Commentary - Ezekiel 10:18-19

Bird's-eye view

In these two verses, we witness one of the most solemn and terrifying moments in the Old Testament. This is not a quiet fading of the light; it is the formal, judicial, and sovereign departure of God from His own house. Having been shown the grotesque idolatries polluting the Temple in the preceding chapters, Ezekiel now sees the inevitable consequence. The glory of God, which is the very basis of Israel's existence and protection, is leaving. This is not a defeat for God, as though He were being driven out by the filth. Rather, it is the deliberate act of a holy King and Judge, abandoning a hopelessly compromised and adulterous people to the consequences He has long warned them about. This departure is a sentence of death on the city of Jerusalem. Without the presence of God, the Temple is just an ornate building and the city is just a target for the Babylonians.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

These verses are the climax of a four-chapter vision (Ezekiel 8-11) that details the reasons for Jerusalem's destruction. In chapter 8, God takes Ezekiel on a spiritual tour of the Temple to reveal four kinds of abominable idolatries being practiced right under His nose. In chapter 9, God dispatches angelic executioners to cleanse the city of the wicked, marking only the faithful few for preservation. Chapter 10 describes in detail the vehicle of God's departure, the cherubim-throne with its intricate wheels, first seen in chapter 1. The vision makes it clear that God is not static; He is not trapped in a building. His throne is mobile, and He can be present with His exiled people in Babylon just as surely as He can depart from a defiled Temple in Jerusalem. The departure of the glory is the central act of judgment in this section, making the subsequent physical destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar an outworking of a spiritual reality that has already occurred.

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

Ezekiel 10:18

Then the glory of Yahweh departed from the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim.

The first word, "Then," connects this action directly to the preparations of the previous verses. The stage is set, the throne-chariot is ready, and now the King moves. The glory of Yahweh, that visible manifestation of God's holy presence and weight, does not just vanish. It moves in stages, deliberately. It had previously moved from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the Temple (Ezek. 9:3). Now it departs from the threshold itself. This is the point of no return. God is crossing the line out of His own house. This is a picture of divine divorce. The covenant has been thoroughly broken by the people, and God, the aggrieved husband, is leaving the home that has been polluted by their spiritual adultery.

He "stood over the cherubim." The glory is mounting its vehicle. This is not a picture of a refugee fleeing a disaster. This is the picture of a sovereign King ascending his chariot of war. The cherubim are not simply decorative angels; they are the very throne-bearers of the Almighty. This is a royal procession, but it is a procession out. The power and majesty on display are not for Israel's defense but are now directed toward her judgment. God is leaving, and He is doing so in the full display of His sovereign power.

Ezekiel 10:19

When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of Yahweh, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.

The movement is audible and visible. The cherubim lift their wings, and the sound is like the voice of God Almighty (Ezek. 10:5). This is a public spectacle for the prophet, "in my sight." God wants no confusion about what is happening. He is not being sneaky. He is making a formal, public declaration that His patience has ended. The intricate and mysterious wheels, the "wheels within wheels," go with them, signifying that this departure, in all its complexity, is part of God's intricate and sovereign plan. It might look like chaos to men, but it is perfectly ordered by God.

Then there is a pause. They "stood still at the entrance of the east gate." Why pause here? The east gate was the primary entrance to the Temple complex. It was the way glory was meant to come in, and the way it will one day return (Ezek. 43:4). For the glory to leave by this gate is a profound and tragic statement. But the pause itself is a mark of God's character. It is a final, lingering look. It is the last moment before the protection is fully withdrawn. Even in executing righteous judgment, God does not do so with glee. This pause is a demonstration of His longsuffering, a final moment for any to comprehend the gravity of what is happening.

And there, at the gate, "the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them." The name is crucial. He is still the God of Israel, the covenant God. This is what makes the departure so awful. It is their own God, the one who pledged Himself to them, who is now leaving them to their fate. The hovering glory is like a storm cloud of judgment, filled with righteous power, ready to move on. Once it does, the city is spiritually hollow, a shell waiting to be crushed.

Application

We who are in Christ are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). God's glory does not dwell in buildings made with hands any longer, but in His people. The story of Ezekiel's vision is therefore a stark and abiding warning for the Church. We must not presume upon the presence of God. While the Lord has promised never to leave nor forsake His own elect (Heb. 13:5), it is entirely possible for local churches, denominations, and entire Christian civilizations to commit the same kinds of spiritual adulteries that Judah did. We can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and we can quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19).

When we begin to tolerate sin in the camp, when we make idols of our traditions, our politics, or our comforts, when our worship becomes a hollow form instead of a holy fire, we are creating an environment that is hostile to the glory of God. The lesson from Ezekiel is that God takes the holiness of His house seriously. He will not be mocked. His departure from Jerusalem was a precursor to judgment, and we should not think we are immune. We must continually pray for reformation and revival, asking God to cleanse His house, which is us, lest we find our lampstand removed (Rev. 2:5) and our structures left as empty relics.

But the gospel hope is that the same God who departs in judgment is the God who returns in glory. The glory that left through the east gate returned in the person of Jesus Christ, who entered Jerusalem through the east gate. And through His death and resurrection, He has made it possible for the glory of God, the Holy Spirit, to take up residence not in a stone temple, but in redeemed hearts of flesh. Our duty is to walk in a manner worthy of such an indwelling, hating the sin that drove the glory away, and loving the holiness that invites His presence.