Reading for January 2nd

The Lord's departure from Jerusalem. In Chs. 10-11: God's throne chariot will return in 43.1-12 when the city is purified and the Temple is reestablished. Read Ezekiel 10.1-22. God commands the man clothed in linen to take burning coals from among the cerubim and scatter them over the city. Much like the sin offerings presented at the Temple (Lev 4-5), the purpose of the sacrificeis to purify Jerusalem from its iniquity and impurity so that it can be reeestablished at a later time (chs 40-48). God's presence is sigified by the cloud of the Lord as it moves about the Temple complex. Because of the sanctity of the throne chariot or ark, the man clothed in linen is unable to appraoch, and a cherub hands him the fire (2 Sam 6.6-11). Ezekiel's detailed description of the cereubim and the wheels differs from ch. 1 in that one of their four faces is a cherub rather than an ox. Many medieval commentators speculate that the face of the cherub might encompass the four individual faces. The glory of the Lord above the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord is the main or processional enterance to the Temple (Ps 24.7-9; 118.19-20). Comments or Questions..