Ezekiel 5

1-17 A Sword against Jerusalem

• The LORD tells Ezekiel to shave his head and his beard, weigh the hair and divide it into three parts.
• He is to take a third of the hair and burn it inside his city replica, strike a third of it with a sword, and scatter the rest in the wind, where the LORD will take a sword to them.
• From these Ezekiel is to take a few and bind them in the skirts of his robe and throw some into the fire.
• It is a symbol of what God will do to his own people in Jerusalem because of their defiance, their idolatry, their abominations.
• One third will be destroyed by famine or pestilence, one third by the sword, one third scattered, after which the LORD will unsheathe the sword.
• The LORD’s anger will spend itself in fury and jealousy, and Jerusalem will become an object of mocking, warning, and horror, as famine, wild animals, pestilence and bloodshed come upon them.

Note: Seems like harsh punishments for a father to inflict on his own children, doesn’t it? But God has been warning his people for a long time that if they defy him, they will lose his protection. And this is what will happen to Jerusalem, as other nations (Babylon, in this case), do whatever they want to Jerusalem. For an example of just how far from God Israel had gone, read 2 Kings 21:1-1-9, where Manasseh not only worships idols, but sets them up in God’s temple. I would call that “in-your-face,” deliberate defiance.