Ezekiel Chapter 11
Ezekiel 11
The Departure of God’s Glory, the Promise of a New Covenant
Ezekiel 11 continues the vision that began in Ezekiel 8. Ezekiel is physically among the captives in Babylon, but the Spirit of God shows him the real spiritual condition of Jerusalem. The chapter exposes the wicked counsel of Jerusalem’s leaders, announces judgment on the city, answers Ezekiel’s concern about whether God will utterly destroy the remnant, and then gives a tremendous promise of restoration, regathering, and spiritual renewal. The chapter ends with the glory of the LORD departing from the city and standing upon the mountain east of Jerusalem, showing that Jerusalem’s greatest loss was not military defeat, but the departure of the visible glory of God. The uploaded notes emphasize the judgment on Jerusalem, the preservation of the exiles, and the promise of Israel’s future restoration under God’s covenant faithfulness.
A. Judgment on Jerusalem and beyond.
1. Ezekiel 11:1-4, Prophesy against the princes of the people.
Ezekiel 11:1, Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD’S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
Ezekiel 11:2, Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
Ezekiel 11:3, Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
Ezekiel 11:4, Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
Moreover the spirit lifted me up shows that Ezekiel remains under divine control in the same vision that began in Ezekiel 8. He is not wandering through Jerusalem by natural means, nor is he merely forming his own opinion about the city. The Spirit of God lifts him and brings him to the east gate of the LORD’s house. Ezekiel is being shown what God sees. This matters because the people of Jerusalem were still confident in the temple, the city, the land, and their national identity, but God reveals that their religious confidence was hollow because their leaders and people were corrupt.
The east gate of the LORD’s house is significant because Ezekiel 10 already showed the glory of God moving in that direction. The visible glory of God had moved from the inner place of the temple toward the threshold and then toward the east gate. The eastward movement shows the slow and solemn departure of the LORD’s glory from the polluted temple.
Ezekiel 10:19, And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
Five and twenty men are seen at the door of the gate. Ezekiel 8:16 also mentioned about twenty-five men who stood between the porch and the altar with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east, worshipping the sun. The connection is important because Jerusalem’s leadership had turned away from the LORD while still standing near the LORD’s house. Their physical nearness to the temple did not mean spiritual faithfulness to God.
Ezekiel 8:16, And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Jaazaniah the son of Azur and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah are specifically named as princes of the people. The Jaazaniah mentioned here appears to be different from the Jaazaniah in Ezekiel 8 because they have different fathers. The point is not merely the identity of these men, but their position and influence. These were leaders, and their leadership was wicked. God does not treat corrupt leadership lightly because leaders shape the thinking, direction, and condition of the people.
These are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city means their sin was not accidental weakness. They were planning evil and giving counsel that strengthened rebellion. They were not warning the people to repent. They were not calling Jerusalem back to the LORD. They were giving false confidence and wicked advice that opposed the word of God through the true prophets.
It is not near; let us build houses seems to be their message of security. They were saying that judgment was not near and that life in Jerusalem would continue. This directly contradicted the warnings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah had told the exiles to build houses in Babylon because the captivity would last seventy years. These leaders in Jerusalem acted as though the real future belonged to those still in the city, not to those already carried away.
Jeremiah 29:5, Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Jeremiah 29:10, For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
This city is the caldron, and we be the flesh was their metaphor of false protection. They viewed Jerusalem as a pot protecting the meat inside it. In their thinking, they were the choice meat and Jerusalem was the secure vessel. They believed the city, the temple, the walls, and the land would shield them from Babylon. Their religious and national confidence had become presumption. They were not trusting the LORD in obedience. They were using Jerusalem as a spiritual good luck charm.
The deeper issue is that they were scorning the prophetic word. They believed their own political reasoning more than the revealed word of God. That is always dangerous. Faith believes what God says. Presumption assumes God must protect people who continue in rebellion. These leaders believed Jerusalem would save them, but the LORD was about to show that no city, temple, nation, office, tradition, or religious identity can protect men who harden themselves against His word.
2. Ezekiel 11:5-6, The cause of the devastating judgment on Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 11:5, And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak, Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.
Ezekiel 11:6, Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
The Spirit of the LORD fell upon me shows the authority behind Ezekiel’s message. Ezekiel is not merely reacting emotionally to Jerusalem’s corruption. He is speaking under the direct power and command of the Spirit of the LORD. The words that follow are not Ezekiel’s private thoughts. They are the words of God to the house of Israel.
Thus saith the LORD is the central authority of the prophetic office. Ezekiel stands against the princes of Jerusalem because the LORD sends him. In a time when corrupt leaders were giving wicked counsel, God raises up His prophet to speak truth. The contrast is sharp. The princes speak from rebellion, arrogance, and false security. Ezekiel speaks from divine revelation.
For I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them reveals the omniscience of God. The LORD knows not only what the leaders said publicly, but what they thought inwardly. Their schemes, motives, pride, and false confidence were all open before Him. Men may hide their purposes from other men, but they cannot hide them from God.
This is a sobering truth. God judges more than outward behavior. He knows the inner counsels of the heart. Jerusalem’s leaders may have appeared strategic, patriotic, or religious to the people, but God saw their thoughts as wicked. He knew the rebellion behind their counsel.
Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain gives the moral reason for judgment. Jerusalem was not innocent. The leaders had contributed to violence, injustice, oppression, and death. The coming Babylonian judgment was not random political misfortune. It was divine judgment for real guilt.
The LORD holds Jerusalem responsible for bloodshed. This fits the broader testimony of the prophets, where idolatry, injustice, violence, false prophecy, and covenant rebellion brought the nation under judgment. God did not judge Jerusalem because He had forgotten His covenant. He judged Jerusalem because His covenant people had despised His law, polluted His worship, and filled the city with sin.
3. Ezekiel 11:7-10, God’s dealing with Israel will not end when Jerusalem falls.
Ezekiel 11:7, Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.
Ezekiel 11:8, Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 11:9, And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
Ezekiel 11:10, Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron turns the leaders’ own metaphor against them. They claimed that they were the meat safely protected by Jerusalem the caldron. God says the true flesh in the caldron is the slain whom they had laid in the city. Their metaphor of security becomes a metaphor of guilt and judgment.
The wicked leaders thought they were the choice meat preserved in the city. God says the city is filled with the dead, and those dead are the flesh in the caldron. This is a devastating reversal. Their confidence was not merely wrong. It was morally blind. They had filled the city with blood and still imagined themselves safe.
But I will bring you forth out of the midst of it means that Jerusalem would not be a permanent shield. Some would die within the city, but others would be brought out and judged beyond it. The fall of Jerusalem would not end God’s dealings with them. The LORD would pursue judgment beyond the walls of Jerusalem.
Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you shows that the very thing they feared would come upon them. The leaders feared Babylon’s military power, but instead of repenting before the LORD, they hardened themselves in false confidence. Fear without repentance does not save. Political fear, military fear, economic fear, and national fear cannot deliver a people if they refuse the word of God.
I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers points to the coming Babylonian conquest. The LORD would use foreign powers as instruments of judgment. This is not because the nations were more righteous than Judah, but because God sovereignly rules over nations and can use even pagan powers to discipline His covenant people.
Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel was fulfilled when many of Jerusalem’s leaders were taken and judged at Riblah after the fall of the city. The judgment did not stop at the city gates. The leaders who trusted in Jerusalem’s protection would discover that the LORD’s authority extended beyond Jerusalem.
2 Kings 25:6, So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.
2 Kings 25:7, And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.
2 Kings 25:21, And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.
Jeremiah 52:10, And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
Jeremiah 52:26, So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
Jeremiah 52:27, And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
And ye shall know that I am the LORD is one of the great repeated themes of Ezekiel. Judgment itself would become revelation. The people had ignored the word of the LORD, but when His judgment came exactly as He said, they would know that He is the LORD. They would know His holiness, His covenant faithfulness, His justice, and His refusal to be mocked.
4. Ezekiel 11:11-12, God’s judgment will extend beyond the city of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 11:11, This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:
Ezekiel 11:12, And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.
This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof repeats and destroys their false claim. Jerusalem would not protect them. They had misread the meaning of the city, the temple, and the covenant. The LORD had chosen Jerusalem, but Jerusalem’s privilege did not cancel accountability. Sacred history does not protect a rebellious generation from judgment.
But I will judge you in the border of Israel again shows that God’s judgment would not be limited to the city. The leaders trusted the city, but the LORD rules the land, the borders, the nations, and the exile. There is no geographical escape from the God of Israel.
For ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments gives the covenant reason for their judgment. Their problem was not that they lacked religious opportunity. They had the law, the temple, the priesthood, the prophets, the covenants, and the history of God’s mighty acts. Yet they did not walk in His statutes. They did not execute His judgments. They rejected the revealed standard of God.
But have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you shows the tragedy of Israel’s compromise. Israel was called to be distinct from the nations, but instead imitated them. The people who were supposed to reveal the holiness of God to the nations had adopted the practices of the nations around them. Therefore, God would scatter them among the nations whose ways they had followed.
This is a major biblical principle. When God’s people abandon God’s word and conform themselves to the surrounding culture, they lose their witness and invite discipline. Israel was not judged because God forgot His promises. Israel was judged because the nation despised the obligations of the covenant and copied the abominations of the Gentiles around them.
B. Renewal promised as the glory departs.
1. Ezekiel 11:13, The question after the death of one of the princes of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 11:13, And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?
As Ezekiel prophesies, Pelatiah the son of Benaiah dies. In the vision, this death becomes a visible sign of the judgment just announced. Pelatiah had been named among the princes of the people, and his death demonstrates that God’s word against the corrupt leadership was not empty. The judgment was real, personal, and imminent.
Ezekiel’s response is not cold or detached. He falls on his face and cries with a loud voice. This shows the heart of a true prophet. Ezekiel faithfully announces judgment, but he does not delight in destruction. He is overwhelmed by the severity of what he sees. True biblical ministry does not soften God’s judgment, but neither does it treat judgment casually.
Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? repeats the burden Ezekiel had already expressed in Ezekiel 9. He wonders whether the judgment will completely destroy the remnant. The death of Pelatiah causes him to fear that nothing will remain.
Ezekiel 9:8, And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
The question is important because Ezekiel understands both the severity of judgment and the covenant promises of God. He knows Israel deserves judgment, but he also knows God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. The tension is not in God, but in Ezekiel’s limited understanding of how God will judge the guilty and still preserve His covenant purpose.
2. Ezekiel 11:14-16, God’s promise to sustain His people in exile.
Ezekiel 11:14, Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Ezekiel 11:15, Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.
Ezekiel 11:16, Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
Again the word of the LORD came unto me shows that God answers Ezekiel’s concern. The prophet fears that the remnant may be completely destroyed, but the LORD reveals that His preserving work is greater than Ezekiel can see. The people in Jerusalem had misjudged the exiles, but God had not forsaken them.
Thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly identifies the exiles as Ezekiel’s true brethren. The inhabitants of Jerusalem looked down on those already carried away into Babylon. They assumed the exiles were rejected and that those still in Jerusalem were the favored ones. God corrects that false conclusion.
Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession expresses the pride of those remaining in Jerusalem. They believed the land belonged to them and that the exiles had been cut off from the LORD. This was spiritual arrogance. They thought physical possession of the land proved divine approval. In reality, many of those already in exile were the ones God would preserve.
This connects with Jeremiah’s vision of the good and bad figs. The captives carried away to Babylon were compared to good figs because God intended to preserve and restore them. Those who remained in the land in rebellion were compared to bad figs because judgment remained upon them.
Jeremiah 24:1, The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Jeremiah 24:5, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
Jeremiah 24:6, For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
Jeremiah 24:7, And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries acknowledges that the exile was truly from the hand of God. The exiles were not merely victims of Babylonian politics. God had scattered them in discipline. Yet discipline did not mean abandonment.
Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come is one of the most gracious statements in the chapter. The temple in Jerusalem was polluted, the glory was departing, and the people were scattered, but God promised to be a sanctuary to His people in exile. They would not have the temple, the sacrifices, the land, or the city in the same way, but they would have the LORD Himself preserving them.
This does not erase the literal importance of the temple or the land in God’s covenant program. Rather, it shows that God is not confined to the temple. The exiles may be far from Jerusalem, but they are not beyond the reach of God. The LORD Himself would sustain them for a season until His restoration purposes came to pass.
The phrase a little sanctuary carries the idea of God being their sanctuary for a limited season in the lands of their dispersion. Their exile would not be permanent. God would preserve them outside the land, then gather them back according to His promise. This is judgment mixed with mercy. God removes them from the land because of sin, but He does not remove them from His covenant purpose.
3. Ezekiel 11:17-21, God’s promise to restore Israel to the land and renew them spiritually.
Ezekiel 11:17, Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Ezekiel 11:18, And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
Ezekiel 11:19, And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
Ezekiel 11:20, That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:21, But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.
I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered gives a literal promise of regathering. The same God who scattered Israel in judgment promises to gather Israel in restoration. The exile would not be the final word. Babylon would not erase the covenant promises of God.
And I will give you the land of Israel must be taken plainly. God promises the land of Israel to the people He will gather from the nations. From a literal, grammatical, historical reading of the text, this is not a vague spiritual metaphor. It is a covenant promise tied to Israel, the land, and the future restoration of the nation. God did not revoke His land promise to Abraham’s descendants.
Genesis 12:1, Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father‘s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Genesis 12:2, And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Genesis 12:3, And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 15:18, In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
This promise has historical fulfillment in the return from Babylon, but the language also reaches forward to the broader prophetic hope of Israel’s final restoration. Ezekiel will later expand these promises in Ezekiel 36 and 37, where regathering, cleansing, spiritual renewal, national restoration, and covenant blessing are all brought together.
And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence shows that restoration includes cleansing. God would not merely bring Israel back geographically. He would deal with the idolatry and abominations that had defiled the land. After the Babylonian exile, Israel never returned to the same kind of widespread national idolatry that characterized the pre-exilic period.
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you introduces New Covenant language. The term covenant is not used in this verse, but the substance of New Covenant blessing is clearly present. God promises internal transformation, not merely external reform. The problem of Israel was not only political or social. The deepest problem was the heart. Therefore, the solution must be spiritual and inward.
Jeremiah 31:31, Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jeremiah 31:32, Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the-land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jeremiah 31:33, But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my-law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 31:34, And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the-LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the-LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh means God will remove spiritual hardness and give spiritual responsiveness. A stony heart is cold, dead, stubborn, and resistant. A heart of flesh is living, responsive, tender, and obedient toward God. This is regeneration language. Israel’s restoration requires more than return to the land. It requires a new heart from God.
Ezekiel later repeats and expands this promise in Ezekiel 36. There the LORD connects regathering, cleansing, the new heart, the new spirit, and obedience.
Ezekiel 36:24, For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Ezekiel 36:25, Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Ezekiel 36:26, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I-will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:27, And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye-shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Ezekiel 36:28, And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye-shall be my people, and I will be your God.
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them shows the purpose of inward renewal. Grace does not produce lawlessness. The new heart produces obedience. God transforms the heart so His people may walk in His ways. This is why the New Covenant is superior to mere external command. God changes the inner man so obedience flows from renewed life.
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God is covenant language. It expresses restored relationship between the LORD and His people. This is not merely national survival. This is covenant restoration. God will not only regather Israel, He will restore them to Himself.
Ezekiel 37 later connects this restoration with the reunification of Israel, the Davidic King, the everlasting covenant, and the sanctuary of God in the midst of them.
Ezekiel 37:21, And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of-Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Ezekiel 37:22, And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one-king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Ezekiel 37:23, Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable-things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein-they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 37:24, And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they-shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
Ezekiel 37:25, And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your-fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children-for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
Ezekiel 37:26, Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with-them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for-evermore.
Ezekiel 37:27, My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ezekiel 37:28, And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in-the midst of them for evermore.
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations gives a necessary warning. Restoration does not mean universalism. God’s promises do not excuse persistent rebellion. Those whose hearts continue after idols and abominations will be judged.
I will recompense their way upon their own heads means God’s judgment is personal, righteous, and deserved. Men reap what they sow. Even in a chapter filled with restoration promises, the LORD maintains the distinction between the repentant remnant and those who continue in abomination. Covenant mercy does not cancel divine justice.
4. Ezekiel 11:22-23, The departure of the glory of the LORD.
Ezekiel 11:22, Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
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.
Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them returns to the vision of the divine throne-chariot from Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10. The cherubim and wheels are connected with the movement of the glory of God. God is not trapped in the temple. He reigns from His heavenly throne and moves in sovereign majesty.
Ezekiel 1:5, Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Ezekiel 1:15, Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
Ezekiel 1:20, Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels-were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
The glory of the God of Israel was over them above shows that the glory of God is still present in Ezekiel’s vision, but it is departing. This is one of the most tragic movements in the Old Testament. The glory of the LORD had once filled the tabernacle and later the temple, but now that glory is withdrawing because of the abominations of the people.
Exodus 40:34, Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:35, And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and-the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
1 Kings 8:10, And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled-the house of the LORD,
1 Kings 8:11, So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had-filled the house of the LORD.
And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city marks the departure of the LORD’s glory not only from the temple, but from Jerusalem itself. This is the true disaster behind the Babylonian conquest. The walls would fall, the temple would burn, and the people would be carried away, but the deepest tragedy was that the glory of the LORD departed.
This departure was gradual in Ezekiel’s vision. The glory moved from the inner sanctuary, to the threshold, to the east gate, and now to the mountain east of the city. The slowness of the departure displays the patience and sorrow of God. The LORD does not leave His sanctuary casually. The departure is solemn and dreadful.
And stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city refers to the Mount of Olives. The glory of the LORD pauses east of Jerusalem. This is a powerful detail. The LORD has departed the city, but the vision leaves Him standing nearby, as though there is still a solemn witness to the city’s rebellion and a lingering testimony of divine mercy.
The Mount of Olives later becomes significant in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus also looked over Jerusalem with grief because the city did not know the things that belonged to her peace.
Luke 19:41, And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Luke 19:42, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy-peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
From a prophetic standpoint, the Mount of Olives also has future significance in the return of the LORD. Zechariah prophesies that the LORD’s feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives in connection with His future intervention for Jerusalem.
Zechariah 14:4, And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on-the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the-west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and-half of it toward the south.
This fits the broader premillennial understanding that Israel’s judgment is not the end of Israel’s story. The glory departs in judgment, but the prophetic hope remains that the LORD will restore His people, fulfill His covenants, and establish His kingdom.
5. Ezekiel 11:24-25, The end of the vision.
Ezekiel 11:24, Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.
Ezekiel 11:25, Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.
Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea shows the end of Ezekiel’s visionary transport. He had been shown Jerusalem, the temple, the corrupt leaders, the departing glory, and the promises of preservation and restoration. Now, in the vision, he is returned to the exiles in Chaldea.
To them of the captivity reminds the reader that Ezekiel’s immediate audience was not the proud leadership in Jerusalem, but the captives in Babylon. They needed to understand that Jerusalem was far worse than they imagined, that God’s judgment was righteous, and that their exile did not mean God had abandoned them.
So the vision that I had seen went up from me means the visionary experience ended. Ezekiel had not invented a message. He had received revelation from God. The vision came from the Spirit of God and then departed according to God’s timing.
Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me shows Ezekiel’s obedience as a prophet. He did not keep the vision private. He delivered the message to those in captivity. The prophet’s responsibility was to speak what the LORD had shown him, not to soften it, edit it, or make it more acceptable.
This final verse also brings together the purpose of the entire vision from Ezekiel 8 through Ezekiel 11. God showed Ezekiel the hidden abominations in Jerusalem, the certainty of judgment, the corruption of leadership, the departure of His glory, and the hope of restoration for the exiles. The captives needed to know that the fall of Jerusalem would not mean the failure of God. It would mean the fulfillment of His warnings. They also needed to know that exile would not cancel His covenant promises. God would preserve a remnant, be a sanctuary to His people in the countries where they were scattered, gather them again, cleanse them, give them a new heart, and fulfill His word.
Ezekiel 11 is therefore both severe and hopeful. It is severe because God’s glory departs from a defiled temple and rebellious city. It is hopeful because the LORD promises that judgment will not be the end. He will preserve His people, restore Israel to the land, remove idolatry, give a new heart, and establish the covenant relationship expressed in the words, they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
