Monday - Ezekiel 9 - The Death of Jewish Deists

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S we continue with the strange vision of Ezekiel (which we started in chapter 8), we find that because of the idolatry (which the Jews had practiced right in the very temple of their God), severe judgment was on the slate for the people of Jerusalem. Before we get to the destruction that was on the way though, let us first consider the twisted theology that brought the Jews down.

Essentially, the Jews had become deists, and pantheists too really. Ezekiel 9:9 declares their mindset bluntly, "They say, 'The LORD has forsaken the earth, and the LORD sees not."' Is that not a deist perspective? The key thing about a deist is that he feels no responsibility to the God who made him. The deist imagines that God is not paying attention. As such, his idea is that we are left to fend for ourselves. The activities of God in this chapter bluntly refute the deist’s philosophy.

So, what did Ezekiel see in his vision anyway? Ezekiel saw 6 men with deadly weapons. He also saw a man who had writing tools. The job of that man was to mark those in the temple and in Jerusalem who had a humble and repentant spirit (Ezekiel 9:4). He was supposed to mark them on their foreheads. The mark was a good mark. It was a mark of sanctification. It was a mark of salvation and protection. It was a mark that kept the messengers of wrath from killing those few who had that mark.