The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 10
Chapter X · Vol. III, p. 1323
1 The vision of the coals of fire, to be scattered over the city. 8 The vision of the cherubims.
1 Then Ia looked, and behold, in the bfirmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.1
b ch.1.22,26. Re.4.2,3. Ex.24.10. Is.66.1. Re.3.21. He.1.8.
1 The throne was at once the seat and symbol of Jehovah. He is not mentioned; but it is evident from the scope of the passage, and especially from the beginning of ver.2, where the divine name is understood, that Jehovah was the grand object before the prophet's mind, and the supreme Director of all that took place.—P.
2 And 2he spake3 unto the man4 clothed with linen, and said, cGo in between the wheels,5 even under the cherub, and fill thine6 hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and dscatter them over the city.7 And he went in in my sight.
2 God, Re.4.3.
3 He spake. The LORD. See ch.9.4.—C.
4 Christ, ch.9.2-4,11.
c ch.1.13. Ps.120.4; 140.10. Re.8.5. Lu.12.49.
5 Wheels. For their import, see notes on ch.i.—C.
6 Heb. the hollow of thine.
d 2 Ki.25.9. Mi.1.12. Re.8.5. Je.52.13. ch.20.47. Je.xix.xxi.; 34.2; 37.8,10. Ex.9.8-10.
7 In ch.ix. the man clothed with linen was a messenger of mercy, to watch over and set a divine mark on God's people. In this chapter he is a messenger of judgment, to take fire, the symbol of destruction, from between the cherubim, and scatter it over the city.—P.
3 Now the cherubims stood on the right8 side of the house, when the man went in; and thee cloud9 filled the inner court.
8 North, ver.18.
e ch.9.3; 1.26; 3.23; 8.4; ver.1,18; ch.11.23.
9 The cloud in which—the time being daylight—the Shekinah glory appeared.—C.
4 Then the gglory of the LORD went up1 from the cherub, hand stood over the threshold of the house; and ithe house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.
5 And the jsound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the kouter court, as the lvoice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.2
j ch.1.24; 11.22; ver.18,19.
k 1 Ki.7.9.
l Ps.29.3-9; 68.3; 78.18. Job 40.9; 37.2,5.
2 The Lord gave audible responses to Moses in the wilderness, and also to the prayers of the high-priest, from the most holy place. The voice must have been of such a character as could be distinguished by the assembled multitudes.—P.
6 And it came to pass, that nwhen he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, ofrom between the cherubims; then he went in, and pstood beside the wheels.
7 And one cherub stretched forth3 his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen; who took it, and qwent out.
3 Heb. sent forth.
q ch.12.23-28; 7.2-12. De.32.35. Re.22.12. Is.10.33. 1 Th.5.3. Mat.24.33,34.
8 And rthere appeared in the cherubims thes form of a man's hand under their wings.
r ver.21.
s ch.1.8. Ec.9.10. 1 Co.15.10,58. Is.6.6. Ps.115.1. Lu.17.10.
9 Andt when I looked, behold, the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
t ch.1.15-17.
10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel4 had been in the midst5 of a wheel.
11 Whenu they went,6 they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head7 looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
12 And their whole body,8 and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were vfull of eyes9 round about, even the wheels that they four had.
8 Heb. flesh.
v ch.1.18. Re.4.8. 2 Ch.16.9. Ps.34.15. Pr.5.21; 15.3.
9 The emblems of omniscience—of the 'eyes of the Lord which are over all the earth, beholding the evil and the good'—and of the 'wisdom that cometh down from above, from the Father of lights,' and with which he endows, in appropriate measure, every one that discovers his lack and prays for a supply, Ja.1.5,17.—C.
13 As for the wheels, 1it was xcried unto them in my hearing, O wheel!2
1 Or, they were called in my hearing, Wheel, or Galgal, i.e. move round.
x Ps.103.20. He.1.14. ch.1.19-21. Ps.119.91; 147.18; 33.9.
2 O wheel! Rather, 'Roll on!' (see ver.16); an emblem of that still progressive movement, however apparently retarded or stationary (ver.17), which is to continue in the church until the 'gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.'—C.
14 Andy every one had four faces: zthe first face was the face of a cherub, and athe second face was the face of a man, and the bthird the face of a lion, and the cfourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubims were dlifted up. eThis is the living creature3 that I saw by the river of Chebar.
e ch.1.5,6; 43.3; ver.20.
3 This is the living creature, called also 'creatures,' ch.1.13. The church, consisting of 'creatures' or individuals, is also 'a creature,' being one temple reared of many stones (1 Pe.1.4,5), one body composed of many members (1 Co.12.12-20), but with one life and one Spirit.—C.
16 Andg when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them; and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.
g ch.1.19-21; 11.22; ver.17,19.
17 When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for hthe spirit of the living creature4 was in them.
18 Then the glory of the LORD ideparted from off the threshold of the house, and jstood over the 5cherubims.6
i ch.7.20-22. Je.7.12,14, with Ps.78.60. Je.14.19,21; 6.8. Ho.5.15; 9.12. Mat.23.38. ver.4.
j ch.11.22. Ge.3.24. Ps.18.10; 68.17. 2 Ki.6.17; 2.11.
5 Which now stood in the court, ver.3,4.
6 The Shekinah no longer occupied the symbolical mercy-seat 'within the veil,' but is now borne by the church universal in her witness to the incarnation, sacrifice, and justifying resurrection of the Lord Jesus, Ro.4.25.—C.
19 And kthe cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them; and every one stood lat the door of nthe east gate of the LORD's house; oand the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
k ch.11.22; ver.15-17; ch.1.14,17-21.
l ch.9.3; ver.4,18; ch.11.22.
n ch.8.16; 43.4.
o ch.1.26,28. Phi.2.9-11. Ep.1.21,22. 1 Pe.3.22. Ps.68.17,18.
20 Thisp is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and qI knew that they were the cherubims.
p ver.15; ch.1.22,23,26; 3.15,23; 43.2,3.
q With 1 Ki.6.29,35; 7.29,36.
Notes
Ver. 1-7. The throne, ver. 1, denotes God's coming in a way of judgment against the Jews. The man clothed in linen, taking the fire from between the cherubims to scatter over the city, ver. 2, 6, 7. denotes Christ as executing the destructive justice of God on Jerusalem, according to the predictions of his prophets, and by the ministration of angels. The bright cloud that filled the inner court, ver. 3, 4, might denote the terrible judgment of God on the priests; or his presence, as leaving the Jews and coming to the Gentiles. The terrible sound of the cherubim's wings, heard even to the outer court, ver. 5, may denote the terrible judgments of God on the Jews, heard of among the heathen; or the gospel published by the apostles to the Gentiles. 13. I plainly discerned that every providential dispensation, and every particular church, was under the direction and government of some superior being, even God himself. [See further explication of cherubims, wheels, &c., on ch. i.]
Ver. 3. Right side. The pillar called Jachin, or the strengthener, stood upon the right side of the entrance.—The brazen sea, representing the washing of regeneration, stood on the right side, 1 Ki. 7. 39.—There also were the candlesticks, representing gospel light, 1 Ki. 7. 49. On the right side of the altar stood the angel that heralded the Messiah, Lu. 1. 11: and on the right side of the sepulchre, the angel that announced and testified his resurrection, Mar. 16. 5. From these facts it will be easy to gather why the cherubim, either the representatives of the 'ministering spirits, that minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation,' or the emblems of the church of the redeemed, represented by her apostolic messengers, should take their place on the 'right side of the house,' which was also the side of the ship upon which our Lord directed his disciples to cast their net, Jn. 21. 5,—the directory for their conduct when they act as 'fishers of men.' See also Mat. 7. 6. C.
Ver. 11. They went upon their four sides. That is, they went east, west, north, or south, as the Spirit guided: and that in the universal and heavenly sense, and not in the mere local and earthly sense of horizontal motion on one fixed plane. They expatiated equally through 'the height and the depth, the length and the breadth' of the providence and grace of the Lord. C.
Ver. 14. Cherub. The word 'cherub' being here substituted for 'ox' in the former vision, ch. 1. 10, has led to the opinion that the cherubims in the temple were delineated with the faces of oxen and wings of birds—emblems of peace, patience, strength, and labour, combined with alacrity. This opinion, however, is rendered somewhat doubtful by the mention of cherubims and oxen as separate species, 1 Ki. 7. 29, but these may have been mere oxen, and not winged oxen, the one setting forth the alacrity that gives perfection to the labour of the other. C.
Reflections.—How glorious and majestic are the appearances of God in his providence or church! Awful is the ministration of angels or messages of faithful ministers! And terrible are the denunciations of Jehovah's wrath, especially against apostate professors! And deep the concern of Jesus Christ and his angels and ministers in the execution of it! He hath all judgment committed to him; and at his last coming he will scatter his coals of fire over our earth, and for ever over the world of the ungodly. Harmonious and uniform, steady and regular, are the motions of Providence, and the divine management of churches amidst all their variations. All things are seen by God's all seeing eye, and act constantly by his irresistible energy.—But by slow degrees, and in seeming aversion, doth he remove his gracious presence and ordinances from a people, as one glad to return upon their gospel repentance and humble requests.