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Ezekiel 10

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The Command to Scatter Fire 1–7

1
Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament 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. ​
2
And he spake unto the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both thy hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight. ​
3
Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
4
And the glory of Jehovah 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 Jehovah’s glory. ​
5
And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh.
6
And 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.
7
And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ​

Description of the Cherubim and Wheels 8–17

8
And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9
And I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like unto a beryl stone.
10
And as for their appearance, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been within a wheel.
11
When they went, they went in their four directions: they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went. ​
12
And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had. ​
13
As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels.
14
And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. ​
15
And the cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.
16
And 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 turned not from beside them.
17
When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. ​

The Glory of the Lord Departs 18–22

18
And the glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ​
19
And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Jehovah’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. ​
20
This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. ​
21
Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
22
And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 10

Verse 1

as it were a sapphire stone — The throne is seen again above the 'firmament' (raqia, the word of 1:22, 26) over the cherubim's heads. 'Sapphire' (sappir) is the stone that lay 'under his feet' when Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the elders 'saw the God of Israel' (Ex 24:10). The vision at the river Chebar is taken up again here.

Verse 2

coals of fire from between the cherubims — The man clothed with linen of 9:2–3 is sent in 'under the cherub' to take fire and 'scatter them over the city'. The fire comes from the place of the throne, and Jerusalem was in the end burnt (2 Kgs 25:9). Rev 8:5 has an angel fill a censer with fire from the altar and cast it 'into the earth'.

Verse 4

the house was filled with the cloud — The glory stands over the threshold, and the cloud and brightness fill the house and the court. The same signs marked its coming: the cloud and glory filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:35), and 'the house was filled with a cloud' at Solomon's dedication (2 Chr 5:13–14). They now attend its going.

Verse 7

put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen — The man was told to take the fire (vv.2, 6), and one cherub hands it to him from between the cherubim, so the fire comes from beneath the throne. He 'took it, and went out'. The man who marked the sighing and crying in 9:4 is also the one who carries the fire for the city.

Verse 11

they turned not as they went — The wheels (vv.9–10) go 'upon their four sides', as in 1:17, 'they turned not when they went'. They move toward 'the place whither the head looked' and follow it, because, as v.17 says, 'the spirit of the living creature was in them'. They are guided by the cherubim and not by any turning of their own.

Verse 12

full of eyes round about — In 1:18 only the rings of the wheels were 'full of eyes round about'. Here the cherubim's 'whole body', backs, hands and wings are full of eyes as well as the wheels. The living creatures of Rev 4:6, 8 are likewise 'full of eyes before and behind' and 'within'.

Verse 14

the face of a cherub — In 1:10 the four faces are a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. Here the first is 'the face of a cherub' where 1:10 has the ox, and the text gives no reason for the change. The faces in Rev 4:7 are a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle. Verse 20 states that the creatures are the same as those at the river Chebar.

Verse 17

the spirit of the living creature was in them — As in 1:20–21, the wheels stood when the cherubim stood and rose when they rose. 'Living creature' is singular, as in 1:22 and 10:15, 20, though there are four, so the four are spoken of as one living being, one whose spirit also moves the wheels.

Verse 18

the glory of the LORD departed — The glory leaves the threshold of the house, where it stood in 9:3 and 10:4, and stands over the cherubim. It has moved out of the house itself, and the LORD had once 'forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men' (Ps 78:60). Ezekiel sees the glory at the east gate in the next verse.

Verse 19

the door of the east gate — The cherubim 'mounted up from the earth in my sight', the wheels beside them, and stop at the east gate with the glory 'over them above'. The movement ends in 11:22–23, where the glory goes up from the city to the mountain on the east. In 43:1–4 it comes back through 'the gate that looketh toward the east'.

Verse 20

I knew that they were the cherubims — The word 'cherubims' does not occur in chapter 1, and its first use in this vision is 9:3. The prophet now says he knew the 'living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar' to be cherubim, those between whom the LORD is said to dwell (Ps 80:1).