Then did the cherubim lift up their wings ,.... In order to remove, as in Ezekiel 10:19 ; and the wheels beside them ; which were lifted up also along with the cherubim: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above ; both cherubim and wheels. read more
Verse 22 Here Ezekiel repeats what we saw before, namely, that God as he had chosen Mount Zion had at length rejected it, because that place had been polluted by the many wickednesses of the people. The Jews fancied that God was, as it were, held captive among them, and in this confidence they gave themselves up to licentiousness. Hence the Prophet shows them that God was not so bound to them as not to go wherever he pleased, and what is more, he announces that he has migrated, and that the... read more
Another stage of the departure of the Divine glory closes the vision. It had rested over the middle of the city. It now halts over the mountain on the east side of the city, i.e. on the Mount of Olives ( 2 Samuel 15:30 ; Zechariah 14:4 ). Currey mentions, but without a reference, a Jewish tradition that the Shechinah, or glory cloud, remained there for three years, calling the people to repentance. What is here recorded may trove suggested the thought of Zechariah 14:4 . We may... read more
Hope for the future (11:14-25)Those left in Jerusalem thought they were God’s favoured people. They thought their security was guaranteed because they lived in the city where his temple was situated. They looked upon the exiles as having been cast off by God, forsaken and unclean in a foreign land (14-15). To the contrary, Ezekiel points out that the exiles are God’s favoured people, the remnant whom he has preserved. When they repent of their idolatry and rebellion, he will bring them back to... read more
"Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had... read more
Ezekiel then saw in his vision the glory of God depart from the temple gate and from the city of Jerusalem. He saw the cherubim under Yahweh’s throne-chariot bear the Lord east from the entrance of the temple to the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. This was the eastern horizon from the perspective of someone in Jerusalem. The removal of God’s blessing signaled the end of His longsuffering with His sinful people, and it opened the way for His judgment to fall on them (cf. Romans 1:18-32). From... read more
The departure of God’s glory from Jerusalem and the end of Ezekiel’s vision 11:22-25 read more
The Doom of the Leaders of Jerusalem’s wickedness. Comfort for the ExilesThe slaughter in Ezekiel 9 was only the visionary rehearsal of a judgment still in the future. The vision now takes another turn, and shows the wicked inhabitants still alive. Ezekiel is brought to the outer eastern gate of the Temple where he finds a group of the leaders of Jerusalem’s sinful policy, two of whom are mentioned by name (Ezekiel 11:1-2). A proverb by which they express their light-hearted security is turned... read more
(22) And the wheels beside them.—These are the wheels described as with the cherubim, and animated in their movements by one common impulse with them and, as all along, the Divine glory was above. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 11:22-25
Here is, 1. The departure of God's presence from the city and temple. When the message was committed to the prophet, and he was fully apprized of it, fully instructed how to separate between the precious and the vile, then the cherubim lifted up their wings and the wheels beside them (Ezek. 11:22) as before, Ezek. 10:19. Angels, when they have done their errands in this lower world, are upon the wing to be gone, for they lose no time. We left the glory of the Lord last at the east gate of the... read more