Bible Study: Ezekiel 9:1-11

Ezekiel witnesses the spiritual account of the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.

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Ezekiel Chapter 9
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​Lessons from the text

The Spiritual Account
When we tell a story, we will more than likely describe what is seen, heard, or thought.  We talk about the physical world to tell a story.  However, there is more to the events in history than what is visible.  There is also a spiritual story unfolding just as real as the physical story.  In this chapter, God gives us an example of this by letting us see the spiritual story corresponding to what was happening in the visible world.  As Nebuchadnezzar and his army marched towards Jerusalem, God’s workers were going through the city marking who would and would not die.  As Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers raided the city and killed the Jews, God’s workers were defiling the city with the bodies of the Jews and killing those who were not marked as righteous.  In a very importance sense, what was happening in the physical world corresponded to what was happening in the spiritual world.

Even so today, when a sinner repents and comes to know Christ, there is a physical change.  God has placed a new heart in that person; for the first time, love, joy, peace, and compassion are felt to their fullest.  That person’s personality will change.  That person’s speech will change.  That person’s desires will change.  All of this corresponds to what happens on the spiritual side, where darkness is replaced by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.  Peace and joy can enter a person’s life because instead of being lost in spiritual darkness, a person has the fellowship of the Spirit of God.  Getting saved, being righteous, and living for God involves far more than what our eyes can see; it corresponds to a

​world of angels and demons, darkness against the Spirit of God, and as such should not be taken lightly.  When Paul writes that “we [the believers] wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against

​For additional accounts of how spiritual and physical events overlap, see Joshua 5:10-15, Judges 7:12-22, I Samuel 14:12-23, II Kings 6:8-23, II Kings 7:1-7, and II Kings 19:3-37.

spiritual wickedness in high places,” he wanted to remind believers to watch out for the spiritual consequences to our actions and to be ready for an assault of darkness by remembering that we have the all-powerful Holy Spirit to fight on our behalf to overcome spiritual conflicts (Eph. 6:12).
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​Verse by Verse Commentary

1  Ezekiel witnesses God judging Jerusalem.  In the previous chapter, He told Ezekiel that He would not spare the Jews because of their abominations, and here He is following through with His word.  God always keeps His promises.

2-7  These six men have charge over Jerusalem.  This relates to Babylon, which comes from the north and has been given charge over all the earth (Jer. 27:6).  However, these men are not humans.  Most likely, they are God’s spiritual servants who go before Nebuchadnezzar to make the way for the Babylonian king’s conquest (compare with Isaiah 45:1-3 and Daniel 10:10-21).  Ezekiel has been given the blessing of seeing what is occurring on the spiritual plane of existence when Babylon will come to destroy Jerusalem.  Five of these men are sent to destroy, but only after the writer has marked those who are obedient to God; despite God’s judgment on the people as a whole, He will still protect those who are faithful to Him.  Everyone else who has partaken in the abominations, however, will be shown no mercy.  Beginning with the house of God, judgment will spread out to smite the sinners.  Noteworthy is the fact that God’s glory is present as He makes judgments; even God’s wrath is glorious.

8  Seeing the judgment fall on his brethren, Ezekiel begs God to stop pouring out His wrath.  Ezekiel knows that only the wicked were being killed, yet it still grieves him terribly to watch their judgment.  Ezekiel had just witnessed their idolatry in the temple; nonetheless, he shows great compassion.  No matter how vile of a sin a person commits, one should still have compassion towards that individual and desire to intercede for that soul’s behalf.

9-10  God replies to Ezekiel’s plea with the stark truth that the people’s sins warrant this harsh judgment.  Since the Jews have refused to turn back to God despite God’s attempts to reach them and correct them through the Scriptures and prophesy, God’s mercy towards them has run out, and all that is left is judgment.  Noteworthy is that God repeats His original statement of judgment; He will treat them according to their sin (Eze. 7:3).

11  As God decrees, so it is done.  A sinner cannot escape the inevitable judgment of death if that sinner refuses to turn to God.  God the Father made a way out from death through repentance and belief in His Son, Jesus, but if a person rejects God’s attempts to reach out to that person, then that person will have to pay the full penalty for his sins.

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