The Terrible Departure Text: Ezekiel 10:1-8
Introduction: When the Shekinah Leaves the Building
We modern Christians have a bad habit of domesticating God. We have turned the consuming fire of Sinai into a decorative fireplace log, something that provides a bit of ambiance but offers no real threat. We want a God who is a therapist, a life coach, a divine butler, but never a sovereign King who judges His own house. We want the comfort of His presence without the terror of His holiness. We treat His house, the church, like a clubhouse, and we assume He is obligated to stay, no matter how much we profane the space with our idols, our compromises, and our lukewarm worship.
Ezekiel the priest is in exile in Babylon, but the leadership back in Jerusalem is steeped in this same kind of presumption. They have the Temple. They have the system. They believe God is locked into a contract with the real estate. They think, "God would never abandon His own address." This vision, this entire section of Ezekiel, is God's formal eviction notice. He is announcing, in terrifying detail, that His glory, the Shekinah, the visible manifestation of His presence, is leaving the building. And He is not just leaving; He is suing for divorce and burning the house down on His way out.
This is not a quiet, dignified exit. This is a judicial departure. It is the sound of a throne-chariot revving its engines. It is the deployment of holy wrath from the very place where mercy was supposed to be found. What Ezekiel sees is the unraveling of Israel's world. The central assumption of their entire religious and national life, that God dwells with them in that place, is being systematically and publicly dismantled. This passage is a warning against all religious presumption. It teaches us that God's presence is not a right to be claimed but a gift to be treasured, and that when His people insist on defiling His sanctuary, the most terrifying judgment is not an invading army, but God Himself simply packing up and leaving.
The Text
Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance in the likeness of a throne, appeared above them. And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, "Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city." And he entered in my sight. Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of Yahweh rose up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh. Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks. Now it happened that when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim," he entered and stood beside a wheel. Then the cherub sent forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire which was between the cherubim, took some up, and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out. And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings.
(Ezekiel 10:1-8 LSB)
The Throne and the Sentence (v. 1-2)
The vision begins with the source of all authority, the very command center of the cosmos.
"Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance in the likeness of a throne, appeared above them." (Ezekiel 10:1)
Ezekiel sees the throne of God. It is not fixed to the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies. It is mobile, hovering above these terrifying cherubim, which function as a divine war chariot. This is a critical theological point. God is not a local deity tied to a box in a building. His authority is transcendent, and He is free to move as He pleases. The exiles in Babylon needed to hear this: God is not trapped in Jerusalem. He is sovereign over Babylon, and His throne can be anywhere.
The throne has the appearance of sapphire, the color of the heavens, signifying its celestial, otherworldly glory. This is the God against whom the leaders in Jerusalem are sinning so casually. They have forgotten who they are dealing with. And from this throne of absolute authority, a sentence is passed.
"And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, 'Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.'" (Ezekiel 10:2)
This is a command for judgment. The man in linen, a priestly, angelic figure, is commanded to become an agent of destruction. But notice where the instruments of judgment come from. He is to take "coals of fire from between the cherubim." This is holy fire, from the very altar of God's presence. In the tabernacle, coals from the altar were used for the incense offering, a symbol of prayer and atonement (Lev. 16:12). Here, the very element of worship is weaponized. The fire that was meant to atone is now used to incinerate. This is what happens when worship is corrupted. The means of grace become the means of judgment. It is a terrifying picture of covenant lawsuit. God is judging His people not with foreign fire, but with fire from His own altar.
A Deliberate Departure (v. 3-5)
God does not simply vanish. He leaves in stages, deliberately, making His departure an unmistakable prophetic sign.
"Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the house when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of Yahweh rose up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of Yahweh." (Ezekiel 10:3-4)
The glory of Yahweh, the visible manifestation of His presence, begins to move. It lifts off from its place above the Ark (represented by the cherubim) and moves to the threshold, the doorway, of the Temple. It is pausing at the exit. This is a picture of divine reluctance, of God's immense long-suffering. He is giving them every opportunity to see what they are about to lose. Before He removes His presence, He fills the house one last time with a blinding display of His glory. The cloud and the brightness fill the court. It is a final, terrible, beautiful glimpse of the majesty they have taken for granted and spurned through their idolatry.
This departure is not silent. It is accompanied by a deafening roar.
"Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks." (Ezekiel 10:5)
The sound is like the voice of God Almighty, El Shaddai. This is the name God used when making His covenant promises to Abraham, the name of His omnipotent power to fulfill His word. That same power is now being unleashed to execute the covenant curses. The sound of the wings is the sound of His throne-chariot preparing for war, and the target is His own city. This is not a quiet retreat; it is a declaration of hostilities. Everyone, even in the outer court, is being put on notice. No one will be able to say they did not know what was happening.
Holy Judgment Executed (v. 6-8)
The vision then shows the command from verse 2 being carried out with solemn precision.
"Now it happened that when He commanded the man clothed in linen... he entered and stood beside a wheel. Then the cherub sent forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire... took some up, and put it into the hands of the one clothed in linen, who took it and went out." (Ezekiel 10:6-7)
The agent of judgment, the man in linen, approaches the source of power. And one of the cherubim, a guardian of God's holiness, acts as the intermediary. The cherub reaches into the holy fire and places it into the hands of the executioner. This is a formal, liturgical act. The judgment is not a chaotic outburst of rage; it is an orderly, holy, and just sentence being carried out by the highest officers of the heavenly court. The fire is being transferred from the realm of God's immediate presence to be deployed in the world.
And a final detail is added to underscore the personal nature of this act.
"And the cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings." (Ezekiel 10:8)
These are not impersonal forces of nature. They are personal agents, ministering spirits, carrying out the specific will of a personal God. The hand signifies agency, skill, and purpose. This judgment is not an accident. It is a deliberate, hands-on act of the sovereign God, whose holiness has been intolerably provoked.
The Glory Departed and Returned
This is a terrifying vision, and it should be. It is a stark warning against religious presumption. We who live under the New Covenant have a temple as well, not one of bricks and mortar, but a living temple. The church is the house of God, and our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19). The warning of Ezekiel still stands: judgment begins at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). We must not assume that the presence of God is an unconditional guarantee of safety, regardless of our conduct.
The glory of God did depart that physical Temple. But in the fullness of time, the glory of God returned to a new Temple, the body of Jesus Christ. John tells us, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (John 1:14). Jesus was the true Shekinah, the walking, talking presence of God on earth.
And what happened at that Temple? The ultimate judgment, the ultimate scattering of holy fire, took place at the cross. On Calvary, Jesus, our great High Priest clothed in humanity, did not take coals to scatter on us. Instead, He took the full, unmitigated, holy fire of God's wrath against our sin into His own body. He absorbed the judgment we deserved. The fire that should have consumed us, consumed Him.
Because He did this, the glory did not depart from His people for good. After His resurrection and ascension, He sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The fire of God came down again, but this time it was not a fire of judgment, but a fire of purification and empowerment, appearing as tongues of fire on the disciples. The glory of God that left Ezekiel's temple now comes to dwell permanently in His people. The cloud of His presence fills the temple of the church.
Therefore, we do not live in fear of the glory departing in judgment. Christ has secured His presence with us forever. But we must live in awe of the glory that now dwells within us. We must not trifle with this grace. We are the temple of the living God, the place where His glory dwells on earth. Let us, therefore, cleanse ourselves from every defilement, and worship Him with reverence and awe, for our God is still a consuming fire. But praise be to His name, for us that fire has been satisfied in the Son.