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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 YEHOVAH was showing His approval of the amendment to His legal system by the
manifestation of the "Shekinah."

Whenever YEHOVAH makes a "forever" promise in the Bible, there are conditions con-
nected to it -- and this case is no different. When He said He would dwell ("shakan") in the Tem-
ple "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 YEHOVAH'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 YEHOVAH'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
appear in the text. -- Zechariah and Jewish Renewal.

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