50 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
50 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Ezekiel 9:1–11"
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date = "2023-03-21"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ezekiel9.1-11)
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Having shown Ezekiel the idolatrous acts the people of Jerusalem are committing
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in His temple, the Lord summons angelic warriors to begin executing the people
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of the city. Six of them arrive, plus a scribe in charge of the heavenly
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record. Normally God's glory rested above the Ark of the Covenant in the Most
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Holy Place, seated on His earthly throne as it were, but now He has moved to
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the threshold of the temple because He is about to remove His Presence from
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Jerusalem.
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Before He goes, the Lord gives the angels instructions. The scribe is to go
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ahead into the city and put a mark on the foreheads of those who do not approve
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of the abominations that have taken place. The six warriors are to go after and
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slaughter everyone else, beginning with the twenty-five priests who are before
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them.
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Greatly disturbed by all he has seen, Ezekiel falls on his face in despair. He
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fully expects no one will survive this disaster, and the remnant of Israel will
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not survive. In effect, this is an appeal to God's promises that He made with
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the Israelites, to be their God and to preserve David's kingly line. Ezekiel is
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worried that the exiles will never again be able to possess the Promised Land.
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Our God does indeed keep His promises, but He doesn't reassure Ezekiel of that.
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Instead, He emphasizes just how wicked the people of Israel and Judah have been
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to each other, corrupting the land with bloodshed and injustice until it is
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saturated with it. There are no more chances for them, no more mercy; only
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wrath.
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And in the time it took for that conversation to be finished, the angelic
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scribe returns to announce that he has completed his task. I'm sure an angel
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can move much faster than we can, and he wouldn't be hindered by such small
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things as walls and doors, but angels are not omnipresent, so he would have to
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go to each person in the city who loved the Lord individually to apply the
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mark. That makes it seem like there really were not many people he had to mark.
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But it also shows the kindness and mercy of the Lord not allowing the righteous
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to be punished along with the wicked. Time and again we see Him do this: 2
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Peter lists several examples such as Noah and Lot. Which is not to say bad
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things never happen to good people (ask Job and Jesus), but disasters that come
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upon many people specifically to judge the wicked are also not visited upon the
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righteous among them.
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* * *
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You keep all of Your promises and You shelter the righteous under Your wings in
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the day of trouble.
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