Ezekiel 10:1-22

Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’

The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God

Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 10

Coals of fire over the city – Ezekiel 10:1-8

v1 I looked in the sky above the *cherubim’s heads. There I saw what seemed to be a *throne. It was blue like a *sapphire stone. v2 The *LORD spoke to the man who wore good clothes. ‘Go in among the wheels beneath the *cherubim. Fill your hands with coals of fire from between the 4 *creatures. Then scatter the coals over the city.’ As I watched, the man went in.

v3 The *cherubim were standing on the south side of the *temple when the man went in. And a cloud filled the inner area of the *temple. v4 Then the *glory of the *LORD rose from above the *cherubim. It moved to the entrance of the *temple. The cloud filled the *temple. And the *glory of the *LORD shone brightly through the areas about the *temple.

v5 The sound of the wings of the *cherubim was very loud. One could hear it as far away as the outer area of the *temple. It was like the voice of the most powerful God when he speaks.

v6 The *LORD ordered the man who wore good clothes, ‘Take fire from between the wheels, from among the *cherubim.’ The man went in and he stood next to the wheels. v7 One *cherub put out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took some of the fire. He put it into the hand of the man who wore good clothes. The man took it and he went out. v8 Under the wings of the *cherubim, there were what seemed to be human hands.

Verses 1-2 Ezekiel then saw again the *cherubim as he had seen them before. Above them was the *throne of the *Lord. The *Lord spoke to the man in good clothes. The man was not still carrying his writer’s case. The *Lord had a different task for him to do.

God told him to take fire coals from between the wheels. He told the man to scatter these coals over the city. These coals would cause fire to destroy the city. The man went in between the wheels, which were below the *cherubim.

Verses 3-4 The *cherubim were in the inner area to the south of the *temple. The *glory of God had moved to the *temple door. The *glory of the *Lord was like a cloud. It spread through the *temple and the areas round it.

Verse 5 The *cherubim were ready for the *Lord to leave the *temple. Their wings moved as they prepared to go. The sound of their wings was loud. The sound was like the voice of God. It seemed to declare that God would leave the *temple.

Verses 6-8 The *angel (the man with the good clothes) did what the *Lord told him to do. He went in between the wheels and he stood by one of them. A *cherub reached into the fire. The *cherubim had hands like human hands. This *cherub took coals in his hand from the fire that was among them. He put these coals of fire into the hands of the *angel.

Ezekiel does not tell here about the *angel’s next action. But God had told the *angel to pour the coals of fire over the city. Fire destroyed Jerusalem in the year 586 *BC (2 Kings 25:9).

The *cherubim and God’s *glory leave the city – Ezekiel 10:9-22

v9 As I looked, I saw the 4 wheels next to the *cherubim. There was one wheel by each *cherub. The wheels shone like a precious stone. v10 All 4 wheels were alike. Each wheel had a second wheel through the middle of it. v11 When the wheels moved, they could go in any direction. They followed the direction of the heads of the *cherubim. The wheels did not turn about as the *cherubim went. And the *cherubim did not turn their bodies as they went.

v12 All their bodies were full of eyes all over. Their backs and their hands were full of eyes. So were their wings and the wheels. Each of the 4 *cherubim had a wheel. v13 I heard a voice speak to the wheels. It called them, ‘the wheels that spin.’ v14 Each of the *cherubim had 4 faces. The first face was the face of a *cherub. The second face was the face of a man. The third face was the face of a lion. And the 4th face was the face of an *eagle.

v15 Then the *cherubim flew up. These were the same 4 *creatures that I had seen by the River Chebar. v16 When the 4 *creatures moved, the wheels moved with them. When the 4 *creatures lifted their wings to fly, the wheels did not leave their sides. v17 When the 4 *creatures stopped, the wheels stopped. When the *creatures went up, the wheels went up also. This was because the spirit of the *creatures was in the wheels.

v18 Then the *glory of the *LORD left the door of the *temple. It stood above the 4 *creatures. v19 As I watched, the 4 *creatures spread their wings. They flew up from the ground, and the wheels went with them. They stopped at the east gate entrance of the *LORD’s *temple. And the *glory of the God of *Israel was over them.

v20 I had seen these 4 *creatures beneath the God of *Israel by the River Chebar. I knew that these 4 were the *cherubim. v21 Each one had 4 faces and 4 wings. Under their wings were things that seemed to be like human hands. v22 Their faces were the same as the ones that I had seen by the River Chebar. They each went straight ahead.

Verses 9-11 Ezekiel describes again the wheels and the *cherubim. These were the same as he saw by the River Chebar (see chapter 1). The wheels moved as the *cherubim moved. The *cherubim moved as the Spirit of God moved. The wheels did not turn. They went forward as the *cherubim led them. Each wheel seemed to have a wheel inside a wheel. That is, each wheel had another wheel across its centre. The *cherubim went in any direction but they did not turn their bodies.

Verses 12-14 All the *cherubim and the wheels were full of eyes. The *cherubim had eyes in their backs, hands and wings. The eyes show that they can see all things. As they see all things, so does God. Nobody can hide anything from the eyes of God (Hebrews 4:12-13).

There were 4 *cherubim and each one had a wheel. Someone called the wheels, ‘the wheels that spin.’ They did not turn to move in any direction. But they did spin and they made a noise.

The *cherubim each had 4 faces. Three of these are the same as in the first *vision (see chapter Ezekiel 1:10). But the 4th face here is not the face of an *ox. It is the face of a *cherub. We do not know the reason for the change.

Verses 15-17 The *cherubim and their wheels were preparing to leave the *temple. They rose from the ground and the wheels rose with them. The *cherubim and the wheels always move together as one.

Verses 18-22 The *glory of God left the *temple. It had come out of the most holy place already. It had come to the door. Now it moved away from the door to stand above the *cherubim. The *cherubim, their wheels and the *throne moved. They stopped about 50 yards away at the east gate. As they went the *glory of God went above them.

God had left his *temple. God had warned *Israel that he would do so. This is what God told Moses in Deuteronomy 31:17.

The *glory of God had been present at the *temple for about 4 centuries. You can read how the *glory of God entered the *temple in 1 Kings 8:6-11. But now Ezekiel watched as God’s *glory left the *temple. And because God’s *glory left, his special protection for Jerusalem ended. Now nothing prevented the punishment of the people in the city. These things were happening because their lives were so evil.

Ezekiel saw that the 4 *creatures were the *cherubim. They were the same as he had seen by the River Chebar (see chapter 1).

sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
cherubim ~ the group of cherubs.
cherub ~ a special angel who was in the most holy place in the temple.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
throne ~ the special chair for the king.
sapphire ~ a precious stone.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
creatures ~ Things that are alive. In this Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel saw 4 special creatures. Those 4 creatures are called the cherubim.
cherubim ~ the group of cherubs.
cherub ~ a special angel who was in the most holy place in the temple.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
cherub ~ a special angel who was in the most holy place in the temple.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
angel ~ God’s special servants in heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
eagle ~ a very large and quick bird.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
vision ~ something that God shows to a person but not with the physical sight. Visions are often in the form of dreams.
ox ~ a large and strong animal that farmers used.