Back to all lyrics
Artwork for The Glory Departed by the East Gate

Ezekiel 9:1-11:25

The Glory Departed by the East Gate

Lyrics · Ezekiel

The Glory Departed by the East Gate

Ezekiel 9:1-11:25

Lyrics

Now playing

The Glory Departed by the East Gate

Ezekiel 9:1-11:25

Playing next

  1. Lyrics and song details

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Ezekiel collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Ezekiel
Collection
Ezekiel
Musical styles
Uncategorized
[Watchman] A writer’s horn hung at the linen man’s side, A mark found the mourners who had not made peace with the crime. The glory moved from the threshold, [Answer] Judgment crossed inward and started where worship stood, The prophet fell pleading for the remnant in dust. Wheels rose beneath what the city had grieved. [Watchman] Coals in the hands, cloud in the court, Wings like thunder and brightness withdrawing. At the east gate rulers made evil sound wise, [Answer] Yet exiles were promised a sanctuary afar. One heart and new spirit waited beyond loss, But first the cherubim lifted and crossed. [Bridge] The mountain eastward held radiance alone, The glory departed, and the prophet went home to the captives. [Final Chorus] The glory moved from the threshold, Wheels rose beneath what the city had grieved. The mountain eastward held radiance alone,

About the passage

Ezekiel 9: A mark before the judgment begins

The temple inspection turns into judgment, but not before a distinction is made. Armed agents appear, yet a linen-clothed figure carrying a writer's inkhorn receives the first task: mark those who sigh and cry over Jerusalem's abominations. The glory moves to the threshold while the city is separated before the weapons move through it. Then the sentence begins at the sanctuary, overturning any assumption that nearness to holy space guarantees safety. The breadth of the killing is severe enough that Ezekiel falls on his face and pleads over what he fears could be the end of Israel's remnant. The Book of Ezekiel leaves that plea in the account rather than smoothing the scene into detached certainty. God's answer returns to bloodshed, perverseness, and the claim that he does not see. The final report comes from the man with the inkhorn: his distinguishing assignment has been completed.

Study Ezekiel 9 in depth

Ezekiel 10: The glory moves toward the gate

The throne vision from Chebar reappears inside the temple scene, now with the living creatures identified as cherubim. The Book of Ezekiel keeps the imagery familiar on purpose: sapphire-like throne, wheels within wheels, eyes, wings, hands, and coordinated motion all establish that the glory in Jerusalem is the same glory encountered among the captives. Fire from between the cherubim is handed to the linen-clothed man for the city, making judgment an ordered act rather than an accidental blaze. Yet the chapter's central movement is not the fire. It is departure. The glory rises from the cherub, stands over the threshold, then moves with the cherubim to the eastern gate. Ezekiel repeatedly recognizes the creatures he saw by Chebar. Jerusalem's sanctuary is being left by a presence that has already shown it is not imprisoned within Jerusalem.

Study Ezekiel 10 in depth

Ezekiel 11: A sanctuary for those sent far away

At the eastern gate, Jerusalem's leaders speak as though the city were a secure cooking pot and they the protected contents. The Book of Ezekiel turns their proverb against them: the flesh in the pot is the people they have slain, while the leaders themselves will be brought out for judgment. Pelatiah's death within the vision drives Ezekiel to another plea over the remnant, and the answer redirects hope away from those who claim possession of the land. The exiles dismissed as far from the LORD are promised that God will be "as a little sanctuary" to them. Gathering, removal of abominations, a new heart, and a new spirit follow that promise without erasing accountability for those who persist in idolatry. Finally the glory leaves the city and stands on the mountain to the east. Ezekiel returns in vision to Chaldea and reports everything to the captives.

Study Ezekiel 11 in depth