God speaks again to the man in linen (10:2). In the Old Testament it is the priest who is clothed in linen (Exod. 28:39, 42). And only a priest had the prerogative to handle the holy fire of God. The linen-dressed man in chapter 9 is a scribe. Here he takes coals from among the cherubim and strews them over the city. Here again, as in chapter 1, we encounter fire, which symbolizes either purification and cleansing or judgment. In chapter 10 it is clearly the latter, and reference may be made to the fire that falls on the wicked at Sodom and Gomorrah. Again, as in 9:3, the initial stage of the Lord’s departure from his house is mentioned. Understandably the cherubim are standing on the south side of the temple (10:3), for idolatrous acts take place on the north side (Ezek. 8:3, 5). God rem…