Idolaters Killed
The Lord cried loud in Ezekiel’s ears and told him to have the executioners of the city brought with their destroying weapons in their hands. Six men arrived each with his weapon of slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen with a writing case at his waist.
The man in linen and with the writing case was instructed to pass through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sighed and groaned over all the abominations that were committed in it. The others were instructed to go through the city and strike down all who did not have a mark.
The executioners were to show no pity and to kill all those who did not have the mark; old men, young men, maidens, little children and women. They were not allowed to touch anyone though who had the mark.
They began at the sanctuary with the elders who were before the house. They were told to defile the house and fill the courts with the slain. After they begun, Ezekiel fell upon his face and cried, “Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
Then the Lord said to him, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.” -Ezekiel 9:9-10
The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple
Above them then appeared something like a sapphire, that looked like a throne. And He said to the man clothed in linen to go in among the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim and fill his hands with burning coals from between them, and scatter them over the city.
He did as he was told, and before Ezekiel’s eyes the man went in. When the man went in, a cloud filled the inner court. The glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
It went on to describe the cherubim like mentioned on Day 236, Ezekiel 1-4.
Then, the glory of the Lord went from the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before Ezekiel’s eyes.
Judgment on Wicked Counselors
The Spirit lifted Ezekiel up and took him to the east gate of the house of the Lord. At the entrance there were twenty-five men. He was told that those men were the ones that devised iniquity and who gave wicked counsel in the city. Ezekiel was told to prophecy against them.
They had feared the sword, and the sword was what the Lord would send upon them. They would be given into the hands of foreigners, and they would execute judgment upon them. They had not walked in the statutes of the Lord, or obeyed His rules; but had acted according to the rules of the nations that were around them.
Israel’s New Heart and Spirit
Even though the Lord removed the people far off among the nations, and scattered them among other countries; He had still been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they had gone. The Lord said that He would gather the people and assemble out of those countries and would give them the land of Israel.
When they would go there, they would remove all its detestable things and abominations. The Lord would give them one heart, and a new spirit He would put within them.
The Lord would remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so they could walk in His statutes and keep His rules and obey them. And they would be God’s people, and He would be their God.
But as for those whose hearts went after their detestable things and their abominations, the Lord would bring their deeds upon their own heads.
Then the Spirit lifted Ezekiel up and took him in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that he had seen went away from him Ezekiel told the exiles all the things the Lord had shown him.
Judah’s Captivity Symbolized
The words of the Lord went to Ezekiel and told him to prepare for himself an exile’s baggage, and to go into exile by day in their sight. He was to go like an exile from his place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they would understand, though they were a rebellious house.
In their sight, he was to dig through the wall and take his baggage out through it. He was to lift the baggage upon his shoulder and carry it out at dusk, and cover his face so he could not see the land; for he was made a sign for the house of Israel.
Ezekiel did what he was told, and when the people asked him what he was doing, he was to tell them that he was a sign for them. As he had done, it would be done to them. They would go into exile and into captivity.
Ezekiel was told to eat his bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and anxiety. Concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, they were to eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay.
In that way the land would be stripped of all it contained on account of the violence of all those who dwelt in it. The inhabited cities would be laid to waste, and the land would become a desolation; and they would know that He was the Lord.
The Lord spoke to Ezekiel and told him that the proverb about the land of Israel and that “the days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing” would be put to an end. They would no longer use it as a proverb, but would say, “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.”
There would no more be any false vision or flattering divinations within the house of Israel. The Lord would speak the words and they would be performed. It would no longer be delayed.
The house of Israel would say that, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ Therefore Ezekiel was to say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 12:27-