Study notes

Ezekiel 10

Introducing EzekielWho wrote it, when, why, and what to look for as you read

8:1–11:25

This section describes how the people defiled (made unclean by sin) the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8). Because of this sin, the Lord left the temple. After he left, the city and the temple were destroyed (9:1–11:13).

At first, this sounds like only bad news. But for those already living in exile, it was also good news. The Lord was not limited to the temple in Jerusalem. He would come to be with his people in exile.

By coming to dwell with them, the Lord showed that the exiles were not forgotten. They were the ones who carried hope for the future of God’s people.

8:1–11:25 Section

Ezekiel said that the power of the Lord came on him. God appeared to Ezekiel like a human figure of fire and glowing metal. Then the Spirit lifted Ezekiel up between earth and heaven. That is how Ezekiel described what having a vision was like. This vision included everything that Ezekiel recorded through chapter 11.

Ezekiel’s body remained sitting in his house in Babylon with the elders. The things he saw took place in the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Ezekiel saw men, women and the elders worshipping false gods. He saw the city’s leaders making evil plans and giving bad advice. Ezekiel spoke God’s words against them. The words had the power to put one of those leaders to death. Ezekiel cried out to God when he saw this. He also cried out when people in Jerusalem were being killed.

Ezekiel didn’t want God to destroy all the Israelites who were still left alive. But God made it clear that these people were choosing to do evil things. They weren’t sad or sorry at all about what they were doing. They weren’t going to stop. So God decided to stop them. These people had made the temple unclean by worshipping false gods there. God is holy and nothing evil or unclean can be near him.

God had said that his name would be in the temple and in Jerusalem for ever (2 Chronicles 33:7). But he also warned that he would turn his back on the temple (1 Kings 9:7). This meant that God would no longer make his presence known there. He would do this if his people weren’t faithful to him. Ezekiel saw this happen in the vision. The glory of God moved to the doorway of the temple. Then it left the temple and left Jerusalem. This was a sign that God’s covenant with his people was broken for a time.

Moses had warned the Israelites that this would happen (Deuteronomy 31:15–18). The glory of the Lord left the temple but Ezekiel had seen it in Babylon. This showed that God wasn’t the ruler only of the land of Israel. The Jews in Babylon were far from the temple. But God said that he had been their temple. This meant that they could be with God and worship him wherever they were. This was part of the message of hope that Ezekiel shared. God promised to bring his people back from exile. He promised that they would be faithful to the Mount Sinai covenant. Instead of being stubborn, they would obey God. They would be able to do this because God would change their hearts.

10:1–2

This vision of God’s fearful and holy glory was almost the same as the one Ezekiel had seen earlier in Babylonia (Ezekiel 1). Now he saw it again, but this time in the temple in Jerusalem.
The temple was filled with symbols of heaven. In this vision, Ezekiel understood clearly that the living creatures he had seen before were cherubim. Cherubim are powerful heavenly beings who guard God’s holiness and carry out his judgment (Genesis 3:24).
A priestly figure was told to gather burning coals from among the cherubim. This action showed that Jerusalem, which had become unclean because of sin, would be destroyed by fire. This judgment was like what happened to the city of Sodom (see Ezekiel 16:46–50).
The vision also showed that the Lord was leaving his city. Later, this became a reality in history. A few years after this vision, King Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem and filled the city with dead bodies.

10:1–22

The temple was the earthly place where the Lord’s glory dwelled among his people. This was one of the greatest blessings of the covenant.

But this blessing depended on the people being holy (set apart for God and living in obedience to him). When they filled the temple with sin and idolatry, they defiled it.

Because of their unfaithfulness, the Lord left his house. Once his presence departed, the temple and the city were left unprotected. They became vulnerable to the coming attack by the Babylonians.

10:3–22

The glory of the Lord did not leave the temple all at once. It moved slowly, step by step, almost as if it was unwilling to depart (Ezekiel 10:4).

First, the glory of the Lord moved from above the cherubim in the Most Holy Place. Then it went to the entrance of the temple and stopped there for a time. After that, it rose above the cherubim again (Ezekiel 10:18) and moved to the east gate of the courtyard, where it paused once more (10:19). Eventually, the glory of the Lord left the city completely (11:23).

10:12

full of eyes: The elders' earlier statement that "The LORD does not see us" (Ezekiel 8:12) was both foolish and false.

10:19–22

From this point on, the city was doomed.

God had shown his powerful and fearsome glory in the opening chapter of Ezekiel. Now that same God had left the city.

Without his presence, Jerusalem no longer had protection or hope. Judgment would surely come.

Verse notes: Adapted by Mission Mutual (Aquifer Open Study Notes) from Tyndale Open Study Notes © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers. CC BY-SA 4.0. Section notes: Biblica Study Notes © 2023 Biblica, Inc. CC BY-SA 4.0, via BibleAquifer. About the sources