Then I heard the Lord say to the other men, “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! . . . Begin your task right here at the Temple.”
Devotional Text
God always starts His process of purifying in His own house. In the New Testament, Peter echoed that thought, saying that judgment must “begin first among God’s own children” (1 Peter 4:17). What a sober realization that judgment begins first among God’s people! Ezekiel 9 speaks of a man dressed in linen who was carrying a writer’s case. The man was instructed to walk through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the forehead of every person who had wept and sighed because of the sins they saw taking place around them (v. 4). Apparently, there were those who grieved deeply for the sins of their society. The average person today has no concern for the gross immorality and debauchery existing in our society. Such an individual thinks homosexuality is “gay,” abortion is “necessary,” and drunkenness and adultery are “acceptable.” For God’s saints, however, these things should be repulsive and deeply grievous. God marked Noah as righteous in his generation and spared only his family from the flood that enveloped the earth. Even now God is “marking the foreheads” of those whose lives are pure and who closely follow His commands. Remember: This process begins in the sanctuary, so check your “mark” today.