Eze 9:1-11:13 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Ezek 9:1-2: 9:1-2 The prophet did not have to wait long for judgment to come. The Lord summoned his angelic warriors to punish the city , and seven men appeared in response. Six men each carried a deadly weapon , while the seventh was dressed in linen and carried a writer’s case . They stood ready for action in the Temple courtyard , next to the bronze altar where sacrifices were normally offered.

Summary for Ezek 9:1-2: 9:1-2 ^a The prophet did not have to wait long for judgment to come. The Lord summoned his angelic warriors to punish the city, and seven men appeared in response. Six men each carried a deadly weapon, while the seventh was dressed in linen and carried a writer’s case. They stood ready for action in the Temple courtyard, next to the bronze altar where sacrifices were normally offered.
9:3 ^b The glory of the God of Israel, the visible manifestation of his presence, now began to depart from the defiled Temple. First, it rose up from between the cherubim, that is, from above the Ark in the Most Holy Place, where it normally rested. From there, it moved to the entrance to the Temple, ready to leave its former throne.
Summary for Ezek 9:4-6: 9:4-6 ^c Just as the man dressed in linen (9:2-3 ^d) reenacted the marking of those kept safe at the first Passover (Exod 12:7-13 ^e), the angels of destruction reenacted comprehensive judgment (Exod 12:28-30 ^f), this time on old and young, girls and women and little children. Not just the firstborn males, as in Egypt, but everyone who did not have the mark that identified them as those who mourned over the sins of the city (cp. Rev 7:1-8 ^g) were destroyed.
9:7 ^h Defile the Temple! Unlike Queen Athaliah, who was dragged out of the Temple before she was executed so that her blood would not defile the holy site (2 Kgs 11:15-16 ⁱ), these idolaters were to be killed in the Temple, which was already so defiled by their idolatry that nothing sacred was left there. Without God’s holy presence, concern for the sanctity of the building was an empty gesture.
9:8 ^j Ezekiel feared that he might be the only person left after the Lord expressed his fury.
Summary for Ezek 9:9-10: 9:9-10 ^k The Lord replied that he would fully repay Israel’s sins (but see 9:3-4 ^l, 11 ^m).
9:11 ⁿ I have done as you commanded: The remnant had been successfully marked to save them from the wrath to come (9:3-4 ^o).

‏ Ezekiel 10

Summary for Ezek 10:1-22: 10:1-22 ^p The Temple provided an earthly residence where the Lord’s glory could dwell among his people. This central blessing of the covenant could only be maintained if the people were holy. In the face of their defilement, the Lord abandoned his house, leaving it and the surrounding city vulnerable to the impending assault of the Babylonians.
Summary for Ezek 10:1-2: 10:1-2 ^q Almost the same vision of fearsome glory that Ezekiel had seen earlier in Babylonia (ch 1 ^r) now appeared to him in the Jerusalem Temple. In a building filled with heavenly symbols, Ezekiel clearly perceived that the living creatures he had seen earlier were cherubim, the enforcers of divine judgment (Gen 3:24 ^s).

• The burning coals that the priestly figure was instructed to gather showed that the defiled Jerusalem was to be burned by fire, as the city of Sodom had been (see 16:46-50 ^t). The implication of the Lord’s abandoning his city was later worked out in history: Several years after this vision, Nebuchadnezzar burned the city of Jerusalem and filled it with corpses.
Summary for Ezek 10:3-22: 10:3-22 ^u As if reluctant to leave, the glory of the Lord (10:4 ^v) moved slowly and haltingly, by stages. From above the cherubim in the Most Holy Place, it moved to the entrance of the Temple, paused, then hovered above the cherubim (10:18 ^w) and moved to the east gate of the courtyard (10:19 ^x), where it again paused. The glory of the Lord later left the city altogether (11:23 ^y).
10:12 ^z covered with eyes: The elders’ earlier statement that “the Lord doesn’t see us” (8:12 ^aa) was foolish and false.
Summary for Ezek 10:19-22: 10:19-22 ^ab From this point on, the city was doomed; God, whose threatening judgment appeared in such fearsome majesty in the opening chapter of Ezekiel, had abandoned it.

‏ Ezekiel 11:1-13

Summary for Ezek 11:1-11: 11:1-11 ^ac Having given Ezekiel a glimpse of the divine perspective on Jerusalem, the Spirit brought him back to overhear the words of the city’s inhabitants. The wicked counselors asserted that though the assault by the Babylonians (the fire) was troublesome (hot), the defenses of the city (the iron pot) were sufficient to protect them (the meat). These counselors were telling people to build houses—on stolen land (see 11:15 ^ad, 17 ^ae)—in which they could live safely. God, however, was determined to judge the wicked.
Summary for Ezek 11:8-10: 11:8-10 ^af God had once rescued his people from foreigners in Egypt, but now he would hand them over to foreigners for judgment.
11:13 ^ag The judgment that the Lord pronounced occurred immediately.

• O Sovereign Lord, are you going to kill everyone in Israel? If those who still remained in the land were destined for such comprehensive destruction, who would be God’s people?