John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 9:8

"And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy wrath upon Jerusalem?" — Ezekiel 9:8 (ASV)

The Prophet does not preserve the historical order so carefully in this passage. For he says, the Chaldeans had returned. He afterwards adds, while they were striking the city that he fell upon his face. But we know this is quite common among the Hebrews, to relate first what happened later.

Although the Prophet seems to have fallen upon his face a little after their return, that is, as soon as he realized the city was nearly destroyed, yet he says, while they were smiting, he himself was left. They think the word is a compound of the past and future tense, because there seems to be no grammatical reason for the word to be a single, simple form.

Indeed, the word seems to be a compound of the first and third persons, as if he meant to say that he was left alone while all the others were perishing. Yet there is no ambiguity in its meaning, for it signifies that the Chaldeans had attacked them so thoroughly everywhere that they left no one remaining.

Therefore, since they raged so savagely against the entire population, the Prophet felt as if he alone remained, as though God had snatched him from the horrible conflagration by which He intended the whole people to be consumed and to perish.

Now, if anyone should object that not all were slain, the answer is that a slaughter occurred which almost obliterated the identity of the people. The survivors were then like the dead, because exile was worse to them than death itself.

Lastly, we must note that the prophecy extended to the final penalty which ultimately awaits the ungodly, even though God may overlook their sins for a time or merely chastise them moderately.

In short, the slaughter of the city was shown to the Prophet as though all the citizens had utterly perished. And so God wished to show how terrible a destruction threatened the people, and yet no one feared it. Now, when the Prophet fell upon his face, it was a testimony to the human affection with which he instructed the people, even though they were unworthy.

Therefore, he fell upon his face as a mediator, for we know that when the faithful ask for God's pardon, they fall upon their faces. They are also said to pour out their prayers out of humility, because they feel unworthy to direct their prayers and words upward (Psalms 102:1).

Therefore, Ezekiel shows that he interceded for the safety of the people. And truly, God was unwilling for His servants, under the pretense of zeal, to cast off all sense of humanity, so that the slaughter of the people would become like sport or a joke to them. We have seen how anxiously Jeremiah prayed for the people, so that he was eventually entirely overwhelmed with grief; for he wished, as we see in the ninth chapter, that his eyes would flow like fountains (Jeremiah 9:1).

Thus, the Prophets, although they were God’s heralds to proclaim His wrath, had not entirely cast off all care and anxiety; for even when they seemed hostile to the people, they pitied them. And for this reason, Ezekiel fell on his face before God. And truly, that was a grievous trial, which he did not hide; for he laments that a populous city was destroyed, and women and boys slain indiscriminately with men.

But he lays God's own covenant before Him, as if to say that even if the whole world should perish, it was impossible for God to lose His own Church, because He had promised that as long as the sun and moon shone in heaven, there would be a seed of the pious in the world.

“They shall be my faithful witnesses in heaven,” He said (Psalms 89:37–38). The sun and moon remain in their place; therefore, God seemed to have broken His covenant when He destroyed the whole people.

This is the reason why the Prophet lies on his face, as if astonished, and exclaims with vehemence, Alas! O Lord God, wilt thou destroy the remnant of Israel by pouring forth thine anger? That is, while You so pour out Your anger against Jerusalem—for that city remained as a testimony of God’s covenant, as some safety could still be hoped for.

But after it was cut off, although the faithful wrestled with that temptation, the struggle was hard and exhausting. For no one thought that any reminder of God’s covenant could flourish once that city was gone.

For He had chosen His seat and dwelling there, and wished to be worshipped in that one place. Therefore, since the Prophet saw that city destroyed, he broke out into a cry: What then will become of it?

For when You have poured out Your anger against Jerusalem, nothing will remain in the city. From this, it will also be readily understood that God’s covenant was almost obliterated and had lost all its effect.