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The following is Chapter 9 of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Yahweh has shown Ezekiel the worship of animals and the sun worship that Israel has been practicing. In Chapter 8 women have been weeping for Tammuz and Yahweh declares these things to be abominations. Israel has changed the ordinances, broken the covenants, and have set themselves up for destruction. This is the situation to be found after the falling away has occurred. Jesus will come for those who have not followed after other gods, have not changed the ordinances, or broken the covenants and save us from the destruction that will follow. The fact that the mark is the archaic Hebrew taw is significant as well as the fact that angels will mark those who will be spared from destruction. We are not to take any mark, the mark of the Beast specifically, to save ourselves from destruction. The Holy Angels are watching and we know that our part is to remain obedient to the LORD, seeking His Kingdom, His understanding, His wisdom, His knowledge, and a full knowledge of Him. Our relationship is with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, and by His Holy Spirit. By the restraining of the Holy Spirit evil is held back, by which we may escape the Great Delusion to be poured out, and by which we may resist temptation.
Will the Holy Angels mark us with an invisible archaic Hebrew letter taw without us knowing it before the Rapture? The taw Í is also the precursor to the sign of the Cross of Christ in Latin U. Interestingly the sign of the sun worshippers is a sun disk and the sign of Tammuz \ is a cross inside the sun disk or the variation with a sun disk atop the cross [.1 Very little distinction, just a circle, but it defines the difference between life and destruction and death. The difference between accepting the mark of the Beast and refusing it will seem slight, especially if there is pressure and duress to accept it.
1
Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city!2
With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer’s case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.3
Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writer’s case at his waist,4
saying to him: Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it.5
To the others I heard him say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy!6
Old men, youths and maidens, women and children—wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who were in front of the temple.7
Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city.8
As they began to strike, I was left alone. I fell prone, crying out, Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?"9
He answered me: The sins of the house of Israel are great beyond measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the LORD has forsaken the land, that he does not see them.10
I, however, will not look upon them with pity, nor show any mercy. I will bring down their conduct upon their heads.11
Then I saw the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his waist make his report: "I have done as you ordered."2Commentary
Ezekiel 9:1, 2 In this chapter, six executioners are seen coming from the north (the direction from which the Babylonians were to come) to destroy the idolaters of the previous chapter. The man clothed with linen may symbolize grace.
Ezekiel 9:3 The glory cloud (symbol of God’s presence) leaves the holy of holies in the temple, grieved away by the idolatry of the people. The glory cloud moves to the threshold of the temple where its brightness fills the court.
Ezekiel 9:4 Those faithful Jews who opposed the idolatry were sealed by a mark on their foreheads so that they would not be killed. This verse should challenge us. How do we react, if some do not follow the Lord? Do we join them? Will they influence us? Do we justify them? Do we show indifference? These faithful men and women sighed and cried; this reaction showed what was in their heart and kept them from judgment.
The sign—or mark on the forehead—was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (tau), which the rabbis said suggested completeness. It is also the first letter of toraÆ (law). Feinberg notes a "remarkable similarity between what is stated here and in Revelation 7:1–3." He adds a fascinating parallel from much later times:
Christian interpreters have seen a somewhat prophetic allusion to the sign of the cross. In the earlier script the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet (taw) had the form of a cross. Ezekiel, of course, could not have thought of Christian symbolism nor is the passage a direct prediction of Christ’s cross. It is a remarkable coincidence, however.3
Ezekiel 9:5–7 Then the executioners began to slay the idolaters, starting with the elders (ancient men). "Do not come near anyone on whom is the mark," says God. We don’t know if they were aware of the mark, but believers today can be sure on the basis of the Word that they are safe from judgment. How frightening not to have this assurance!
Ezekiel 9:8–11 When Ezekiel interceded for the people, the Lord said that He would not spare or have pity. The people were saying that because the Lord God had forsaken them and no longer saw their plight, they owed no loyalty to Him. "The Lord does not see" sounds like a very modern quotation!
Judging from this and other texts (Noah and the ark), it seems to be characteristic of God to deliver true believers before pouring out judgment on the ungodly. 4
References Cited
1W.E. Vine, Collected Writings of W.E. Vine [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996 by W.E. Vine Copyright Ltd. of Bath, England.
2The Holy Bible, The New American Bible, (Nashville, Tennessee: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) 1997.
3 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel: The Glory of the Lord, p. 56. As cited in MacDonald below.
4 William MacDonald; edited with introductions by Arthur Farstad, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1995 by William MacDonald.
Alphabet Comparison Chart Bibliography and Biblical Resources
Chadwick, John, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, Cambridge at the University Press, Cambridge, London, 1973.
Schultz, Samuel J. and Smith, Gary V. Exploring the Old Testament, Copyright © 2001 by Samuel J. Schultz, Gary V. Smith, Published by Crossway Books a division of Good News Publishers,1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187.
Fell, Barry, Bronze Age America, Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1982.
Fell, Barry, America B. C., Pocket Books, New York, 1989.
Fell, Barry, Saga America, Times Books, New York, 1980.
Fell, Barry, The Phaistos Disk ca 1600 B.C., Occasional Publication of the Epigraphic Society, Vol. 4 No. 79, October, 1976.
Gusmani, Roberto, Neue Epichorische Schriftzeugnisse Aus Sardis (1958-1971), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1975.
Lochore, Reuel A. A Text to Change the History of the World, Occasional Publication of the Epigraphic Society, Vol. 4 No. 81, September, 1977. Reprint by permission of the New Zealand Listener.
Packard, David, Minoan Linear A, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1974.
Strong, James, New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, ©1996.
Strong, James H., Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985.
The Holy Bible, 1901 American Standard Version, Oak Harbor, WA, Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1994.
The Holy Bible, The Complete Jewish Bible, Stern, David H., (Translator, Editor), Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., Clarksville, MD, 1998, © 1998 David H. Stern.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version™ Copyright© 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, A Division of Good News Publishers, 1300 Crescent Street, Wheaton, Illinois 60187, USA.
The Holy Bible, The King James Authorized Version, Cambridge, Cambridge, 1769.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, 1982.
The Holy Bible, The New Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1989.
The Holy Bible, The Revised Standard Version, New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. 1973, 1977.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., King James Version Study Bible, [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1997, ©1988 by Liberty University.
Totten, Norman, Phaistos Disk: The Oldest Printed Text, Occasional Publication of the Epigraphic Society, Vol. 4 No. 82, October, 1976.
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