 10:8
I. See what a Divine work creation is. Here, in this human hand beneath the angel’s wing, do we see the procedure of the Divine work. All God’s most beautiful things are related to use. Beauty and use are God’s two anointed ministers to the world. In the gospel of utilitarianism, there is the hand without the wing; in the gospel of mysticism there is no man’s hand under the wings.
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II. See what Divine providence is. Man is the one manifold. (1) In the multiplicity of Divine operations we see the human hand beneath the angel’s wing. From His exalted concealment God is constantly energizing by the human hand. This in all ages has been. (2) And is not our redemption a hand, the human hand beneath the Divine wing—a hand stretched out, the "likeness of a man’s hand beneath the cherubim"? What is the humanity of Jesus, but the human hand beneath the Divine wing? (3) This thought rebukes the many false modern notions of God. See in this God’s own picture of His providence, and never be it ours to divorce that human from the Divine in God’s being.
III. See in the human hand beneath the wing of the angel, the relation of a life of action to a life of contemplation. In our most exalted flights we need the human hand. And by the hand understand deeds,—they administer even by bodily administration; but the hands under the wings show how they surpass the deeds of their action by the excellence of their contemplation.
IV. In a word, see what religion is. It is the human hand beneath the angel’s wing. Has your religion a hand in it? It is practical, human, sympathetic. Has it a wing? It is lofty, unselfish, inclusive, Divine. Has it a hand? How does it prove itself? By embracing this hand, laying hold upon, by works. Has it a wing? How does it prove itself? By prayer, by faith, by heaven.
E. Paxton Hood, Preacher’s Lantern, vol. i., p. 321.
Reference: Eze 10:8.—Homiletic Magazine; vol. x., p. 203.
Eze 10:13
(Eze 37:9)
If the wheel be taken as representing the whole scheme and fabric of nature, geological, astronomical, and elemental; and the breath, as the secret of life and motion, you have a philosophical conception of the universe. But if you contemplate the mechanism of nature, apart from the intelligence and vitality of the breath, your unphilosophical method of thought will confound your reason, and make the rational apprehension of anything an impossibility.
I. Consider the mystery of evil as included in the great whole and circuit of universal existence. Let us learn to contemplate the fall and the death of man, together with his new birth and resurrection, his ascension and glorification, as comprehended in the wheel of God. "O wheel!" Oh, endless round, from God, into the limitations and weaknesses of selfhood, into the mistakes and wilfulnesses of selfhood, and thence into exhausted powers, into weariness and suffering, and through weariness and suffering into reconciliation to the redeeming mercies of eternal love, and then onward and onward through successive purgations and renewals, towards rest and home in the fixed righteousness and blessedness of the Divine-human, the eternal-human, life.
II. What the human soul, all the world over, needs is not to be harangued, however eloquently, about the old accepted religion; but to be permeated, charmed, and taken captive, by a warmer and more potent breath of God than they ever felt before. The Divine breath is as exquisitely adapted to the requirements of the soul’s nature as a June morning to the planet. Nor does the morning breath leave the trees freer to delight themselves and develop themselves under its influence, than the breath of God allows each human mind to unfold according to its genius. Nothing stirs the central wheel of the soul like the breath of God. The whole man is quickened, his senses are new senses, his emotions new emotions, his reason, his affections, his imagination, are all newborn; the change is greater than he knows, he marvels at the powers in himself which the breath is opening and calling forth.
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 278.
Reference: Eze 11:5.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x., No. 591.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Destruction of Jerusalem by Eire
The Destruction of Jerusalem by Eire
In this chapter the living chariot accompanying the vision of God's glory is the most prominent object. The living creatures are now recognised by Ezekiel as cherubim, and called so. Otherwise the description is largely a repetition of Ezekiel 1. The man with the inkhorn is directed to take coals of fire from the glowing interior of the chariot and to scatter them over the city. This part of the vision points forward to the burning of Jerusalem as the final stage of her punishment.
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1. As the 'cherub' was mentioned without any introduction in Eze_9:3, the living chariot with all its parts now appears in the same way. It is not directly stated that the glorious Figure is on the throne. The 'glory' had left the chariot for the threshold of the Temple in Eze_9:3, and is in the same position in Eze_10:4. It may or may not have returned to the chariot in the interval.
2. Wheels] RV 'whirling wheels,' and so in Eze_10:6, Eze_10:13. The word is not the ordinary one for 'wheels.' Cherub] the singular denoting the group, as in Eze_9:3.
3. The right side] the S. side. The Hebrews described the points of the compass as for a spectator facing E. The S. side of the Temple building was the part of the precincts nearest to the city.
4. The house was filled with the cloud] a comparison with 1Ki_8:10-11 shows that the 'glory' which Ezekiel saw in his visions was the same as that by which God's presence had been hitherto manifested in the Holy of Holies.
5. As the voice, etc] like thunder.
6. Beside the wheels] RV 'beside a wheel.'
7. One cherub] RV 'the cherub,' the cherub next the particular wheel just mentioned. The scribe-angel did not actually go between the wheels himself, but stood beside the chariot and received the fire from one of the cherubim.
12. The cherubim, as well as the wheels, are now said to be full of eyes.
13. It was cried unto them. O wheel] RV 'they were called.. the whirling wheels.'
14. The face of a (RV 'the') cherub here takes the place of the ox-face of Eze_1:10. This seems at first sight to indicate that the cherubim already known to Ezekiel were oxfaced. But the cherubim in the decoration of Ezekiel's visionary temple (Eze_44:18-19) had only the faces of a man and a lion. The substitution of 'cherub' for 'ox,' and the change in the order of the faces, may be explained by supposing that Ezekiel, still standing near the N. gate of the inner court, looked S. towards the chariot, which was about to move E. (Eze_10:19). The cherub on the E. side of the chariot would be the leading one, and so might be called 'the cherub.' Ezekiel would see the left, or ox-, face of this cherub, the front, or human, face of the cherub on the N. side of the chariot, the right, or lion–, face of the cherub on the W. side, and the back, or eagle-, face of the cherub on the S. side, thus:
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18. The 'glory' now returns to its place above the chariot.
19. Every one] RV 'they.' The east gate] the eastern gate of the outer court. The presence of God moves to the very verge of the Temple precincts, which it is about to leave altogether.
20. I knew that they were the cherubims] RV 'I knew that they were cherubim.' Ezekiel now recognised for the first time that the 'living creatures'were identical with the 'cherubim' of Hebrew poetry and sacred Symbolism. He thus gives a clue to the source of the ideas which had unconsciously moulded his visionary conceptions from the beginning.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Eze 10:1-22. Once more the glory vision appears. The…
Eze 10:1-22. Once more the glory vision appears. The linen clothed man who had done the marking in the previous chapter is now executing judgment. Who is He? Evidently more than an angel. That he is a supernatural being is clear. He held the place of pre-eminence among the other angels (Eze 9:2-4). This angel is the Angel of the Lord, the same who appeared to the patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, and to others. It is the Son of God in the garb of an angel. In the same form he also appeared to Daniel on the banks of the river Hiddekel. “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude” Dan 10:5-21. Here we have a complete description of the same person whom Ezekiel saw taking the coals of fire and scattering them over Jerusalem. judgment upon the guilty city came from His hands.
When we turn to the book of Revelation, we find a similar scene which has not yet been enacted. A careful comparison of this scene here with Rev 8:3-5 is suggested. This angel who presents the prayers before the throne and who casts the judgment fires on the earth is the same who received the seven-sealed book Rev 5:11. It is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple; over its portals “Ichabod” (the glory is departed) was now to be written.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 9 The Burning of the City
The Burning of the City
v. 1. Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament, the vaulted expanse above, that was above the head of the cherubim, the living creatures of the first vision, there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. In the previous chapter the Lord had left this throne and occupied a position at the threshold of the Holy Place. Here He is again on His throne above the cherubim, as the majestic Sovereign of the universe.
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v. 2. And He spake unto the man clothed with linen, the chief of the six avenging angels, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, here spoken of as collective, on account of the unity of the vision, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, 1:13, and scatter them over the city, to bring about its destruction by fire. And he went in in my sight, performing the work which he was commanded to do while Ezekiel was witness of his act.
v. 3. Now, the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, that is, on the south side, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court, the Court of the Priests.
v. 4. Then the glory of the Lord, once more leaving its position on the throne above the cherubim, went up from the cherub, literally, "was raised up high from off the cherub," and stood over the threshold of the house, removing to this place as before; and the house, the Sanctuary proper, was filled with the cloud, and the court, the inner court, was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory, as reflected from the cloud which filled the Holy Place.
v. 5. And the sound of the cherubim’s wings, 1:24, was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the almighty. God when He speaketh.
v. 6. And it came to pass that, when He had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubim; then he went in and stood beside the wheels, beneath the cherubim, who were now changed from ministers of God’s grace to ministers of God’s vengeance.
v. 7. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim, as they stood in close array, unto the fire that was between the cherubim and took thereof and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen, who had received his command directly from the Lord, who took it and went out, in order to carry out the punishment of burning upon the city.
v. 8. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings, this hand performing the office of handing out the fiery coals for the destruction of Jerusalem, The attention to details increases the effect of the entire passage: the idea of deliberate preparation for the ruin of the city.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 20 General Information:
General Information:
Ezekiel continues to tell about the vision that started in Ezekiel 8:1.
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toward the dome
"toward the curved roof"
cherubim
See how you translated this in Ezekiel 9:3.
like a sapphire
a valuable blue or green gemstone
with the appearance of the likeness of a throne
"that looked like something that looked like a throne." Ezekiel is not willing to say for sure that it looked like a throne.
linen
a strong, smooth cloth made from a plant. It is worn by many people in places that are hot. See how you translated this in Ezekiel 9:2. AT: "smooth cloth" (See: Translate Unknowns)
Go between the wheels
Translate the word "wheels" as in Ezekiel 1:15.
fiery coals
Coals are the burned pieces of wood left over after a fire. They are black, but they glow red and orange when they are very hot. They are also called charcoal.
scatter them over the city
"sprinkle them over the city" or "spread them over the city"
translationWords
cherub
like
throne
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 12, 19 10:1-22 The Temple provided an earthly residence where the…
10:1-22 The Temple provided an earthly residence where the Lord’s glory could dwell among his people. This central blessing of the covenant could only be maintained if the people were holy. In the face of their defilement, the Lord abandoned his house, leaving it and the surrounding city vulnerable to the impending assault of the Babylonians.
10:1-2 Almost the same vision of fearsome glory that Ezekiel had seen earlier in Babylonia (ch 1) now appeared to him in the Jerusalem Temple. In a building filled with heavenly symbols, Ezekiel clearly perceived that the living creatures he had seen earlier were cherubim, the enforcers of divine judgment (Gen 3:24). • The burning coals that the priestly figure was instructed to gather showed that the defiled Jerusalem was to be burned by fire, as the city of Sodom had been (see 16:46-50). The implication of the Lord’s abandoning his city was later worked out in history: Several years after this vision, Nebuchadnezzar burned the city of Jerusalem and filled it with corpses.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.