Visitors From Outer Space Part 2 Series

Ezekiel 9: 1 - 14

Visitors from outer space Part 2

“1 Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” 5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple. 7 Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city. 8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?” 9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see!’ 10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.” 11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”

The Holy Yahweh now begins to implement the judgment. He calls for the six angels to deal with the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. He also picks one angel to mark those God will save from the brutal slaughter. The time has come. The command is ominous. Each of the six men has his destroying weapon in his hand. The loudness of the cry indicated the certainty of what was to follow. Nothing could prevent it. The voice of the Lord speaks from within the Temple where God has temporarily again taken over His Throne in the Sanctuary as the Glory of God fills the Temple for the last time.

“1 Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.” 2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

The angels entered in a group with the man with the writing kit in the middle. He was clothed in linen. The other angels were probably dressed as warriors and the weapon held ready in the hand was always an indication of judgment. We must, however, not see the man with the writing kit as being of a different temper than the others, for he will be the one who will throw the coals of judgment over Jerusalem as indicated in chapter 10. Right now he merely has a different function. The group reminds us that in the midst of God’s judgments there is always mercy for those who respond to Him.

The writing kit was common in Ezekiel’s day. It included a long narrow board with a grove to hold the reed brush that was used to write on parchment, papyrus, or dried clay. The board had hollowed out areas for holding cakes of black and red ink that had to be moistened before use.