By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Ezekiel
5
Ezekiel
5:5-6
“Thus
says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the
center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And
she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the
nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her;
for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes.
(ESV)
This may come as a
shock to some younger people reading this post, but there was a time in history
when there was no television, internet, or social media. During these times in
history, messengers delivered news using either the written or spoken word. As
a watchman, Ezekiel needed to deliver the words of warning he received from the
Lord to the people of Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel by the spoken or written
word, with his words often ignored. In Ezekiel
5, the Lord instructs Ezekiel to perform the unusual act of shaving his
head with a sword to provide a visual image of what the people faced because of
their rebellion. God is showing His rebellious people mercy and grace, giving
them another opportunity to repent and turn from their rebellion. The question
is, will they listen?
As
a watchman, Ezekiel must warn God’s people of impending doom as instructed by
the Lord. In Ezekiel
5:1-4, Ezekiel receives instructions from the Lord that will visually
illustrate what is about to occur in Jerusalem. He is to take a sharp sword,
using it as a barber’s razor, shave his head and beard, and then take a scale
and divide the hair into three parts (Ezekiel
5:1). Ezekiel is to take one-third of the hair and burn it in the fire in
the middle of the city after the siege of Jerusalem has ended. He is to take
the second third of the hair and strike it with the sword all around the city. Ezekiel
is to take the last third of the hair and scatter it to the wind with the Lord
unsheathing the sword after them (Ezekiel
5:2). Ezekiel is then to take a small portion of the hair and bind it in
the skirts of his robe with another portion burned in the fire with this fire
coming out into all the house of Israel (Ezekiel
5:3-4).
The symbolism of Ezekiel’s
actions involves Jerusalem which God has set in the center of the nations (Ezekiel
5:5). Jerusalem is guilty of rebellion against the Lord and His statutes to
a greater extent than the nations surrounding it, even rebelling against the rules
of the surrounding nations, and why the Lord is against them (Ezekiel
5:6-8). The Lord is about to do something unthinkable with fathers eating
their sons and sons eating their fathers with any survivors scattered to the
wind (Ezekiel
5:9-10). Jerusalem’s defilement of God’s sanctuary means God will not spare
them or show them pity (Ezekiel
5:11). The visual image of Ezekiel’s actions shows what is about to happen
with a third dying of pestilence and famine, a third dying by the sword, and a
third scattered by the wind with the unsheathed sword of the Lord following
them (Ezekiel
5:12).
The anger and fury of the
Lord against Jerusalem is to show them he is the Lord and to show the nations
surrounding them that He is Lord by making Jerusalem a reproach, taunt, warning,
and horror to them (Ezekiel
5:13-15). Ezekiel warns Jerusalem of coming arrows of famine for
destruction by cutting off Jerusalem’s supply of bread (Ezekiel
5:16). The Lord will send famine and wild beasts against them that will rob
them of their children along with pestilence and blood passing through them and
with the sword coming upon them (Ezekiel
5:17). The Lord has spoken, and the watchman Ezekiel has obediently warned
them.
Jerusalem faces
destruction due to their desecration of the Temple with the worship of other
gods (Ezekiel
5:11). To emphasize the magnitude of the coming destruction, God instructs
Ezekiel to shave off his hair and beard not with a razor but with a sharp sword
(Ezekiel
5:1). The third of his hair burned in the fire after the end of the siege
illustrates the coming destruction of a third of Jerusalem by pestilence or
disease, brought about by the siege (Ezekiel
5:2, 12). The third of Ezekiel’s hair that he takes and strikes with the
sword all around the city illustrates the third of Jerusalem dying by the sword
(Ezekiel
5:2, 12). The third of Ezekiel’s hair scattered to the wind illustrates the
third of Jerusalem scattered to other nations as the sword comes after them (Ezekiel
5:2, 12). The Lord provides this warning to the people of Jerusalem, so
they have an opportunity to repent but, unfortunately, they did not listen with
Jerusalem destroyed as foretold by Ezekiel (2
Chronicles 36:17-21).
The book of Revelation
foretells the events of the last days, but Revelation
2-3 is letters to seven churches. The Lord has nothing good to say about the
seventh of these churches, the Church Laodicea with God even saying the Church
made him sick to his stomach (Revelation
3:15-16). The main contention of God with this Church is the prideful
boasting of their riches, prosperity, and needing nothing when the truth is
they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation
3:17). In Revelation
3:20, a verse often used to illustrate the Lord standing at the door of
one’s heart asking to come in, the image is a door closed by the Church due to
their belief they need nothing with the Lord asking to come in.
In many Churches, pastors
replace the truth of humanity’s need for a savior because of their sin with a
message that tickles the ears of congregants with promises of wealth and
prosperity by faith in God (2
Timothy 4:3). While God does promise to meet our needs according to His
riches in glory (Philippians
4:19), God does not promise to give us everything we want. King David
desperately wanted to build a Temple for God but was forbidden by God to do so.
(1
Chronicles 22:6-8). If God promises to give us all we want, why did Solomon
and not David build the temple? The truth is that God promises to give us our needs
or daily bread as stated in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew
6:11). The greatest need of humanity is Salvation from sin and a restored
relationship with God provided by the grace of God (Ephesians
2:8-9). If you have never prayed to receive forgiveness from sin and restore
a relationship with God, I invite you to do so now by praying with me now,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
May God challenge,
convict, and bless everyone reading this post.
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