Ezekiel 9, Defile and Fill

The slasher/horror movie genre works by having lurking malicious killers suddenly springing into action with terrifying weapons that usually slice. Ezekiel’s vision of being transported to Jerusalem and seeing the disgusting idol worship in the temple and its environs, now visualizes the judgment God calls for against this immoral people.

Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” 2 And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

The altar just outside the temple is the place where acceptable sacrifices were offered for atonement, but now it is the staging area for judgment, as much of the degrading idolatry has occurred here. Six terrifying (likely angelic) characters approach with death in their hands. One has a writing instrument to be used for a different purpose.

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side 4 and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

Yahweh’s glory leaves the ark of the covenant with cherubim on its lid, the only piece of “furniture” in the most holy place of the Temple. This is in preparation to leave the city as it comes under judgment. But first, the people who have not bowed to idols and who genuinely grieve over what has happened in their city are marked with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the tau, so that they will not be slain in judgment. This is not unlike the Israelites being spared in Egypt when the death angel came and killed the firstborn of all Egypt. They were marked by the sacrificial blood of the lamb being smeared on their doorposts.

5 As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. 6 Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.

Why must children be included in this slaughter? First, it may be that some of the children were old enough to know the wrong they were committing. Second, those who were too young or impressionable to willingly choose false worship could not survive without their parents and, if we correctly understand the fate of children who die before they can embrace the true knowledge of God, they will dwell with God. And third, God knows what is fair and just much better than we do.

7 Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city. 8 While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Yahweh! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”

The temple has already been defiled by the idolatry practiced there, but a further defilement is now decreed by Yahweh, with the dead bodies that fill the courtyard and left unburied making the whole area unclean. Ezekiel is so dismayed at the number of dead that it seems to him every Israelite is left dead and there is no one to rekindle the nation.

9 He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ 10 So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”

11 Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.” (Ezekiel 9)

Ezekiel’s dismay is answered in two ways: One, the judgment on the great sin of this people is thoroughly deserved and necessary, and Second, those who are innocent have been marked out and spared from death. There is a remnant left. Israel has not been totally forsaken, though they think they have been.

This is a harbinger of the last judgment depicted in Revelation 6-19. Many, many will die from plague, earthquake, war, starvation, and divine retribution. But the redeemed will be spared from divine judgment. The kingdom inaugurated by the returned Messiah, Jesus, will be populated with those believers who survived the judgment.