Question:
"The Shepherd's Rod" teaches that the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is literal. Could it not be a destruction such as is caused by so-called "acts of God"--earthquakes, famines, pestilences, the seven last plagues, or the like?
Answer:
The five agents that destroy the wicked in the church are not forces of nature but men with slaughter weapons in their hands. They are supernatural beings, not natural elements. Hence they cannot fittingly represent earthquakes, famines, or the like.
Neither can they be the seven angels with the seven last plagues, for these angels are seven in number, not five. Furthermore, they do not have "slaughter weapons" in their hands, but vials. Still further, the plagues fall in Babylon (Rev. 18:4), whereas the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 takes place in Judah and Israel (Ezek. 9:9).
Ezekiel 9, whether literal or figurative, effects a separation between the good and the bad, the tares and the wheat, in the church (Judah and Israel), just as the plagues finally do in Babylon (Rev. 18:4). And as the plagues are literal, then how can the slaughter be any less literal?
The angel with the writer's inkhorn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who sigh and cry for the abominations, then the destroying angels are to slay both old and young (Ezek. 9:4-6).
"The church--the Lord's sanctuary," is "the first to feel the stoke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who had stood as guardians, of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their
trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestations of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief and they say, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil. He is too merciful to visit his people in judgment. Thus peace and safety is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs, that would not bark, are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children, all perish together. "--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211.
As in The Great Controversy, p. 656, only an indirect parallel can be drawn between the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 and the falling of the plagues, because a common end (death) befalls both the wicked in the church of Laodicean and the wicked in the churches of Babylon. And only those who say, "We need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days," think the slaughter is not literal.
Question:
How can I prove to a Seventh-day Adventist that the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is literal?
Answer:
First call his attention to the fact that the Lord Himseif was at the threshold of the earthly house while the slaughter took place therein. Carefully study Tract No. 1, The Dardanelles of the Bible, treating of the event as seen by the prophet, and get this point along with kindred ones well fixed in the mind.
Second, acquaint him with Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211, which says: "Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. "
Then approaching the subject from another angle, introduce the Spirit of Prophecy evidence which reveals that when the message of Ezekiel 9 is proclaimed to the church, some will deny its literal fulfillment, saying: "He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. "--Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211. And consequently is written the sad pronouncement: "They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. " --Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 211. To say that the slaughter of Ezekiel 9 is not literal, is to say, "The church will never feel the stroke of God. We need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. " Those who say this, are condemned for denying the plain warning of the literal, miraculous, slaughter described by Ezekiel.
Third, from Isaiah 66:16, 19, 20 show that the slaying mentioned in verse 16 is to be literal, for those that escape are to be literally sent to all the nations, to proclaim His glory and His fame. Furthermore, that this literal slaughter is in the church only, is seen from the fact that those who "escape of them" are God's servants whom subsequently He sends to the Gentiles. If, though, the slaughter is not literal, then for what purpose will it be, and from what will they "escape"? Ezekiel saw them as literally slain (Ezek. 9:8).