Idolaters are Killed
June 28, 2020
Commentary
This chapter presents a picture of coming judgment. After Eusocial had seen how corrupt Jerusalem had become, God called one man to spare the small minority who had been faithful (v. 1). Then He called six men to slaughter the wicked people in the city and a scribe (v. 2). The Lord instructed the scribe to place a mark on the forehead of every faithful person in the city (vv. 3-4). The scribes inkhorn was a long narrow board with a groove to hold the reed brush that was used to write on parchment or dried clay. The board had hollowed out areas for holding cakes of black and red ink that had to be moistened before used.
God told the man with the writer’s inkhorn to put a mark on those who were faithful to God. Their faithfulness was determined by their sensitivity of and sorrow over their nations’s sin. Those with the mark were spared when the six men began to destroy the wicked people. This was a picture of what happened during the Exodus when the Israelites put a mark of blood on their doorposts to save them from death. This will also happen again when God marks the foreheads of those destined for salvation (Rev. 7:3) and Satan will mark his followers (Rev. 13:16-17) who are destined for destruction. When God punishes sin, He won’t forget His promise to His people who can be counted faithful.
He then commissioned the six executioners to mercilessly slaughter everyone who was not so marked, beginning in the temple precincts (vv. 5-7). The spiritual leaders (elders) of Israel promoted their idolatrous beliefs, and the people abandoned God and followed them. It is not surprising, that He started judgment at the temple and worked outward (I Peter 4:17). This judgment was ordered by God Himself. When Ezekiel expressed his concern that the whole nation would be wiped out, the Lord reminded him that judgment was well-deserved (vv. 8-10). “The man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me” (v. 11).
Application
“Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful“ (I Cor. 4:2). It is the desire of my heart that when my life is over this is what the Lord will be able to say about me.
Ezekiel 9:1– 11 (NET)
1 Then he shouted in my ears, “Approach, you who are to visit destruction on the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!” 2 Next I noticed six men coming from the direction of the upper gate that faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
5 While I listened, he said to the others, “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do not let your eye pity nor spare anyone! 6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women—wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
7 He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with corpses. Go!” So they went out and struck people down throughout the city. 8 While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”
9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.”
11 Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”