| A Remnant Removed From Judgment
The vision Ezekiel conveys to us here is painfully true in its application throughout human history. There are times when sin rises to a level in both individual lives and cultures where nothing is left for God to do but completely remove in judgment everyone and everything connected to sin's destructive force. Bloodshed and perversity had become "exceedingly great" (9:8-11). Israel's increasing spiritual anarchy and idolatry had reached a point of no return. All that was left was God's departure from those who at one time were His people, followed by complete removal of this cancerous poison. This judgment among His people will always begin in the sanctuary, the House of God. Here we see the elders of Israel, who spent much time supposedly at the Temple serving God, to be the first who were slain in judgment. This remains true today for any of those who have a God-ordained responsibility to represent God and His will. Every pastor, parent, or civil leader will be held responsible for their lack of godly leadership. Where they have not held up a worthy pattern for those under them to follow by teaching, law, and example, the judgment upon them will be first, as well as, doubly severe (James 3:1, 1 Peter 4:17). This judgment also includes one of the most sorrowful events that will ever occur in human experience. God will remove the glory of His presence. We see this graphically portrayed in Ezekiel's vision in 10:1-18. Here God's glory is departing. But as it does, it first pauses at the threshold of the Temple's entrance. You can't help but see this pause linked to God's heart for His people in seeing the tragic consequences of sin's alienation from Him that we create. Yet there is in all of this a bright spot. There was a sizeable minority of those whose hearts grieved over Israel's fall from grace just as God had grieved. These blessed and faithful lovers of God and of God's people had wept over Israel's sinful abominations. God promised to save these precious and faithful believers as He brought judgment upon the majority. To do so, God has them marked by an angel (9:4). They will become the remnant upon which God will later rebuild the nation—a remnant made up of men such as Daniel who God will use in a mighty way. This remnant would become a light of truth to the entire Persian empire as well as to the Jewish people taken to Babylon as captives (Dan. 1:1-6:28). | |||
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Ezekiel 9:1-10:22  The Wicked Are Slain 1 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." Ezekiel 10 The Glory Departs from the Temple1 And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, "Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in as I watched. 3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory. 5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks. 6 Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim," that he went in and stood beside the wheels. 7 And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out. 8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings. 9 And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone. 10 As for their appearance, all four looked alike—as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 11 When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went. 12 And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, "Wheel." 14 Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar. 16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. | |||
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| Ezekiel 9:1-10:22 v. 1 each with a deadly weapon in his hand – The vision continues with the judgment of God beginning. Although it will be the Babylonians who destroy, God shows here that it is in fact He who is doing the judging and destroying. v. 2 He called to the man clothed with linen – It is God who judges and destroys the wicked, and it is God who also "marks" and protects the righteous. v. 4 the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations – Although Jerusalem is saturated with idolatry, there are those who publicly decry and groan over this sin. God knows them and "marks" them. v. 5 Go after him through the city and kill – After the righteous are marked, the angels are sent to kill all of those without the mark with no pity or deference. They were to begin at the Temple with the leaders. v. 8 Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel… ? – Ezekiel is overwhelmed with the destruction he is witnessing, and begins to cry out in intercession for those the angels are killing. v. 9 for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!' – They have imagined that their sin would not be seen or judged, but God will indeed judge and repay their sin with His mighty judgment. Ezekiel 10v. 1 above the head of the cherubim – The imagery in this chapter is similar to the vision of the glory of God seen in chapter 1, recording many of the same elements of the blazing fires, wheels, Cherubim, and jewel-like appearance of the throne and glory of God. v. 2 fill your hands with coals of fire – The "man clothed with linen" who marked the righteous for preservation from judgment now acts in destruction. The first destruction was with swords or axes. Here the city is burned as a second judgment (ch. 5). v. 3 the court was full of the brightness of the LORD – And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks. v. 8 there appeared – In the first chapter this throne-chariot was seen coming out of the north as the Glory of the Lord drew near. Here it is seen again, but now it is seen drawing near to the Jerusalem as all this judgment and destruction takes place. It comes near the threshold of the Temple just before departing. The Temple has been judged, destroyed, and defiled, and now is finally abandoned by God. v. 18 Then the glory of the LORD departed. – A tragic phrase as the ultimate judgment is given and God withdraws his presence for the defiled Temple. v. 19 the east gate of the LORD'S house – Here God pauses as he leaves. The gate is significant as it is through this gate that the glory of God returns to the Temple when it is restored (ch. 43-44). the glory of the God of Israel – This unique phrase is used five times in this vision (8:4, 9:3, 10:19-20, 11:22) and again in 43:2 and 44:2 to tie the departure of God's glory and His return together.. v. 20 living creature – These creatures and wheels are the same as the original vision at the River Chebar (ch 1). The throne and presence of God's glory is above and in front of them. When the throne departs, it signals the last elements of God's glory leaving the Temple. | |||
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| 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." –Ezekiel 9:4 We pray, Lord, for lives and hearts to be found worthy of Your mark. Show us, God, with Your Holy Spirit where we do not live in accordance with Your will for our lives. | |||
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9:4 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."
Prayer Retreat
