The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel 9
Chapter IX · Vol. III, pp. 1322–1323
1 A vision, whereby is showed the preservation of some, 5 and the destruction of all the rest. 8 God cannot be entreated for them.
1 He cried1 also in mine ears with aa loud voice, saying, Cause them2 that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.3
1 ch.1.26, i.e. Christ, ch.40.3; 43.6.
a Am.3.7,8; 1.2. ch.1.24. Re.14.7,9,15.
2 Angels and Chaldeans, Ps.103.20. Da.10.21. 2 Ki.10.24.
3 'From the sin,' says Hengstenberg, 'the prophet turns to the punishment. The announcement of this begins in this section with the slaying of the sinful inhabitants of the city, and then in the following chapter we have the destruction of the city itself. The scene is the following:—At the command of the Lord, who will punish the revolt of his people, appear the ministers of his righteousness, six in number, and in their midst a man clothed in linen, the former with weapons of destruction, the latter with an inkhorn. They come (the scene is the temple) near the brazen altar: thence the glory of the Lord went towards them from the most holy place to the threshold of the temple. It gives to the man clothed in linen the order to destroy the ungodly without mercy. The orders are executed.'—P.
2 And, behold, bsix men came from the way of the chigher gate, which lieth4 toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon5 in his hand; and one man6 among them was dclothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side:7 and they went in, and stood ebeside the brasen altar.
b Ge.18.2. Je.25.9; 32.28,29; 8.16-19; 5.15-17. 1.13-16.
c ch.8.14. Je.26.10. 2 Ki.15.35. 2 Ch.27.3.
4 Heb. is turned.
5 Heb. a weapon of his breaking in pieces.
6 Christ, Re.1.13; 8.3,4. Zec.1.8. He.7.25,26. Mat.28.18. 1 Ti.2.5; or angel, Re.15.5,6; 1.20.
d Le.16.4. ch.10.6,7. Mal.3.16.
7 Heb. upon his loins. See ver.3,4.
e ch.39.17. Is.29.2; 34.6. La.2.20,21.
3 And gthe glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
g Ps.99.1. ch.1.26; 3.23; 8.4; 10.1,4,18,19; 11.22,23.
4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark8 upon the foreheads of the men hthat sigh, and that cry, for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
8 Heb. mark a mark, Ex.12.7,13. Mal.3.16. Re.7.3; 14.1; 9.4; 20.4. Is.4.3. Ps.87.6. 2 Co.1.22.
h Ps.119.53,136. Is.57.18. Je.13.17. 2 Co.12.21. 2 Pe.2.8,9.
5 And to the others he said in mine hearing,9 Goi ye after him through the city, and jsmite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6 Slay utterly1 old and young, both maids, and little children, and women; kbut come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and lbegin at my sanctuary. Then they began at nthe ancient men which were before the house.
7 And he said unto them, oDefile the house, and fill the courts with the slain; go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
o See ch.7.20-27. Ps.74.6,7; 79.1. Je.7.4,14; 26.6,18; 52.13-23. Is.64.11,12. La.1.10; 2.4,6,7,20; 4.9-11. 2 Ch.36.17.
8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that pI fell upon my face, and cried, and said, qAh, Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the rresidue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9 Then said he unto me, sThe iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of2 blood,3 and the city full of perverseness;4 for they say, tThe LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
A.M. cir. 3411. B.C. cir. 593.
s ch.7.23; 16.25. De.31.16,29; 32.5,15-21. 2 Ki.17.7-23; xxi. xxiv. Is.i.-iii. v. ix. xxx. lix. Je.ii.-xix. ch.iii.-xxiv. Zep.i.-iii. Mi.ii.iii.
2 Heb. filled with.
3 Stained everywhere with the blood of the righteous—of God's persecuted saints.—C.
4 Or, wresting of judgment.
Notes
Ver. 2-11. The six armed destroyers denote the Chaldeans and other instruments of God's vengeance. The man with the ink-horn denotes Jesus Christ, who manages all the slaughter of apostate nations, nay, all in the world, so as may consist with the preservation of his people, especially those who faithfully mourn over, and testify against, abounding iniquities.
Ver. 1. Cause them that have charge, &c. The princes of the Chaldeans, who had a charge from God to execute righteous judgment against the wicked inhabitants of the city. C.
Ver. 2. Six men. Equivalent to the six labour days of the week—a number exactly completed in the six successive incursions of the Chaldeans. See Je. 52. 28.—'And one man among (not of) them clothed with linen'—represents the righteous discrimination of God in the execution of his judgments upon mixed communities, whether he employ human or angelic agency, Re. 15. 6; 19. 8. C.
Ver. 3. The glory . . . was gone up. The 'glory,' or Shekinah, had gone up from the 'door of the inner gate,' ch. 8. 3, and now appeared on the threshold, ready to enter, judge, or depart. C.
Ver. 4. Set a mark. The Jews thought the mark was the letter called thau, the first in the Hebrew word law. Some early Christian writers admitting this to be the mark, yet held it was in the Samaritan character, which was in form of a cross—thus showing how early the superstitious use of that symbol of salvation had crept into the church. From Re. 14. 1 the mark will be found to be the name of the Father, acknowledging his children, and sealing them with the Spirit of promise until the day of redemption; and the name of the Lamb, Re. 22. 4, acknowledging those whom he had redeemed, washed in his blood, and clothed in his righteousness. See also the holy priesthood of believers implied in this forehead mark, comp. Ex. 28. 38, with Re. 1. 6. C.
Ver. 6. Ancient men. The Sanhedrim, ch. 8. 10, 11, in God's house governors by office, idolaters by practice. A solemn warning to all who bear rule in the Christian church to beware both of 'the fear of man which bringeth a snare,' and that love of the world, which sooner or later is sure to terminate in that 'covetousness which is idolatry.' C.
Reflections.—God's ministers of wrath, no less than of mercy, are always ready at his call. But how exceeding loath he is to leave a church, till their obstinacy and impudence, as it were, force him away! And gradual even then are the removals of his comfortable presence. But even in the midst of ruin and destruction, he takes peculiar care of the protection of his followers, however weak and concealed their holiness and zeal may be. He knows them that are his; and not one of them shall be lost. And he will keep them safe amidst common calamities who keep themselves pure amidst abounding provocations. But when he has gathered his wheat into his garner, nothing remains for the chaff but unquenchable fire. Those who persist in impenitence must die without mercy. And none meet with more terrible destruction than unfaithful magistrates and ministers. God's temple protects penitent, not obstinate offenders. And if judgment begin at the house of God, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear? If servants in it defile it with their idolatries, no wonder that God should suffer the enemies of it to defile it with their violences.—But if God spare us in mercy, we ought to intercede for our sinful brethren.—And even though for their sinfulness God should refuse to grant our requests, he will condescend to show us the reasons of his conduct.