The Glory of the Lord: Jesus and Ezekiel

The sky opened, but the city was far away. The temple still stood, but its days were numbered. Ezekiel sat by the Kebar River. He was an exiled priest in a foreign land, far from the courts where incense once rose, far from the place where the presence of God dwelt in the Temple. He was thirty years old, the age when priests were ordained into service. But there was no altar to stand beside. No temple to serve in. No crowd to hear him speak.

And then, the heavens opened.

Ezekiel saw a vision so radiant, so strange, and so overwhelming that it redefined his entire understanding of where God dwells and who He chooses to dwell with. The glory of the Lord did not appear inside the Holy of Holies, behind veils and gold. It appeared in exile, by a muddy river, among a broken people. And from that moment on, Ezekiel’s life and the trajectory of God's redemptive plan would never be the same.

The Glory Departs: A Holy God Cannot Dwell with Sin

The vision began with fire, wheels, and wings. But its meaning ran deeper than symbols. God was leaving His house.

Ezekiel lived in a time of deep decay. Though the temple still stood, and sacrifices still burned, the covenant had been hollowed out. Idolatry had crept into the inner courts. In chapters 8 through 11, Ezekiel is given a tour of Jerusalem's wickedness. The Spirit showed him the elders bowing to idols, the priests corrupting the sanctuary, and the people turning their backs on God.

And so the Glory began to lift.

First, from the inner sanctuary to the threshold. Then to the eastern gate. Then to the Mount of Olives. Each movement was deliberate. It was not a rage-filled exit. It was a holy departure. A grieving God withdrew from a house that no longer honored Him.

He was not abandoning His people forever. But He would not bless what was stained with rebellion.

The Heart of the Problem: A Stone Inside the Soul

Even as the rituals continued, the relationship had collapsed. The problem wasn’t the structure. It was the spirit within the people.

I will remove their heart of stone, God said, and give them a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19)

God was not looking for polished performance. He was seeking transformed hearts. His desire was never just a temple. It was a reborn people who were made alive by His Spirit and obedient from the inside out.

The Promise of Return: Cleansing, Breath, and a New Covenant

Judgment fell. Jerusalem was burned. The temple was torn stone from stone. And yet, through the ashes, a promise emerged.

God would restore. He would not compromise His holiness, but He would restore His people.

He would purge the rebels. He would cleanse the nation. He would act not for their sake, but for the sake of His holy name. And in the most staggering vision of all, He would breathe into dry, scattered, lifeless bones and raise a new people from the dust.

I will put My Spirit within you, He declared, and you shall live. (Ezekiel 37:14)

That was not just resurrection imagery. It was a new creation. What Adam lost, God would breathe back into His people.

The Glory Returns: Not to a Building, but to a People

Chapters 40 through 48 offer a final vision. God would establish a temple without measure and a river without end. The water flows from the threshold and brings life wherever it goes, even to the salt-scorched shores of the Dead Sea. And then, in chapter 43, the glory of the Lord returns. It does not slip in quietly. It does not appear dimly. It comes from the east, radiant with holiness, filled with weight and splendor, unmistakable in its arrival.

The glory had left from the Mount of Olives. Now it returned from the same direction.

But this time, it would not be confined to stone walls.

Jesus: The Glory Made Flesh

John said it plainly: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. (John 1:14)

Jesus did not just teach the words of God. He carried the weight of God's presence. He was the true temple, the dwelling place of God on earth. When Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives, the vision of Ezekiel came into focus. It was the same mountain. It was the same path from the east. But this time, the Glory was not departing. It was returning to restore, to redeem, and to dwell with His people forever.

And as Jesus cried out during the feast, Rivers of living water will flow from within, He wasn’t describing a building anymore. He was describing the Spirit. The temple would no longer be found in Jerusalem. It would be found in the hearts of His people.

The Church: A Living Temple, Filled with the Spirit

When the Spirit descended at Pentecost, He didn’t fill a structure. He filled people.

Tongues of fire came to rest not on altars, but on disciples. The same Glory that Ezekiel saw now burned in the hearts of fishermen, tax collectors, women, and children. God breathed life into the church as a dwelling place of the divine, not as an institution.

Do you not know, Paul asked, that you are God’s temple and that His Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

We are the temple. Together, we are built into a house for God’s presence.

The Glory That Never Leaves Again

Ezekiel saw the glory leave. He saw it return. But he never could have imagined how permanent that return would be.

Through Christ, the glory has come to stay. And that is why the final words of Ezekiel’s vision ring with such power:

The name of the city from that time on will be: The Lord is There. (Ezekiel 48:35)

That is not just a future hope. That is a present reality.

Because the Lord is here.
And the glory has returned.