Scripture reading: Ezekiel 9

If you have been reading the first two articles in this series, you will remember that we began with a discussion about the names of God. We were reminded that God has many different names given to him in the Scriptures, all of which are appropriate and useful for worship. On a somewhat divergent note, we focused on the name of Jealous. At the time of God giving the Law on Mount Sinai, God exhibited tremendous anger at the sin of idolatry and informed Moses and Aaron that his name was Jealous. He would not tolerate or ignore idolatry.

We noted then that jealousy is an attribute of God, by his own declaration, and that his jealousy is often demonstrated on the pages of the Bible. We noted, too, that some of our New Testament translations erroneously designate jealousy as a sin, in need of repentance. We concluded then that the original Greek word, zelos, should be translated as “coveting” or “envy” whenever it applies to wrongful desires. There ought never to be a conflict between the Old and the New Testaments.

In our second article we directed our attention to the situation described for us in the eighth chapter of Ezekiel. In response to complaints from some of the exiles in Babylon, the Holy Spirit transported Ezekiel to the temple still standing in Jerusalem. The leaders, still inhabiting the temple, were engaged in a wide variety of idolatrous practices. They complained that the glory of the Lord had left the temple and that God no longer cared for them or observed their behaviors. With God supposedly absent, they conjured up a variety of substitutes. God’s wrath was riveting.

When you read and reflect on the ninth chapter of Ezekiel you will see divine jealousy demonstrated in a powerful, almost scary kind of way. God the Father is explaining to Ezekiel what he is going to do in response to their heinous desecrations. John Calvin concludes, “They not only worshiped the sun in private houses, but in the temple itself, and that not without gros and pointed contempt of God. For when they turned their back upon the sanctuary, they made a laughing stock of God.”1 In response, God declares, “Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them” (Ezek. 8:18, English Standard Version).

What we have in Ezekiel 9 is an organized, systematic demonstration of God’s anger against sin. He calls immediately for “the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand” (9:1). Behold, six men came from the north, ready to do God’s bidding. We might ask: “Who are these men? Why are there only six?” The answer to such questions can be found in the prophecy of Jeremiah, where God names Nebuchadnezzar as his “servant” (Jer. 25:9). These six men represent soldiers in the army of Babylon. They are God’s designated agents of punishment. God had already used them in the first wave of invasion, occurring in 605 BC. He had also employed them in 597 BC, when Jehoiachin, Ezekiel, and a host of others were taken into captivity. Commentaries find extensive agreement on that interpretation.

The second player in this disciplinary scene is not so easily discerned. That is the “man clothed in linen,” who is with the six executioners. He gives them specific instructions, thus acting as their superior or as their master (Ezek. 9:2–3, 11). The English Standard Version concludes in a footnote that this is an angel who is “a scribe apparently charged with keeping the heavenly record.” Calvin concludes that “this man then doubtless sustained the character of an angel.”2 He goes on to add, “Some, whose opinion I do not altogether reject, restrict this to Christ.”3 Calvin’s conclusion leaves the reader wondering: Is this merely an angel? Or, is this “man in linen” a picture of the preincarnate Christ?

I would contend that this “man in linen” is none other than Jesus Christ in preincarnate form. This is a theophany. This shows the Lord as the second person in the Trinity, doing his Father’s bidding. On what grounds do I make that claim? First, I would make reference to the book of Daniel, where “the man in linen” is clearly the person of Jesus Christ. The description given there (Dan. 10:5–7) is similar to a later description of that same person (Dan. 12:6–10). Daniel addresses him as “my lord” and is not rebuked for that. In the book of Revelation, we have an occasion where the apostle John bowed down to an angel and was rebuked for it (Rev. 19:10).

A similar revelation is given to Ezekiel in the first chapter of his book (Ezek. 1:26–28). That picture is preceded by the picture of a throne and the man sitting above it has a “bow” on his head. Angels are not ascribed thrones and none are permitted a rainbow as a headdress. That is ascribed to Jesus Christ, as he appears in Revelation 1:12–20. That picture is undeniably Jesus Christ. He tells John, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and I am alive forevermore” (Rev. 1:17–18).

An even more compelling argument can be made when we recognize that “the man in linen” has “a writing case at his waist” (Ezek. 9:3). The Lord then instructs him to “pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations” (9:4). God, the Father, the righteous Judge, instructs the executioners to go throughout the city and to kill everyone else, “but touch no one on whom is the mark” (9:6). This is an implied evidence for the doctrine of election. Some persons, even though they live in a sin-prevalent culture, are not to be killed. Given that, we need to ask: Would an angel know whom to mark and whom to spare? Are angels privy to the secret counsel of God?

The answers to such questions are given in Revelation 5, where John is confronted with a “scroll within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice: ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals?’” (Rev. 5:1–2). The answer is explicit: no one in heaven or on earth can break those seals. Only Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, can do that. Only Jesus Christ knows whom the Father has elected from before the creation of the world.4 We are given signs and indicators as to who are in Christ, but we have no iron-clad guarantees. In Ezekiel’s vision, he is also afforded some indicators. The ones who receive the mark on their foreheads and are thus allowed to live are those “who sigh and groan over all the abominations” (9:4). If Jacob Arminius and his followers focused on this verse, they might conclude that God looked down and observed the righteous behavior of those men and then chose to spare them by virtue of their righteousness. The Canons of Dort address that attempt and label it as heresy. Unconditional election is without any conditions.

If “the man in linen” were simply an angel, a scribe, he would have no authority to do what God tells him to do. Given that this “man” is Jesus Christ, he knows precisely whom to mark and whom to pass over. In this capacity, he is acting as Judge and the Ruler of nations. He declares not only those who sigh and mourn to be innocent but also all the idolaters to be guilty. God the Father instructs him to “begin at my sanctuary” and start “with the elders” (9:6). In a further demonstration of his wrath, God tells the executioners to “defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain” (9:7). The implications are alarming: God recognizes idolatry with unmistakable clarity. He is not fooled by our hypocritical actions. Jesus demonstrated that with alarming intensity when he called the Pharisees “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” and “whitewashed tombs” (Matt. 23:13–36). One of their major sins was that they worshiped the temple more than they worshiped the Lord of the temple. In our day, it is quite possible that many of us worship the buildings that we have built more than the God who meets us there. Some of us are in greater fear of Mother Nature than we are of the Ruler of nature.

Ezekiel’s reaction to this slaughter is truly prophetic: “Ah, Lord God, will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?” (9:8). This prophet of God is demonstrating genuine compassion for his fellow church members. He doesn’t try to excuse or justify their behavior. He recognizes their sins. He has seen it demonstrated with his own eyes. But he pleads for mercy. He wants his Father to exhibit grace and mercy. We need to do that, too.

Too many of us, elders in our evangelical churches, worship a God who is too small, too narrow. We want to see God only as that pleading Father in the parable of the prodigal son. We want him to be begging us to return but powerless to compel us. We don’t want him to be Jealous because we consider that to be a sin. We want him to say, “I love you. Please come home!”

1 John Calvin, “Commentary on Ezekiel,” in Calvin’s Commentaries, 22 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979), 11:294.

2 Ibid., 302.

3 Ibid.

4 For more extensive analysis of this mystery, see Norman De Jong, The Cross and the Double-Edged Sword: God Hates Sin and Sinners, But Loves Saints (Maitland, FL: Xulon Press), chap. 1, 13–31.

Dr. Norman De Jong is a semi-retired minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.