John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 11:22-23

"Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city." — Ezekiel 11:22-23 (ASV)

Here Ezekiel repeats what we saw before: namely, that God, as He had chosen Mount Zion, had finally rejected it, because that place had been polluted by the many wicked deeds of the people. The Jews imagined that God was, as it were, held captive among them, and in this confidence, they gave themselves up to licentiousness.

Therefore, the Prophet shows them that God was not so bound to them that He could not go wherever He pleased; and what is more, He announces that He has departed, and that the temple is deprived of His glory. This, indeed, was almost incredible. For since God had promised to dwell there perpetually (Psalms 132:14), His faithful ones could scarcely suppose that He would neglect His promise and desert the temple which He had chosen.

But this interruption does not interfere with His promise, which was always true and firm. God, therefore, did not entirely desert Mount Zion, because the opposite promise concerning His return must be kept. Since, then, the exile was temporary, and the temple was to be restored after seventy years, these points may be reconciled: namely, that God departed from it, and yet the place remained sacred, so that after the lapse of that time which God had previously determined, His worship would be restored again in the temple and on Mount Zion.

But he says that God had visibly gone out of the city and the cherubim also: that is, God was borne above the wings of the cherubim, as Scripture elsewhere also says; and He does this because the Jews were governed by external symbols; and when the ark of the covenant was shut up in the sanctuary, no one could be persuaded that God could be torn away from it. With this view, the Prophet says, The cherubim had flown away elsewhere, and at the same time God was carried upon their wings. Now he adds—