“Leviticus 19–20
“And the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.””
Ezekiel 9:4
Ezekiel was given a vision of a man clothed with linen, having a writer’s inkhorn at his side. In the vision, there were 5 other men, each with a deadly weapon in their hand. These all were given charge over the city, over Jerusalem. Those who mourned over the abominations done in the city and in the temple were to be marked with indelible ink. They would be spared; none of them would be lost. Those remaining, however, everyone, every man, woman and child would be slain. “Let your eye not spare nor have any pity” (vs. 5) was spoken to the men who stood by with their battle-axes. And then, the slaughter began.
What a vivid reminder to the people of God of the faithfulness of their Lord. God sees every heart that mourns for days of righteousness. Abraham’s question to God was this; “shall the righteous perish along with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23). And here is the answer from heaven, “NO”. “I know those who are mine, they are written on my heart and they are marked on their very foreheads, they shall never be forsaken, saith the Lord.”
There is a judgment day approaching in our time. A day of gloom and harshness. We may be alive to see that day.
The prophet Jeremiah suffered inside the city of Jerusalem along with the wicked, as God unleashed the men with the battle-axes. But Jeremiah did not perish along-side the wicked. There was a mark on the forehead of Jeremiah so that he escaped from the men who showed no pity and who slew all the wicked.
Yes, there is a day of judgment approaching in our time. The wicked shall progress only so far and no farther. It will be a day of darkness and gloom, a day of lawlessness and all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing (2 Thessalonians 2:9,10). Some of God’s servants will be alive to witness such a day. They may suffer the persecutions and scarcities that will accompany this time of sorrows. But, like Jeremiah, they shall all be preserved, every one of them.
On that day the wicked will cry out “peace and safety” when sudden destruction comes upon them as labor upon a woman with child, and none of them will escape. Great rest will come upon the righteous on that day when their Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:7,8).
You and I surely “sigh and cry” over all the abominations done in our day but take comfort. God did not appoint you or me to wrath, but to receive mercy and obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…all praise be to Him!
You and I surely “sigh and cry” over all the abominations done in our day but take comfort. God did not appoint you or me to wrath, but to receive mercy and obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…all praise be to Him!
Dennis Gettman