Ezekiel 9.4 describes the men who moan and groan over the abominations practiced in their city.

As God purposes to punish Jerusalem for their numerous sins done against Him, He first marks those whom He will spare from death.

What were the criteria for receiving God’s mark of mercy and pardon?

These people prayed in agony and anguish to God over the wickedness of their city. These people grieved at all the evil done to one another and against God’s good commands.

Were God to send death angels to our city today how many of us would be spared? What are the signs in our time demonstrated by the people dedicated to God?

First, they grieve over the sins of this land and cry to God for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Those with a true heart for God pray to God that the immorality, the idolatry and the total disregard for God and His ways would cease among us but instead the Holy Spirit would come and turn all hearts everywhere toward God with love for Him and His commands.

Second, they live a godly life and are not integrated into the evil doings of the culture. Those who are on God’s side live as Jesus did, indifferent to the things people esteem like money, houses and titles but instead practice godliness, holiness and a humility that promotes the goodness of God. Like Jesus, the godly serve people by helping them experience the love of God practically.

Finally, those who are on God’s side work to win others to God’s point-of-view. People disregard God because they are ignorant of God. They have learned in our public schools that there is no God.

But, as Jesus did, the godly seek to save the lost turning them from darkness to light by sharing with them how much God has done for us through Jesus the Christ.