The Vision of the Idolatrous Temple, Part 2

Let’s not forget what the temple and the city looked like at end of chapter 9. It’s strewn with dead bodies. And now they’re about to be cremated. 🔥

The scribe angel goes in between the cherubim wheels and gets a handful of burning coals – because there is a fire in the middle of this mobile throne of God. He scatters the coals on the city and it burns.

And while it’s burning, God leaves.

I’ve looked at dozens of images online of “Ezekiel’s Wheels.” Here are a few I think reflect the text well.

So Yahweh in His throne-car begins to move. Let’s track His movements.

“Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. And the glory of the Lord went 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 the Lord.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭10‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The “threshold of the house” would be the entrance to the Holy Place. So the LORD gets up off His throne and moves to the entrance of His sanctuary. And, just like what happened at the dedication, the whole place if filled with a bright glory cloud.

This is the dedication in reverse. It’s like a weird mirror image. The house is again filled with people, but instead of singing and dancing, these people all lie dead. Instead of the loud blowing of trumpets and shouting, it is eerily quiet (except for the sound of the whirring cherubim). Instead of a new temple, gleaming and golden; it is stripped, broken and lined with garbage like some urban alley. And the flames engulfing the city are creeping closer.

“And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Chebar canal.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭10‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The throne-car lifts off.

“Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭10‬:‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The LORD flies up and returns to His sapphire throne.

“And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭10‬:‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The throne-car flies up and pauses at the east gate of the temple.

Here’s a diagram that may help.

The LORD transports Ezekiel to join Him at the east gate. And there are a group of Jerusalem’s leaders. Leaders would “sit in the gate” which was a whole building and served as a kind of city hall.

😐 Why are they so happy about being meat in a pot? Doesn’t that mean they’re “cooked?”

That’s what it means to us today. But…

I’ve read Ezekiel 11 in several translations, including the Septuagint, and from what I can tell, what they mean when they say, “This city is the pot and we are the meat,” is something kinda like the English idiom “Snug as a bug in a rug,”

🤔 So like, “Cozy as a lump of meat in a stew.”

You got it.

☝🏼🤓 Snug as a pig in a blanket.

Uh-huh.

😌 Cozy as a cat in a cupboard.

Ok.

☝🏼🤓 Right as rain.

😄 Safe as houses.

☝🏼🤓 Comfy as an old shoe.

Alright. Alright. That’s plenty.

Yahweh has Ezekiel prophecy to the men at the gate (who apparently cannot see or hear him – kinda like the angel Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life).

“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they are the flesh, and it is the pot, and I will bring you out from its midst.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭7‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Their murder victims are the ones who are “snug as a bug” (in the grave). These men who are responsible for their deaths – they’re about to be slung out of their cozy pot of stew to face death by the sword.

While Ezekiel is prophesying this, one of the men just drops dead. It was a man Ezekiel knew. Everyone knew him. He was a member of the royal family; one of the princes of Israel.

This prompts Ezekiel to ask: “Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?” Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

And the answer is “No.” Yahweh will scatter them, but after a while, He will bring them back. And when He does…

“And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

When they come back, it will be different. Very different.

But that’s still the future. Right now, it’s time for God to go.

“And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.”
‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭11‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

That would be the Mount of Olives; the LORD’s favorite take-off and landing spot.

And while the “glory” of Yahweh is preparing to launch from the mountain, the “Spirit” of Yahweh carries Enoch back to his house in Chaldea.

Just in time for him to begin preparing for his next sign – a staged captivity.