Ezekiel 9:1-11

The judgment of God is always just and always tempered with grace and mercy.  The reality of life is that nobody is worthy of salvation and that all of us are deserving of death, judgment and eternal punishment.  God in His mercy and grace has made a way for us to escape His wrath and judgment through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  One day there will be a world-wide judgment during which time all those who have placed their faith in Christ will be spared and all those who have rejected Christ to continue worshiping idols of their own imagination will be eternally condemned.  God know how to separate the faithful from the faithless.  He illustrates this in multiple “mini judgments” in the history of man.  Ezekiel has a vision of one of these judgments.

THE MARKING OF FAITHFUL MEN: Ezekiel has just witnessed four different types of idolatrous practices throughout the nation of Israel.  All of these are an abomination to the Lord and provoke Him to wrath.  Ezekiel has a vision of seven men arriving from the north, six of which have instruments of death in their hands who likely represent the nation of Babylon.  One of the seven men is dressed in linen and has a writing utensil at his waist who, in some way, represents the Spirit of God.  This man is instructed to go through the nation and mark every person who is weeping at the idolatry of the nation instead of participating.  This demonstrates that not all of Israel was caught up in idolatry and that God knows who those people are.  This reminds us of God’s past judgment in Egypt where the first-born of every family was spared by the mark of blood on the doorposts of the believer’s homes.  It also reminds us of God’s future judgment during the tribulation described in Revelation where believer will be marked and protected from many of God’s judgments.  However, it is a perfect illustration of How God knows all who have trusted Christ and, just like in previous judgments, He will not only spare them from His wrath but eternally glorify them in His presence.

THE MASSACRE OF FAITHLESS MEN: Once the man has started marking the men who have refused to worship idols and been faithful to keep God’s Word; the other six men get to work.  Starting at the temple they begin to slaughter all those who do not have a mark.  The massacre is great and extensive.  As Ezekiel watches this slaughter it looks to him like there is no remnant of the faithful left.  The blood flowing in the streets and the dead bodies piled up all over the land defile the land and make it a place of horror.  This is the reality of God’s judgment and the consequence of sin.  God promised Adam that the consequence of sin was death and He has faithfully demonstrated that truth throughout the history of the world.  God knows every man that has rejected Jesus and chosen to worship idols instead of obey His Word.  God has promised to eternally judge every single one of them.  No matter how big the multitude of faithless men is, they will not be spared from the wrath of God.  We must faithfully warn every man of this coming judgment and plead with them to trust in the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sin so they might be marked by the Spirit and saved from God’s eternal judgment.