In chapter 9, Ezekiel’s vision concerns the judgment of Jerusalem and the wayward people who practiced abomination. A man dressed in linen with writing material was instructed to go among the people and told to mark out the faithful who opposed abominable practices. This implies that our all-seeing God knows all our actions in life, whether they are done openly or covertly. In Jesus, we are God’s marked-out people, a people of His own acquisition. Are we living up to our lives as God marked our people? Yes, we are called not to be conformed to worldly values but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
We
were told in Ezekiel 8 that the fiery chariot-throne was in the court of the temple.
Then in Ezekiel 9:3, we are told that the glory of the Lord arose from the throne
and rested at the threshold of the temple. In the last verse 0f chapter 9, the
focus is on the man dressed in linen sent to mark out the faithful. He
apparently had returned to report that he had completed his assignment. This
verse is better seen with the events of chapter 10.
In
Ezekiel 10:1-2, the scene changes. Ezekiel looked and saw the same heavenly expanse
that he saw in chapter 1. This sapphire expanse held the throne of God. Underneath
the expanse and upholding the glory of God were the cherubim, the four living
creatures described in Chapter 1. God
then instructed the men assigned to mark out the faithful to go beneath the wheels
of the cherubim filled his hand with burning coals and scatter them over
the city.
Before
Ezekiel's eye, the man dressed in linen went in as instructed. Though he was
referred to as a man, he could possibly be an angelic being to be afforded the
right to go so close to the space reserved for God. The presence of God had been pictured as fire as
well as cloud. Remember when the children of Israel came out of Egypt and were
journeying through the wilderness, God's presence was there in the cloud by day and
the pillars fire by night.
Verse
3 said that the cherubim were at the south side of the temple when the men in
linen went into the cloud-filled inner court. Verses 4-5 described the movement
of the cherubim, the mighty sound made from the shifting of their wings all in
anticipation of God’s departure from the temple. Verse 6-8 tells us that the man
in linen obeyed and approached the wheels of the cherubim and stood beside a
wheel. Verse 7 tells us that “… a cherub stretched out his hand from between
the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim and took some of it and
put it into the hands of the man…, who took it and went out.” Ezekiel added a note to say that the cherubim appeared to have hands
like human beings.
What Ezekiel saw was God’s judgment
on Jerusalem before His departure. We
need to know that God could not and so He will also not co-exist with sin. Holiness
and sinfulness are at opposing extremes. Where sin is, God’s presence will not
be there. The coal from God’s altar in Isaiah’s
vision cleansed him for divine service. The burning coal of God’s judgment in Ezekiel’s
vision was for the purging and cleansing of God’s community. God wants a holy people
for Himself. Where a community is not cleansed, His presence will not be felt. As
it is for Israel as a community, it will be also for us the church, the community
of God’s people. And as it is for a community, it will also be for us as
individuals. Don’t let our personal sins drive God’s presence in our lives.
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