Burning Coals

Ezekiel 10:1-2 (ESV)

1 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. 2 And he said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.”

And he went in before my eyes.

There is a great expanse between heaven and earth, from the dust of man to the throne of God. The whirling wheels are full eyes we are told elsewhere, perhaps the witness of the people He chose to bring His light into the world. 

Burning coals from the altar before the throne are scattered over Jerusalem to bring the fire of His wrath into the city. It is the light of judgment at the hands of “the man clothed in linen” that brings the fire of the Holy Spirit into an unholy place.