Ezekiel 9 - 8.14.23

Scripture

Ezekiel‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT

“Then he said to me, “The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!’ So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done.””

Observation-What does it say?

In this vision Ezekiel received from God, Ezekiel sees God instruct an angelic being to mark the foreheads of all the righteous people of Jerusalem. Then God instructs six angelic beings, each carrying a deadly weapon, to go out in the town and destroy ALL people who did not carry that mark of righteousness on their foreheads. It is time for Jerusalem to “pay the bill” for all the sinfulness they brought into their town and in their lives. And God is going to pour out His wrath and judgment upon them.

Application

Nothing but the blood of Jesus can make us right with God.

The Old Testament is known to foreshadow and point towards Jesus in the New Testament. You first have the story of how the Jewish Passover originated. When God sent a plague throughout the land of Egypt to go out and kill the firstborn child of each family. But this plague would pass over the houses that had their doors marked with lambs’ blood. (Jesus is known as the perfect lamb who was slain for us).

“But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.”-Exodus‬ ‭12‬:‭13‬ ‬‬

Then you have today’s reading where God sent out His angels in Jerusalem to kill anyone not carrying His mark of righteousness on their foreheads. “He said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of all who weep and sigh because of the detestable sins being committed in their city.” Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity!”-Ezekiel‬ ‭9‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭

At the end of the day, we serve a God who is holy, just, and righteous and the Bible tells us that the penalty of our sin is death. And can a God who is holy, just, and righteous still be all that if He allows sinful, unruly, and unrighteousness to continue? 🤔

So here’s the dilemma:

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.-Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬ ‭

But here is the solution:

“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”-Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭

Prayer

Father God, I thank You for sending Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. Thank You for the blood You shed for me. Thank You for washing my sins away when I chose to put my faith in Jesus. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for seeing me for who I am in Jesus (holy and righteous), and not for who I was and am (a sinner). May I live my life telling others what You have done for me and what You have done for them. May they accept that free gift You are offering. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi