Ezekiel 10:18 Komentář

The prophet had observed to us (Eze 8:4) that when he was in vision at Jerusalem he saw the same appearance of the glory of God there that he had seen by the river Chebar; now, in this chapter, he gives us some account of the appearance there, as far as was requisite for the clearing up of two further indications of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, which God here gave the prophet: - I. The scattering of the coals of fire upon the city, which were taken from between the cherubim (Eze 10:1-7). II. The removal of the glory of God from the temple, and its being upon the wing to be gone (Eze 10:8-22). When God goes out from a people all judgments break in upon them.

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 10 In this chapter is a vision, very much like that in the first chapter, with some difference, and with a different view, the design of it being to represent the wrath of God against Jerusalem, and his departure from the city and temple. A throne much like that in Eze 1:26 is described, Eze 10:1; orders are given from it to scatter coals over the city, Eze 10:2; the situation of the cherubim when these orders were given, Eze 10:3; the removal of the glory of the Lord from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the consequences of it; the house filled with smoke; the court with the brightness of the Lord's glory; and the sound of the cherubim's wings heard to the outer court, as the voice of God, Eze 10:4; the orders of taking and scattering fire over the city executed, and the manner in which they were, Eze 10:6; a description of the cherubim and the wheels, much like that in the first chapter, Eze 10:8; the departure of the glory of God from the threshold to the east gate of the Lord's house, with the motion of the cherubim and wheels along with him, Eze 10:18; and the chapter is concluded with observing, that the cherubim are the same with the living creatures seen in the vision of the first chapter, and had the same form, likeness, and motion, Eze 10:20.

Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house,.... Whither he had removed from the cherub or the cherubim, between the mercy seat, Eze 10:4; taking another step towards a general departure from the temple and city, of which this was another signal and warning: and stood over the cherubim: not on the mercy seat from whence he came, for hither he returned not; but over the cherubim or living creatures seen in the vision, which were under the throne in the firmament of heaven; an emblem, as we have seen, of Gospel ministers: and this may denote the exaltation of Christ, who is the glory of the Lord, the brightness of his Father's glory, above sheen; his protection of them, and presence with them; for, let him move where he will, he will not depart from his faithful ministers; he will be with them to the end of the world.

(v. 18 seqq.) And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the Temple and stood over the Cherubim. And the Cherubim lifted up their wings and were exalted from the ground before me. And as they went, the wheels also followed them. And it stood at the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. It is the creature that I saw beneath the God of Israel, by the river Chebar, and I understood that they were Cherubim. Four, through four faces to one: and four wings to one, and the likeness of the hands of a man under their wings: and the likeness of their faces, the very faces which I had seen by the river Chobar, and their looks, and the way each one went forward to his own front. The glory of the Lord, or the majesty, which had stood in the entrance of the temple, stood over the cherubims. They lifting up their wings, and the prophet seeing, were raised up: and the wheels followed them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. First, he was in the temple, then he stood in the courtyard of the temple or at the threshold. As he was departing from the temple, clouds and darkness filled the inner sanctuary of the temple. And once again, the glory itself sat upon the cherubim, and as they immediately flew away and departed to the outside, the wheels followed. And the glory stood at the gate of the house of the Lord facing east, not at the entrance of the temple, but behind the courtyard and threshold at the entrance of the gate of the house of the Lord facing east. When the prophet saw this, he said, 'It is the creature that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chobar, and I understood that they were cherubim.' For what new thing had he seen, which he understood to be Cherubim, which he had not understood before? Cherubim, in our language, is a multitude of knowledge: the knowledge of the sacraments of God, and his throne and rest. Therefore, it is said in the psalm: You who sit above the Cherubim, reveal yourself. (Ps. LXXIX, 2). For the glory of the Lord always resides in the multitude of knowledge; and it is manifested when all things are shown by divine providence; nothing happens by chance, nor does anyone say anything without reason: The Lord has abandoned the earth, and the Lord does not see. (Supra IX, 9). Wherefore also, having beheld the cherubim and their desire, is to forget the things that are past, and to stretch forth unto those which are before (Philippians 3).

I linger long in the land of the midday sun, for it was there and then that the spouse found her bridegroom at rest and Joseph drank wine with his brothers once more. I will return to Jerusalem and, passing through Tekoa the home of Amos, I will look on the glistening cross of Mount Olive from which the Savior made his ascension to the Father. Here year by year a red heifer was burned as an offering to the Lord, and its ashes were used to purify the children of Israel. Here also according to Ezekiel the cherubim after leaving the temple founded the church of the Lord.

The same august vision which appeared to the prophet at first, 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, vv. 1-22. It may not be improper to remark, that whatever is particularly intended by the cherubim, wheels, firmament, throne, etc., 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 nay 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.

VISION OF COALS OF FIRE SCATTERED OVER THE CITY: REPETITION OF THE VISION OF THE CHERUBIM. (Eze. 10:1-22) The throne of Jehovah appearing in the midst of the judgments implies that whatever intermediate agencies be employed, He controls them, and that the whole flows as a necessary consequence from His essential holiness (Eze 1:22, Eze 1:26). cherubim--in Eze 1:5, called "living creatures." The repetition of the vision implies that the judgments are approaching nearer and nearer. These two visions of Deity were granted in the beginning of Ezekiel's career, to qualify him for witnessing to God's glory amidst his God-forgetting people and to stamp truth on his announcements; also to signify the removal of God's manifestation from the visible temple (Eze 10:18) for a long period (Eze 43:2). The feature (Eze 10:12) mentioned as to the cherubim that they were "full of eyes," though omitted in the former vision, is not a difference, but a more specific detail observed by Ezekiel now on closer inspection. Also, here, there is no rainbow (the symbol of mercy after the flood of wrath) as in the former; for here judgment is the prominent thought, though the marking of the remnant in Eze 9:4, Eze 9:6 shows that there was mercy in the background. The cherubim, perhaps, represent redeemed humanity combining in and with itself the highest forms of subordinate creaturely life (compare Rom 8:20). Therefore they are associated with the twenty-four elders and are distinguished from the angels (Rev 5:1-14). They stand on the mercy seat of the ark, and on that ground become the habitation of God from which His glory is to shine upon the world. The different forms symbolize the different phases of the Church. So the quadriform Gospel, in which the incarnate Saviour has lodged the revelation of Himself in a fourfold aspect, and from which His glory shines on the Christian world, answers to the emblematic throne from which He shone on the Jewish Church.

The departure of the symbol of God's presence from the temple preparatory to the destruction of the city. Foretold in Deu 31:17. Woe be to those from whom God departs (Hos 9:12)! Compare Sa1 28:15-16; Sa1 4:21 : "I-chabod, Thy glory is departed." Successive steps are marked in His departure; so slowly and reluctantly does the merciful God leave His house. First He leaves the sanctuary (Eze 9:3); He elevates His throne above the threshold of the house (Eze 10:1); leaving the cherubim He sits on the throne (Eze 10:4); He and the cherubim, after standing for a time at the door of the east gate (where was the exit to the lower court of the people), leave the house altogether (Eze 10:18-19), not to return till Eze 43:2.