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reassigned

Ezekiel 10:1-2 (JDV)

Ezekiel 10:1 Then I looked, and noticed above the expanse over the heads of the cherubs was something like a throne with the appearance of lapis lazuli.
Ezekiel 10:2 Yahveh spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubs. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubs and scatter them over the city.” So he went in as I watched.

reassigned

For the past few days, we have been looking at a vision about a man with a clipboard. He continues to be featured in this vision as it continues from Ezekiel 9. But his purpose has changed. Whereas he was last seen writing peoples’ names down who will be spared from the immanent destruction of Jerusalem, now that time is finished. He has put down his clipboard and is now instructed to pick up some hot coals and scatter them over the city.

Ellicot writes “Hitherto, in Ezekiel 9, he has been employed only in a work of mercy and protection. It is not without significance that now the same person is made the agent of judgment. As God’s love is turned to wrath by man’s impenitence, and as His blessings given to man become curses by their abuse, so those employed by Him as the instruments of His loving-kindness become the very executioners of his “fury.”” (Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers).

Today, God makes his angels available to us as “ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14 NET). But that ministry to human beings is a temporary assignment. One day, the list will be complete, and the protecting angels will be reassigned. Don’t count on a guardian angel to protect you when hell’s flames are ready to destroy. Those flames cannot be extinguished, even by an angel.

LORD, give us the wisdom to seek your grace while it is available in Christ.