Ezekiel 9:1 - Meaning and Application

In these verses we see the summons given to Jerusalem’s destroyers. The same one who appeared to the prophet, who brought him to Jerusalem and showed him the evil there, now cries out, “Bring near those who have charge over the city” (Ezekiel 9:1). Or, more closely, the meaning may be, “Those who have charge over the city are coming near.” God had just said, “I will deal in fury” (Ezekiel 8:18), and now he shows the prophet who will carry out that anger.

The prophet hears this “with a loud voice,” which shows how intense the speaker is. When people are deeply provoked, they speak loudly. Those who will not listen to God’s quiet warnings are sometimes forced to hear his threats. The prophet also seems reluctant to hear it, as if he is hearing news that grieves him. Still, there is no way around it, their sin leaves no excuse, and their judgment will not be delayed.

These are not simply the Babylonian armies. They will be used in the destruction, but they are only the tools. The real “visitors” are God’s angels, now given the charge to lay waste the city. These angels had once guarded and watched over Jerusalem, but now they come as agents of judgment. God always has ministers of wrath ready at his command, unseen powers by whom he carries out his purposes. The prophet is shown this in a vision so that he may preach these judgments with greater confidence.

Their arrival is then described. At once six men come, one for each of the main gates of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 9:2). Two destroying angels were sent against Sodom, but six are sent against Jerusalem, showing how severe Jerusalem’s judgment will be. One angel destroyed Egypt’s firstborn and another struck the Assyrian camp, but here the number is larger. In Revelation, seven angels pour out the bowls of God’s wrath (Revelation 16:1). Each of these six comes with a weapon of slaughter in hand, ready for the work assigned to him.

They come from the way of the upper gate, which faces north (Ezekiel 9:2). This may point to the fact that the Babylonians came from the north (Jeremiah 1:14), or to the idol of jealousy that had been set up by the north gate of the temple (Ezekiel 8:3, 8:5). The destroying angels enter there, showing that this was the opening through which judgment had been invited in. Sin often marks the very path by which judgment later comes.

They also stand beside the bronze altar, where sacrifices were offered and atonement was made. In a sense, they act as both destroyers and priests, not from personal hate, but from respect for God’s honor and justice. Those they kill are treated as victims offered up to divine judgment. They stand near the altar as if to defend it and speak for its cause, because Jerusalem had profaned it terribly. They receive their commission there, showing that Jerusalem’s guilt, like Eli’s house, could not be cleansed by sacrifice (1 Samuel 3:14).

One of the figures stands out from the others because of his clothing. He is dressed in linen, like a priest, and has a writer’s ink horn at his side. While the other six use weapons, he uses the pen. Many of the best interpreters understand him to represent Christ as Mediator, the one who saves his people from the sword of divine justice. A mediator is one who stands between two sides to bring help and peace. He is also our high priest, clothed in holiness, which the fine linen points to (Revelation 19:8).

As a prophet, he carries the writer’s ink horn. The book of life belongs to the Lamb, and the great truths of law and gospel are his writing. The Spirit of Christ speaks through the writers of Scripture, so the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ. This is a great comfort to all true believers, because amid all the destroyers and destruction, there is still a Mediator, a great high priest, who has access in heaven and who is dear to his people on earth.

The vision then shows the removal of the glory of God from above the cherubim. Some think this was the usual display of God’s glory between the cherubim over the mercy seat in the most holy place, and that it now departed and never returned. Others think it was the glory the prophet had seen in vision above the cherubim, which is more likely. It is called the glory of the God of Israel (Revelation 8:4), and it moves to the threshold of the house, as if calling the servants outside and sending them on their errand.

This moving away also showed that God was leaving them. When God departs, all good departs with him. He does not leave people until they first drive him away.

He stopped first at the threshold, showing how reluctant he was to leave. He also gave them time and reason to ask him to return and stay with them. God’s withdrawal from a people is gradual, but faithful souls quickly notice the first step toward his departure. Ezekiel then saw that the glory of the God of Israel had risen from the cherub, and what is a vision of angels if God is gone?

The next part is the charge given to the man clothed in linen to protect the faithful remnant from the coming ruin. We do not read that this Savior was called and sent like the destroyers were, because he is always ready, appearing before God for us. To him, as the most fitting person, the care of those marked for salvation is entrusted (Ezekiel 9:4).

Notice first the mark of this remnant that is to be saved. They are people who sigh and cry. They sigh within themselves like people in pain and trouble, and they cry to God in prayer like people who are deeply earnest, because of all the evil done in Jerusalem. It was not only their idols that were wicked, but all their other sins were hateful to God. These few godly people had spoken against those sins and had done what they could to stop them, but when all their efforts to reform life and conduct failed, they sat down and sighed and cried, wept in secret, and complained to God. They grieved over the dishonor done to his name by wickedness and over the ruin it was bringing on their church and nation.

It is not enough that we do not enjoy the sins of others or join in them. We must mourn over them and take them to heart. We should grieve for what we cannot stop, as people who hate sin for what it is and care deeply for other souls, like David (Psalm 119:136) and Lot, who was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless lives of his neighbors. The sins committed in Jerusalem were especially fit to be mourned, because they were especially offensive to God.

Notice next the special care taken of these people. Orders are given to seek out everyone with this godly spirit: “Go through the city looking for them, and though they are scattered and hidden from the rage of their enemies, make sure you find them and put a mark on their foreheads.” This mark meant several things. First, it showed that God claimed them as his own, and he will acknowledge them on the last day. A work of grace in the soul is, to God, a mark on the forehead, one he will recognize as his own.

Second, the mark gave them assurance of God’s favor, so they could know it for themselves. The comfort of that assurance would be a strong help in hard times. Why should we trouble ourselves over this short life if we know by the mark that we have eternal life? Third, it guided the destroyers about whom to spare, just as the blood on the doorposts showed which houses belonged to Israel and where the firstborn must not be killed. Those who keep themselves pure in times of widespread sin, God will keep safe in times of widespread disaster. Those who set themselves apart will be set apart by God. Those who cry over other people’s sins will not need to cry over their own troubles, because they will either be delivered from them or comforted under them.

God will set a mark on those who mourn for him, record their sighs, and keep their tears in his bottle. The sealing of God’s servants on their foreheads in Revelation 7:3 is the same sign of God’s care for his own people as this one here. The only difference is that here the mark protected them from destruction, while there it protected them from being led astray, which comes to the same thing.