Ezekiel 11:23

And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT UP FROM THE MIDST OF THE CITY. The Shechinah glory now moves from the east gate, where it had previously moved (; ), to the mount of Olives, altogether abandoning the temple. That mount was chosen as being the height whence the missiles of the foe were about to descend on the city. So it was from it that Jesus ascended to heaven, when about to send His judgments on the Jews; and from it He predicted its overthrow before His crucifixion (). It is also to he the scene of His return in person to deliver His people ...

22-25 Here is the departure of God's presence from the city and temple. It was from the Mount of Olives that the vision went up, typifying the ascension of Christ to heaven from that very mountain. Though the Lord will not forsake his people, yet he may be driven away from any part of his visible church by their sins, and woe will be upon them when He withdraws his presence, glory, and protection....

Verse Ezekiel 11:23. _THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT UP FROM THE MIDST OF THE_ _CITY_] This vision is no mean proof of the _long-suffering of God_. He did not abandon this people _all at once_; he departed by _little_ _and little_. FIRST, he left the _temple_. SECONDLY, he stopped a little at the gate of the city. THIRDLY, he departed entirely from the city and went to the _Mount of Olives_, which lay on the _east_ side of the city. Having tarried there for some time to see i! they would repent and turn to him - FOURTHLY, he departed to _heaven_. The vision being now concluded, the prophet is taken away by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, and there announces to the captive Israelites what God had showed him in the preceding visions, and the good that he had spoken concerning them; who at first did not seem to profit much by them,...

THE MOUNTAIN WHICH IS ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY - The Mount of Olives. The rabbis commenting on this passage said the Shechinah retired to this Mount, and there for three years called in vain to the people with human voice that they should repent. On that mountain, Christ stood, when He wept over the fair city so soon to be utterly destroyed. From that mountain he descended, amid loud Hosannas, to enter the city and temple as a Judge....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 11:1 MOREOVER THE SPIRIT LIFTED ME UP, etc. It is noticeable that the position to which Ezekiel was thus transported in his vision from his place in the inner court (Ezekiel 8:14), was identical with that which he had just seen occupied by the cherub chariot before its departure (Ezekiel 10:19). What he is about to see will throw light on the significance of their departure. The gate is probably, here as there, that of the court of the temple. FIVE AND TWENTY MEN. The number at first reminds us of the worshippers of the sun, in Ezekiel 8:16; but tha

AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT UP FROM THE MIDST OF THE CITY,.... Of Jerusalem, whither it was removed from the door of the east gate of the temple, Ezekiel 10:19; though no mention is made of such removal; and now, having left the temple, it leaves the city: AND STOOD UPON THE MOUNTAIN, WHICH [IS] ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY; either waiting for the repentance of the inhabitants of it, leaving them with reluctance; or in order to bring down his judgments upon it, and behold its destruction and ruin: this mountain was the mountain of Olives, as the Targum interprets it: and so Jarchi and Kimchi; see Zechariah 14:5. Christ stood on this mountain and wept over Jerusalem, and from hence he ascended to heaven. This Jarchi calls the third remove of the Shechinah or glory of

Ezekiel 11:1. The priests and the leaders of the nation were steeped in wickedness, defied God and the judgments His prophets had announced. They devised mischief (or iniquity) and gave wicked counsel. Their wicked counsel consisted in disobedience against Jehovah and His Word. In regard to the judgment they said, “It is not the time to build houses; this is the cauldron and we are the flesh.” They knew of Jeremiah's letter which he had sent to the elders who were carried away captives. In that letter, Jeremiah, believing God's Word concerning the long duration of the captivity, gave the advice, “Build ye houses and dwell in them” Jeremiah 29:1. They ridiculed that divinely given advice. They still thought themselves safe in Jerusalem. The phrase “this is the cauldron” means the city of Jerusalem; and we are

A GLIMMER OF HOPE. The people who, at the first deportation (597 B.C.), were allowed to remain in the land, clearly thought themselves superior to those who, like Ezekiel, had been taken to Babylon far from Yahweh's land and therefore far from Yahweh (Ezekiel 11:15, read _they are far)._ Ezekiel undeceives them: the future lies with the exiles, not with them. True, Yahweh had been (see _mg._) to the exiles but little of a sanctuary_ i.e._ their religious privileges had been inevitably curtailed but some day they would come back to the land, and establish upon it the true worship of Yahweh. First they would sweep it clean of every idolatrous thing, and then for their callous obstinate hearts God would give them soft impressionable hearts on which His laws would be easily written (Ezekiel 36

DISCOURSE: 1101 DEPARTURE OF GOD FROM HIS TEMPLE Ezekiel 11:23. _And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city_. THE vision with which the Prophet Ezekiel was favoured, and which he records in the first chapter, is of very difficult interpretation. In it there were represented to his view four living creatures, all moved and actuated by the Spirit of God [Note: Ezekiel 1:4.]; there were also wheels moved by them [Note: Ezekiel 1:15.], and the glory of God was enthroned above them [Note: Ezekiel 1:26.]. The general import of this visi

AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD WENT UP— The Lord did not quit Jerusalem all at once; he left it by little and little. He forsook the temple before he stopped at the threshold of the city; at length he elevated himself upon the mount of Olives, which was to the east, and in view of Jerusalem, as it were to give them time to consider and repent. This was not only a figure of what was to happen at Jerusalem from the Chaldeans, but of the evils which were to attend them after the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This divine Saviour, after having exhausted his patience in instructing, correcting, and threatening Jerusalem, at length forsook it, and ascended to heaven, from this same mount of Olives in the presence of his apostles and disciples. See Calmet....