Ezekiel 9

< Back to Ezekiel Index

TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Ezekiel’s Vision of Executions in Jerusalem

In Ezekiel’s vision in this chapter, who are the six men of verses 1 and 2 and why were they sent by God?
Who is the man clothed in linen (v 2) and what was the purpose of his “writer’s inkhorn”?
In the broad outline of the book of Ezekiel, chapters 1-24 are about the departure of God’s glory from the Temple. Here in chapter 8, we see the first stage of this departure. Why does God’s glory depart from the Temple?
The mark (v 4) to be placed on the forehead of the godly Jews in the city is a taw, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the ancient Hebrew script, the taw was shaped like a _______.
In Ezekiel’s vision, what were the executioners instructed to do with the people who had the mark on their forehead? What were they instructed to do with all the people who did not have the mark?

The six men in Ezekiel’s vision in this chapter are the guards or executioners, probably angelic beings sent by God to carry out His judgment. The execution was to start in the temple area where the idolatry of the people was centered.
The seventh man in the vision (v 2), was clothed in white linen suggesting purity, and he had the writing case of a scribe at his waist. He was to use this to put a mark on the forehead of each godly person in the city. This man also appears in the vision recorded in chapter 10.
In Ezekiel’s vision, God’s glory departs from the Holy of Holies to the threshold of the Temple because of the idolatry and wickedness of the people. God is holy and He must judge sin. His glory is a moral glory. It demands the judgment of the ungodly.
The mark which was to be placed on the forehead of each godly person in the city was the Hebrew letter taw, and was shaped like a cross.
In Ezekiel’s vision, the executioners were instructed to stay away from anyone who had the mark on their forehead (v 6). The executioners were instructed to slay all of the other people, young and old, men, women and children.

Discuss the protection from death afforded the people in the city of Jerusalem who had the “mark of the cross” on their foreheads. Consider this spiritual picture of salvation for us today, the judgment that “the mark of the cross” protects us from, and who experienced God’s judgment in our place.

If you have not seen your need for protection from God’s judgment, would you recognize your sin today and turn to Jesus, the One who took God’s judgment in your place? He will provide eternal protection for you from God’s holy judgment if you turn to Him in repentance. If you already have accepted God’s gift of salvation and protection from judgment through the work of Christ on the cross, do you remember to express your gratitude to God daily for your salvation, praising him for his mercy and grace?

“Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone who has the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” Ezekiel 9:6a