Ezekiel 10:9-22 - Don’t be accustomed and acclimatized to sin

In Ezekiel 10:9-17, the prophet’s description of the throne-chariot of God was almost identical to that described in Ezekiel 1. This indicates to us how enthralled he was with the vision of the cherubim and the wheels that ferry the throne of the Lord. In these verses, he literally describes again what he had already described in Ezekiel 1:15-28.

In the second vision Ezekiel had, this was the third time he talked about the throne-chariot of God. The first time was just in passing in Ezekiel 9:3. The second time in chapter 10:1-8, the throne-chariot was described in conjunction with the assignment of the man dressed in linen. This third time in this second vision that he talks about the throne-chariot was setting the backdrop for the Lord’s withdrawal from the temple. The whole emphasis of the throne-chariot was to demonstrate that the glory of God which previously occupied the temple in Jerusalem was now along His people exile in Babylon.  

The description of the four living creatures here in verse 14 has a slight variation from that in Ezekiel 1:10. Instead of the face of an ox, here that face was replaced by the face of a cherub. Then in verse 18, we are told that the glory of the Lord changed position. The glory of the Lord was said to leave the threshold of the temple and stand over the cherubim.  Before the eye of Ezekiel, the cherubim lifted their wings in preparation for the throne-chariot with the glory of the Lord to leave the temple. However, the whole process of leaving came to a halt momentarily at the temple gate. The additional notes about the cherubim in verses 20-22, Ezekiel said were exactly as those he first saw at the River of Chebar. He was asserting the point that the same God had departed from Jerusalem and now residing among them in captivity.   

We have said that sins always drive the presence of God away. Be it a nation or an individual, this fact is true. God’s presence can never co-exist with our sinfulness. God’s ultimate departure from Jerusalem underscores this truth. The pause at the gate of the temple tells us that the departure of the presence of God also takes place gradually. Ever notice that God’s absence from our life takes place gradually. As we are more comfortable with sin, we become more acclimatized to the absence of God.  Let us never be like the Shulamite maiden in the Song of Solomon, who sought intimacy with the lover of her soul only to wake up and find Him gone (Songs 3:1).