9 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. 7 Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. 8 And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
9 Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ 10 As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
11 And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”
This chapter continues the vision of the previous one, and the judgment promised in 18 is now in vision executed. It is a very awesome passage, couched in apocalyptic language, such as we find in the Revelation (cf also Amos 9:1ff; and Exodus 12:7ff, where the idea of marking for divine protection corresponds to 4). The 'six men' in 2 are the Lord's executioners, appointed by Him to fulfil the judgment that was to come upon the city, and the 'one man among them' seems to fulfil the function of the recording angel, who was to administer the protective mark upon those who remained faithful to God (4). The reference in 3 to the glory of God going up is significant. One recalls how in Exodus we are told that the Shekinah glory rested above the cherubim in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle. The 'going up' of the glory signifies the impending departure of the Lord's presence from His people: first the glory moves from the cherubim to the threshold of the Temple, then later (11:23) departs from the Temple and the city itself. The Word of God having been despised, the Lord was 'on the way out'. What a lesson there is here: the loss of the Word leads to the loss of fellowship with God (for it was there, at the mercy seat, that He promised to commune with His people, Exodus 29:43), and to the loss of His presence and glory. It is Ichabod all over again (1 Samuel 4:21), and the significance of the symbolism could not have been lost upon the minds of the exiles by the river Chebar. It is small wonder that the prophet cried out (8) in his distress!