The Glory of Yahweh in Ezekiel and the Pre-Tabernacle Wilderness

Abstract

Ezekiel depicts the Glory of Yahweh in Babylonia, an unclean land outside Yahweh's territory. The Glory also appears there without any physical sanctuary to mediate it. This article postulates that Ezekiel's presentation of the Glory takes its inspiration from the Priestly account of the Exodus wanderings before the Tabernacle existed. In P, the Glory appears outside a physical sanctuary only in Exod. 16.10 and at Sinai; both of these occur before the Tabernacle becomes available. These appearances occur outside Israel, while the people are dislocated and without an extant sanctuary—circumstances homologous to Ezekiel's own. This part of Israel's national story proves fruitful as Ezekiel interprets the exiles' reality through the vehicle of the Glory, showing that Yahweh has laid the foundation for Israel's new beginning through a connection with its past.