Ezek. 9:1 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.
Ezek. 9:2 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.
Ezekiel listens as the Lord calls out loudly to some other men and gives them orders to begin destruction of the city. (Reminder: Ezekiel is still experiencing a vision.) The first interesting observation is that these men “have charge over the city.” These men are obviously spiritual beings.
Scripture is full of examples of the interaction of supernatural beings with natural man. It also seems clear that there are specific angelic beings assigned to specific locations to assist in accomplishing God’s purposes in battle against Satanic forces as they seek to thwart those purposes. The first example that comes to mind is in Daniel 10 when an angelic messenger had to battle an evil spirit that exerted authority in Persia before he could get to Daniel to explain his dream. The struggle lasted 21 days, and the messenger declared that he finally succeeded with the help of Michael, who is described in chapter 12 as “the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.”
Another example that comes to mind is regarding Elijah asking the Lord to open the eyes of his servant to see the spiritual forces surrounding them with protection (cf 2Kings 6).
Paul was very clear to declare that we struggle with the spiritual forces of evil.
Eph. 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
The writer of Hebrews declares that the angels serve as ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation, those who have looked to God in faith for deliverance.
Heb. 1:13-14 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
The intervention of spiritual forces for good and evil are a truth of life on planet earth.
These men are pictured with destroying weapons in hand. They are pictured as coming from the north, which was the direction from which most of Israel’s enemies came. Accompanying these warriors is a man clothed in linen and carrying a writer’s inkhorn at his side. These seven men enter the temple area to stand beside the brazen altar.
Ezek. 9:3 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;
Ezek. 9:4 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.
God’s presence is pictured going to the threshold of the temple entrance. He instructs the man with the writer’s inkhorn to go throughout the city of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that are distressed by the wickedness of the people.
I can’t help but be reminded of events to come as described in the book of Revelation when the 144,000 Jewish witnesses are sealed for protection during the judgments of the tribulation period.
Rev. 7:3-4 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
It is interesting that in both instances the mark of protection is placed in the forehead, the part of our body that represents authority and the place of decision.
Ezek. 9:5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Ezek. 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which werebefore the house.
Ezek. 9:7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
The Lord then speaks to the other six and tells them to follow the man that is marking people and to kill everyone that is not marked—both old and young, girls, children and women. They are to begin at the temple with the two groups of men that had been singled out in the previous chapter—the 70 elders and the 25 sun worshippers. They are not to consider the fact that this is God’s house; they are to destroy the people where they find them. Point is made that these men immediately obey.
The Hebrew for the word man is defined as “a mortal.” We know that God deals with individuals—both men and women. It’s always a bit disconcerting when scripture puts the focus on the men when making judgments. It is very clear in scripture that God has placed man in the authority position and that his actions directly impact all those in authority under him. This should be a very sobering thought for all Christian fathers and pastors in particular.
Verse 6 brings to mind another verse.
1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
Ezek. 9:8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
At this point, Ezekiel falls on his face before the Lord and cries out for mercy for his people. He can’t believe that the Lord is going to completely destroy the nation as He judges the people of Jerusalem. The number of those being destroyed was overwhelming compared to the numbers that were marked for protection.
I have to remind myself that Ezekiel is in the midst of a vision. What he is seeing is representative of what God is going to do.
God is always faithful to protect His obedient children from the hand of His wrath. He either warns them to get out of the area to be judged or He seals them with supernatural protection from the wrath of His judgment.
Ezek. 9:9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Ezek. 9:10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
The Lord righteously declares that the actions of the people in both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were replete with sin and rebellion toward God. They justify their wickedness by accusing God of forsaking His people. The time for judgment has come and He intends to exact full recompense for their actions; the judgment will fit the crime.
As a parent, I know how hard this is to do. No matter what your child does to deserve discipline, it seems it is always tempting to want to reduce that which was deemed necessary once we see their response to the pain involved—be it physical or emotional. Our heart is to rescue them from consequences. The thing to understand is that the discipline is an act of love that should serve to protect them from even worse consequences by applying judgment sufficient to deter them from further disobedience. When we lessen the discipline, we lessen the determent. We also lessen the positive impact of our words of warning regarding future transgression. God is a faithful Father and a God of love; He does not shrink from His responsibilities in the role of Father.
Ezek. 9:11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.
At this point in the vision, the man with the inkhorn who marked the people to be protected had returned and declared that he had done as commanded.
Ezek. 10:1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
As I read through this chapter, I immediately started asking the Lord for help in understanding why so much of this seems repetitious. Of obvious note is the consistency of the description regarding Ezekiel’s vision of the glory of the Lord. This verse mirrors the information in chapter 1, verse 26. Also of note, Ezekiel is doing his best to describe things associated with heaven using terms that would be understood on earth. The most important observation is the fact that the Lord is directing the events taking place.
Ezek. 10:2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.
Ezekiel heard the Lord give instructions to the man clothed in linen that marked those who were to be protected from destruction. He is told to go under the throne, which is flanked on the corners by the cherubs, and fill his hand with coals of fire; he is then to take the coals of fire and scatter them over the city. Ezekiel observes that he watched the man go under the throne.
Again, we are talking about supernatural beings; this “man” doesn’t hesitate to go in and pick up hot glowing coals. The scattering of the coals over the city would represent the heat of God’s wrath being directed toward it. I think it also represents the intent of the Lord that that this destruction purify the nation. Fire is used to get rid of impurities. When Isaiah was given a vision of the Lord, a hot coal was used to “purify” him.
Is. 6:5-7 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Scripture tells us that Jerusalem was burned when Nebuchadnezzar’s armies destroyed the city.
2Kings 25:8-9 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.
This would also be a type of the destruction that Jerusalem would experience at the hands of Rome’s legions in 70 AD.
Ezek. 10:3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
Ezek. 10:4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory.
Ezek. 10:5 And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
“right side” = south side (from the Hebrew)
Next Ezekiel sees the throne of God carried by the cherubim to the south side of the temple. When the man in linen enters the inner court, the Shekinah glory cloud fills it. Then the person of the Lord, Jesus, leaves the throne and stands in the entry. The glory of the Lord completely fills the house and the court is filled with its brightness. The movement of the wings of the cherubim created a sound that Ezekiel again compares to the voice of Almighty God; the sound is heard as far as the outer court (cf 1:24).
Ravi Zacharias: “Where the glory of God dwells, the voice of God is heard.” Moses and the people of Israel and Paul both give testimony to that truth.
Deuteronomy 5:24 “And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.”
Acts 9:3–4 “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”
Ezek. 10:6 And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.
Ezek. 10:7 And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who tookit, and went out.
When comparing verse 6 with verse 2, I picture the 4 wheels as being under the throne and interconnected and flanked by the cherubim. Ezekiel saw the man in linen go under the throne (vs 2); verse 6 says that he went in and stood beside the wheels. One of the cherubs actually reaches in to the fire under the throne and gets the coals to place into the hands of the man in linen. He then takes the coals and scatters them over the city as instructed.
Ezek. 10:8 And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
Ezek. 10:9 And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
In chapter 1, verse 8, we were told that the cherubim had “the hands of a man under their wings.” Again we are told that a wheel flanks each cherub, and that the wheels have the color of beryl as they function (cf 1:16).
Ezek. 10:10 And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.
Ezek. 10:11 When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
Ezekiel is conveying the idea that the wheels appear to function as one unit—like a wheel within a wheel. I get a picture of gears working in conjunction with and in support of one another. The unit is able to change directions at will. Point is made that they moved in the direction of the head. This is confusing since each creature has four different faces on its head each obviously “looking” a different direction.
Ezek. 10:12 And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.
Ezekiel seems to be able to see more than he was able to the first time. He now describes the whole body (including hands and wings) of the cherubs are covered with eyes. In the first vision he only applied that description to the wheels.
Ezek. 10:13 As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.
Ezek. 10:14 And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
Ezek. 10:15 And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
It would seem that the voice is addressing the wheels as a unit, “O wheel” (singular). Each wheel is associated with a cherub, each cherub having four faces—that of an ox, a man, a lion and an eagle. The cherubims (plural) are lifted up. The wording of verse 15 implies that they were lifted by another power, but the Hebrew seems to indicate that they rose on their own power. Then Ezekiel describes the whole unit as a living creature (singular). He emphasizes that the players in this vision are the same as those in first vision he received by the river of Chebar.
Ezek. 10:16 And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.
Ezek. 10:17 When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
Everything about the movement of the cherubims and wheels is described as being completely synchronized. One “spirit” of living rational power controls this unit.
Oh that this were the definition of the body of Christ today! If we were all truly yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we would be.
Ironside: “Nothing can turn aside these wheels of government to the place whither the head looked; that is, the head of the chariot. They followed it and turned not as they went. Puny man attempts to defy God, but it will result only in his being crushed beneath these mighty wheels. None who have ever hardened themselves against Him have prospered; and yet those wheels do not represent mere arbitrary fate, but the wheels themselves were full of eyes-eyes roundabout; eyes that speak of intelligence; the eyes of the Lord, in every place beholding the evil and the good. For the judgment of God is according to truth. There is nothing capricious about His government: He will not render unto man more than his right.”
Ezek. 10:18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.
Ezek. 10:19 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
At this point Ezekiel sees the glory of the Lord leave the temple and return to His throne. He is then carried airborne to the eastern gate by the cherubim.
Ezek. 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
Ezek. 10:21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
Ezek. 10:22 And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river of Chebar, their appearances and themselves: they went every one straight forward.
Again, Ezekiel tells us that this is the same creature (singular) that he saw under God’s throne in his vision at the river of Chebar. He is emphasizing their (plural) identities as cherubims. Each cherub has four faces, four wings, and hands resembling a man’s under their wings. In the last phrase of verse 22 Ezekiel describes them going “straight forward,” usually meaning east according to the Hebrew. This would make sense as they traveled to the Eastern Gate, so to continue their direction would be to head east.
Though there is far more that I don’t understand in this chapter than what I do, I know the significant truth being presented is that the Lord is removing His presence from the temple and the holy city. Judgment is shown to begin in the “house of God,” the place most connected to His name and His honor. The true servants of God are shown as obedient and completely submissive to the Lord’s authority. Their responses to His instructions are immediate. All beings in the vision are pictured as servants possessing unity of spirit—the desire to serve and obey their Lord without question.