In Ezekiel 9 the sins of Jerusalem had the people marked for destruction. Before the destroying angel was sent forth a mark was to be placed on the foreheads of the intercessors, those who cried out over idolatry and the injustices that accompanied moving away from God as their only center. The people were looking to other gods for their prosperity, violating the first commandment and the Great Commandment; death and destruction awaited. The people who were to be saved received a mark in their forehead; the people saved were the broken-hearted intercessors. Think about that. What does that mean to us? What moves us to prayer? Do you and I have this other mark because of our broken hearts over the waywardness of God’s people? This is a sobering thought for me.
“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.’” Ezekiel 9:4 (ESV)
