Add parallel Print Page Options

Vision of Repulsive Acts in Jerusalem

It came about in the [a]sixth year [of the captivity of King Jehoiachin], on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I sat in my house [near Babylon] with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord [b]God fell on me there. Then I looked, and behold, a likeness [of a man] with the appearance of fire; from His [c]loins downward He was like fire, and from His loins upward He had the appearance of brightness, like gleaming metal (bronze). He stretched out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of hair on my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner courtyard, where the seat of the idol (image) of [d]jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located.(A) And behold, the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel [who had loved and chosen them] was there, like the vision which I saw in the plain.(B)

Then He said to me, “Son of man, now raise your eyes toward the north.” So I looked toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol (image) of jealousy at the entrance. Furthermore, He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great repulsive acts which the house of Israel is committing here, to drive Me far away from My sanctuary? But you will again see greater repulsive acts.”

Then He brought me to the entrance of the courtyard; and when I looked, behold, [there was] a hole in the wall. He said to me, “Son of man, now dig into the wall.” And when I had dug into the wall, behold, there was an entrance. And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked, repulsive acts that they are committing here.” 10 So I entered and looked, and saw every kind of creeping things and beasts and loathsome things, and all the idols of the house of Israel, carved all around on the wall. 11 Standing before these [images] were seventy elders of the house of Israel, and among them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan [the scribe], each man with his censer in his hand and a thick and fragrant cloud of incense was rising [as they prayed to these gods]. 12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his [secret] room of carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has abandoned the land.’” 13 He also said to me, “Yet again you will see even greater repulsive acts which they are committing.”

14 Then He brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for [e]Tammuz. 15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater repulsive acts than these [that they are committing].”

16 So He brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch (vestibule, portico) and the [bronze] altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were bowing down toward the east and worshiping the sun. 17 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the [f]branch to their nose. 18 Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare [them]; and though they cry loudly in My ears, yet I will not listen to them.”(C)

The Vision of Slaughter

Then [in my vision] I heard Him cry out with a thunderous voice, saying, “Approach now, executioners of the city, each with his weapon of destruction in his hand.” Behold, six men [angelic beings] came from the direction of the Upper Gate, which faces north, each with his battle-axe in his hand; and among them was a [g]certain man clothed in linen, with a scribe’s writing case at his side. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.

Then the [[h]Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the God of Israel (the cloud) [i]went up from the cherubim on which it had rested, to [stand above] the threshold of the [Lord’s] temple. And the Lord called to the man clothed with linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side. The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, throughout all of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh [in distress] and grieve over all the repulsive acts which are being committed in it.” But to the others I heard Him say, “Follow him [the man with the scribe’s writing case] throughout the city and strike; do not let your eyes have pity and do not spare [anyone]. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women; but do not touch or go near anyone on whom is the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple [who did not have the Lord’s mark on their foreheads].(D) And He said to the executioners, “Defile the temple and fill its courtyards with the dead. Go out!” So they went out and struck down the people in the city. As they were executing them and I alone was left, I fell face downward and cried out, “Alas, Lord God! Will You destroy all that is left of Israel [the whole remnant] by pouring out Your wrath and indignation on Jerusalem?”

Then He said to me, “The wickedness (guilt) of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of blood and the city is full of perversion and injustice; for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; the Lord does not see [what we are doing].’ 10 But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, nor will I spare, but I will bring their [wicked] conduct upon their [own] heads.”

11 Then behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the scribe’s writing case at his side, reported, “I have done just as You have commanded me.”

Vision of God’s Glory Departing from the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse (firmament) that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared something [glorious and brilliant] above them looking like a [huge] sapphire stone, formed to resemble a throne. And the Lord spoke to the man (seventh angel) clothed in linen and said, “Go between the whirling wheels under the cherubim; fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And he entered as I watched.(E)

Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered; and a cloud [the Shekinah glory of God] filled the inner courtyard. Then the glory and brilliance of the Lord moved upward from the cherubim to [rest over] the threshold of the temple; and the temple was filled with the cloud and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory.(F) And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard [even] as far as the outer courtyard, like the voice of [j]God Almighty when He speaks.(G)

It came about when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” the man entered and stood beside a wheel. Then a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between [the four of] them, and took some [of it] and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and departed. Beneath their wings the cherubim seemed to have [something in] the form of a man’s hand.

Then I looked and behold, [there were] four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub and another wheel beside each other cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a sparkling Tarshish stone (beryl). 10 As for their appearance, all four looked alike, as if one wheel were within another wheel. 11 When they moved, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went; but they followed in the direction which they faced, without turning as they went. 12 Their whole body, their backs, their hands, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all around, even the wheels belonging to all four of them. 13 Regarding the wheels [attached to them], I heard them called, “the whirling (rolling, revolving) wheels.” 14 And each one had four faces: the first face was the face of the [k]cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 Then the cherubim rose upward. They are the [same four] living beings [regarded as one] that I saw by the River Chebar [in Babylonia].(H) 16 Now when the cherubim moved, the wheels would go beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to rise from the earth, the wheels would remain beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels would stand still; and when they rose upward, the wheels would rise with them, for the spirit of the living beings was in these [wheels].(I)

18 Then the [Shekinah] glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and rested over the cherubim. 19 As I looked at them, the cherubim lifted up their wings and rose up from the earth, they departed with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory and brilliance of the God of Israel hovered over them.

20 These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the River Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces and each one had four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the River Chebar. Each one went straight forward.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 8:1 September 592 b.c.
  2. Ezekiel 8:1 Heb YHWH.
  3. Ezekiel 8:2 The midsection of the body from the lower ribs to the hips.
  4. Ezekiel 8:3 God does not tolerate the transfer of the honor and worship that is due Him to any other being or object.
  5. Ezekiel 8:14 A Babylonian god whose supposed death each summer caused the vegetation to wilt and die. In the spring he returned from the underworld bringing rain and new growth. His worship also involved fertility rituals.
  6. Ezekiel 8:17 The pagan object of worship is uncertain, but the act was contemptuous to God.
  7. Ezekiel 9:2 The linen clothing of the seventh angel denotes his superior rank.
  8. Ezekiel 9:3 The word Shekinah does not appear in the Bible, but it was used by ancient Jews to refer to the physical presence of God among men; usually the Shekinah glory.
  9. Ezekiel 9:3 God begins His departure from the temple.
  10. Ezekiel 10:5 Heb El Shaddai.
  11. Ezekiel 10:14 In 1:10, this face was described as that of an ox.

Bible Gateway Recommends