Ichabod

Ezekiel 10:4

And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. 

 

Thought for the day – Ichabod

Here’s the Hebrew word for the day. Ichabod. Most people will associate it with Ichabod Crane, The main character in the story of the Headless Horseman. But we first read about ichabod in the book of 1 Samuel where we read that the glory of the Lord has departed. Ichabod itself means no glory. And it's essentially the theme of today's chapter in Ezekiel. The glory of the Lord slowly leaves the Temple of Jerusalem. And that's a hard one for me. So we read in the books of Kings and the books of Chronicles how the glory of the Lord fills the temple as God comes down to his new resting place. In Ezekiel chapter 10 we see that process reversed.

 

The entire chapter is filled with this amazing imagery of cherubim and the glory of God. And I would imagine Ezekiel watching this would have been completely awestruck. But also heartbroken. In much the same way that I think we look at our Christian churches and see the decline in our churches. Certainly here in the West. I'm not suggesting for a second that God has abandoned his church. I'm not suggesting for a second that God has abandoned some denominations, there is just a sense of sorrow as we see churches close and congregations decline. And I can't help but think has the glory of God departed those churches. I don't know the answer to the question, I don't know the answer to the question of the decline and decay. All I can hang on to is the Jesus promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us. The structures around us might be collapsing, like the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem, but they are just structures. God has not abandoned us.