10 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”
And he went in before my eyes. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4 And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
6 And when he commanded the man clothed in linen, “Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim”, he went in and stood beside a wheel. 7 And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a human hand under their wings.
9 And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling beryl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went, but in whatever direction the front wheel faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes all round—the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing “the whirling wheels”. 14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim mounted up. These were the living creatures that I saw by the Chebar canal. 16 And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
20 These were the living creatures that I saw underneath the God of Israel by the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings the likeness of human hands. 22 And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. Each one of them went straight forward.
In chapter 10 we have a further description of the judgment spoken of in ch 9. The apocalyptic symbolism is very similar to that in the vision recorded in 1:13-25 (which see). The man clothed in linen (2) is the same as in 9:3, but whereas in the earlier vision he was the agent of protection for the faithful, here he is the agent of divine judgment. The coals of fire (2) to be scattered over the city represent the fires of judgment, whereas in Isaiah 6:6 they are for cleansing and renewal. As the Tyndale commentary puts it, 'In Ezekiel's mind, Jerusalem was going to be treated in the same way as Sodom and Gomorrah' (Genesis 19:24). The latter verses of the chapter record the movement of the glory of the Lord away from Jerusalem. The Tyndale Commentary's note on these verses is helpful: 'At last the glory of the Lord came out from the Temple doorway (by which we must assume that the destroying angel had reported back once again), and stood over the cherubim. This was the signal for the chariot-throne to rise up and move off in the direction of the east gate (19) en route for the mountain east of Jerusalem (11:23) and thence away. But as if to delay the final departing, the episode described in 11:1-21 is inserted at this point.'