Why Sigh and Cry?

Soldiers seemed to be everywhere, killing indiscriminately and destroying the city. Jerusalem was in ruins. Even the temple was on fire. Yet there were survivors.

Through a vision before the destruction, God had shown the prophet Ezekiel that He would spare some people—that He would “put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within” the city (Ezekiel 9:4).

Why did they sigh and cry? What can we learn from this vision?

The men who sigh and cry

The verse that mentions “the men who sigh and cry” is included within a four-chapter description of God’s judgment on Jerusalem. The passage begins with Ezekiel 8 and concludes with chapter 11.

This vision is clearly dated (Ezekiel 8:1), and by comparing historical records, scholars confidently place it in the year 592 B.C. That was six years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586.

Ezekiel was from a priestly family in Jerusalem, but he had been taken into captivity with King Jehoiachin in an exile a few years earlier (Ezekiel 1:1-3). His visions are dated from that initial captivity.

Abominations and glory

The passage begins with Ezekiel being taken in vision to Jerusalem (Ezekiel 8:2-3). Of significance is the use of a couple of special words in the passage, and these words help us understand what was happening.

The first word is abominations (always plural in this vision). The word is used nine times in the passage, but the bulk of the references are in chapter 8. The Hebrew word is tôʿēḇâ, which refers to something “loathsome” or “detestable.”

“When used with reference to God,” according to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, “the word describes [things] that are ‘detestable’ to Him because they are contrary to His nature.” In Ezekiel, there is also the concept of “repeated failures” to obey God.

The second term is glory, from the Hebrew kāḇôḏ. It appears eight times in this particular vision of Ezekiel’s. The word literally means “heaviness,” but scriptural use is always figurative. As such, the word connotes the power and authority of the God of Israel. It also signifies His presence.

The departure of God

What Ezekiel saw and described in chapter 8, according to Expositor’s Bible Commentary, was “the contrast between God’s glory in the sanctuary (vv. 2-3) and the extreme moral and spiritual corruption of the nation’s leadership” (Vol. 6, p. 781).

Throughout the passage, God directed His prophet’s attention to progressively worse abominations (Ezekiel 8:6, 9, 13, 15, 17; 9:4; 11:18, 21). At the same time, Ezekiel’s vision portrays God’s glory departing from the temple and from Jerusalem.

Of course, God has never been contained by the temple or any physical thing (1 Kings 8:27). But He had placed His name on the temple (verse 29), and now He said they were sinning “to make Me go far away from My sanctuary” (Ezekiel 8:6). It seems He had come to show Ezekiel what was occurring (verse 4), and then He would leave the people to their fate.

This departure occurred in stages (Ezekiel 8:4; 9:3; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23). At first the glory of God was in the inner court, but by the end of the four-chapter vision, it had left the temple and Jerusalem altogether. The vile behavior of the people was driving God away.

This is the context in which we can understand those few who weren’t committing abominable acts. Not only did they refrain from these abominations, but they were known to “sigh and cry” over this behavior among their neighbors.

What it really means to “sigh and cry”

The English words sigh and cry can have a variety of connotations, so let’s focus in on what this phrase means and doesn’t mean.

The English word sigh often denotes weariness, or even relief, but that is not what is meant by the Hebrew 'ānaḥ. The English word cry is generally associated with pain or distress, but that is not exactly the sense of 'ānaq, the Hebrew word.

Instead, both 'ānaḥ and 'ānaq are associated with grief or lamentation. These words portray a deep sense of loss and emotional distress, and in Ezekiel, that distress is the result of the pervasive abominations in the temple, in the city and throughout the land.

These “men who sigh and cry” in the vision were doing so because they were deeply troubled by the same wickedness and sins that are loathsome to God. Like God, they would have been troubled by the pain their countrymen had caused, for themselves as well as for others.

The character of these men reflected God’s own character. For that reason, the same things that were “detestable” to God “because they are contrary to His nature” were detestable to them because they were contrary to their character.

And that is precisely why God set them apart to be delivered. Among the destroying angels was another angel with a different task. He was to “put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry” (Ezekiel 9:4).

Receiving the mark

Many Bible students reading this passage undoubtedly think of the infamous mark of the beast associated with the end times (Revelation 13:16-18). That mark is not from God, and it is not a mark true believers will accept.

The mark in Ezekiel, however, is from God. Like the mark of the beast, it sets men apart, but unlike the mark of the beast, it sets them apart for deliverance. Also, this mark in Ezekiel is not the only one in Scripture shown to be a mark God gives to His people.

In the end times God will commission four angels to seal “the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Revelation 7:1-3; 9:4; 14:1). This is also reminiscent of how in Egypt, prior to the Exodus, the faithful were marked for deliverance by putting the blood of lambs on their lintels and doorposts (Exodus 12:7, 22-23).

The mark in Ezekiel ties in with another theme of the passage. Expositor’s points out that “the word for ‘mark’ is the Hebrew letter תָּו (tāw), the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet” (Vol. 6, p. 787).

As the last letter of the alphabet, the mark sets these “men who sigh and cry” apart as the remnant of God’s people. The concept of a remnant is an important one in the Old Testament, including the book of Ezekiel. Though God punishes His people, He always saves a remnant.

State of the modern world

“The men who sigh and cry” in Ezekiel’s vision did so in a time of blatant idolatry (Ezekiel 8), and also in a time of widespread violence (“bloodshed”) and “perversity” (Ezekiel 9:9). Our modern world is in a similar state today.

Here is a small sample of disturbing modern trends:

• There are 73 million induced abortions performed globally every year.
• Online fraud worldwide is projected to surpass $100 billion by 2029, up from $44 billion in 2024.
• Half of the world’s population now living is projected to experience some sort of mental health issue in their lifetime.
• From 2020 to 2024 conflict levels have almost doubled—from 104,371 conflict events to nearly 200,000 (acleddata.com/conflict-index).

One alarming trend is the dramatic increase in human trafficking. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex.”

The sighing and crying rose from hearts in line with God’s own heart. What about you? Is God’s will at the core of your heart? Do you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself? What’s truly heart-wrenching is that “traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals—profiting from their plight.” These are people without the resources to protect themselves from the greedy and often powerful forces behind the trafficking rings.

The United Nations estimates that human trafficking saw more than a fourfold increase between 2003 and 2022.

Anyone who reads or watches world news is aware of much of the trouble facing this generation, from war to inflation, and from poverty to famine. This world is broken.

Unable to care anymore

While these disturbing trends grow, the general population is losing its ability to care. Ironically, the more we see and hear about suffering, the harder it is for us to care about the pain of fellow humans.

The “bombardment of negative news and stressful videos shared on social media sites” is a root cause, according to a 2024 issue of Psychology Today. This news “gives rise to the desensitization effect.”

The article continues, defining desensitization “as decreased emotional, cognitive, or behavioural response to events after repeated exposure.”

Social media, of course, is not the only source of unsettling news. Television provides a consistent diet of the same, as do our movies and music. All of it desensitizes us.

That is a problem, but so are the political movements designed to change the public attitude toward conduct once understood to be sinful. The push for broad acceptance of homosexuality and transgender rights, for example, is desensitizing us to biblical values.

That is the situation the apostle Paul addressed in a letter to the church at Rome. After mentioning these “vile passions” (Romans 1:26-27), Paul explained that not only did individuals commit these abominations, but they “also approve of those who practice them” (verse 32).

The apostle Peter wrote about the same attitudes being prevalent “in the last days” (2 Peter 3:3). Paul told Timothy that people then “will be lovers of themselves” but “unloving” toward others (2 Timothy 3:1-3). The King James Version renders “unloving” as “without natural affection”—we might say, desensitized.

Should you sigh and cry?

When we stop to look at the condition of the world today, we should care. After all, God’s people have always been commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18). Jesus expanded the command to include even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44).

The people known to sigh and cry in Ezekiel’s vision did so because they saw appalling instances of idolatry, which is a sin against God, and rampant violence and perversions, which are sins against people. These were assaults on God’s two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).

The sighing and crying rose from hearts in line with God’s own heart. What about you? Is God’s will at the core of your heart? Do you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself?

It’s easy to argue that most of us do not have any power to change what is happening and make the world a better place. That is true, but it was also true for the men in Ezekiel’s vision. They couldn’t change what was happening, but still they were grieved by it.

To sigh and cry is just the beginning

We may not have power to change the world now, but if we truly sigh and cry—if we grieve over the pain in the world and mourn the lack of spiritual understanding—then there are positive actions we can take.

First, we can decide to help the people we can reach. This may mean nothing more than offering an encouraging word or taking time to listen to someone who needs to be heard. It might mean giving someone a ride or volunteering time to serve others.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, we can commit ourselves to praying for God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:10). We don’t have the power to change the world, but God does.

When we pray for God’s Kingdom, we aren’t suggesting something to God that He hasn’t planned. Instead, we are letting Him know that we are “all in” regarding His will and His timetable.

And if we do these things, our mourning for today’s abominations will lead to our rejoicing at God’s coming glory.