Ezekiel: The Glory of God

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet references the glory of God on a constant basis. He sees the glory of God in different times and places. In fact, I would say that a theme of Ezekiel is the glory of God. And yet, in this book, we see the glory of God leave.

In Ezekiel 10, the prophet Ezekiel is seeing a vision of the temple. This vision is renewing a vision of God that Ezekiel had seen in chapter 1. But now, the Lord's glory is leaving. With the assistance of four cherubim, God's glory slowly moves out of the temple.

God had dwelt in the temple since the beginning of the structure. He had resided over the mercy seat in the tabernacle when Israel was wandering in the wilderness. He then moved His glory into the temple during the dedication ceremony that Solomon had after the temple's completion. His glory resided in this structure as long as He could. But now Jerusalem was going to be destroyed, and along with it, the temple. And God's glory had to leave.

He first moved from the inner part of the temple to the threshold of the temple. He then moved to where the four cherubim were. From there, He moved to the east gate and finally left completely by the Mount of Olives.

It was then that Jerusalem was destroyed and the inhabitants were taken into captivity. Eventually, when they came back, they rebuilt the temple and resumed worship. But God's glory did not return at that time. God's glory could have returned at one time in history though.

The glory of God came and lived on the earth. Jesus Christ came to the earth and lived a perfect life as the Messiah. But Israel rejected Him. They rejected the very glory of God on this earth. Had they blown it completely? Had they lost all hope of ever seeing God's glory among them again?

Praise God they have not. Ezekiel prophecies of this in chapter 43. In this chapter, Ezekiel sees a vision of God's glory coming back into the city of Jerusalem. But when will this happen? Well, God will come to earth again at the conclusion of the Tribulation period. At this coming, He will set His feet down on the same place where He ascended from in Acts and the same place where the glory of the Lord left the first time: the Mount of Olives. He will come back into the city the same way the glory of God left: through the east gate, to the threshold of the new temple and dwell in the sanctuary there for a thousand years!! There are so many other details that I don't have time to write about, but it is a truly fascinating study!! God's glory will one day dwell on the earth again!!