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cloud: I have now built for you a stately House, a place where You may dwell ["shakan"]
forever." -- I Kings 8:10-13.

This same incident is recorded in II Chronicles 5:13. The "Shekinah" would no longer be
associated with the Tabernacle but was to be transferred to the Temple. As a result, this physical
manifestation was necessary to that generation because the Law of Moses was being amended at
this point and God was showing His approval of the amendment to His legal system by the mani-
festation of the "Shekinah."

Whenever God makes a "forever" promise in the Bible, there are conditions connected to it
-- and this case is no different. When He said He would dwell ("shakan") in the Temple "forever,"
there were conditions to this promise. Therefore, at the destruction of the First Temple, He did not
allow His "Shekinah" presence to stay in the Holy of Holies (inner sanctuary of the Temple) after a
certain level of corruption had taken place. What is surprising is that He stayed in the Temple for
so long! Evidently, His love for His people is such that He endures far more than any human judge
would deem possible. Even with all the corruption that occurred during the last days of Jehoiakim
and Jehoiachin (and most of the reign of Zedekiah). Ezekiel's vision of the DEPARTURE OF
GOD'S "SHEKINAH" from the Temple and city did not occur until after the beginning of the final
siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his army.

Ezekiel's description of God's "Shekinah" is more detailed but very similar to what the 70
elders saw on Mount Sinai, as recorded in Exodus 24. Writes Fred Miller --

Ezekiel's description of the "Shekinah" in chapter one of his prophecy is physically excit-
ing just to read. Imagine actually seeing it! It is described as fire enfolding itself borne by
cherubic creatures whose appearance pulsated with undulating light, themselves borne by
gyroscopic double wheels. Lightning came out of the midst of the fire surrounded by
clear sapphire where a man-like person on a throne sat in an electric eye. If electricity is
anachronistic, the word is nonetheless "chashmal" which is the modern Hebrew word for
electricity. The Septuagint has "electrum" and so does the Vulgate! Whatever "chashmal"
and "electrum" meant to the ancients who used these words it can only be said that "eyn
chashmal" in Hebrew and "opsin electrou" in Greek and "speciem electri" found in Latin
in Eze. 1:27 is not "amber" as in the English translation. The word "color" does not ap-
pear in the text. -- Zechariah and Jewish Renewal.

There are other descriptions of the nature of God's "Shekinah" that Ezekiel saw LEAVING
a then desolate Temple. The building was still standing but no longer had God's glory before it
was destroyed!

The Departure and Return of the "Shekinah"

It should be noted that Ezekiel saw both the DEPARTURE of the "Shekinah" and the RE-
TURN in two distinct visions separated in time by a number of years. The visions that he saw --
of events that happened after his own death -- describe exactly the same "Shekinah" which he saw
first in chapter ten and then afterwards leave the Temple in chapter ten. As we shall note, at the
beginning of chapter ten the "Shekinah" was still in the Temple --

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