Ezekiel 10:14

And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. CHERUB - but in it is an ox. The chief of the four cherubic forms was not the ox, but man. Therefore "cherub" cannot be synonymous with "ox." Probably Ezekiel, standing in front of one of the cherubim (namely, that which handed the coals to the man in linen, ), saw of him not merely the ox-form, but the whole four-fold form, and therefore calls him simply "cherub;" whereas of the other three, having only a side view, he specifies the form of each which met his eye (Fairbairn). As to the likelihood of the lower animals sharing in "the restoration of all things," see...

Now Ezekiel descends to the animals themselves, which he now pronounces to be cherubim, yet under another form than that in the sanctuary. We said in the first chapter why he saw four cherubim since only two surrounded the ark of the covenant. This variation may seem absurd, for God was accustomed to accommodate his visions to the forms of the law, that he might hold the people in the simplicity of the law. But the reason which I brought forward in the first chapter is by no means to be rejected, because in truth so great was the grossness and rudeness of the people, that it was necessary to bend aside from the first and genuine institution. God had been content with two cherubim, and in that number doubtless he represented all angels; but he was surrounded on the right hand and on the left that he might show the people that he could never be wanting in power to bring them help. Now the...

8-22 Ezekiel sees the working of Divine providence in the government of the lower world, and the affairs of it. When God is leaving a people in displeasure, angels above, and all events below, further his departure. The Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, directs all creatures, in heaven and on earth, so as to make them serve the Divine purpose. God removes by degrees from a provoking people; and, when ready to depart, would return to them, if they were a repenting, praying people. Let this warn sinners to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to call on him while he is near, and cause us all to walk humbly and watchfully with our God....

Verse Ezekiel 10:14. _THE FIRST _- WAS _THE FACE OF A CHERUB_] In Ezekiel 1:10, this is called the "face of an ox;" here, the "face of a cherub:" hence, a _cherub_ was in the likeness of an _ox_, at least, as to its _head_. כרוב kerub never occurs as a verb; and its meaning cannot be precisely ascertained. _Parkhurst_ thinks the כ _caph_ to be here the note of _similitude_; and then translates כ _ke_, "like," רב _rab_ or רוב _rob_, "the mighty one;" and, in consequence, makes the _cherubim_ an emblem of the _Holy Trinity_. See his _lengthy_ Dissertation under כרב in his Hebrew and English Lexicon....

THE FIRST FACE ... - The face of the first was the face of the cherub, and the face of the second was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion and the fourth the face of an eagle. Of the four faces of each cherub, the seer names only one - the face looking in the direction in which that cherub leads the motion of the chariot. The face of the cherub which presented itself to the seer was that of “an ox.” When he looking northward first saw the chariot the “ox-face” was on the left side Ezekiel 1:10. This would make the ox-face look eastward, and it is not unlikely that the man might approach the chariot from the southeastern part of the inner court....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 10:1, EZEKIEL 10:2 THEN I LOOKED, etc. There follows on the work of judgment another theophany, like that of Ezekiel 1:15. In the "expanse," or firmament, like the "terrible crystal," there is seen as before the likeness of a sapphire throne (see Ezekiel 1:26, note). The form of THE MAN who is the manifestation of Jehovah is implied, though not named. It is he who speaks to the captain of the six ministers of vengeance, himself the seventh, and bids him go in beneath the "whirling wheels" that are beneath the cherub

AND EVERYONE HAD FOUR FACES,.... That is, everyone of the wheels, for of these the words are continued; and which agrees with Ezekiel 1:15; Ezekiel 1:15: THE FIRST FACE [WAS] THE FACE OF A CHERUB; this being in the room of the ox's face, Ezekiel 1:10, shows that the face of an ox and a cherub are the same; and that the living creatures have the general name of cherubim, from the face of an ox; and are so called from כרב, which in the Syriac and Chaldee languages signifies to "plough", that creature being made use of in such service: AND THE SECOND FACE [WAS] THE FACE OF A MAN, AND THE THIRD THE FACE OF A LION, AND THE FOURTH THE FACE OF AN EAGLE; how these are applicable to

Ezekiel 10:1. Once more the glory vision appears. The linen clothed man who had done the marking in the previous chapter is now executing judgment. Who is He? Evidently more than an angel. That he is a supernatural being is clear. He held the place of pre-eminence among the other angels (Ezekiel 9:2). This angel is the Angel of the Lord, the same who appeared to the patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah, and to others. It is the Son of God in the garb of an angel. In the same form he also appeared to Daniel on the banks of the river Hiddekel. “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet

This splendid passage is followed by a description of the Divine chariot (Ezekiel 10:9) which does little more than duplicate the description in Ezekiel 1:15, and which, to a modern taste, seems of the nature of an irrelevance and anticlimax. The point of the repetition, however, is suggested by Ezekiel 10:20; Ezekiel 10:22, which identify the chariot seen at Jerusalem with that seen in the former vision by the Chebar. It is as if Ezekiel said that the glorious God of Israel, whose glory had been trailed in the dust by His worshippers (Ezekiel 10:8), had

A CHERUB the cherub, identifying it with that of Ezekiel 10:7....