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Ezekiel 9
Idolaters Killed 9 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. 7 Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8 And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” 9 Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ 10 As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.” 11 And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.” This is one of those chapters that is very difficult for Christians to take in, and even more so for non-Christians. We often look at a passage like this, and we struggle to reconcile our understanding of God, who loves us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross, and God whose wrath is being poured out. It’s a struggle to reconcile God's love and God's justice. If we struggle, can you imagine how someone who isn't a Christian might struggle to understand God’s love and justice? Especially someone who has no one to lead them through the passage? Therefore, we must read the passage very carefully, and we must have a total understanding of the nature and character of God throughout Scripture. We read throughout the Bible about God's nature and character. We know that God desires mercy and to pour out His love and grace on us, His creation. If we know God’s story, we know that God is the one who initiated this relationship with His people and the Lord is the one who has been completely patient with His people again and again - calling them to repent, calling them to return, and often relenting in His anger for a people that have not only blown it time after time, they’ve even gone so far as to turn their back to God. This is the beginning of a terrible vision for Ezekiel. It’s bad enough that God’s people were being judged for their total failure and Ezekiel was watching it unfold, but there was something more. Did you catch it? The presence of the glory of the Lord was moving away from the temple; the presence of the glory of the Lord was at the threshold and would soon totally leave the temple. As we read about all this destruction and the departure of God from the Temple, we need to remember that God didn’t suddenly snap and pour out His wrath in a fit or on a whim of emotionalism. No, this was building for hundreds of years. The Lord had done everything to encourage and urge the people to turn from the path they were on, but they refused. (But not everyone! Look at verses 4-6.) Now go back to verses 9 and 10 - notice that God didn’t arbitrarily throw down destruction. God didn’t want this for them, but they rejected the Lord despite repeated attempts on His part to call them back into a relationship with Him. The people brought this on themselves. They totally and utterly rejected their relationship with the Lord. We know that God doesn't want us to get into this terrible space of utter rejection of our relationship with Him. We know this to be true because we see God’s love and grace poured out on us through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—God's ultimate answer to our sinfulness. In Jesus' death on the cross, we see both God’s love and God’s justice being fulfilled. As we absorb the story of Jesus, and as we come to the cross and His resurrection, we come to a point where we need to make a choice. It’s not automatic; we still need to seek out God's grace and forgiveness, but we can do so with confidence because Jesus has already opened the way for us. You don’t have to go down that dark path, the road that leads you away from the Lord, away from Jesus. God loves you and doesn’t want that for your life. Instead, God wants to draw you to Himself as His son, as His daughter, bringing you into His kingdom. God bless you and know that I’m praying for you this morning. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 ESV Scott |
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