[3] Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. [4] And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” [5] And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. [6] Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house. [7] Then he said to them, “Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out.” So they went out and struck in the city. [8] And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, “Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
[9] Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ [10] As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
[11] And behold, the man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded me.”
(Ezekiel 9 ESV)
This is the Lord's response to that which he hates...his people worshipping something other than him alone.
Ezekiel heard a loud voice in his ear saying " “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” Upon hearing that he saw 6 executioners approach with their weapon at the ready.
He saw a man clothed in linen with a writing case in his hand with. They stopped beside the bronze altar.
The Lord God gave a charge to the man in linen "Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
To the executioners he gave this charge: “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.”
And so the cleansing began.
When they went it was too much for Ezekiel. He bowed down before the Lord God crying out "Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
Can you imagine how hard that must have been for Ezekiel. To know the sins of his people (since God pointed them out to him), and to see them slain for their iniquities, for choosing to focus on things other than God as their point of worship. To see the defilement in the temple (God's holy place). it's no wonder that he cried out to God, I would too if I were in the same boat.
God was clear with Ezekiel though. “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land, and the LORD does not see.’ As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.”
God couldn't have pity. The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah had become too great to bear. Something needed to be done and so God acted. He wouldn't pity them or spare them, their deeds needed to fall upon their heads.
After God said this, the man in linen came back telling the Lord God "I have done as you commanded me."
This is hope you know. God wouldn't have sent the man in linen if there weren't people who sorrowed over what Israel and Judah were doing. Even when all seems lost..there is hope. Some will be spared.
God, in his mercy, does remember those who cling to him.