slay utterly the old man, the young man and the maiden, and little children and woman : but come not near any man upon whom is the mark ; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they begin at the ancient man which man before the house. Richard G. Moulton, M.A (CAMB), PH.D. (PENN.), The Modern Reader’s bible, (The Michigan Company, 1946), 617 . “Go through the midst of the city in quest of them, discover them, and set a mark upon their foreheads.” And work of grace in the soul is to God a mark upon the forehead, which he will acknowledge as his mark, by which he knows his mourners, will book their sighs and bottle their tears. Rev. Leslie F. Church, Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S, New One Volume Edition Commentary On The Whole Bible By Matthew Henry (Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), 1043 . “Come not near any man upon whom is the mark; do not so much as threaten or frighten any of them.” Though judgment begins at the house of God, ye it shall not end there. Ibid., 1044 . The Mark upon the Forehead. I. The Penitent are to have a mark upon their foreheads. “The men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations.” Are to be marked on the forehead by the man with the ink-horn. God looks for confession of sin and repentance. He does not expect primitive innocence, because we have all lost that fair grace of Eden; but he desires to see our admission of guilt and our sorrow for sin. The penitent publican is accepted (Luke xviii. 13). The woman who washed Christ’s feed her tears is forgiven (Luke vii. 37-48). Such a condition involves certain experience. 1. A recognition of the fact of guild. 2. A sense of sorrow for sin. 3. These men “sigh.” It is worse to admit guild and to pride ourselves in it, or regard it with indifference, making light of sin, than to be ignorant of its enormity. 3. A public confession. These men “men.” They are known among their companions of penitents. Such are the men whom God marks. The Penitent are to be saved by Mark on they foreheads. When the slayers go about with their swords they are to be spare all who have the mark. The use of this ink-mark on the forehead is like the of blood smeared on the door posts of the Hebrews on the night when the destroying angel went about to slay the firstborn of Egypt. God does not punish indiscriminately. In the midst of wrath he remembers mercy. There is way of escape from divine vengeance. When we repent of our sin he is ready and save. 1. The mark is set by a divine command. The penitent do not mark themselves, nor do they mark one another. H. D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, EZEKIEL (WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1950) , 164. Taw, “mark” (Eze 9:4,6). In Ezekiel’s vision of the destruction of the wicket, the mark to be set upon the forehead of the righteous, at Jeh’s command, was, as in the case of the blood sprinkled on the door posts of the Israelites (Ex 12 22.23), for their protection. As the servant of God (Rev 7:2,3) the elect were kept from harm by being scaled with the seal of the living God in their foreheads, so the man clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side, was told to mark upon their foreheads those whom God would save from judgment by His sheltering grace. Taw also appears (Job 31 35) for the attesting mark made to a document (RV “signature,” M “mark”). The letter “taw” in the phoen alphabet and on the coins of the Maccabees had the form of a cross (T). in oriental synods it was used as a signature by bishops who could not write. The cross, as a sign of ownership, was burnt upon the necks or thighs of horses and camels. It may have been the “mark” set upon the forehead of the righteous in Ezekiel’s vision. JAMES ORR, M.A., D.D., THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPEDIA (WM. B. EERDMANS PIBLISHING CO., 1939, 1986 . Mark. The rendering of several Hebrew and Greek words with different shades of meaning: (1) the Hebrew. Oth, a distinguishing mark or sign, such as a placed on Cain (Gen 4:15; cf. Ex 13:16); (2) the Hebrew. Matarah and matara’, a mark or target at which one shoots (1 Sa 20:20; Job 16:12 [RSV “target”]; Lam 3:12); (3) the Hebrew. Miphga’, a target at which one strikes (Job 7:20); (4) the Hebrew. Taw, the last letter of the Hebrew. Alphabet, in pre-exeillic Hebrew written like a cross (+see fig. 531), Used as a distinguishing mark or brand (Eze 9:4,6), but also by illiterate people to sign a document in lieu of a signature (cf. job 31:35, rendered “signature” in the KJV); SIEGFRIED H. HORN, Ph.D, SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST BIBLE DICTIONARY (REVIEW AND HERALD: PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION WASHINGTON , D.C, 1960, 685. A vision of slaughter. Grief and vexation at the sacrilege in the temple now give way to mystic vision. Yahweh summons 7 heavenly messengers. On of them, a scribe with a writing case, marks the foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations to protect them from the death to be administered by the other 6 angels. The mark is lit. a letter tau, which in the older script (see “Writing in the Biblical Times,” pp. 1201-08) had the form of a cross. As today, such a mark was some-times used a signature and is so translated in Job 31:35. Here it represents God’s signature (cf. Rev. 7:2-3; 14:1). Judgment begins in the temple, for those closest to God are the most accountable (cf. I pet. 4:17). The idea of individual responsibility and individual punishment in this vision is contradicted by the declaration in vss. 9-10 that none will be spared (cf. 7:4, 9; 8:18). These displaced vss. Evidently should follow 11:13 (see comment), as indicated by their poetic form and by their intro. In vs. 8, which is an adaptation of 11:13b—a literary echo characteristic of the late editors responsible for the rearrangement (see above on 1:4-28b). Nama penulis, THE INTERPRETER’S ONE – VOLUME COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE (THE PARTHENENON PRESS, 1971), 418. Begin at my sanctuary. In its primary application this decree mark the close of Jerusalem’s probation. God had exhausted His resources in appealing to rebellious Israel. His restraining power would be remove from the invading Chaldeans. Mercilessly their armies would execute the sentence to “slay utterly old and young.” They would begin at the sanctuary, where the gross sins of the people had been concentrated. These scenes will be re-enacted in the hast days. Judgment, then, too, begins at the “house of God” (I peter 4:17), with those to whom God has given great light and who have stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, but who have betrayed their trust (see 5T 211). These unfaithful shepherds receive first the abuse that will be heaped upon them by those who have been deceived by their guile (EG 282). Later, they perish in the general destruction that precedes and accompanies the second coming of Christ (see Rev. 15-19). Nama penulis: SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISH – BIBLE COMMENTARY (REVIEW AND HERALD: PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION,
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