Ezekiel 9 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Ezekiel 9:5,6

As I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.

God’s people had rebelled against His commands and rejected Him as God by turning to idols. Bloodshed and idolatry filled the land, and now righteous judgement was upon them. Peter tells us that judgement starts in the house of the Lord, and we see that truth played out here. God had the angels mark all those who were His, and those with the mark were spared. Do you know what the distinguishing factor in receiving the mark was? Brokenness over sin and repentance!

Ezekiel 9:4- and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”

We see that this brokenness over the sin committed around them is the distinguishing trait that God is looking for before He pours out this judgement. But it’s not just a brokenness over the sins around them but must also be a brokenness over their own sins. For I can’t truly lament and be broken over the sin around me unless I lament and am broken over the sin inside me. If I am only concerned with the sin around me and fail to look at the sin inside me, then it turns from a brokenness to a self-righteousness. I say all that to say this: are we broken over the sin inside of us and around us? The one who is broken and repentant will be saved! If God were to carry out this judgement on our nation would you be marked for Him or not?

Acts 3:19,20- Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.

Isaiah 44:21,22- “Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

God bless! I love you all, but His love is the only Way! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!