The Watchmans Study

Biblical common sense, something that is missing in weekend teachings in a Christian church surrounding. Some items are missing from mans grasp for a reason, God gave us the opportunity to focus on Jesus instead of an object. Remember the devils number one trick is his deception and his lies.

Glory leaving the temple

> When did the glory of God leave the temple?

God’s glory initially moved to the threshold of the temple (Ezek 9:3), marking the beginning of a deliberate withdrawal. The glory then departed from the temple’s threshold and positioned itself above the cherubim, which lifted their wings and ascended as they moved eastward, eventually stopping at the east gate of the Lord’s house (Ezek 10:18–19). Finally, the glory rose from the city itself and came to rest on the mountain to the east (Ezek 11:22–23).

This departure occurred as a gradual process unfolding across Ezekiel’s vision in chapters 8–11, with God’s glory slowly moving out of the sanctuary in what appears like slow-motion withdrawal[1]. The divine glory departed because of the great abominations, idolatry, and acts of violence and injustice perpetrated by the Israelites in the temple, city, and land[1].

Ezekiel prophesied that God would abandon the temple because He could no longer dwell in a “rebellious house”—a phrase describing God’s people[2]. This departure of God’s glory signaled that the temple’s and the city’s destruction was certain, as God removed his protective presence from among his people[2]. This prophecy was eventually fulfilled when Judah and Jerusalem were conquered and destroyed by the Babylonians in 587/586 BC[1]. However, while God’s people were in exile, He graciously remained present among them as a sanctuary and promised one day to dwell among them again in their own land[2].

[1] Rebecca G. S. Idestrom, Show Me Your Glory: The Glory of God in the Old Testament (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2023). [See here, here, here, here.]
[2] Donnie Berry, The Earth Will Be Filled: A Biblical Theology of the Glory of God, Essential Studies in Biblical Theology (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2025), 98–99.

> At this time in biblical history, is it possible for God to remove the Ark of the Covenant when His glory departed? Because John said when he seen heaven he noticed the Ark being in the throne room in the presence of God?

This is an excellent theological question that touches on a real tension in Scripture. The answer involves distinguishing between the earthly ark and its heavenly counterpart.

When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, the ark was probably also destroyed.[1] The ark is absent from the list of temple furnishings brought back from exile to the second temple[1], suggesting it was lost during the Babylonian destruction. So when God’s glory departed from the earthly temple during Ezekiel’s time, the physical ark may have already been destroyed or was destroyed shortly after.

However, this doesn’t contradict John’s vision. When God’s temple in heaven was opened, the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. (Rev 11:19) The key distinction is that John witnessed the heavenly ark, not the earthly one. In Revelation 11:19 the promise of God’s saving mercy, as represented by the ark, has come to its glorious conclusion before his heavenly presence.[1]

In Old Testament ark texts, nothing was more intimately associated with it than the presence and power of Yahweh—“Wherever the ark is, there too is Jahwe.”[2] The heavenly ark represents the continuation and fulfillment of what the earthly ark symbolized. When God’s glory departed from the earthly temple, His presence didn’t vanish from existence; it returned to heaven where the temple in heaven indicates unbroken fellowship with God—its doors remain open to all.[3]

So God could remove the earthly ark (and likely did) while simultaneously maintaining the heavenly ark as the eternal symbol of His covenant presence and throne.

[1] Louis A. Brighton, Revelation, Concordia Commentary (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 1999), 310–311.
[2] Laszlo Gallusz, “The Keynote of Revelation’s Drama: The Throne Motif,” in The Word: Searching, Living, Teaching, ed. Artur A. Stele (Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute; Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2022), 2:162.
[3] Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on Revelation, Swindoll’s New Testament Insights (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 166.

> Speaking of both Arks, how does on earth as it is in heaven fit?

The phrase “on earth as it is in heaven” finds profound expression in how Revelation 11 structures the contrast between earthly and heavenly reality through the two arks.

Revelation 11 moves from earthly events to heavenly ones, beginning on earth and concluding in heaven.[1] The chapter opens at the earthly temple—threatened by nations and containing no ark—and closes at the heavenly temple, untouched and secure, where the Ark of the Covenant blazes in glory.[1] This structural movement embodies what “on earth as it is in heaven” actually means.

The passage communicates that spiritual reality must govern one’s perspective of earthly reality, not the reverse—this is the transformative language of apocalyptic, asserting that earthly experiences must be viewed in light of God’s heavenly reality.[1] While believers on earth face opposition, suffering, and apparent injustice, the heavenly temple reveals an entirely different truth: God’s covenant remains in effect and he will faithfully execute it.[1]

The two arks function as visual anchors for this principle. The earthly ark disappeared—lost or destroyed—because the earthly temple itself was compromised and eventually destroyed. But the contrast between earthly and heavenly reality shows that on earth God’s faithful people are threatened and at war, suffering and sometimes dying, while those opposing them seemingly prosper.[1] Yet the heavenly ark’s appearance declares that despite earthly chaos, God’s sovereignty and covenant faithfulness remain unshaken.

This is the heart of “on earth as it is in heaven”—not that earthly conditions mirror heavenly ones, but that heavenly reality provides the true perspective by which believers interpret their earthly struggles. God’s sovereignty is secure, the kingdom of the world will never ultimately triumph over God’s kingdom, and this perspective instills in believers the assurance that faithful witness will receive vindication through God’s covenant faithfulness.[1]

[1] Greg Stevenson, A Slaughtered Lamb: Revelation and the Apocalyptic Response to Evil and Suffering (Abilene, TX: Leafwood Publishers, 2013). [See here, here, here, here, here, here.]

> God sits in between 2 Cherub, Jesus’s mercy seat is between 2 Cherub, at one time there were 4 Cherub surrounding God, why the split?

You’ve identified a fascinating pattern in Scripture. The shift from multiple cherubim to pairs reflects different theological purposes and contexts.

The mercy seat design featured two cherubim of gold on its ends, with God promising to speak from between them (Exod 25:18–22). This pair was intimate and portable—designed for the ark itself. In the temple’s inner sanctuary, two massive wooden cherubim stood with wings spread so that one wing touched each wall while their inner wings met in the middle (1 Kings 6:23–28). These pairs represented God’s throne in the earthly sanctuary.

The four-fold cherubim configuration appears in visionary contexts. Ezekiel witnessed four living creatures, each with four faces and four wings (Ezek 1:4–28), and in Revelation, four living creatures surround God’s throne—one like a lion, one like an ox, one with a human face, and one like an eagle (Rev 4:6–8). These four-fold beings represent comprehensive divine oversight: they see in all directions and embody all creation (human, beast, wild animal, and bird).

The “split” reflects purpose. The paired cherubim (two) functioned as God’s earthly throne—accessible, localized, meeting with His people through the mercy seat. They were stationary and structural. The four-fold cherubim (four) function as cosmic witnesses and attendants in heavenly visions—mobile, all-seeing, representing God’s transcendent sovereignty over all creation. They move with the divine throne and respond to God’s direction.

This isn’t contradiction but complementarity. The pairs brought God’s presence near to Israel in the temple; the four surround Him in the heavenly throne room where His rule encompasses everything. Both configurations express that God reigns—whether dwelling intimately with His people or ruling the cosmos from His throne.

> Getting back to Gods glory leaving the temple and possibly taking the Ark with Him, could this be like in the case of the grave of Moses to point to the God Man Jesus in stead of “physical” items?

You’ve identified a profound theological pattern. God’s removal of physical symbols and His redirection of focus toward Jesus as the ultimate reality runs throughout Scripture.

Moses’s burial location was hidden from human knowledge (Deut 34:5–6), and Michael the archangel contended with the devil over Moses’s body (Jude 9)—suggesting God deliberately obscured this physical memorial. Similarly, the ark vanished during the Babylonian destruction. In both cases, God prevented these objects from becoming idolatrous focal points for His people’s faith.

This pattern culminates in Jesus. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father (John 1:14). God’s glory—once confined to the mercy seat between two cherubim—now inhabits a person. In Jesus the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9). He is the living mercy seat, the true propitiation where God meets humanity.

The temple’s destruction accelerates this shift. The temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom (Matt 27:51), and we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh (Heb 10:19–20). The physical barriers dissolved because Christ’s body became the new access point to God’s presence.

Finally, in the new creation there is no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb, and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb (Rev 21:22–23). God removed the ark and His glory from the temple not as abandonment but as redirection—pointing Israel forward to when the God-Man himself would become the dwelling place of God’s glory among His people.

> With that said, could the so called 3rd temple be an item of idolatry? Because even some of the evangelical movements are pushing for a 3rd temple instead of realizing our hearts and bodies have become the temple for Christ?

Your question strikes at the heart of New Testament theology. The search results provide crucial insight into this tension.

Paul asks, “What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” and immediately answers: “For we are the temple of the living God.”[1] This isn’t merely spiritual poetry—it’s a definitive statement about where God’s presence now dwells. The corporate body of believers constitutes the new temple—God’s holy habitation and the place of his divine presence. Because God dwells in us and with us, we have immediate access to his presence and do not need to go to a holy place or shrine to commune with him.[2]

The concern you raise about a third temple has biblical precedent. Despite being the temple of the living God, believers have a tendency to bring unholy things into that place, similar to what happened in the first temple when God’s people brought idolatry into the holy place and defiled it—as seen throughout the accounts of Judah’s kings.[2] History repeats itself spiritually.

Critically, there can be no compromise between the temple of God and idols to the end of time.[1] A physical third temple constructed in Jerusalem would represent precisely this kind of compromise—a return to the old covenant framework that Christ fulfilled. The promise that God will dwell among His people as in a temple draws from Ezekiel’s vision, where God promises His people will “not defile themselves any more with their idols” and He will “set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” In the age when that promise is fulfilled—the time of the church—it is unthinkable that the Lord’s people should again defile themselves with “idols and their detestable things.”[1]

A third temple would indeed be idolatry—elevating a physical structure above the living, indwelt body of Christ.

[1] G. R. Beasley-Murray, “2 Corinthians,” in 2 Corinthians–Philemon, ed. Clifton J. Allen, Broadman Bible Commentary (Broadman Press, 1970), 51.
[2] Clinton E. Arnold, Ephesians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 223–224.

> Can you provide 10 scriptures to support the glory of God, the mercy seat of Christ and the positions of the cherubim?

Here are ten scriptures that support the themes of God’s glory, Christ as the mercy seat, and the cherubim’s positions:

God’s Glory and the Mercy Seat:

• God promised to meet with His people and speak from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim on the ark (Exod 25:17–22)
• God declared He would appear in the cloud over the mercy seat (Lev 16:2)
• When the tabernacle was completed, the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle so completely that Moses could not enter (Exod 40:34–35)
• Similarly, when the priests came out of the Holy Place in Solomon’s temple, the glory of the LORD filled the house so that the priests could not stand to minister (1 Kings 8:10–11)

God Enthroned Between the Cherubim:

• The ark of the covenant is identified as the seat where the LORD of hosts is enthroned on the cherubim (1 Sam 4:4)
• God is described as enthroned upon the cherubim, called to shine forth (Ps 80:1)
• The LORD reigns, sitting enthroned upon the cherubim (Ps 99:1)

Christ as the Glory and Mercy Seat:

• The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father (John 1:14)
• Christ Jesus is presented as the propitiation through whom redemption comes (Rom 3:23–25)
• The seraphim declare “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:1–3)