Ezekiel 9:1

Ezekiel 9:1 says, He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.   God cried out loud to Ezekiel so he couldn’t ignore the message even if he wanted to.  At times, we may not want to hear what God has to say, but He will always speak in such a way we cannot ignore His word to us. God told Ezekiel to have all the ones who were in charge of the city to come close to him with their weapons.  These were not the army of the Chaldeans, but the angels who should have been protecting Jerusalem.  God told Ezekiel to call them closer.  We may think that as Christians, even if we are being disobedient God, that He will always physically protect us, but this may not be the case.  He may remove His protective hand or even angels that may have been protecting us, and send His judgment instead, but if He does, as it was with the people of Isreal then, it will be because of our sin against Him.   

Verse two adds, And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.  Six men, or angels according to Mathew Henry, came into the city by the each of the six gates of the city of Jerusalem, with their swords drawn.  One amongst them was said to be clothed in linen with a writer’s inkhorn by his side.  This one with them was Jesus Christ according to Matthew Henry and He will write our names His book of life and He also is the author of all scripture even though many different men wrote it down. Matthew Henry also points out that the city of Sodom was destroyed by two angels, but six were sent against Jerusalem, which signified that the judgement of Jerusalem would be three times greater than that of Sodom, even though they were all said to come by the higher gate.  I believe that this was because the people of Sodom were not God’s people, but the people of Jerusalem were supposed to be. I believe those who are followers of Christ are held to a higher standard than those who aren't and God may allow us to be punished even more than them for our sins after we are saved.  I don’t think that we will suffer the everlasting punishment that those don’t accept Jesus Christ as their Savior will, but we will be held accountable for sins that we commit after we accept Him.  The people of Jerusalem were supposed to be God’s people, but they had rebelled against Him, so their punishment was to be even greater than those who were sinning but who weren’t a part of God’s people.  I know that the Bible says that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord that all our sins are washed away and we have the death penalty of sin removed, but we are also told that when Jesus Christ returns to claim the church and sends sinners away to everlasting punishment that we will then have to give an accounting for what we have done after we ae saved.   

Verse three continues, And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;  The first thing that happened was that the glory of God was removed, and when we turn away from God, we will no longer be glorifying Him even though we will always be His child if we have accepted His gift of salvation.  Even though they came in by the northern gate, they stood around the brazen altar, where sacrifices were made, and atonement was supposed to come.  They were not sent to act out of anger but were sent to punish the people of Israel because they had turned away from God.   It would seem that the one clothed in linen with the writer's inkwell was not one of the six angels.   

Verse four concludes, And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.  Ezekiel was then told that the One clothed in linen was to go through the city and put a mark on the forehead of all the men that were still true to God. These would be the remnant of Israel that would be spared, and it wasn.t because it they were better than others because of their own merit, but they were better because of their faith in God.  God puts His seal on us once we become a follower of Christ, and we should be heartbroken at all the worshipping of idols that goes on in the world today.   

Ezekiel 8:13

 Ezekiel 8:13 says, He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.  Ezekiel was then told by God to turn again, and he would see greater abominations that the people of Israel had done.  Their wickedness could be seen all around him, and some of it was greater than others.  We can see wickedness all around us today as Christians, but it should not be in the church.   

Verse fourteen adds, Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.  God then brought Ezekiel to the gate of the Lord's house, and this time he saw women of Israel weeping for an idol.  This was all taking place at the temple, God’s house. There are still women, and even men, today who cry when some person that they had idolized dies but who still have never accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and cried because He had to die so that they could be forgiven.  There are also some people who weep at the feet of idols that are false gods and not just someone that they idolize.  Both of these things are an abomination to God, and we as God's people should not allow this to happen in our life.  I am not saying that it is wrong to be sorrowful if someone we really admire dies, but we should never idolize them more than we do God.   

Verse fifteen continues, Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.  God asked Ezekiel if he had seen these things, and then He told Ezekiel to turn once more and he would see greater abominations.  Just because we have seen bad things happen in the world doesn’t mean that we will never see worse, but we should never see things in the church that are getting worse and worse.  These were God’s chosen people who were guilty of these abominations because they had become His people in name only while chasing after other gods.  We need to make sure that if we call ourselves Christians that we really are because we have a personal relationship with God by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  There are some people today who call themselves Christian but the attempt to change the way one comes to God and even Who Jesus Christ was and is.  

Verse sixteen states, And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east, Ezekiel said that when God brought him into the inner court of the temple that he saw twenty-five men with their backs to the temple and facing east to worship the sun.  Even inside the temple, men who were most likely priests were being disobedient to God.  They had turned their back to God’s temple and were worshipping the sun and likely the stars well, and we as followers of Christ should never believe that the sun and stars somehow affect our lives.  We need to worship God alone and if we do, He will always be with us.   

Verse seventeen adds, Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.  God asked Ezekiel if he had seen what the people were doing and then asked if it was a light thing that they were doing.  God then stated that the people of Judah had filled the land with violence and had returned to anger Him.  Matthew Henry says putting a branch up their nose could refer to giving a great affront to God by worshiping trees and using them in the temple while professing to worship God.  We need to never allow false gods to be the ones we look to for help, and we  certainly need to never bring false teachings into the church.    

Verse eighteen continues, Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.  God said it was too late for the people to call out to Him after He had called them to be His people and they had profaned His temple.  I don’t believe that God was being unjust by saying He would no longer hear them since He had already given them ample opportunities to be obedient to Him and they had chosen not to.  Their destruction came because of their rebellion against God and their becoming His people in name only.  God will always give everyone ample opportunity to accept His gift of salvation, but if they don’t, they will one day face His judgment.  Just as God said then that He would no longer hear them crying out to Him because they had ignored Him too long, there may come a day when it becomes too late for a person to accept God’s gift of salvation, and I know this is true after someone dies.  God’s not hearing them was the result of their continuing to sin instead of repenting and being obedient to Him. If we continue to hear God's calling us to salvation but refuse to answer His call, there may come a day when He no longer calls, but He will never fail to give everyone ample opportunity to accept His gift of salvation by putting their faith in Jesus Christ.