Ezekiel 43:2

Eze 43:2 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice [was] like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

Ver. 2. And behold the glory,] i.e., The vision of the glory. God, who by the east gate had left the temple and the city, {Eze 10:19} doth now the same way return, and filleth the house with the glory of his presence.

And his voice was like a noise of many waters.] Importing the multitude of his attendants, and his irresistible power, in his gospel especially, which is the power of God to salvation, and, like a mighty torrent, bears down all before it.

And the earth shined with his glory.] How can it do otherwise when the Sun of righteousness cometh in place, and irradiateth both organ and object. {2Co 4:6} Into Solomon’s temple God came in a thick cloud; not so here. Light is now more diffused than ever. Woe be to those that wink, or who seek straws to put out their eyes with, as Bernard hath it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. The glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east] This was the chariot of cherubim, wheels, c., which he saw at the river Chebar. And this glory, coming from the east, is going to enter into the eastern gate of the temple, and thence to shine out upon the whole earth. Is there not a mystery here? All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and sciences, have travelled, according to the course of the sun, FROM EAST TO WEST! From that quarter the Divine glory at first came and thence the rays of Divine light continue to diffuse themselves over the face of the earth. From thence came the Bible, and through that the new covenant. From thence came the prophets, the apostles, and the first missionaries, that brought the knowledge of God to Europe, to the isles of the sea, and to the west first, and afterwards to these northern regions.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. and his voice] and the sound of him was like the sound. Reference is to the sound made by the cherubim in their flight.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east,.... The God of Israel is Jehovah the Father, the covenant God of literal Israel; and the covenant God and Father of the whole spiritual Israel, or his elect, whether Jews or Gentiles; whom he has taken into covenant, loves, cares, provides for, and protects: Christ, who is the brightness of his Father's glory, whose glory is the glory of the only begotten of the Father, is here meant; and who has the same glorious attributes, the same glorious names, and the same worship, honour, and glory, his Father has; and in whom, as Mediator, is displayed the glory of all the divine perfections: he is said to "come from the way of the east"; which agrees with him in his character as the rising sun of righteousness; and with his incarnation, when as the day spring from on high, from heaven, he visited us, was born in the east, where his star appeared; from this part of the world his Gospel first came; here it was first preached, and churches planted; and though these parts have been forsaken by him a long time, he will return hither again; when he will dry up the river Euphrates, and make way for the kings and kingdoms of the east to be converted to him, Rev 7:2, to which a "behold" is prefixed, as a note exciting attention, and raising admiration; as it was matter of wonder and joy to the prophet, to see the glory of the Lord returning to his house, the same way he departed, Eze 10:4,

and his voice was like a noise of many waters; this is to be understood of his Gospel, in which he speaks to men, and which is a voice of love, grace, and mercy; of peace and reconciliation; of pardon and righteousness; of life, liberty, and salvation: and the metaphor here used is expressive of the swiftness of its motion in the world; of its general spread in it, and all over it; of the noise it will make, as it always does among men, wherever it comes; and of the rapidity and force of it, being attended with almighty power; and is a soul shaking, heart melting, soul quickening, enlightening, alluring, and comforting voice; see Dan 10:6. The Targum is,

"and the voice of them that bless his name is as the voice of many waters.''

The Septuagint and Arabic versions, the voice of the camp or army.

And the earth shined with his glory; with the brightness of his glory, as the Targum; with his glorious Gospel, in which the glory of his person, office, and grace, is displayed; this will be spread all over the earth, and that will be enlightened by it: it will remove the darkness and infidelity, error, superstition, idolatry, and all false doctrines from the world, and the darkness of calamity and distress from the church; which will cast a lustre and glory upon it; and with the brightness of which the Lord will destroy antichrist, and by it set up his kingdom in the world, and reign before his ancients gloriously: this will bring on Zion's light and glory, to which kings will come, and upon which will be a defence; Rev 18:1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Majesty. The world is enlightened by the preaching of the gospel; and the Church triumphant [in heaven] shall shine in perfection, when that which is sown in corruption shall put on incorruption, 1 Corinthians xv. (St. Jerome) --- The blessed Virgin Mary conceiving Jesus Christ may be insinuated. (St. Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologiae] p. 3. q. 27. a. 3.) (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Behold: sometimes this word is expletive, but here surely it stands for more; it expresseth, no doubt, the joy the prophet had to see this excellent sight, which should not be seen there more than sixty year’s; for in the sixth year of the captivity the glory of God left the city, Eze 11:22,23; and now the prophet foreseeth its return after the settling the temple, its buildings, and ordinances, which took up a great time, as is evident, Joh 2:20, which time of forty-six years (viz. thirty in Cyrus, eight in Cambyses, and some six in Darius) is very near accounted. So that between the departure and the return of the glory of God, are about one hundred and six or eight years, and about fourscore between this vision and the accomplishment. The glory: see Eze 1:28.

Of the God of Israel; of him who is an infinitely glorious Being, yet in covenant with us, as a peculiar people of God.

Came from the way of the east: when the glory departed it went eastward, and now that it returns it comes from the east.

His voice: though by the voice of God thunder is sometimes meant, yet here it was an articulate voice, as appears Eze 43:7,8. Perhaps this might be attended with thunder, as usually in such cases.

Like a noise of many waters; terrible, and a mighty voice, as the noise of mighty waves of the sea; so Eze 1:24; Rev 1:15.

The earth; not the whole earth, but that part about Jerusalem and the temple.

Shined with his glory; the rays of glory, like the sun-beams, made the dark earth to shine with glorious light.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Scarcely had the prophet taken up his station at or near the gate when the glory of the God of Israel (see on Eze_1:28 Eze_3:23) came from the way of the east, as if intending to enter the temple by the very door through which it had previously departed from the temple. (comp. Eze_10:19 Eze_11:22, Eze_11:23) The voles which proceeded from the theophany and resembled the noise of many waters, is after the LXX (kai fwnh thv parembolhv) by Keil and Smend understood to have been the sound produced by the motion of the wheels and the rustling of the wings of the cherubim, (see on Eze_1:2, 4 10:5) but is better taken, with Kliefoth and Hengstenberg, to signify the voice of the Almighty himself, i.e. of the personal Jehovah (comp. . (Rev_1:15) The statement that the earth shined with his glory (comp. (Rev_18:1) has by Havernick, Kliefoth, and others been supposed to indicate the absence of that "cloud" in which the glory of Jehovah appeared in both the Mosaic tabernacle (Exo_40:34, Exo_40:35) and the Solomonic temple, (1Ki_8:10, 1Ki_8:11) and thereby to point to the clearer and more resplendent manifestations of the Godhead, which were to be given in connection with the new dispensation for which Ezekiel"s "house" was being prepared. This, however, as Keil has shown, cannot be main-rained in face of the facts that in both Exodus and 1 Kings "the glory of the Lord" is used synonymously with "the cloud," and that in Ezekiel"s vision "the glory" and "the cloud" were alike present. (see Eze_10:3, Eze_10:4) Kliefoth and Schroder hold "the earth" which was illumined to have been "the whole globe," "the entire region of humanity," as in Isa_6:3 Isa_60:1, etc.; butthere does not appear ground for departing from the ordinary sense of the words, that "the path" of the advancing God was irradiated by the brilliance of his material glory.

Ver. 2. The glory of the God of Israel.

The visionary glory that dazzled the eyes of the rapt seer is but an earthly suggestion of that ineffable glory in which the unseen God is ever clothed.

We may take the manifestation of glory as a type and suggestion of that higher wonder.

I IN WHAT THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL CONSISTS.

1. The radiance of heavenly light. The glory is like the effulgence of sunlight, the raying forth of beams of splendor from the central fountain of light.

(1) It is perfect truth. All error and falsehood are excluded. God dwells in infinite knowledge and wisdom and truthfulness.

(2) It is absolute holiness. No stain or fleck of sin ever touches the supreme purity of God.

(3) It is infinite love. The glory of God is most seen in his goodness. By wonderful deeds of grace he manifests his glory.

(4) It is unutterable joy. The joy of truth, holiness, and love must ever dwell in the heart of God. God smiles over his creatures: that is his glory.

2. The wealth of heavenly voices. "His voice was like a noise of many waters." God has broken the silence of eternity. He has called to his lost and wayward children. With variety of utterance and of truth God has made his voice heard. His gospel message is his glory.

II HOW THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL APPEARS. Ezekiel saw the glory dawn in the east like the pure, bright light of a rising sun.

1. It was not always manifest. There had been a night previous to this glad dawn. There had been dark days in the Captivity, when even the radiance of God seemed to be dimmed.

(1) In the world"s history there have been awful, blank ages, out of which all Divine glory seems to have been excluded.

(2) In individual experience there are sad days when the soul exclaims, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

2. It is made manifest.

(1) To the world, in Christ, who manifested forth the glory of his Father. Thus St. John says, And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father". (Joh_1:14)

(2) To the individual, by faith. When we truly seek for the brightness of God"s countenance in Christ, and trust his grace, there rises a light in the darkness, and God"s glory appears.

III THE RESULTS THAT FOLLOW THE MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL. "And the earth shined with his glory." This radiance was not confined to celestial regions. It was no vain pageantry displayed among the clouds. It came into the world as a brightness for earthly things. This is ever the case with manifestations of God"s glory. It is especially so with Christ who" tabernacled among us," and so brought the celestial glory to dwell on earth. The shining forth of God"s truth and goodness makes a new day for the world. It is already reflected in purified, gladdened-lives; it will be fully seen in a renewal of the whole face of society. That which seems to be most remote and unpractical is thus most closely associated with the needs and hopes of mankind. The world pines and despairs for lack of more visions of Divine truth and goodness. The perfect day will be when this light shines into the darkest places of the earth, i.e. when all men have received "the glorious gospel of the blessed God."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Came - When the glory departed, it went eastward, and now it returns, it comes from the east. And his voice - Though by the voice of God, thunder is sometimes meant, yet here it was an articulate voice.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.