5 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! 6 Kill them all-old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. 7 "Defile the Temple!" the Lord commanded. "Fill its courtyards with corpses. Go!" So they went and began killing throughout the city. 8 While they were out killing, I was all alone. I fell face down on the ground and cried out, "OÂ Sovereign Lord ! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?" 9 Then he said to me, "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, 'The Lord doesn't see it! The Lord has abandoned the land!' 10 So I will not spare them or have any pity on them. I will fully repay them for all they have done." 11 Then the man in linen clothing, who carried the writer's case, reported back and said, "I have done as you commanded."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 9:5-11
Commentary on Ezekiel 9:5-11
(Read Ezekiel 9:5-11)
The slaughter must begin at the sanctuary, that all may see and know that the Lord hates sin most in those nearest to him. He who was appointed to protect, reported the matter. Christ is faithful to the trust reposed in him. Is he commanded by his Father to secure eternal life to the chosen remnant? He says, Of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none. If others perish, and we are saved, we must ascribe the difference wholly to the mercy of our God, for we too have deserved wrath. Let us still continue to plead in behalf of others. But where the Lord shows no mercy he does no injustice; he only recompenses men's ways.