Ezekiel 9

Ezekiel 9:1

Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’ The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on Ezekiel chapters 1 to 24 www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 9 The man with a writer’s case – Ezekiel 9:1-4 v1 Then I heard God. He called out with a loud voice. ‘You men who must punish the city: come near with your *weapons in your hands.’ v2 Then 6 men came from the direction of the upper gate, which is toward the north. Each of them had in his hand a *weapon with which to kill people. Among them was a man who wore good clothes. At his side, he held a writer’s case. The men went into the *temple and they stood by the *bronze *altar.

v3 Then the *glory of the God of *Israel went up. It rose from above the *cherub on which it had been. It went to the entrance of the *temple. Then the *LORD spoke to the man in good clothes who had the writer’s case. v4 The *LORD said to the man, ‘Go through Jerusalem. Some of the people sigh and cry. They hate all the evil things that they see in the city. Put a mark on their heads.’

Verses 1-2 God ordered 6 men to come. These men were *angels and not ordinary men. The Bible often speaks of *angels as men. They came through the same gate as Ezekiel had done. They came from the upper gate, which is at the north of the *temple. Each of these men had *weapons in his hands. The task of these men was to kill the people in the city. They were the agents of the *Lord, who would punish the people.

Another man came with the 6 men. He was different from the other men. He wore good clothes. He did not have any *weapons. But he had a writer’s case.

These men went and they stood by the *bronze *altar. This is the *altar where the priests burned *sacrifices to God.

Verses 3-4 In the *temple, there was the most holy place. In this room, there was the box of the agreement. Above this box were the *cherubim. Over the *cherubim was the place where the *glory of God stayed. It was here that the high priest brought the blood of the special *sacrifice for *sin (Hebrews 9:7). Here he asked God to forgive the people. Now the *glory of God left that room. God would not forgive the people. God went to the entrance ready to leave the *temple. As he left, the punishment would begin.

God spoke to the 7th man. God told him to go through Jerusalem. He must find all the people who hate the evil deeds of the city. He must mark the head of each of these with his pen and ink. This mark was the last letter of the *Hebrew alphabet. This was the letter ‘t’ (called ‘taw’). It was in the shape of a cross. The mark on the head would protect those people. The 6 men would not kill them.

6 *angels would kill the people. One *angel would mark those who would not die. The *Lord would save only a few of the people. Punishment of the people – Ezekiel 9:5-11 v5 I heard God as he spoke to the other men. He said, ‘Follow the man with the good clothes through the city. Kill and do not pity anyone. Show no sympathy. v6 Kill and *destroy old men, young men and women, little children, and older women. But do not touch any person who has the mark. Start at my *temple.’ So, they began. First they killed the older men who were in front of the *temple.

v7 Then God said to the men, ‘Make the *temple *unclean. Fill the *temple areas with dead bodies. Go and do it.’ The men went out and they began to kill the people in the city. v8 While the men killed the people, I was alone. I fell to the ground and I cried to the *Lord. ‘Oh, *LORD my King, you are so angry with the people in Jerusalem. Will you kill all who remain alive in *Israel?’

v9 Then he said to me, ‘The *sin of the *Israelites and Judah is very great. The country is full of evil deeds. There are many murders and other crimes. They say, “The *LORD has gone away. The *LORD does not see what we do.” v10 And so, I will not pity them or forgive them. I will do to them what they have done to other people.’

v11 Then the man with fine clothes and the writer’s case returned. He spoke to the *Lord. ‘I have done what you ordered.’

Verses 5-7 The *Lord then told the 6 men to kill the people. He told them to kill the old people, the young people, men, women and children. But they must not touch those who had the mark. They started at the *temple first. The 25 men who *worshipped the sun (8:16-18) would be among the first to die. The 70 leaders who *worshipped false gods in the inner area (8:11) would die.

The punishment of God starts at his house. The people should have *worshipped and obeyed him there. But they had used the *temple for the *worship of false gods. They had refused to obey God.

Verse 8 Ezekiel was alone in the inner area of the *temple. He saw the events in the *temple. He knew what was happening in the city. And it was terrible. It upset him so much that he cried out to God. He knew that the cause of the *disaster was the *sin of the people. God was so angry that he sent the men to kill them. Ezekiel’s cry was in fact a prayer for God to stop. God must save some of those who were still alive. Ezekiel’s prayers had no effect because the *sin of the people was too great.

Verses 9-10 God answered Ezekiel that it was too late. The *Lord had warned the people in *Israel and Judah. They had refused to hear God. They would not listen to him. They had *turned away from him and they *worshipped false gods. They would not *repent of their *sin.

The people did such bad and cruel things. Their whole way of life was wicked. It was not just in their *worship but in their politics as well. They said that God could not see them. They did not believe that God would punish them. But God does see. God will do as he has said. There comes a time when God has to punish *sin. That time had come.

Verse 11 The man with the pen and ink came back. He reported to the *Lord that he had completed his task. All those who hated evil deeds had received the mark. That mark had saved them from death. (Compare Exodus 12:13.)

Even in the worst situation, God saves those who trust in him.

© 2008, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

January 2008

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var w0 = new Array;w0[0]=’<b%3Esin</b%3E ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.’;w0[1]=’<b%3Eweapon</b%3E ~ a tool of war. People use weapons for attack or defence when they fight. For example, swords, spears or (today) guns.