Ezekiel 9:(1.)11

American democracy and freedom is at a turning point. 

We must stand for the smooth transfer of power or we will collapse in to a third world country. We need to protect our country not fall into the idol of a personality.

Nationalism is not Christian.

Ezekiel 9:1-11

9 Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill;  do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. 7 Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.

8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”

9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”

11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”

He is the God of Israel, who has been speaking since Ezekiel saw the glory of God. 

Those who have charge over is the sense given to a Hebrew word that is frequently used of a vengeful visitation. One man among them was probably one in addition to the six, making six men equipped as executioners and one representing the presence and purity of the holy God, who is worthy to mark out some for judgment and to omit others. The bronze altar was the sacrificial altar.

It is not clear whether the term cherub here indicates (1) the cherubim on the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place or (2) the cherubim of the throne with wheels in. Either way, this pictures the departure of God’s glory from the temple, then from Jerusalem, and then from Judah. The threshold refers to the entryway.

Mark translates the Hebrew name for the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which in Ezekiel’s time looked like an X. Those so marked are people who sigh and cry over the abominations of idolatry so far mentioned. Those who demonstrated a righteous attitude through true repentance and remorse were marked out from the hardened rebels. These would be the remnant, the ones who continued to follow God’s commands.

The universality of this judgment is shocking to us; but this is in line with divine judgments from the time of the Flood in Genesis to the final judgment described in Revelation. The corrupt spiritual leaders had been practicing idolatry and immorality in the temple itself. Judgment would begin with them because they had led the nation astray. 

The prophet was horrified by what he saw. The remnant, a group chosen and saved from destruction by a sovereign God, is a recurring theme in the Bible. Three reasons are given as to why the nation deserved this terrible outpouring of God’s wrath—serious and undeniable (1) iniquity, or guilt of sinful offenses; (2) bloodshed, or violence; and (3) perversity, or more precisely injustice. The people and especially rich rulers willfully chose to believe that God did not see or care what injustices went on.

9:11 The report of judgment was brought by one man appearing as a righteous accountant. NKJ Bible.

The mark was probably the Hebrew letter taw, which in the ancient script was shaped like an X or a plus sign (+). Taw was the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and Jewish groups in the Second Temple period and Late Antiquity continued to use it as a mark of righteousness until its similarity with the Christian cross made it unpopular in rabbinic Judaism.These agents of Yahweh carry out His threat. Only those marked as part of the righteous remnant were to be spared.

The first group of idolaters Ezekiel saw are the first to die. The temple, which already has been defiled  by idolatry, will now be further defiled by dead bodies. Ezekiel’s outburst reflects his concern that a remnant be preserved and his fear that the scribe may not find any righteous people to mark. God can no longer delay punishment for Israel. His justice requires judgment.

Yahweh repeats the elders’ statement that He had abandoned them and did not see what they were doing. Ironically, He did see and came to punish them for their behavior.

The scribe returns when his mission is complete. There is no indication how many were marked for salvation.

Ezekiel 5:11 ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity.

Ezekiel 8:12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.’ ”

Revelation 9:4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.