THE VISION OF THE MAN WITH THE INKHORN. Chapter ix.

The vision which follows is closely connected with the previous visions in which Ezekiel had seen the worship of idols, and of beasts, and of the sun. Divine judgment must follow. It is a judgment vision the Prophet now beholds. The judgment, however, is of a discriminating character. The messengers are commissioned to mark the sorrowing, faithful remnant. For the rest of the sinners in Jerusalem there is no mercy. They had defiled the temple and now the temple was to be defiled by their slain bodies.

I. The Judgment Command Given.

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. 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 brazen altar. 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; 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. 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. 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 (verses 1-6).

Who are they who are called to execute the judgment? Six men came from the way of the higher gate, one of them clothed in linen had a writer's inkhorn by his side, while the others had slaughter weapons in their hands. They were not human beings but angels. The city was given over into their hands. Angels were therefore used in God's judgments of the past. They will be used in the coming judgments. "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity" (Matt. xiii:41). "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels" (Matt. xvi:27). "When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. i:7-8). Throughout the book of Revelation angels are seen carrying out the judgments of God. Especially are we reminded here of the seventh chapter of the last book of the Bible. Four angels are seen there holding the four winds of the earth. Then there appeared a fifth angel having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels: "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads" (Rev. vii:1-3). One hundred and forty-four thousand were then sealed. The sealed ones in Revelation with the mark on the forehead constitute the faithful remnant of Israel who witness during the tribulation. Those who die the martyr's death will have part in the first resurrection, because they did not worship the beast nor received his mark on their foreheads (Rev. xx:4). Those who will be kept through the tribulation will be the nucleus of the Kingdom on earth. We notice a striking correspondency with this vision of Ezekiel. Judgment is to fall upon all the apostates in Jerusalem, but the men that sigh and cry on account of the abominations were to be marked by the angel with the inkhorn and escape the impending judgment. Their sighing and weeping was the evidence that they did not share the abominations of idolatry but were true to Jehovah and His worship. And may we not forget that now in Christendom, in the midst of the dark days of apostasy and the soon coming tribulation and judgment, there is a faithful remnant, who sigh and cry and to whom the Lord has given a special promise: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth" (Rom. iii:10).

The word "mark" in the Hebrew is "Tav," the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Its literal meaning is "cross." This letter "T" was a cross in the older Hebrew script as well as in the Phoenician and Samaritan. The Egyptians also used a cross in their language; with them it was a sign of life. Ancient Jewish tradition gives the information that the blood sprinkled in Egypt on the doorpost (Exodus xii:23) was in the form of a cross. All this is interesting. To this we may add that in Genesis iv:15, the mark set upon Cain, an entirely different word is used.

"Begin at my sanctuary" was the command. There the responsibility rested and there the judgment had to begin. 1 Peter iv:17 may here be considered. "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."

II. The Command Executed.

Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. 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. 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? 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. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head. 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 (verses 7-11).

The command is literally carried out. God's judgments are always carried out to the letter; there is no such thing as a "spiritual" fulfillment of a judgment of God. The world some day will find out the solemn truth of this fact. The temple where they had practised all the vileness of idolatry, where they worshipped creeping things, is now defiled by their dead bodies. To touch a dead body anywhere meant defilement for seven days (Num. xix:11), but now the very place which they considered holy is made a defiled place. The Priest-Prophet is shocked. He fell on his face and a cry of horror escaped his lips. "Ah, Lord God! wilt Thou destroy all the residue of Israel in Thy pouring out of Thy fury upon Jerusalem?" Was it not contrary to God's holiness to defile the place dedicated to Himself? And would He not show mercy and destroy the residue of His people? The despairing cry is answered at once. The iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah was filled up. God could no longer pity nor spare. This is but a repetition of what Jehovah had announced before. (See chapter v:11; vii:4; viii:18.)

"And behold, the man clothed in linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as Thou hast commanded me."

THE VISION OF THE COALS OF FIRE AND THE VISION OF THE DEPARTING GLORY. Chapter x.

After the Prophet had seen the marking of the faithful ones in the doomed city, two other visions follow. They also relate to the impending judgment of the doomed city. The first vision indicates the fire by which the city would be consumed, and the second, another vision of the glory, shows how that glory was gradually departing from Jerusalem. The complete departure is recorded in the eleventh chapter.

I. The Vision of the Coals of Fire.

Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament of the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even the under cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in my sight. Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 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. And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. 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. And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire that was between the cherubim, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen; who took it, and went out (verses 1-7).

Once more the Prophet beholds in the firmament above the cherubim the likeness of a throne. It is the throne of the Lord. However, the occupant of the throne is not seen; His voice only is heard. The man clothed with linen is commanded to go in between the wheels, under the cherub, to fill his hands with coals of fire and then to scatter them over the city. Who is this man clothed in linen? He appeared for the first time in the preceding chapter. With the inkhorn at his side, he set the mark upon the foreheads of the faithful ones. Here we see him again executing the judgment upon Jerusalem. Judgment is given into his hands. That he is a supernatural being is clear. And he is more than an angel. He held the place of pre-eminence among the other angels (chapter ix:2-4). This angel is the Angel of the Lord, the same who appeared to the Patriarchs, to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah and to others. It is the Son of God in the garb of an angel. In the same form he also appeared to Daniel on the banks of the river Hiddekel. "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (Dan. x:5-6). Here we have a complete description of the same person whom Ezekiel saw taking the coals of fire and scattering them over Jerusalem. Judgment upon the guilty city came from his hands.

When we turn to the Book of Revelation, we find a similar scene which has not yet been enacted. "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the Angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake" (Rev. viii:3-5). This angel who presents the prayers before the throne and who casts the judgment fire into the earth is the One who received from God's hands the seven sealed book (Rev. v:1), the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This Angel-Priest, into whose hands also judgment is committed, is the Son of God. John saw Him dealing in judgment with the earth, a judgment which has not yet come, and Ezekiel beheld Him as the executor of the judgment upon Jerusalem, which was carried out through Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.

Ezekiel saw the man clothed in linen enter in between the wheels. As he went in the cherubim, these majestic creatures of God, stood at the right side of the house, while the cloud filled the inner court. This cloud is the visible sign of Jehovah's presence (Exod. xix:9; xxiv:15-18; Numbers ix:19; xii:10; 1 Kings viii:10). Then the glory of the Lord went up; the withdrawing from the city began. It stood over the threshold of the house which was filled with the cloud and the whole court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory. From the hand of the cherub, the man in linen cloth received the fire that was between the cherubim. And he took it and went out.

II. The Vision of the Departing Glory.

And there appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings. And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the color of a chrysolite stone. And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. 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. 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 the four had. As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel. 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. And the cherubim were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar. And when the cherubim went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them. 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. Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim 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. 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 cherubim. Every one had four faces a piece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 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 (verses 8-22).

One would naturally expect after the man clothed in linen had taken the coals of fire and gone out to scatter them over Jerusalem, that the next vision the Prophet had, would be the burning of the city itself. Instead of receiving a vision of the judgment work he beholds once more the glory of the Lord. The similarity with the great vision in the first chapter needs hardly to be pointed out. However, the order of the description differs from that of the opening vision of this book. Critics have seen in this fact the evidence of some other writer who interpolated the repetition of the vision of the glory of the Lord. But if such were the case the person who did it would have not dared to make these changes. The differences in the vision demonstrates that Ezekiel is the writer and not some other person. He beheld the same vision as in the beginning by the river Chebar only from another viewpoint. Wheels and cherubim are seen first ready for the departure from the city. The eyes are made more prominent than in the first vision. "Full of eyes" we read in chapter i:18. Here in this vision eyes are everywhere. "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 the four had." This symbolizes the omniscience of God. After the description of the cherubim and the wheels, the solemn command is given for the start. Verse 13 may be rendered: "In my hearing, unto the wheels, even unto them, it was proclaimed: Whirl wheels." Once more the prophet beholds the faces of the cherubim. And here is a striking change. In the opening vision Ezekiel saw their faces in the following order: The face of a man; the face of a lion; these were on the right side. The four had the face of an ox on the left side; these four also had the face of an eagle (chapter i:10). But now Ezekiel sees the face of the cherub first of all, then the face of a man, a lion and an eagle. The cherubim were beheld by the prophet from a different angle and the face of the cherub[11] appears as identified with that of the ox. That the vision did not differ at all from the first great vision Ezekiel expressly affirms at the close. "And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves: They went every one straight forward" (verse 22).

Then when the command had been given, "Whirl wheels!" everything is set in motion. The cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. The mighty wings of the cherubim were lifted up to mount up from the earth; the wheels never swerved from their side. When the cherubim stood, the wheels stood. The energizing Spirit was in all. The Glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple; over its portals "Ichabod" (the glory is departed) was now to be written. Then in Ezekiel's sight the cherubim mounted up from the earth. They halted at the door of the east gate of the Temple. Above it was the Glory of the Lord. Thus, gradually, in solemn majesty, the Glory of the Lord, which had dwelt visibly in the Temple in the midst of His people, was departing. Verse 22 of chapter xi connects with verse 19 of chapter x. The complete departure of the Glory of the Lord from the midst of the city we find recorded there. Here in our chapter the cherubim with the Glory of the Lord above them stood at the east gate of the Lord's house. From there its final departure took place. But the visions Ezekiel had seen were beheld once more in his great vision of that temple which will yet be erected in Jerusalem. That departed glory will then return. "And the Glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose front was toward the east" (chapter xliii:4). It will return in the same way as it departed. And that will be when the King, our Lord, comes back to earth again. Then the Glory will cover Israel and Jerusalem (Is. iv:5; lx:1) and the knowledge of it covers the earth as the waters the deep.