John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 9:5-6

"And to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; slay utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, 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 old men that were before the house." — Ezekiel 9:5-6 (ASV)

Now the Prophet adds that the Chaldeans were sent to destroy the city and its inhabitants, but the order must be observed, because they are ordered to go behind the angel. The grace of God therefore goes before to ensure the safety of all the pious. Then He opened the gate and made a wide and long path for His wrath, after He had removed the faithful from all danger. For this reason it is said, that he went through the city yet after him. And Paul also indicates this when he says, after that your obedience has been fulfilled, then wrath is at hand against all rebels and proud ones (2 Corinthians 10:6).

God therefore first cares for His own; but after He has received them into His keeping and hidden them, as it were, under His wings, then He permits the flame of His wrath to burn against all the wicked. In short, we see that whenever God avenges human wickedness, He regards His Church and treats all who are endowed with true and serious piety as worthy of special care.

Then He orders them to strike, so that their eye should not spare; what God had taken to Himself He transfers to the Chaldeans, because there ought to be an agreement between God and all His servants, even those who are not voluntary agents, but whom He bends in every way by His secret instinct.

Then He expresses more clearly, that they should not spare either old men or young men or boys or girls; as if He said that He must rage against all indiscriminately, without any distinction of age or sex. He here contrasts women with men, because that sex inclines even the most cruel to pity, and we know that when men are slain, women are preserved.

Now girls and boys also seem to hold a better position; and decrepit old men, because nothing is to be feared from them, are preserved safe. But God wishes the Chaldeans to attack the whole city in such a way that they respect neither age nor sex. Meanwhile He excepts the faithful of whom He had spoken: upon whomever the mark shall be, do not approach him. Here it is asked: Were all the good preserved free from slaughter? For we know that Jeremiah was drawn into Egypt, for whom Chaldea would have been a preferable place of banishment.

Daniel and his companions had already been snatched away before him; many were faithful in that multitude. On the other hand, we see many despisers of God either escaped or were left in the land, as Nebuchadnezzar wished the dregs of the people to remain there.

But we saw what sort of people they were in Jeremiah. It follows, therefore, that God neither spared all the elect nor made a difference because of the mark, since the wicked obtained safety as well as the faithful (Jeremiah 39:10; Jeremiah 43:2, 3, 4; Jeremiah 44:15, 16). We must observe, however, that although God apparently afflicts His people with the ungodly, they are still so separated that nothing happens which does not tend to the safety of the righteous.

Therefore, when God forbids the Chaldeans to approach them, He does not mean for them to be free from all injury or disadvantage, but He promises that they will be so separated from the ungodly that they will acknowledge by sure experience that God was never forgetful of His faith and promise.

Now, therefore, we see how that difficulty must be solved: God does not spare His own in such a way as to prevent the exercise of their faith and patience, yet He does spare them so that no destruction happens to them, while He is always their protector. But when He seems to give license to the impious, He grants this for their destruction, because they are rendered more and more inexcusable.

And daily experience teaches us this. For we see that the very best are so afflicted that God’s judgment begins with them. Meanwhile, we see that many of the reprobate exult with joy, even when they wantonly rage against God. But God cares for His own as if they had been sealed and separates them from the ungodly; however, their own destruction awaits the ungodly, and they are already held within its grasp, although it is not yet perceptible to the eye.

It follows, begin at My sanctuary. By the word “sanctuary,” the priests and Levites are undoubtedly intended, and their fault was clearly greater. There was indeed a small number who worshipped God purely and stood firm in their duty, but the greater part had revolted from the worship of God.

Hence this passage ought to be understood as referring to those impious priests who had despised God and His servants. Nor is it surprising that God’s wrath should begin with them. For they sin doubly, because if any private individual falls away, his example is not as injurious as that of the eminent, who thus draw all people into the same ruin.

For we know that the eyes of the multitude are turned toward their superiors. Since, therefore, the priests sinned more severely than all the rest, it is not surprising that God should punish them in the first place. Those who interpret this sentence generally, as if God ordered the Chaldeans to begin with His Church, diminish the Prophet's meaning too much.

For this is not a comparison between the Church of God and profane nations, but God rather compares the ministers of His temple with the people in general. A clearer explanation follows directly after: that the Chaldeans began with the men, the elders who were before the house; that is, who were set over the temple.