Ezekiel 10

Ezekiel looked at the firmament and witnessed the glory of God, who spoke to the man in linen, and told him to "Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire...and scatter them over the city." He went as Ezekiel watched.

The glory of the Lord went into the court and commanded the man in linen to take the fire from the wheels among the cherubim. The cherub took some of the fire and gave it to the man in linen. 

Next, Ezekiel described in detail the four wheels by the cherubim, full of eyes all around. He also described the faces of the cherubim: one had the face of a cherub, one a man, one a lion, and one an eagle. He noticed that when they lifted their wings, the wheels lifted up, too. And whatever they did the wheels did because "the spirit...was in them."

The spirit of the Lord departed from the court and stood over the cherubim. 

COMMENTARY

The purpose that God had in transporting Ezekiel to Jerusalem to witness the departure of God's glory was to report back to the people of Israel already in Babylonian captivity that "God is going to destroy the city and permit judgment to come upon them." God will judge sin because no one will get away with any of his sin. 

The reason the wheels were so important in this chapter was to demonstrate God's energy in the affairs of men. 

In chapter ten, Ezekiel told how God commanded the man in linen to take coals from the altar, just as the blood sacrifice was taken from the altar and sprinkled on the mercy seat in Jewish temple tradition. The coals represented judgment, and since the people refused God's grace, mercy, and redemption, God must apply His judgment. 

Again, God sacrificed His son Jesus out of love. Christ is the propitiation for man's sin. He is the mercy seat for our sin. But if we refuse or reject the offer, we must receive judgment. 

But why Jerusalem? Because it is the city God chose to be the center of the world. One day it will be the center of the millennial kingdom. McGee described it like this (borrowed from an unknown):

Palestine became the nerve-center of the earth in the days of Abraham. Later...the country became the truth-center because of Moses and the prophets. Ultimately, it became the salvation-center by the manifestation of Christ. His rejection led to its becoming the storm-center...The Scriptures predict...it to be the peace-center under the messianic kingdom, and it will be the glory-center in the new universe...

Finally, McGee reiterated that the four faces of the angels remind us of the four Gospels: the face of the eagle is the deity of Christ (John's Gospel); the face of the lion is the kingship of Christ (Matthew); the face of the man is the humanity of Christ (Luke); and the face of the cherub, or ox, is the servant of Christ (Mark). 

McGee believes that this vision obviously points us the future, where God would become incarnate -- And the Word was made flesh (John 1:14).