And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under
their wings. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the
cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another
cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a
chrysolite stone. And as for their appearances, they four had one
likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. When they
went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went,
but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they
turned not as they went. And their whole body, and their backs and
their hands and their wings and the wheels, were full of eyes round
about, even the wheels that the four had. As for the wheels, it was
cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. And every one had four
faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face
was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the
fourth the face of an eagle. And the cherubim were lifted up. This
is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when
the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubim
lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels
also turned not from beside them. When they stood, these stood; and
when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the
spirit of the living creature was in them. Then the glory of the
Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over
the cherubim. And the cherubim 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 at the door of the east gate of the
Lord's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them
above. This is the living creature that I saw under the God of
Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the
cherubim. Every one had four faces a piece, and every one four
wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by
the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went
every one straight forward (verses 8-22).
One would naturally expect after the man clothed in linen had taken the
coals of fire and gone out to scatter them over Jerusalem, that the next
vision the Prophet had, would be the burning of the city itself. Instead
of receiving a vision of the judgment work he beholds once more the
glory of the Lord. The similarity with the great vision in the first
chapter needs hardly to be pointed out. However, the order of the
description differs from that of the opening vision of this book.
Critics have seen in this fact the evidence of some other writer who
interpolated the repetition of the vision of the glory of the Lord. But
if such were the case the person who did it would have not dared to make
these changes. The differences in the vision demonstrates that Ezekiel
is the writer and not some other person. He beheld the same vision as in
the beginning by the river Chebar only from another viewpoint. Wheels
and cherubim are seen first ready for the departure from the city. The
eyes are made more prominent than in the first vision. "Full of eyes" we
read in chapter i:18. Here in this vision eyes are everywhere. "And
their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and
the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that the four
had." This symbolizes the omniscience of God. After the description of
the cherubim and the wheels, the solemn command is given for the start.
Verse 13 may be rendered: "In my hearing, unto the wheels, even unto
them, it was proclaimed: Whirl wheels." Once more the prophet beholds
the faces of the cherubim. And here is a striking change. In the opening
vision Ezekiel saw their faces in the following order: The face of a
man; the face of a lion; these were on the right side. The four had the
face of an ox on the left side; these four also had the face of an eagle
(chapter i:10). But now Ezekiel sees the face of the cherub first of
all, then the face of a man, a lion and an eagle. The cherubim were
beheld by the prophet from a different angle and the face of the
cherub[11] appears as identified with that of the ox. That the vision
did not differ at all from the first great vision Ezekiel expressly
affirms at the close. "And the likeness of their faces was the same
faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves:
They went every one straight forward" (verse 22).
[11] The cherub who handed to the man clothed in linen the fire from
between the cherubim.
Then when the command had been given, "Whirl wheels!" everything is set
in motion. The cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. The mighty
wings of the cherubim were lifted up to mount up from the earth; the
wheels never swerved from their side. When the cherubim stood, the
wheels stood. The energizing Spirit was in all. The Glory of the Lord
departed from the threshold of the temple; over its portals "Ichabod"
(the glory is departed) was now to be written. Then in Ezekiel's sight
the cherubim mounted up from the earth. They halted at the door of the
east gate of the Temple. Above it was the Glory of the Lord. Thus,
gradually, in solemn majesty, the Glory of the Lord, which had dwelt
visibly in the Temple in the midst of His people, was departing. Verse
22 of chapter xi connects with verse 19 of chapter x. The complete
departure of the Glory of the Lord from the midst of the city we find
recorded there. Here in our chapter the cherubim with the Glory of the
Lord above them stood at the east gate of the Lord's house. From there
its final departure took place. But the visions Ezekiel had seen were
beheld once more in his great vision of that temple which will yet be
erected in Jerusalem. That departed glory will then return. "And the
Glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose front
was toward the east" (chapter xliii:4). It will return in the same way
as it departed. And that will be when the King, our Lord, comes back to
earth again. Then the Glory will cover Israel and Jerusalem (Is. iv:5;
lx:1) and the knowledge of it covers the earth as the waters the deep.