Did You Know Angels Once Marked the Faithful Before Judgment Fell? The Mystery of Ezekiel 9

✍️ The Ink of Life: When God Separates the Wheat from the Chaff ✨

Have you ever felt like you were the only one who still cared about right and wrong? You look around at the corruption in the world—or even in the church—and instead of joining in, you just feel a deep, heavy grief.

If that is you, take heart. God notices the grief.

In Ezekiel 9, the prophet is given a terrifying vision of the destruction of Jerusalem. God summons six executioners to wipe out the city because of its idolatry. But before they can swing their weapons, God hits the “Pause” button.

He summons a seventh man—clothed in linen, carrying a writer’s inkhorn.

Why did God send a scribe before the soldiers?

Because God never judges the righteous with the wicked (Genesis 18:25). Before the fire fell, the faithful had to be identified. This story reveals a comforting truth: When judgment comes, God knows exactly who belongs to Him.

Part I: The Man with the Writer’s Inkhorn 📜

The Command to Mark ✒️

The scene in Ezekiel 9 is tense. The glory of the God of Israel has just lifted from the temple to the threshold—a sign that He is preparing to leave.

God commands the man in linen:

“Go through the midst of the city… and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” —Ezekiel 9:4 (KJV)

Notice the qualification. Who gets the mark? Not the rich. Not the priests. Not the “religious.” The mark is reserved for those who “sigh and cry”—those who are heartbroken over sin. Their grief was the proof of their loyalty.

Judgment Begins at the Sanctuary 🏛️

Once the marking was done, the order was given to the executioners: “Slay utterly old and young… but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary.” (Ezekiel 9:6).

This is a sobering warning. Judgment didn’t start in the pagan streets; it started in the House of God. The elders who were secretly worshipping idols in the dark (Ezekiel 8) were the first to fall.

For more on God’s standard of judgment within His house, read Why Did God Set a Plumb Line in the Midst of His People?.

Part II: The Theology of the Mark (Tav) ✝️

The Shape of the Mark ❌

The Hebrew word for “mark” used here is Tav. It is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Here is where it gets amazing. In modern Hebrew, Tav looks like a block letter (ת). But in Paleo-Hebrew (the script used in Ezekiel’s time), the letter Tav was written as two crossed sticks: X or +.

Literally, the angel was putting a Cross on their foreheads.

Centuries before Jesus, God was already using the sign of the Cross to mark His people for salvation.

• Passover: The blood on the doorpost protected the home.
• Ezekiel: The mark on the forehead protected the person.
• Revelation: The Seal of God protects the saints (Revelation 7:3).

This mark signifies Ownership. It tells the destroying angels: “Do not touch this one. This one belongs to the Lord.”

For more on God’s protection in dangerous times, read He Will Command His Angels Concerning You.

Part III: 3 Common Misconceptions About the Mark 💡

Misconception 1: The mark was visible to humans.

• Correction: There is no record that the people of Jerusalem saw ink on each other’s faces. This was likely a spiritual mark visible to the angels—just as the “Seal of the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13) is invisible to human eyes but blindingly clear to the spirit realm.

Misconception 2: God judges indiscriminately.

• Correction: People often ask, “Why does God kill innocent people?” Ezekiel 9 proves He doesn’t. He goes to extreme lengths to separate the “wheat from the tares” before judgment falls. If you are in Christ, you are marked for mercy, not wrath.

Misconception 3: We should be happy about judgment.

• Correction: The people who were saved were those who “sighed and cried” over sin. They weren’t self-righteous or gloating; they were grieving. A true believer doesn’t enjoy God’s judgment on the world; they mourn the sin that makes judgment necessary.

For more on the reality of spiritual warfare, read Why Did an Angel Bind a Star and Cast It to the Earth?.

Conclusion: Do You Have the Ink? 🌟

Why did the angel mark the faithful? To show that in the midst of national collapse, God knows His individuals.

You might feel outnumbered. You might feel like the world is going crazy. But if your heart is grieved by sin, that is a sign of spiritual life.

The Man in Linen has finished His work. Today, the Holy Spirit does the marking.

“Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” —Ephesians 4:30

Reflection: Does the sin of the world break your heart, or do you find yourself entertained by it?