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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
43:1-5 The Return of God's Glory. Clearly the return of God's glory to the temple is one of the most dramatic moments in the book. His return here is the restoration counterpart to the departure in 10:18-22 and 11:23. It also brings completion to the temple tour: all that was lacking from this sacred space was God. However, this moment also forms a new beginning. The arrival of God's glory in his temple inaugurates a new era in the relationship of God and people, and this becomes the focus of the remainder of the vision.
43:1 The action takes places at the gate facing east, the main temple entrance in the vision, and the equivalent to the gate of the old temple from which God had previously departed (10:19).
43:2 The approach of the glory of the God of Israel recalls the overwhelming sensory experience of Ezekiel's inaugural vision: the sound of many waters describes the roar of the approach (see 1:24); its brilliance caused the earth to shine with his glory (cf. 1:27-28).
43:3 Although there are implicit links to the two prior visions, here the connections are made explicit. The vision when he came to destroy the city refers to chs. 8-11. The vision by the Chebar canal is the inaugural vision of chs. 1-3. As in 1:28b, Ezekiel fell on his face (cf. 44:4) before the holiness and majesty of God.
