Slaughter of Jerusalem’s wicked people
9
📚He also cried out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Cause those who have charge of the city to draw near, each one with his destroying weapon in his hand”. 2 📚And six men appeared coming from the way of the Upper Gate, which faces north, and each one had a weapon of slaughter in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writing case 📖 at his side. And they went in, and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 📚And the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And he called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writing case at his side,
9:3 The glory of God moved away from its place in the Most Holy Place above the cherubim over the mercy seat. The true God will have nothing to do with idolatry. Compare 2 Cor 6:14-16.⚜
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 for all the abominations that are done in the midst of it”.
9:4 Even in those days of wickedness and unbelief there were some in Jerusalem who remained true to God and His word. They showed they were in tune with God by their attitude to the sins of the city. The angel was to mark them out for protection. Remember that this happened in a vision. There was no literal marking of physical foreheads. Compare Rev 7:1-4.⚜
5 📚And he said to the others in my hearing, “You go after him through the city, and strike. Do not let your eye spare, do not have pity. 6 📚Slaughter old and young, both maidens and little children and women, but do not go near anyone on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary 📖”. Then they began with the elders who were before the house.
9:5-6 This was to signify to Ezekiel what would happen when the Babylonians captured and destroyed the city.⚜
7 📚And he said to them, “Defile 📖 the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth”. And they went forth, and killed people in the city. 8 📚And it came about, as they were killing them, and I was left alone, that I prostrated myself, and cried out, saying, “Alas, Lord God! Will you destroy all the rest of Israel in your pouring out of your fury on Jerusalem?”
9:8 Ezek 11:13. Compare Ezekiel’s love for the people with other men of God – Ex 32:30-32; Num 14:5-6, 10-19; Josh 7:6-7; Jer 8:21; 9:1; Rom 9:1-3. What a contrast with the elders described in Ezek 8:10-11!⚜
9 📚Then he said to me, “The wickedness 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 not spare, and I will not have pity, but I will repay their way on their head”.
11 📚And the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his side, appeared, and reported the matter, saying, “I have done as you commanded me”.