Ezekiel 9:4 Cannot be logically interpreted outside of “THE EVENT.”

   To further realize that we need to study in order to recognize the abominations that surround us, and to know how to avoid them, I shall read from Testimonies to Ministers, pg. 445:

A Search as the name “Ezekiel” is abbreviated to “Ezek.” with chp. 9

   "This sealing of the servants of God [the 144,000] is the same that was shown to Ezekiel in vision.  John also had been a witness of this most startling revelation."

Ezek. 9:4-6—"And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, 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.  And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.  Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house."

   WHEN the DAY approaches for THIS scripture to be fulfilled, then its truth must be the "meat in due season" for the people at that time.  Nothing else can take its place.  And so we see that as Nineveh was spared by the message to it, so the Laodiceans can only be saved by the "Message to the Laodiceans."

   From the following we see that the message to the Laodiceans is to bear fruit, that many will learn to choose the good and to refuse the evil:—2TG20:26 [SABBATH, DECEMBER 27, 1947]

Does the interpretation of the timing of Ezek. 9:4 contain future tense language in 1947? Then what is the implication of that fact in connection with the rest of the chapter?

Most verses of Ezekiel 9 interpreted in series:

1TG3:12 [Aug. 17, 1946] …Ezekiel nine pictures the Judgment of the Living in the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17)—the sealing of the saints 👉 AND 👈 the destruction of the wicked in the church.

1TG21:14, 15 [Dec. 28, 1946] but especially p. 15.4 “The angels are thus to take care of both the wheat and the tares.”

1TG52:15, 16 [Aug. 2, 1947] but especially p. 16.3, 4

“…puts this foreseen cleansing still in the future…” [16.3]
“…'Go ye after him through the city, and smite…” [16.4]

2TG19:11 [Dec. 20, 1947] Here there is no special interpretation other than what is already known.

2TG30:17.1 [Mar. 6, 1948] “You will receive the mark of deliverance only if you sigh and cry against all these abominations.  Ezek. 9:4-6.”

2TG42:32 [Nov. 27, 1948] “Besides this vivid illustration, Inspiration, through the prophet Daniel reveals that the Sanctuary is to be cleansed not only from sinners, but from doctrinal error, too…” Here there is no special interpretation other than what is already known.

2TG43:19-20 [Jan. 1, 1949] Here there is no special interpretation other than what is already known.

 

In the Symbolic Code:

   As the five wise virgins are the 144,000 (Rev. 14:4), we see that the cry for them to awake is the same as Isa. 52:1: which makes the time of the cry the same as "the sealing time of the 144,000" (3 T 266), and their meeting the bridegroom the same as Ezek. 9. Then after the close of probation and after the pouring of the plagues, He will come and take His own, not to witness the marriage but to eat the marriage supper after the ceremony is performed.—1SC10.9.12 [July 15, 1934]

   "The seal of the living God," however, by which the 144,000 are sealed (Rev. 7:2), is a special seal, being the same as "the mark" of Ezekiel 9.  (See Testimonies to Ministers, p. 445; Testimonies, Vol. 3, p. 267; Id., Vol. 5, p. 211.)  Demanding one's sighing and crying over the abominations not only in himself but also in the church (Ezek. 9:4), it is placed upon him just before the Lord slays the wicked in the church, so that the angels may pass over them.  It is the antitypical Passover seal—the blood on the door post today.  "The angel is to place a mark upon the forehead of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel will follow, to slay utterly both old and young."—Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 505.—7SC7-12:21.5 [Jan.-Jun., 1941]

8SC1-12:18.9 “The angel with the writer's inkhorn is to place a mark upon the forehead of all who sigh and cry for the abominations, then the destroying angels are to slay both old and young (Ezek. 9:4-6).” This can not show that the sealing takes place before the half an hour of silence.

2An:43.3 [June, 1944] is the same as above.

8JL:8.4 [1954] “Ever remember that JUDGMENT begins at the sanctuary.  Read Ezek. 9:2-7 and 1 Pet. 4:17.”

Then a Search for the whole name “Ezekiel” unabbreviated with chp. 9

Even though there are references that place the sealing/marking of Ezekiel 9 first then the slaughter following this does not, however, divide a part of this prophecy assigned prior to the half an hour silence and the other part during the half an hour of silence. It does not divide it into two separate events

Then the sealing of the 144,000 is the same as Ezekiel 9, and the marking by the man with the writer's inkhorn is the seal.  As soon as the marking is done, "the five men with the slaughter weapons go after him and slay both old and young, both maids and little children, and women.  And they began at the ancient men which were before the house."—1SR:46.3 [Jun., 1930]

The previous paragraph contains an important detail:

“This prophet must come before Ezekiel 9 is fulfilled,…”—1SR:46.2

The "day of vengeance" is the same as in Ezekiel 9; Isaiah 63; and Isaiah 61…—1SR:154.2

“The closing verses of Matt. 24 apply to the church at the present time and meet their fulfillment in the event of Ezekiel 9.”—1SC8:10.7 [Feb. 15, 1935]

Question: "Will those who are now accepting the S.D.A. faith during this sealing time be among the 144,000, or fall in the slaughter of Ezekiel 9?"

   Answer: All that are found members of the church at the fulfillment of Ezekiel Nine will either receive the seal and be of the 144,000, or else be left without and fall under the "slaughter weapons" of the "five men." Only those who "sigh and cry for all the abominations" in the church will escape from the destruction.—1SC11,12:9.6, 7 [May–June, 1935]