Ezekiel · Chapter 9

V. 1. He-The man whom he had seen upon the throne. Them-Those whom God hath appointed to destroy the city: perhaps angels. Every man-Every one; ‘tis an Hebrew idiom. Each of these had a weapon proper for that kind of destruction which he was to effect; and so, some to slay with the sword, another with the pestilence, another with famine. In his hand-Denoting both expedition in, and strength for the work.

Verse 1. Cause them that have charge over the city] By those six men with destroying weapons the Chaldeans are represented, who had received commission to destroy the city; and when the north is mentioned in such cases, Chaldea and the Chaldean armies are generally intended. There appears to have been six men with a sort of slaughter-bills, and one man with an inkhorn. These may represent the seven counsellors of the eastern monarchs, who always saw the king’s face, and knew all the secrets of the government. One of them was that minister who had the office of reporting concerning criminals, who carried the book of death and the book of life into the presence of the king, where the names were entered of criminals who were destined to suffer, and of those who were either considered as innocent or recommended to mercy; those of the former in the book of death, those of the latter in the book of life. This person with the inkhorn might be termed, in our phrase, the recorder.

Verses 1, 2. He cried also in mine ears — Namely, the man whom he had seen upon the throne; with a loud voice — This denoted the terribleness of the judgments which were going to be inflicted. Cause them that have charge, &c. — That is, says Lowth, “the angels who had the charge of executing God’s judgments upon the city.” Or it may be intended of the Chaldean army, or of its principal leaders, who had a charge or commission against Jerusalem, to avenge the divine justice of it, because of its heinous provocations. The passage is prophetical of the slaughter which should be made of its inhabitants. And behold, &c. — No sooner was the command given, than these ministers of God’s displeasure appear ready to execute it. Six men — In the vision they appeared as men, and the prophet terms them according to their appearance. From the way of the higher gate — See note on Ezekiel 8:14. Which lieth toward the north — The Babylonians made their inroads into Palestine, as has been more than once observed, from the north, and by this gate it seems, the Chaldeans first entered into the city. And every man a slaughter-weapon in his hand — Prepared for the work to which they were called. And one among them was clothed with linen — A garment proper to the priesthood; and the habit in which the angels often appeared, Daniel 10:5, and 12:6, 7. This person, at least, seems to have been an angel, who had the charge given him of preserving those that were to be saved amidst the general destruction; with a writer’s inkhorn by his side — That he might set a mark on those who were to be preserved amidst the general slaughter. Thus, Revelation 7:2, St. John in a vision saw an angel with the seal of the living God, and therewith the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads; “in allusion,” says Bishop Newton, “to the ancient custom of marking servants in their foreheads, to distinguish what they were, and to whom they belonged.” The position of the inkhorn, by the side of this writer, may appear strange to a European reader, but according to Olearius, Dr. Shaw, and others, the custom of placing it by the side continues in the East to this day. And they went in and stood beside the brazen altar — To denote that the men ordained to destruction were offered up as so many sacrifices to God’s justice. The destruction of the wicked is elsewhere expressed by the name of a sacrifice: see Ezekiel 39:17; Isaiah 29:2, and 34:6.

1. Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near — Or, Draw nigh, ye that have the visitation of the city (Peshito and Hebrew differently pointed). This probably refers to the executioners (Davidson).

V. 2. And-As soon as the command was given, the ministers of God’s displeasure appear. Men-In appearance and vision they were men, and the prophet calls them as he saw them. The north-Insinuating whence their destruction should come. One man-Not a companion, but as one of authority over them. With linen-A garment proper to the priesthood. They-All the seven.

Verse 2. Stood beside the brazen altar.] To signify that the people against whom they had their commission were, for their crimes, to be sacrificed to the demands of Divine justice.

Verses 1, 2. He cried also in mine ears — Namely, the man whom he had seen upon the throne; with a loud voice — This denoted the terribleness of the judgments which were going to be inflicted. Cause them that have charge, &c. — That is, says Lowth, “the angels who had the charge of executing God’s judgments upon the city.” Or it may be intended of the Chaldean army, or of its principal leaders, who had a charge or commission against Jerusalem, to avenge the divine justice of it, because of its heinous provocations. The passage is prophetical of the slaughter which should be made of its inhabitants. And behold, &c. — No sooner was the command given, than these ministers of God’s displeasure appear ready to execute it. Six men — In the vision they appeared as men, and the prophet terms them according to their appearance. From the way of the higher gate — See note on Ezekiel 8:14. Which lieth toward the north — The Babylonians made their inroads into Palestine, as has been more than once observed, from the north, and by this gate it seems, the Chaldeans first entered into the city. And every man a slaughter-weapon in his hand — Prepared for the work to which they were called. And one among them was clothed with linen — A garment proper to the priesthood; and the habit in which the angels often appeared, Daniel 10:5, and 12:6, 7. This person, at least, seems to have been an angel, who had the charge given him of preserving those that were to be saved amidst the general destruction; with a writer’s inkhorn by his side — That he might set a mark on those who were to be preserved amidst the general slaughter. Thus, Revelation 7:2, St. John in a vision saw an angel with the seal of the living God, and therewith the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads; “in allusion,” says Bishop Newton, “to the ancient custom of marking servants in their foreheads, to distinguish what they were, and to whom they belonged.” The position of the inkhorn, by the side of this writer, may appear strange to a European reader, but according to Olearius, Dr. Shaw, and others, the custom of placing it by the side continues in the East to this day. And they went in and stood beside the brazen altar — To denote that the men ordained to destruction were offered up as so many sacrifices to God’s justice. The destruction of the wicked is elsewhere expressed by the name of a sacrifice: see Ezekiel 39:17; Isaiah 29:2, and 34:6.

Verse 2. Behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate. These were the high and mighty angels of God, who as guardians had charge of the city. The Chaldean army were but the secondary executioners of the divine commission.—One man among them was clothed with linen, like a priest of God. The Chaldaic reads, clothed with a vesture, or full robe. Revelation 1:13. A robe that reached down to his feet, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, who seals the saints of God.

2. Six men… every man a slaughter weapon in his hand — These were symbolic of the divine executioners. In what form they appeared, other than that they looked like men, is not stated. Did they to the prophet’s eyes appear as the temple butchers, or as angels (Ezekiel 40:3; 43:6), or as Assyrians? The latter actually were the future destroyers of Jerusalem. In any case they were symbolic representatives of supernaturally directed powers. As six was the usual symbol of the world and its satanic acts, and as a marked distinction is made between these and the seventh, it may be that these represented worldly heathen forces overruled and controlled by the heavenly. From the way of the… gate — Which was the higher or upper gate is not made certain in the context. One thing is positive, however, that the agents of punishment came out of one of the northern gates; either entering the temple through the north gate of the outer court or coming out of the holy place from the northern gate of the sanctuary; thus passing through the very doors which had so recently opened for the abominable idol worshipers (chap. 8). The fact that in Ezekiel’s temple the innermost gate was the highest (Jeremiah 36:10), together with the appropriateness of God’s agents of justice coming from his own holy place, makes it most probable that these ministers of Jehovah first appeared coming from the temple sanctuary. One… clothed with linen — This man completes the sacred symbolic number of perfection. God’s ministers of justice are seven. No more are needed. This number suggests also the fact that these agents are engaged in holy work. To punish is as divine as to forgive. This seventh man is the divine scribe, who knows the names of all God’s people (verse 4). He is the priestly mediator between God’s justice and human sin. He is the divine executive and evidently chief of the seven (verse 3). Orelli and many others do not hesitate to see in him the “Angel of the Covenant” (Zechariah 1:11; Joshua 5:14; Genesis 17:1). White linen garments are always the symbol of purity. (Compare Daniel 10:5; 12:6; Leviticus 16:4; Revelation 15:6.) Stood beside the brazen altar — This was in the inner court. (Compare Ezekiel 43:13-17.) Coming from the holy of holies, these mysterious messengers of Jehovah pause at the altar for further commands.

V. 3. The glory-The glorious brightness, such as sometimes appeared above the cherubim in the most holy place. Gone up-Departing from the place he had so long dwelt in. He was-Wont to sit and appear. Threshold-Of the temple, in token of his sudden departure from the Jews, because of their sins.

Verse 3. And he called to the man] The person here who called was that who sat on the chariot of the Divine glory. See Ezekiel 1:26.

Verses 3, 4. And the glory of God was gone to the threshold of the house — Namely, that glorious symbol of the divine presence which had been wont to appear between the cherubim upon the mercy-seat, was departed out of that inner sanctuary to the threshold or door of the temple, to show that God would shortly forsake his house, and withdraw himself from the Jews, because of their idolatries and other sins. The word cherub here stands for cherubim, as Ezekiel 10:2. We must distinguish this apparition of the divine glory, which had its usual residence in the temple, from that which was shown particularly to Ezekiel 1:26, and 3:23. And he called to the man clothed with linen — He who sat on the throne, Ezekiel 1:26, namely, the Son of God, gave his commands to the angel; and the Lord (Hebrew, Jehovah) said unto him, Go through the midst of the city — From the one end to the other, or rather through all parts of it; and set a mark, &c. — To signify that distinction which God, by his providence, makes in times of common calamity between some and others, Isaiah 26:20; Jeremiah 39:16; Malachi 3:18. For God in his greatest wrath against his enemies has a reserve of mercies for his people. Upon the foreheads of the men that sigh — Namely, out of grief, or who mourn for the sins and miseries of others; and cry for all the abominations, &c. — Who dare openly bewail the abominations of this wicked city, and so bear their testimony against it. The Vulgate renders the clause, Et signa Thau super frontes virorum gementium, &c.; that is, “mark with the letter Thau the foreheads of the men who grieve, &c.” And it has been a long and prevailing opinion in the Christian Church, that the letter Thau was the mark here intended, namely, in the Samaritan character, supposed to have been used at that time by the Jews, and that the letter was written in the form of a cross, as St. Jerome attests in his commentary on the place. The prevalence of this opinion shows, at least, how early this use of the form of the cross prevailed in the Christian Church, which made way for the superstition and idolatry of the Papists in that particular. It is of more consequence to observe, that whatever this mark was, it was set upon the persons here described to signify that God owned them as his, and would spare and preserve them in the time of this general destruction. Observe, reader, a work of grace in the soul is to God a mark upon the forehead, which he will acknowledge as his mark, and by which he knows them that are his; and those who keep themselves pure in times of common iniquity, God will keep safe in times of common calamity. They that distinguish themselves shall be distinguished; they that cry for other men’s sins, shall not need to cry for their own afflictions; for they shall either be delivered from them, or comforted under them. Observe again: God is more careful of his people than vindictive against his enemies; for he orders the sealing of the mourners before the destruction of the rebels.

Ver. 3. The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, or mighty angel, to the threshold of the temple, about to depart finally from that polluted place. This is Christ, the Word, the glory of the only-begotten of the Father.

3. From the cherub — LXX., cherubim. For a full explanation of these symbolic forms and the differences between Ezekiel’s cherubim and those of Genesis see notes on chap. 10. These strange creatures came out of the same forests with the lions and cats and bulls and dragons of English heraldry. They are closely related to the allegorical forms, so reverenced in Egypt, by which it was sought to explain the mystery of life and the character and attributes of the deities. An Egyptian text of the Mosaic period reads: “The god of this world is in the light over the heaven. His symbols are upon the earth and to them reverence is paid every day” (Ani Papyrus). Professor James Strong (Biblical World, April, 1893) says the cherubim of the tabernacle were “imaginative embodiments of the four leading attributes of Deity in the physical world according to the unscientific, but really profound and correct, notions of the Hebrews; namely, intelligence, power, constancy, and rapidity. Accordingly they are… bearers of Jehovah’s throne; and they correspond essentially to what we term cardinal ‘laws of nature,’ that is, forces acting for a definite purpose, uniformly and instantaneously. In this light the location of the two upon the lid of the sacred ark is pre-eminently fitting as the custodians of the divine law, nature thus corroborating revelation.” To the threshold of the house — The threshold, like the court and the gate of the court (see note Ezekiel 8:6), from a priestly standpoint probably means the priests’ court. If so, this perfectly explains the expression in 10:5, and it seems far more natural that these priestly sacrificers, pausing at the altar, should receive their orders from the threshold of the priests’ court or the sanctuary rather than that these orders should have been shouted to them from the threshold of the outer court. (See Temple Plan, p. 209). It is also suggestive that from earliest ages the threshold of a sanctuary was a sacred place (Trumbull, Threshold Covenant).

V. 4. That sigh-Out of grief for other mens sins and sorrows. Cry-Who dare openly bewail the abominations of this wicked city, and so bear their testimony against it.

Verse 4. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh] This is in allusion to the ancient every-where-used custom of setting marks on servants and slaves, to distinguish them from others. It was also common for the worshippers of particular idols to have their idol’s mark upon their foreheads, arms, &c. These are called sectarian marks to the present day among the Hindoos and others in India. Hence by this mark we can easily know who is a follower of Vishnoo, who of Siva, who of Bramah, &c. The original words, wt tywthw vehithvitha tau, have been translated by the Vulgate, et signa thau, “and mark thou tau on the foreheads,” &c. St. Jerome and many others have thought that the letter tau was that which was ordered to be placed on the foreheads of those mourners; and Jerome says, that this Hebrew letter t tau was formerly written like a cross. So then the people were to be signed with the sign of the cross! It is certain that on the ancient Samaritan coins, which are yet extant, the letter t tau is in the form +, which is what we term St. Andrew’s cross. The sense derived from this by many commentators is, that God, having ordered those penitents to be marked with this figure, which is the sign of the cross, intimated that there is no redemption nor saving of life but by the cross of Christ, and that this will avail none but the real penitent. All this is true in itself, but it is not true in respect to this place. The Hebrew words signify literally, thou shalt make a mark, or sign a sign, but give no intimation what that mark or sign was. It was intended here to be what the sprinkling of the blood of the paschal lamb on the lintels and door-posts of the Israelites was, namely, a notice to the destroying angel what house he should spare. As the whole of this matter only passed in vision we are bound to neither letter, nor any other kind of figure. The symbolical action teaches us that God, in general judgments, will make a distinction between the innocent and the guilty, between the penitent and the hardened sinner.

Verses 3, 4. And the glory of God was gone to the threshold of the house — Namely, that glorious symbol of the divine presence which had been wont to appear between the cherubim upon the mercy-seat, was departed out of that inner sanctuary to the threshold or door of the temple, to show that God would shortly forsake his house, and withdraw himself from the Jews, because of their idolatries and other sins. The word cherub here stands for cherubim, as Ezekiel 10:2. We must distinguish this apparition of the divine glory, which had its usual residence in the temple, from that which was shown particularly to Ezekiel 1:26, and 3:23. And he called to the man clothed with linen — He who sat on the throne, Ezekiel 1:26, namely, the Son of God, gave his commands to the angel; and the Lord (Hebrew, Jehovah) said unto him, Go through the midst of the city — From the one end to the other, or rather through all parts of it; and set a mark, &c. — To signify that distinction which God, by his providence, makes in times of common calamity between some and others, Isaiah 26:20; Jeremiah 39:16; Malachi 3:18. For God in his greatest wrath against his enemies has a reserve of mercies for his people. Upon the foreheads of the men that sigh — Namely, out of grief, or who mourn for the sins and miseries of others; and cry for all the abominations, &c. — Who dare openly bewail the abominations of this wicked city, and so bear their testimony against it. The Vulgate renders the clause, Et signa Thau super frontes virorum gementium, &c.; that is, “mark with the letter Thau the foreheads of the men who grieve, &c.” And it has been a long and prevailing opinion in the Christian Church, that the letter Thau was the mark here intended, namely, in the Samaritan character, supposed to have been used at that time by the Jews, and that the letter was written in the form of a cross, as St. Jerome attests in his commentary on the place. The prevalence of this opinion shows, at least, how early this use of the form of the cross prevailed in the Christian Church, which made way for the superstition and idolatry of the Papists in that particular. It is of more consequence to observe, that whatever this mark was, it was set upon the persons here described to signify that God owned them as his, and would spare and preserve them in the time of this general destruction. Observe, reader, a work of grace in the soul is to God a mark upon the forehead, which he will acknowledge as his mark, and by which he knows them that are his; and those who keep themselves pure in times of common iniquity, God will keep safe in times of common calamity. They that distinguish themselves shall be distinguished; they that cry for other men’s sins, shall not need to cry for their own afflictions; for they shall either be delivered from them, or comforted under them. Observe again: God is more careful of his people than vindictive against his enemies; for he orders the sealing of the mourners before the destruction of the rebels.

Ver. 4. Set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh. The Greek bibles read, set a sign. Tacitus says that the ancient Germans acknowledge one supreme God under the name of Thau; and then Thautes, and Theutates. Why seek for other illustrations? Here, as in Revelation 14:1, the servants of God had their Father’s name on their foreheads. There is a striking correspondence between the Gothic, the Persic, and the Hebrew languages. The inscriptions on the obelisk at Heliopolis, as translated by Thomas Young, M. D. F. R. S. in his Egyptian Antiquities, published in 1823, reads as follows.

“This Apollonean trophy is consecrated to the honour of king Rameses, crowned with an asp, bearing a diadem. It is consecrated to the honour of the son of Heron, the ornament of his country, beloved by PHTHAH, living ever. It is consecrated to the honour of the revered and beneficent deity RAMESES, great in glory, superior to his enemies; by the decree of an assembly, to the powerful and the flourishing, whose life shall be without end.”

Modern travel has relieved many passages in the sacred writings. Tau, Thau, and Thah are evidently the same, and demonstrate that the name of God, and not the name of an idol, was in vision written on the foreheads of the pious Hebrews.

4. Set a mark upon the foreheads — Literally, set a tau (T) upon the foreheads. Tau was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which in ancient times had the form of a cross. The cross is one of the simplest and therefore one of the most common “marks” used by ancient peoples. (See Job 31:35, Hebrews) Perhaps this is the only reason why it is commanded to be used here; yet it is a suggestive fact that centuries before Ezekiel’s time the cross had been used as a sacred symbol. The kings and nobles of Egypt covered themselves with long chains of interwoven crosses and held this “symbol of life” ( † ) in their dying hands as reverently as any Roman Christian ever cherished his crucifix. Among the Babylonians this same symbol is found. The Hebrews must have known of the symbolic value attached to the cross, and it is just like Ezekiel to express in this striking way the fact that the gift of life had come from God upon all those marked with the mysterious letter which, it may be noticed, was also the initial of the Hebrew word “live.” (Compare Revelation 7:3; 22:4.) This seal of grace was to be put upon all — men, women, and children (verses

V. 5. The others-The six slaughter-men.

Verses 5-7. To the others he said, Go ye after him and smite — That is, cut off and destroy all that are either guilty of, or accessory to the abominations of Jerusalem, and even all that do not sigh and cry for them, or that are not affected with grief and sorrow on account of them. Let not your eyes spare — You must not save any whom God has doomed to destruction. None needs to be more merciful than God is, and he had said, Ezekiel 8:18, My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. Take notice, reader, those that live in sin, and hate to be reformed, shall perish in sin, and deserve not to be pitied; for they might easily have prevented their ruin, but would not. Slay utterly old and young, &c. — Make no distinction of age or sex. This was awfully fulfilled, partly by the sword of the Chaldeans, 2 Chronicles 36:17, and partly by famine and pestilence, each of which calamities swept away multitudes. And begin at my sanctuary — That sanctuary, the horrid profanation of which Ezekiel had seen, as is described in the former chapter; they must begin there, because there the wickedness began which provoked God to send these judgments: the debaucheries of the priests were the poisoning of the springs from which all the corruption of the streams flowed. The wickedness of the sanctuary was of all other the most offensive to God, and therefore there the slaughter must begin. Begin there to try if the people will take warning by the judgments of God upon their priests, and will repent and reform: begin there, that all the world may see and know that the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God, and hates sin most in those that are nearest to him. Indeed when judgments are abroad in the earth, they commonly begin at the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17, because such persons sin against greater light and clearer convictions, and abuse greater privileges than others. You only have I known, and therefore will I punish you, Amos 3:2. God’s temple is a sanctuary, a place of refuge and protection for penitent sinners, but not for any that go on still in their trespasses; neither the sacredness of the place, nor the eminence of any one’s office or station in it, will be their security. But come not near any man upon whom is the mark — Do not harm, nay, do not so much as threaten, or put in fear, any one of these. The sense is, I will so order it by my providence, that none whom I have designed for preservation shall be destroyed. This prediction was remarkably fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar gave particular orders that Jeremiah should be protected, Baruch and Ebed-melech were secured, and it is likely others of Jeremiah’s friends for his sake; God had promised that it should go well with his remnant, and that they should be well treated, Jeremiah 15:11; and we have reason to think that none of the mourning, praying remnant fell by the sword of the Chaldeans, but God found out some way or other to secure them all; as in the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Christians were all secured in a city on the mountains, called Pella, and none of them perished with the unbelieving Jews. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house — Namely, those who committed idolatry in the several courts and apartments belonging to the temple; that is, they strictly observed the orders given them, and began at God’s sanctuary, as they were commanded. And he said, Defile the house, and fill the courts with slain — God, abhorring the temple, as having been polluted with idolatry, here not only declares that he will no longer own it for his place of residence, but delivers up both the inner and outward courts belonging to it to be polluted with blood and slaughter. Let us observe well, that if the servants of God’s house defile it with their sins, God will justly suffer its enemies to defile it with their acts of violence. If the ministers and members of God’s church pollute it with their errors and impieties, God will take away its wall of defence, and expose it to the ravages of persecutors. And they went forth and slew in the city — So it was represented to the prophet in his vision, which was still continued, as a prediction of what should shortly be done in reality.

5, 6) — who sorrowed over their city’s sin. The cross on the forehead corresponds exactly to the blood upon the doorposts when the destroying angel flew over Egypt. (Compare Galatians 6:17.) Both marks — the blood and the cross — were chosen, not arbitrarily, but because they were “inwardly connected” with the facts indicated (Keil). Neither Moses nor Ezekiel could have known, but Infinite Wisdom foresaw, the peculiar significance and correspondence of these strange symbols. The man with the inkhorn was not to put any mark upon the foreheads of the people but this. It was the sign of the cross that saved them. “This mark was, of course, only visible to the angels.” — Orelli.

5. Let not your eye spare — See notes Ezekiel 7:4; 8:18.

V. 6. At my sanctuary-There are the great sinners, and the abominable sins which have brought this on them.

Verse 6. Begin at my sanctuary.] Let those who have sinned against most mercy, and most privileges, be the first victims of justice. Those who know their Lord’s will, and do it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. The unfaithful members of Christ’s church will be first visited and most punished. But let not those who belong to the synagogue of Satan exult in this, for if judgment begin at the house of God, what will the end be of them who obey not the Gospel! However, the truly penitent of all descriptions in such cases shall be safe. The command of God is, “Set a mark on all them that sigh and cry;” and his command to the destroyers is, “Come not near any man on whom is the mark.”

Verses 5-7. To the others he said, Go ye after him and smite — That is, cut off and destroy all that are either guilty of, or accessory to the abominations of Jerusalem, and even all that do not sigh and cry for them, or that are not affected with grief and sorrow on account of them. Let not your eyes spare — You must not save any whom God has doomed to destruction. None needs to be more merciful than God is, and he had said, Ezekiel 8:18, My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. Take notice, reader, those that live in sin, and hate to be reformed, shall perish in sin, and deserve not to be pitied; for they might easily have prevented their ruin, but would not. Slay utterly old and young, &c. — Make no distinction of age or sex. This was awfully fulfilled, partly by the sword of the Chaldeans, 2 Chronicles 36:17, and partly by famine and pestilence, each of which calamities swept away multitudes. And begin at my sanctuary — That sanctuary, the horrid profanation of which Ezekiel had seen, as is described in the former chapter; they must begin there, because there the wickedness began which provoked God to send these judgments: the debaucheries of the priests were the poisoning of the springs from which all the corruption of the streams flowed. The wickedness of the sanctuary was of all other the most offensive to God, and therefore there the slaughter must begin. Begin there to try if the people will take warning by the judgments of God upon their priests, and will repent and reform: begin there, that all the world may see and know that the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God, and hates sin most in those that are nearest to him. Indeed when judgments are abroad in the earth, they commonly begin at the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17, because such persons sin against greater light and clearer convictions, and abuse greater privileges than others. You only have I known, and therefore will I punish you, Amos 3:2. God’s temple is a sanctuary, a place of refuge and protection for penitent sinners, but not for any that go on still in their trespasses; neither the sacredness of the place, nor the eminence of any one’s office or station in it, will be their security. But come not near any man upon whom is the mark — Do not harm, nay, do not so much as threaten, or put in fear, any one of these. The sense is, I will so order it by my providence, that none whom I have designed for preservation shall be destroyed. This prediction was remarkably fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar gave particular orders that Jeremiah should be protected, Baruch and Ebed-melech were secured, and it is likely others of Jeremiah’s friends for his sake; God had promised that it should go well with his remnant, and that they should be well treated, Jeremiah 15:11; and we have reason to think that none of the mourning, praying remnant fell by the sword of the Chaldeans, but God found out some way or other to secure them all; as in the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Christians were all secured in a city on the mountains, called Pella, and none of them perished with the unbelieving Jews. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house — Namely, those who committed idolatry in the several courts and apartments belonging to the temple; that is, they strictly observed the orders given them, and began at God’s sanctuary, as they were commanded. And he said, Defile the house, and fill the courts with slain — God, abhorring the temple, as having been polluted with idolatry, here not only declares that he will no longer own it for his place of residence, but delivers up both the inner and outward courts belonging to it to be polluted with blood and slaughter. Let us observe well, that if the servants of God’s house defile it with their sins, God will justly suffer its enemies to defile it with their acts of violence. If the ministers and members of God’s church pollute it with their errors and impieties, God will take away its wall of defence, and expose it to the ravages of persecutors. And they went forth and slew in the city — So it was represented to the prophet in his vision, which was still continued, as a prediction of what should shortly be done in reality.

6. Begin at my sanctuary — Or, consecrated ones (LXX.). It is fitting that the heaviest and speediest judgment fall upon those who have had greatest privileges, and thus have sinned against greatest light (Amos 1:2; 1 Peter 4:17; Matthew 11:21). “Dante and Michael Angelo locate bishops in hell. The cardinal’s hat appears in Fra Angelico’s picture of the prison of lost souls. We shall not escape the punishment of our sins by putting on clerical vestments.” — Adeney. The ancient men — The elders. (Compare Ezekiel 8:16.)

V. 7. And slew-The slaughter also was in vision.

Verse 7. Defile the house] A dreadful sentence, Let it be polluted, I will no more dwell in it; I now utterly forsake it.

Verses 5-7. To the others he said, Go ye after him and smite — That is, cut off and destroy all that are either guilty of, or accessory to the abominations of Jerusalem, and even all that do not sigh and cry for them, or that are not affected with grief and sorrow on account of them. Let not your eyes spare — You must not save any whom God has doomed to destruction. None needs to be more merciful than God is, and he had said, Ezekiel 8:18, My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. Take notice, reader, those that live in sin, and hate to be reformed, shall perish in sin, and deserve not to be pitied; for they might easily have prevented their ruin, but would not. Slay utterly old and young, &c. — Make no distinction of age or sex. This was awfully fulfilled, partly by the sword of the Chaldeans, 2 Chronicles 36:17, and partly by famine and pestilence, each of which calamities swept away multitudes. And begin at my sanctuary — That sanctuary, the horrid profanation of which Ezekiel had seen, as is described in the former chapter; they must begin there, because there the wickedness began which provoked God to send these judgments: the debaucheries of the priests were the poisoning of the springs from which all the corruption of the streams flowed. The wickedness of the sanctuary was of all other the most offensive to God, and therefore there the slaughter must begin. Begin there to try if the people will take warning by the judgments of God upon their priests, and will repent and reform: begin there, that all the world may see and know that the Lord, whose name is Jehovah, is a jealous God, and hates sin most in those that are nearest to him. Indeed when judgments are abroad in the earth, they commonly begin at the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17, because such persons sin against greater light and clearer convictions, and abuse greater privileges than others. You only have I known, and therefore will I punish you, Amos 3:2. God’s temple is a sanctuary, a place of refuge and protection for penitent sinners, but not for any that go on still in their trespasses; neither the sacredness of the place, nor the eminence of any one’s office or station in it, will be their security. But come not near any man upon whom is the mark — Do not harm, nay, do not so much as threaten, or put in fear, any one of these. The sense is, I will so order it by my providence, that none whom I have designed for preservation shall be destroyed. This prediction was remarkably fulfilled. Nebuchadnezzar gave particular orders that Jeremiah should be protected, Baruch and Ebed-melech were secured, and it is likely others of Jeremiah’s friends for his sake; God had promised that it should go well with his remnant, and that they should be well treated, Jeremiah 15:11; and we have reason to think that none of the mourning, praying remnant fell by the sword of the Chaldeans, but God found out some way or other to secure them all; as in the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, the Christians were all secured in a city on the mountains, called Pella, and none of them perished with the unbelieving Jews. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house — Namely, those who committed idolatry in the several courts and apartments belonging to the temple; that is, they strictly observed the orders given them, and began at God’s sanctuary, as they were commanded. And he said, Defile the house, and fill the courts with slain — God, abhorring the temple, as having been polluted with idolatry, here not only declares that he will no longer own it for his place of residence, but delivers up both the inner and outward courts belonging to it to be polluted with blood and slaughter. Let us observe well, that if the servants of God’s house defile it with their sins, God will justly suffer its enemies to defile it with their acts of violence. If the ministers and members of God’s church pollute it with their errors and impieties, God will take away its wall of defence, and expose it to the ravages of persecutors. And they went forth and slew in the city — So it was represented to the prophet in his vision, which was still continued, as a prediction of what should shortly be done in reality.

Ver. 7. Defile the house. The Chaldeans executed this command to the letter, as is noted in 2 Chronicles 36:17. As Jehu did in the temple of Samaria, so they did in the temple of Jerusalem, they spared neither virgin, nor age, nor sucking child.

7. Defile the house — Beginning in the priests’ court, where they stood to receive this command (see note verse 3), they began to slay all who had not the mark of the cross on their foreheads. and continued from court to court until they had passed out of the temple and then continued their work in the streets of the city. The temple, which had ceased to be Jehovah’s, was now defiled by heaps of corpses (Ezekiel 6:5, 13; 43:7; Numbers 19:11, etc.). This massacre in the temple, which is here seen only in vision, actually took place in the capture of the city by the Chaldeans. Go — It matters not whether these six executioners represented the Assyrians or the doubled power of famine, pestilence, and war (Ezekiel 5:12). In either case the presence of a seventh is to be noted. The forces of the heathen and the powers of nature may burn and destroy, but behind these there is supreme Intelligence and Will. Schopenhauer was not altogether wrong when he called gravitation an act of will. Behind all destructive as well as creative and protective providences God standeth in the shadow.

V. 8. Was left-Left alone, now both the sealer, and the slayers were gone.

Verse 8. Wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel, On thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?] These destroyers had slain the seventy elders, the twenty-five adorers of the sun, and the women that mourned for Tammuz; and on seeing this slaughter the prophet fell on his face, and began to make intercession.

Verse 8. And while they were slaying, and I was left — Having, as it is to be supposed, the mark of preservation set upon his forehead by the protecting angel. He seems to speak as if he thought he alone was preserved amidst the common destruction, although, certainly, all those who had a mark set upon them were preserved as well as he. I fell upon my face and cried, &c. — I appeared to myself in my vision to do so, namely, to fall down in a posture of supplication, to deprecate God’s anger, (see Numbers 12:5; and 16:4, 22, 45,) and to beseech him not to make an utter end of those small remains that were left of the Jewish nation, Jerusalem being almost the only place which was not in the enemy’s power.

Ver. 8. Ah, Lord God, wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel? This prayer was extorted from the prophet when he saw the seventy elders fall in the holy place; when the twenty five Sabian idolaters found no pity from the sun, and the weeping women, weeping for themselves, and crying in vain for mercy.

8. Ah Lord God — The executioners have passed on, and the prophet is left in the inner court alone with the dead. It seems to him that the last hope of Israel is gone, and that even the last residue of the nation would now be destroyed. Like Elijah, he believes he alone of all God’s people is to be left (1 Kings 19:10). Like Moses, he cries out in agony pleading for his speechless, unrepentant countrymen (Numbers 11:2; 14:19; compare Romans 9:1-3).

Verse 9. For they say, The Lords hath forsaken the earth] xrah ta eth haarets, “this land.” He has no more place in Israel; he has quite abandoned it; he neither sees nor cares, and he can be no longer the object of worship to any man in Israel. This seems to be the meaning; and God highly resents it, because it was bringing him on a level with idols and provincial deities, who had, according to supposition, regency only in some one place.

Verses 9, 10. Then said he, The iniquity of the house of Israel, &c., is exceeding great — Here we have God’s denial of the prophet’s request for a mitigation of the judgment, and the justification of himself in that denial. 1st, Nothing could be said in extenuation of their guilt. God was as willing to show mercy as the prophet could desire, but here the case would not admit of it: it was such that mercy could not be granted without injuring justice; and it was not fit that one attribute of God should be glorified at the expense of another. Their crimes were so flagrant, that to grant them a reprieve would be a connivance at their sins. The land is full of blood — Blood unjustly shed, which always cries for vengeance. And the city full of perverseness — All judgment was perverted; in judges, to injustice; in priests, to idolatry; in all, to skepticism, or atheism. For they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth — And hath left us to do what we will in it, and whatever wrong we do, he either knows it not, or will not take cognizance of it. Now how can those expect benefit from the mercy of God who thus bid defiance to his justice? Therefore, 2d, Nothing can be done to mitigate the sentence. Mine eye shall not spare, &c. — I have borne with them as long as it was fit such impudent sinners should be borne with, and therefore I will now recompense their way on their head.

9. Then said he unto me — Out of the glory upon the threshold of the holy place the answer comes, and Jehovah defends himself. Full of blood… full of perverseness: for they say — The people, both Israel and Judah, have been guilty of violence even to bloodshed, and of perverseness or “wresting of judgment,” and they have been led to this by their belief that Jehovah has been defeated by strange gods and that moral restraints are therefore binding upon them no longer (Ezekiel 6:11, 12; 7:17, 21; 22:25). Let the prophet be silent, for even Jehovah has no hope of the possible reformation of such a people!

Verse 10. Mine eye shall not spare] They say, the Lord seeth not: this is false; I have seen all their iniquities, and do see all their abominations; and I will bring deserved judgment upon them, and then that eye which now sees will neither pity nor spare.

Verses 9, 10. Then said he, The iniquity of the house of Israel, &c., is exceeding great — Here we have God’s denial of the prophet’s request for a mitigation of the judgment, and the justification of himself in that denial. 1st, Nothing could be said in extenuation of their guilt. God was as willing to show mercy as the prophet could desire, but here the case would not admit of it: it was such that mercy could not be granted without injuring justice; and it was not fit that one attribute of God should be glorified at the expense of another. Their crimes were so flagrant, that to grant them a reprieve would be a connivance at their sins. The land is full of blood — Blood unjustly shed, which always cries for vengeance. And the city full of perverseness — All judgment was perverted; in judges, to injustice; in priests, to idolatry; in all, to skepticism, or atheism. For they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth — And hath left us to do what we will in it, and whatever wrong we do, he either knows it not, or will not take cognizance of it. Now how can those expect benefit from the mercy of God who thus bid defiance to his justice? Therefore, 2d, Nothing can be done to mitigate the sentence. Mine eye shall not spare, &c. — I have borne with them as long as it was fit such impudent sinners should be borne with, and therefore I will now recompense their way on their head.

10. Mine eye shall not spare — How constantly this terrible statement is repeated (Ezekiel 5:11; 7:4; 8:18). Yet it must be remembered that this was only a prophetic vision of calamities that would certainly come if the people remained impenitent, but which might still be averted. Even the prophecies against Nineveh were recalled when the people repented. All these positive declarations, “mine eye shall not pity,” etc., are conditional upon the persistent and obstinate impiety of the nation; are in reality intended to drive back the people from their wickedness, and seem finally, at least in part, to have attained their merciful object. “The surgeon has a steadier hand than the soldier. His knife is more inexorable than the sword of war (Hebrews 12:6)” — Adeney.

Verse 11. I have done as thou hast commanded me.] Angels and men must all give account of their conduct to God; for although he is every where, and his eye sees all things, yet they must personally account for all that they have done. I have done as thou hast commanded me. The penitents are all signed; the penitents are all safe. This is good news for them that mourn.

EZEKIEL

Verse 11. And the man clothed with linen reported the matter — Gave an account of what he had done in pursuance of his commission; he had found out all that mourned in secret for the sins of the land, and cried out against them by a public testimony, and he had marked them in order to their preservation. Lord, I have done as thou hast commanded me — We do not find that those who were commissioned to destroy reported what destruction they had made, but he who was appointed to protect reported his matter; for it would be more pleasing, both to God and the prophet, to hear of those that were saved than of those that perished.

11. I have done as thou hast commanded me — As leader of the six, he reports that he has put the divinely appointed mark upon all of God’s true followers in the city and that all others have been slain.