Ezekiel 8:4

Eze 8:4 And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel [was] there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.

Ver. 4. And behold the glory of the God of Israel,] i.e., The glorious God of Israel. {Act 7:2} {See Trapp on "Act 7:2"}

Was there,] scil., At the inner gate, where that image of jealousy stood. The Jews were great idolaters before the captivity, not so afterwards. {Rom 2:22}

According to the vision.] See Eze 3:23. This befell for his further confirmation, ne remum abjiceret, ut aiunt: this was now the third time, and all was but enough.

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.

Read Ezek. 3:22.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Shekinah cloud of Jehovah's glory, notwithstanding the provocation of the idol, still remains in the temple, like that which Ezekiel saw "in the plain" (Eze 3:22-23); not till Eze 10:4, Eze 10:18 did it leave the temple at Jerusalem, showing the long-suffering of God, which ought to move the Jews to repentance.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. The vision that I saw in the plain.] See Clarke on Eze 3:23; see also Eze 1:3.

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

Now he only says that he saw God’s glory as he had formerly beheld it near the bank of the river. This was as it were the seal of his prophecy: for the holy man ought to be so strengthened, that he should boldly restrain the furious audacity and obstinacy of the people. Hence he had to strive with hard heads, and God did not arm him in vain; and to this end again a new vision was offered. He knew that to be the glory of God. Hence he was again made more certain that the whole action was under divine direction, and that it was neither human nor fictitious, nor deceptive nor doubtful. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) The glory of the God of Israel was there.—Not the glory of the Lord filling the temple as in the days of old, but the glory “according to the vision that I saw in the plain”—i.e., the same vision which had before appeared to the prophet now in his vision—a vision within a vision—appeared to him again in the temple. The identity of the vision is again particularly mentioned in Eze_10:15; Eze_10:22, and even without this would be plain from the description given of it in Ezekiel 10. At the same time, various particulars are mentioned (as in Eze_10:12) which were omitted in Ezekiel 1, and others are mentioned there which are omitted here, as the cloud and the firmament (Eze_1:4; Eze_1:22); and there are also some entirely new features introduced, as the “six men” and “the man clothed in linen” (Eze_9:2), for which there was no occasion in the former vision. “The God of Israel” is emphatic, the God who had loved and chosen Israel, and Whom Israel should have served, in contrast with the idol which they had placed in His temple.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. The glory of the Lord was that seen by the prophet at the Chebar (ch. 1). This glory expressed the prophet’s conception of Jehovah. And this Jehovah is here, in contrast with the deities worshipped by the people, and beholding their worship.

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 was there,.... In the temple, between the cherubim, where the Shechinah or the glory of the divine Majesty dwelt; for as yet he had not removed, though provoked to it, and as he afterwards did; or he was here to destroy the idols, and both city and temple, for the idolatry of the people; or this is here mentioned, to show the baseness and wickedness of the people, that they should place an idol where the Lord himself was:

according to the vision that I saw in the plain; it was the same glorious Person he saw in the temple whom he had before seen in the plain, Eze 3:22; and that was the same he had seen in the vision by the river Chebar, Eze 1:3.

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

The glory of the Lord having departed from His seat between the cherubims in the holy of holies (see Eze 9:3) rests in the threshold of the temple, to execute vengeance before it quits the house altogether Eze 10:18. The “there” in the inner court, which was “full of the brightness of the Lord’S glory” Eze 10:4, and at the gate of which Ezekiel stands.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The glory of God: see Eze 1:28; 3:23.

Was there; whither he carried me, and there it showed me what I saw.

According to the vision that I saw; like that; which gave further confirmation to the prophet, and encouraged him in his work and call.

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

4. The glory of the God of Israel was there — See notes chaps. i and 10. Jehovah in his omnipotent and omniscient splendor was present and saw all these insults to his majesty. Whether this “glory of Jehovah” had accompanied the prophet from Babylon and entered the temple with him is not distinctly stated, but Eze_8:2-3 (compare Eze_1:15-28) would suggest this. Although heretofore on various occasions Jehovah’s glory has left his temple for short periods, he still abides there until the final farewell, in chap. Eze_10:1 to Eze_11:23. There is a special aptness in the name “God of Israel” (compare Eze_3:23) as used here. They have forsaken their own God, glorious as he is, for strange deities of the most beastly character.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 4, 5. And, behold, etc. In appalling contrast with that "image of jealousy," Ezekiel saw what he had not seen, as he first became conscious that he was in the court of the temple the vision of the Divine glory, such as he had seen it on the banks of Chebar. (Eze_1:4-28) He was to look first on this picture and then on that, and the guilt of Judah was measured by that contrast.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON Vers. 4, 5. The glory of God and the image of jealousy.

In prophetic vision Ezekiel was transported from the place of exile to his country"s metropolis, and to the temple which was the very centre of his people"s religious observances. It may not be certain whether what in this vision he discerned actually took place, or whether the vision was representative and symbolical of what was occurring elsewhere in Judah and even in Jerusalem. But what an extraordinary juxtaposition and contrast is that described in these verses! One observer in one spot is brought face to face both with the splendour of the Divine manifestation and with the horror of idolatrous rites!

I THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL. The prophet beheld an appearance of splendour, such as he had previously beheld in the plain, and had described in an earlier passage of iris prophecies.

1. This appearance was emblematical of the Divine attributes; alike of God"s power to punish and to save, and of his moral excellences, justice and truth, mercy and love.

2. This appearance was peculiarly suitable to the place where it wasdiscerned: the temple of Jehovah was his dwelling place, and the scene of his peculiar presence, who giveth not his glory to another.

3. This appearance was a reminder that for the Jewish people there wasone, and only one, proper Object of adoration and worship.

II THE IDOLATROUS IMAGE.

1. This was doubtless a figure of one of the false gods worshipped by oneof the nations in the neighbourhood of Palestine, by whom Judah had been corrupted and seduced. Which of the several idols was at that time worshipped by the Jews we are not told; and, indeed, this does not signify.

2. Whatever this imaginary deity may have been, it is certain that theattributes assigned to it were opposed to those belonging to Jehovah. Cruelty and impurity were certainly qualities attributed to this false god.

3. Thus moral degradation was involved in the worship of this image; degradation all the more signal because the Jews forsook a God of righteousness and clemency, and fashioned or accepted an imaginary deity embodying their own worst faults and vices.

III THE INDIGNATION WITH WHICH JEHOVAH REGARDED JUDAH"S PREFERENCE. The image was an "image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy." The reasons why the idol should be so designated, why such should be the way in which it was regarded, are obvious enough.

1. Jehovah had enjoined upon the posterity of Abraham abstinence fromthe idolatries from which the great forefather of the chosen people had been delivered. Monotheism was the very stamp and seal of their election.

2. The very first and second commandments of the first table of the moralLaw prohibited idolatry.

3. The history of Israel had been one long rebuke of idolatry, and one longwarning against falling into this seductive snare.

4. The ordinances and institutions of the nation were expressly designed toact as a check and dissuasive against the sin of the surrounding and heathen nations.

APPLICATION. Apostasy from the service of the one living and true God is rendered inexcusable, and is worthy of severe condemnation, when, as in the case of Judah, and in our case, light is clear, privileges are many, and opportunities and inducements abound to be faithful and diligent in the practice of pure religion. T.

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