Tue, 6 September, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.
Some people are fascinated by the book of Revelation, and they enjoy speculating on the meaning of the symbolism of the book. One of the things that gets a lot of attention in the book of Revelation is the mark of the beast. Some people argue that it is some kind of identification computer chip, and they see the threat of this mark in national identification cards and RFID chips.
But here Ezekiel sees a vision of God having his people marked by an angel in preparation for the executioners to go through Jerusalem. This mark is not a tattoo, or embedded computer chip. It is a symbolic mark, and it means that these people are under God’s protection and they are not to be harmed by the executioners.
What do we learn from this?
God protects His people. He knows who they are, and He knows His plans for them. Nothing will happen to one of His children that is outside of His providence and control. Even when bad things happen to them, these things have come to them from a loving Father’s hand, and they are not meant to destroy them but are meant for God’s glory and their ultimate good.
If you are one of God’s children, He has marked you, and you are under His protection. You don’t see the mark, but you belong to Him.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Here is an interesting note from the New Geneva Study Bible:>/p>
The mark placed on the foreheads was the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tau. At the time of Ezekiel, tau was written like the English “X”. Early Christian interpreters saw in this slanted cross an anticipation of the cross of Christ.
Take it or leave it as you will.
Something a little more obvious is the link between this episode of the angel marking those who were to be spared execution because they were under God’s protection, and those who were spared execution of the firstborn in the Exodus because they were under the protection of the blood of the Passover lamb.
Christ is our Passover lamb who was sacrificed in our place. And only as we are under the protection of His atoning death are we saved from the wrath of God against our sins. It is because of Jesus Christ that we are adopted as children of God, and are marked as being under His protection.
