Ezekiel 10:5

"And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaketh. And it came to pass when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in and stood beside a wheel. And the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took fire thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed in linen, who took it and went out. And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings."

"The sound of the wings ..." (Ezekiel 10:5). This great sound is variously described as very loud, as the voice of the Almighty, as of a "rushing mighty wind," etc. Significantly, in the New Testament on the Day of Pentecost, when God's glory was manifested by the appearance of the Holy Spirit upon the holy apostles, that event also was marked by forked flames as of fire and the "sound of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2).

The great significance of this chapter is that the very manifestation of God's glory which had appeared to Ezekiel in Babylon at the Chebar river (canal) is here seen in the process of deserting the Temple in Jerusalem, strongly indicating that God's concern in the future from the destruction of Jerusalem would rest with the exiles in Babylon and not with any stragglers left in Jerusalem.

"Who took it and went out ..." (Ezekiel 10:7). "Nothing is said here of the actual scattering of fire over the city."[5] The same author explained that no account of his actually doing so is necessary, "Because, it often happens in Scripture that a prophet mentions a command without describing the actual execution of it."[6] It must always be assumed, if not stated to the contrary, that God's commandments were executed exactly as commanded.

"The form of a man's hand ..." (Ezekiel 10:8). "The appearance of this indicates that human agencies would be utilized in the execution of God's judgment upon Israel."[7] It would never have been necessary for the Angel of Jehovah himself, the one clad in linen, to scatter coals of fire in any personal sense over Jerusalem. As Beasley-Murray stated it, "This vision prophesies the fires that destroyed Jerusalem in 587 B.C. (2 Kings 25:9), by the armies of the Chaldeans."[8] In a very similar way, the fires that again destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. were prophetically identified by Jesus Christ himself as "God's armies" (Matthew 22:7).

Such passages as these indicate that God is the prime agent in all human history, whatever human agencies may be employed from time to time in the achievement of God's eternal purpose.

"The most significant thing here is the identity of the Destroyer as God."[9] "The maneuvering of God's Glory in this chapter shows that God, whom men thought to be inseparably bound to his sanctuary and to his city of Jerusalem is about to destroy both of them and to abandon their ruins."[10]