Ezekiel 9 is a short, vivid chapter in which God sends six executioners through Jerusalem, with one man in linen marking the people who grieve over the city’s sin. These questions are for small groups, Sunday classes and personal study. Use them to move from what the text says, to what it means, to how it should change the way you live.
Ezekiel 9 at a Glance
The chapter opens with a loud summons to the city’s officers, each carrying a destroying weapon. Six men arrive from the north gate, and a seventh figure dressed in linen carries a writer’s inkhorn. The glory of God rises from the cherub over the temple threshold, and the LORD gives the linen-clad man a task: pass through Jerusalem and mark the foreheads of those who sigh and cry over its abominations.
The rest of the chapter follows the mark. The six men are told to strike the city without pity, but to spare anyone bearing the mark, and they begin at the sanctuary. Ezekiel falls on his face and pleads for the remnant, and God answers that the guilt of Israel and Judah is great. The chapter closes with the linen-clad man reporting that he has done as he was commanded.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask the group to point to the exact words in the text, and keep the discussion anchored to what is written rather than what the group already believes about judgment.
Ezekiel 9:1-2
1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, each man with his destroying weapon in his hand.” 2 Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand. One man in the middle of them was clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar.
(WEB)
Read this opening passage to set the scene for the whole session. It introduces the summons, the six men and the linen-clad figure, so the group has the cast of characters clearly in mind before the discussion begins.
Ezekiel 9:3-4
3 The glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side. 4 The LORD said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
(WEB)
This passage moves the glory of God and gives the instruction to mark the faithful. Reading it aloud helps the group hear the pivotal moment where God’s presence withdraws and the marking begins.
Ezekiel 9:5-6
5 To the others he said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him, and strike. Don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity. 6 Kill utterly the old man, the young man, the virgin, little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” Then they began at the old men who were before the house.
(WEB)
These verses hold the hardest content in the chapter, and reading them slowly lets the group feel their weight. Pause after the reading and invite honest reactions before moving to interpretation.
Ezekiel 9:8
While they were killing, and I was left, I fell on my face, and cried, and said, “Ah Lord the LORD! Will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
(WEB)
Ezekiel’s plea is the emotional center of the chapter. Read it to show the prophet’s grief for his people, which gives the group a human entry point into the text’s difficult material.
Ezekiel 9:9-10
9 Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion; for they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD doesn’t see.’ 10 As for me also, my eye won’t spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head.”
(WEB)
God’s answer names the guilt of the nation and the people’s false belief that he does not see. Reading these verses aloud helps the group connect the chapter’s judgment to the specific sins it describes.
Memory Verse for Ezekiel 9
Ezekiel 9:4
The LORD said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
(WEB)
This verse holds the chapter’s central picture of God marking those who sigh and cry over sin. Memorizing it gives the group a short phrase to recall whenever they are tempted to grow numb to wrongdoing or to think God is unaware.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you aware that you see everything, even when our world seems to say otherwise. Thank you that you are holy and just, and that your justice is never careless or cruel. Teach us to grieve over sin the way the faithful did in this chapter, not with despair, but with honest sorrow that leads to prayer. Make us people who trust your character when we cannot understand your ways, and who stand for what is right in our homes and our church. Help us to take one step this week toward the faithfulness you ask of us. Amen.
