Ezekiel 9:4, commentary and pictures

The Lord commands the man with the writer's inkhorn to go through Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of those who sigh and cry for all the abominations done there. Only those who grieve over sin, especially among God's professed people, and turn from it in repentance receive that mark. The mark is the seal of the living God, which is truth wrought in the mind by the Holy Spirit and kept in God's Sabbath and commandments. It is placed as a safeguard before destruction falls, so that when the slaying begins at the sanctuary the destroying angels spare all who bear it and strike the unmarked. Its fulfillment is near and short, as the closing sealing of God's people before the winds are loosed and the plagues fall, and therefore now is the time to sigh and cry, be purified, and prepare.

Language and Vision Setting

The word rendered mark means a mark or a sign, the same kind of sign spoken of elsewhere in Scripture, so that mark, sign, token, and seal are used with similar meanings. It is the same word as the Greek word rendered sign in Romans 4:11. In this sense the mark on the forehead is God's sign written in the mind and serves as a safeguard for His people before destruction falls on the ungodly, and the Sabbath is that sign, marking God's authority as Creator and serving as His law's seal.

The forehead represents the intellect or mind, so to be marked or sealed on the forehead means to have God's sign written in the mind. That sign is the Sabbath, the seal of God's law and a token of His authority and power, received by His servants in the mind and not by compulsion.

The Lord commands the man clothed with linen who has the writer's inkhorn to go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set the mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry for the abominations done there. An angel is commanded to place the mark upon those who humble themselves before God and grieve over evil, who are especially remembered by Him. The mark identifies those who grieve over wrongdoing and are separated from sin and sinners and set apart from it.

After the marking, others are commanded to go through the city after him and smite without sparing or pity, slaying utterly old and young, maids and little children and women, but not coming near any man upon whom is the mark, beginning at the ancient men that were before the house. The mark set on foreheads distinguishes those who are not to be touched when utter slaughter goes forth, distinguishing those to be spared from those appointed for destruction. At the appointed time this marking and judging work will be most thoroughly done by the Lord God of Israel.

The vision shows God presiding over His church and over the destinies of nations while carrying forward the last work to be accomplished for this world by commissioning His angels to execute His judgments. He recompenses unfaithful ways upon the head, and the work of judgment begins at the sanctuary, starting with the ancient men that were before the house, calling ministers to awake and take in the situation. The setting in Jerusalem shows a time when outward religious forms can continue after God's glory, power, and presence have departed.

Those Who Sigh and Cry

Only those who sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the midst of Jerusalem and in the land receive the mark, and the sighing and crying ones alone are marked. The mark distinguishes the faithful from those appointed for judgment, sparing those who bear it when judgment begins at the sanctuary, and heaven records them as overcomers especially remembered by God because they realize the solemnity of the times and afflict their souls before Him. They are circumspect in words and acts, marked by sobriety rather than levity and reckless talking, bearing about a weight of solemn influence, rich in good works, bearing the burden of souls, and by holy example faithfully representing Christ and winning souls. This response to evil sets them apart from those who sympathize with the world and share in its wrongdoing, who are destroyed with the workers of iniquity, and from those who accept or ignore sin.

Those marked grieve over wrongs committed especially among God's professed people, love purity and God's honor, see how deeply sinful sin is, and are distinguished from those absorbed in selfish amusement. Amid widespread corruption God draws a line of separation in marking the faithful because they grieve over the abominations committed around them before judgment begins at His sanctuary. When danger and spiritual decline are greatest, those who stand in the light grieve and pray over the wrongs being done, especially within the church because its members follow the world, and the mark identifies these faithful few for God's protection when He comes to avenge and to protect His people who have kept the faith pure and remained unspotted from the world. They mourn both the wickedness that violates God's law and their own transgressions, humbling themselves before God.

The marked hold out the words of life and reprove, counsel, and plead with those who dishonor God, and some who hear repent and humble themselves. They warn the wicked with tears about the danger of trampling on God's law and humble themselves before the Lord in sorrow and penitence. Their anguish and contrition show recovering strength and nobility of character lost through sin, for drawing near to Christ and seeing His purity makes them recognize sin's exceeding evil, and meekness and humility are conditions of victory, more acceptable to God than the haughty self-sufficiency of those who deny cause for sorrow while transgressing His law. They have repented, sought pardon, confessed and put away sins in probationary time with contrition of soul, washed their robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb, had pardon written against their names and guilt removed and been clothed anew, so that Satan cannot hold past tempted sins against them, and they walk in God's ways and keep His commandments, choosing Christ above earthly ties and approval, denying themselves, enduring reproach, and counted worthy of everlasting life as His redeemed people belonging to Him and spared by the destroying angel.

They are separated from sin and sinners and do not sympathize with the world or join in its follies, vanities, and sins; those who join in them are passed by and receive no mark, while the marked vex their souls over abounding corruption without being mixed up in it and without corrupting their ways before God. They realize the solemnity of the times and afflict their souls before God, and are therefore especially remembered by Him and recorded in heaven as overcomers; they are sober, prayerful, watchful, circumspect in words and acts, marked by sobriety rather than levity and reckless talking, bearing a weight of solemn influence, rich in good works, bearing the burden of souls, and by holy example faithfully representing Christ and winning souls. The seal is not given to the impure, ambitious, world-loving, deceitful, or false-hearted; those who receive it must be spotless and pure before God, fit for heaven and prepared for it.

The faithful sigh and cry for abominations that finite eyes can discern, while by far the worst sins that provoke the jealousy of the pure and holy God are unrevealed and committed in secret. The great searcher of hearts knows every secret sin committed by the workers of iniquity, and though secure deceivers say the Lord sees not and act as though He has forsaken the earth, He will detect their hypocrisy and open their hidden sins before others. This grief over wrongdoing is distinct from mourning and lamenting because of personal trials; it belongs to the humble, weak, and sick who feel their sins and continually cry to God for consolation, comfort, and support. Such grief does not destroy peace or sour the temper but refines character and draws nearer to Christ when trials are borne well, and as the day of the Lord approaches with signs in the world it must not eclipse gratitude for God's mercies, praise for His power, standing firm, lifting up the head, and rejoicing because redemption draws near.

In present application this grief is shown in mourning the world's moral darkness rather than indulging vanity and pride of dress or treating it with levity. It rejects fashionable excess such as wearing hoops as an abomination and makes example a rebuke to fashion. It is also distressed when things are not right in a family's management and home atmosphere. Feeling a burden over sin and the danger facing others shows devotion to God's work rather than indifference. Yet it does not mean taking the burden of judgment into their own hands, for God sees the malice of those who oppose His law and records it.

Protection When Judgment Strikes

The mark is a mark of deliverance and safeguard placed on the foreheads of those who grieve over the abominations done in Jerusalem before destruction falls on the ungodly. It distinguishes those to be spared from those appointed for destruction, given over to be struck down when judgment follows. To be marked on the forehead is to have God's sign written in the mind, for the forehead represents the intellect or mind, and that sign is the Sabbath, the seal of God's law and token of His authority and power as Creator and Sanctifier. The mark thus identifies those who keep God's commandments and revere His law, refusing the mark of the beast or its image.

The destroying angel follows the marking angel to slay the unmarked, both old and young, men, women, maids and little children, while sparing only those upon whom is the mark. The mark is applied in an approaching judgment that will take the lives of old and young alike who do not have it, and parents' faithful spiritual training, discipline, care and prayers are essential to their children receiving the mark and being spared. Children must be made to mind their parents, with the parent's word as law, and be taught to honor the Sabbath, lest they be weighed in the balances and found wanting.

The work of judgment begins at the sanctuary, starting with the ancient men that were before the house. It begins among those who have professed to guard the people spiritually but have been unfaithful, not among those absorbed in selfish amusement, and it calls ministers to awake and take in the situation. God presides over His church and over the destinies of nations while carrying forward the last work to be accomplished for this world by commissioning His angels to execute His judgments, and He recompenses unfaithful ways upon the head. The marked are spared when destruction follows and are recorded in heaven as overcomers, yet the warning reaches parents who allow their children to leave the community of believers and join worldly society, for their choices can lead them away from Christ and leave them unprepared for the final plagues.

Amid widespread corruption God draws a line of separation in marking the faithful because they grieve over the abominations committed around them, before judgment begins at His sanctuary. The mark identifies them as belonging to God and as His special possession, linked with cherishing the Lord, surrendering to His control, and receiving Christ's righteousness. In the sealing time God's protective covering is placed over His people to shelter them when slaughter comes in the time of trouble. That sealing is a limited period that will soon be completed, and those who are unstable and not firmly planted in present truth cannot receive the covering and are left without protection.

The verse declares the fate of men of responsibility who have not glorified God by faithfulness and integrity. At the appointed time the Lord God of Israel will most thoroughly do this work of commanding the mark to be set on the foreheads of the men in Jerusalem who sigh and cry for all the abominations done in its midst, and of commanding others to go after him through the city and smite without sparing or pity, slaying utterly old and young, maids and little children and women, but not coming near any man upon whom is the mark, beginning at the ancient men before the house. It applies to ministers and all in positions of sacred trust as watchmen on the walls of Zion, requiring faithfulness, integrity, and constant concern for the state of the church. God's judgment will reach those in positions of responsibility and their institutions unless they humble themselves, undergo a thorough transformation of heart, and their leaders are truly changed.

Mark as the Seal of God

The mark placed on the foreheads of those who grieve over the abominations done in Jerusalem is the seal of the living God, set by an angel commissioned for that work. It is the same sealing seen by John, given amid last-day distress when the sea and waves roar, hearts fail for fear, the earth is moved, mountains are carried into the sea amid roaring and shaking waters, and plagues, pestilence, famine and death do their terrible work. In it an angel with a writer's inkhorn completes the marking, the saints are numbered and sealed, and the finished sealing accompanies the close of judgment when every case is decided and each condition is fixed.

That seal is truth wrought in the marked by the Holy Spirit, and God's mark of approval in the closing work for the church and the sealing of the 144,000 distinguishes those who love purity and God's honor, see how deeply sinful sin is, and sigh and cry over abominations among His professed people from those who are destroyed. Those who humble themselves before God and purify their souls by obeying the truth are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal, so that when the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity.

The forehead signifies intellect or mind, so to be marked or sealed there is to have God's sign written in the mind as a safeguard before destruction falls on the ungodly. That sign is the Sabbath, the seal of God's law and token of His authority and power as Creator, marking His creative and sanctifying authority. God's servants receive this seal in the mind, not by compulsion, and those who disregard it by making the Sabbath a common day cannot receive God's seal and will perish with the world when judgment comes.

The seal is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth both intellectually and spiritually so that the sealed cannot be moved. It is the sign of the cross of Calvary in the Lord's adopted sons and daughters, meaning the sin of transgression of God's law is taken away. Those who bear it have on the wedding garment and are obedient and faithful to all God's commands.

The mark of redemption is set in the foreheads as angels but not human eyes can read it, yet the destroying angel must see it. A person's course of action determines whether it is received or whether the person is cut down by the destroying weapons, and when the seven last plagues are poured out it will be too late to repent or find shelter, with no atoning blood then to wash away sin.

Those who love Jesus and keep His commandments are marked on the forehead before destruction comes, distinguished from those to be slain and protected when judgment begins at the sanctuary. The marked are those who choose Christ above earthly ties and approval, deny themselves and endure reproach for Him, cherish the Lord, surrender to His control and receive Christ's righteousness, and their sins being forgiven they are counted worthy of everlasting life and identified as His special possession belonging to Him. The marking is applied in the last days to those loyal to God's commandments, as angels observe character and distinguish those who will receive special help from God to endure the test and proving of the time of trouble. The mark thus identifies a people as wholly His, distinct from the world, shown by refusing its fashions and following Christ's self-denying example with moral courage to stand openly for Him.

God's mark or seal is not borne by those who become blind to principle and share the spirit of the ungodly, who refuse instruction and fail to practice received light, and their punishment is proportionate to neglected light. God will not place His seal where there is an idol. The mark identifies those who keep God's commandments and revere His law, refusing the mark of the beast or its image, as a seal for people loyal and true placed before the four winds are released.

End-Time Fulfillment Is Near

The marking will be literally fulfilled, and the time for its fulfillment is short and passing while God's people are asleep. God will not bear much longer with those who have great and important truths revealed to them yet refuse to humble their souls, to be converted, and to bring those truths into their individual experience. He is now calling for hearing, receiving His message, and conversion before it is too late, for very soon every case will be decided for eternity. The prophecy is to be fulfilled soon, to the very letter, and therefore calls for careful study amid last-day perils, including removing obstacles caused by a perverse spirit before God turns away from those responsible.

The chapter is a warning of events soon to take place and a call for every soul to prepare for them. It belongs to a vision of destructive angels and judgment in Jerusalem associated with the closing scenes of earth's history, when destruction is already being permitted and people must be warned and prepared. The marking is the closing work for the church and the sealing of the 144,000, in which God's mark of approval is given to those who grieve over the church's sins. The saints are marked before the slaying begins, while still mortal, and those who bear the mark are spared by the men carrying weapons. That marking is God sealing His servants before the plagues are poured out, so they are protected from the terrors of His wrath, for when the seven last plagues are poured out it will be too late to repent or find shelter, and no atoning blood will then wash away sin.

Decided violence against righteousness and truth is restrained because the four angels hold the four winds that they shall not blow upon the earth, controlling satanic agencies seeking to break loose and destroy as human passions rise and God's Spirit is withdrawn. The winds must be held until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, without which there would be no hope, and this marking of those who sigh and cry over abominations is connected with that sealing before the winds are released. The seal is for people loyal and true to God's commandments. The sealing is given in connection with startling last-day distress when the sea and waves roar, men's hearts fail for fear, the earth is moved, the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea with roaring and troubled waters and shaking, and plagues, pestilence, famine, and death perform their terrible mission.

Just as soon as God's people are thus sealed and prepared for the shaking, the shaking will come, while a spirit of desperation, war, and bloodshed increases until the very close of time. The judgments of God now upon the land give warning of what is coming. The great mass of lukewarm and half-hearted professing Christians do not have the seal upon their foreheads and will meet bitter disappointment in the day of God, dishonoring God far more than the avowed unbeliever. The chapter gives solemn warnings pointing to stern realities that will shortly come to pass, and neglecting those warnings is sad. The chapter is to be studied alongside Ezekiel 2:1-10 and Revelation 5 and is connected with the Lord's judgment of wrongdoing, for the Lord sees every transaction and wrongdoers are answerable to Him.

Call to Repent and Prepare

The marking foretold will be fulfilled literally, and the time for its fulfillment is short and passing while God's people are asleep. God is now calling for hearing, for receiving His message, for humbling the soul, for conversion, and for bringing the great and important truths revealed into individual experience instead of refusing to change. He will not bear much longer with refusal, and very soon every case will be decided for eternity.

Now is the time to sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the land, because darkness is called light and light is called darkness. Sham liberality is extolled, while falsehood and false doctrines and soul-destroying heresies are received and exalted. Terrible deeds of iniquity are glossed over and excused as charity, and voices from the pulpits promise that it shall be well with the transgressor. Sin is not dealt with as fearful in consequence and certain to bring ruin on those who persist in it, nor shown in its abhorrent character. Smooth preaching leaves multitudes resting in sin, unmindful of the solemn warnings and examples of the Word of God.

In the perils of the last days, when grace is rejected, prevailing iniquity and hostility threaten God's remnant, and far-spreading ungodliness under a cloak of Christianity prevails until Christ comes to be glorified in believers, God sets His mark, the seal of the living God, upon the foreheads of His remnant people. In the very courts of the temple His people are proved and tested, that He may discern between him that serves God and him that serves Him not. Vengeance will be executed against those who sit in the gate deciding what the people should have, who take away the key of knowledge, refuse to enter in themselves, and hinder those who would enter, for they bear not the seal. All in responsible positions should therefore be solemnly afraid lest they be found as unfaithful stewards.

Those who love Jesus and keep His commandments are marked on the forehead before destruction comes, and the mark distinguishes those to be spared from those appointed to be slain when judgment begins at the sanctuary. The approaching judgment will take old and young, men, women, and little children who do not have the mark, while the destroying angel spares only those upon whom it is set. Parents' faithful spiritual training, discipline, care, and prayers, joined with God's blessing, are essential to their children receiving the mark and being covered when the destroying angel goes out. Children must be taught to mind their parents, to have the parent's word as law, and to honor the Sabbath, lest they be weighed in the balances and found wanting and be slain with old and young alike. Parents who allow their children to leave the community of believers and join worldly society leave them in danger of being led away from Christ and unprepared for the final plagues.