01 September

Bible In 365 Days                                                         

Ezekiel 9-12

Ezekiel 9

The next section of the message most remarkably reveals the fact of the divine discrimination in judgment. The prophet was charged in the vision to cause those who had charge over the city to draw near, armed with weapons of destruction. In response, six men came from the way of the upper gate, and a seventh, clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. The glory of the God of Israel had departed from the center of the Temple to the threshold of the house.

These men were now charged to pass through the midst of the city, and slay the inhabitants. The man with the inkhorn, however, went through the midst of the city first, setting a mark on the foreheads of such as mourned the abominations which had been described. The six men followed him, slaying utterly, beginning at the house, and moving through the city. In this terrible process of judgment all those on whom the mark was found-those who in their hearts mourned the evil existing in the city-were spared.

The vision of judgment appalled the prophet, so that falling on his face, he cried out in intercession. He was answered by the declaration that the sin of Israel and Judah was great, and that therefore the judgment was irrevocable.

Ezekiel 10

The prophet next described the process of judgment. First, a preliminary vision was granted to him. The man with the inkhorn who had passed through the midst of the city, setting his mark on the sighing and crying men, was commanded to pass in between the whirling wheels and gather coals of fire in his hand and scatter them over the city.

Then appeared the glory of Jehovah over the threshold of the house, and the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard. Visions of the glory of God, similar to those which the prophet had seen by the Chebar, now were granted to him, but they were viewed as having close association with the process of judgment, which he was about to describe. The man who gathered his fire to scatter on Jerusalem went into the midst of these wheels,

and the visible glory of Jehovah as it departed from the threshold was closely associated with the wheels and the cherubim. The whole of the vision of the glory of God moved from the inner court of the Temple beyond the eastern gate of its outer court.

Ezekiel 11

The prophet was now lifted by the Spirit, and brought to the east gate, that is, to the place whither the glory of God had departed. There he saw a conclave of five and twenty men presided over by princes of the people, who were devising iniquity, that is, plotting against the king of Babylon. They declared that they were safe in their city.

Instructed of the Spirit, Ezekiel uttered a denunciation of them, and declared God's vengeance against them. Taking up their figure of the cauldron and the flesh, he declared that they should be brought forth from the midst thereof, and that on account of their sin.

As he prophesied, one of the princes died, and Ezekiel, filled with amazement, fell on his face before Jehovah, and appealed to Him for intercession. This appeal was answered by the declaration that Jehovah would protect those scattered among the nations, Himself being to them-a sanctuary in the countries where they had come. He promised, moreover, that eventually He would restore them to the land of Israel, and that in their coming they would be morally and spiritually cleansed and restored, but that vengeance would inevitably fall on such as were persistent in their sin. Again, a vision of the glory of God departing from the city was granted to him. Returning from these visions, he uttered in the hearing of the captives all the things that the Lord had showed him.

Ezekiel 12

The prophet was next commanded to act in the sight of the people as an exile going forth from his country, preparing things for removing, and carrying it forth from place to place. He obeyed the command, and its intention was fulfilled when the people inquired what he meant.

In response, he foretold the capture of the people and the princes in Jerusalem, and their being taken to Babylon, declaring that the prince (Zedekiah) would be taken captive to Babylon, but that he would not see it. This, of course, was fulfilled when Zedekiah's eyes were put out when he was taken.

Moreover, the prophet was charged to adopt another sign, that is, eating and drinking his bread and water with fear and with carefulness, and by that sign to foretell the desolations which would fall on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The unbelief of the people had manifested itself in proverbs, one of which declared the failure of prophecy, and another, the postponement of its fulfilment to far distant times. In answer to this Ezekiel was charged to announce the imminence of the divine visitation and the fulfilment of every word that had been spoken.