By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Ezekiel
10
Ezekiel
10:19
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.
(ESV)
In John
4:23-24, Jesus told a Samaritan woman that true worshippers of God worship
in spirit and truth. The Disciples of Christ spent three and one-half years with
Jesus and during that time were exposed to much truth, but Jesus warned them to
wait in Jerusalem for the power of God before beginning to minister (Acts
1:4). Jesus knew that the preaching of truth would be ineffective and not
continue when persecution came to the early church without the power of the
Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, in some churches, truth is abundant but a lack of
the power of the Holy Spirit exists, making the preaching of the word of God powerless
and ineffective. When persecution comes, a Church without the fire of the Holy
Spirit will draw back from proclaiming truth out of fear. For revival to come
in the Church, there must be an infusion of power from the Holy Spirit
eliminating fear.
This text begins with
Ezekiel seeing in the expanse over the heads of the cherubim, something like a
sapphire that appears like a throne (Ezekiel
10:1). The Lord instructs the man clothed in linen from Ezekiel
9:2 to go in among the wheels underneath the cherubim and take burning
coals from between them and scatter them over the city (Ezekiel
10:2). Ezekiel then observes the man in linen going in as instructed by the
Lord.
The cherubim stood on the
south side of the house when the man in linen went in and a cloud filled the
inner court of the Temple (Ezekiel
10:3). The glory of the Lord then went up from the cherub to the threshold
of the house, filling the house with the cloud with the court filled with the
brightness of the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel
10:4). The sound of the wings of the cherub could was heard as far as the
outer court sounding like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks (Ezekiel
10:5).
With the man clothed in
linen obediently going into the cherub, he is standing by a wheel. A cherub
then stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire between the
cherubim and took some of it, placing it in the hands of the man in linen who went
out. The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings (Ezekiel
10:6-8).
Ezekiel gives a detailed
description of the cherubim which are the same creatures he saw by the Chebar
canal (Ezekiel
3:12-15; 10:9-15). The spirit of the cherubim was in the wheels that went
with them wherever they went (Ezekiel
10:16-17). Ezekiel then sees the glory of the Lord that had moved to the
threshold of the house, move to over the cherubim and they mount up from the
earth, taking the glory of the Lord with them (Ezekiel
10:18-19). These are the same creatures Ezekiel saw by the Chebar canal,
confirming this vision is from the Lord, indicating that the glory of the Lord
has left Israel due to their idolatry (Ezekiel
10:20-22).
Ezekiel receives a vision
of the glory of the Lord leaving the Temple with the cherubim. This is the
glory of the Lord that entered the Temple when Solomon had the ark brought to
the Temple, symbolic of the presence of God’s glory (2
Chronicles 5:2-14). Ezekiel also saw a cloud in the inner court of the
temple that went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house (Ezekiel
10:3-4). However, Ezekiel also saw the glory of the Lord leave the
threshold of the house with the cherub, indicating the glory of the Lord had
left the temple (Ezekiel
10:18-19). This is the consequence of Israel’s idolatry described in Ezekiel
9.
The glory of the Lord
used to dwell in the Temple building in Jerusalem but when Jesus died on the
cross, the veil of the Temple was torn in two by God from the top to the bottom
(Mark
15:38; Matthew 27:51), indicating the glory of the Lord no longer dwelt
behind a veil in the Temple of the Lord but would dwell in the hearts of anyone
choosing to believe in Christ (Acts
2:17-21; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Joel 2:28-29). However, sin in our lives can
cause the glory of the Holy Spirit to become dim in our lives, in essence
leaving the temple of our hearts like it left the Temple in Ezekiel’s vision (1
John 1:5-10).
Revival in the Church
begins in the hearts of individuals as they repent of any sin in their lives
that tarnishes and darkens the light of the glory of God from shining in their
lives. Jesus told his followers to let His light shine in their lives (Matthew
5:16) and why he instructed his followers to remain in Jerusalem until they
received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, empowering and filling them with the
light of the glory of God (Acts
1:4). I encourage every believer reading this to repent of any sin in their
lives and to pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit so the light of the glory
of God can shine in their lives, drawing the lost to Christ (John
12:32).
If you are reading this
and have never prayed to ask God to forgive your sins and make Jesus Christ the
Lord of your life, I encourage you to do so now by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
May God challenge,
convict, and bless everyone reading this post.
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