Chapter 5

I. Ezekiel is instructed to shave his head and beard to signify the manner of Judahs Destruction (5:1-4): A. And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword; as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. And thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. And of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel (5:1-4). 1. After the 430 days are complete, Ezekiel is commanded to cut his hair off his head and beard and separate it into thirds using a scale. a). One third of the hair is to be burned in the fire and is symbolical of the way Jerusalem would fall after the siege (cf. II Kings 25:8-9). b). The second third of the cut hair was to be chopped up with a sword illustrating the manner in which many in Jerusalem would loose their lives. c). The third part of the hair was to be cast into the wind and seems to indicate that some would die of other causes such as disease and famine. Still others were to be taken captives to Babylon. 2. Hair was a sign of consecration of a priest Lev 21:4-5 (But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.) a). It was the symbol of a Nazarene vow; b). In Jer. 41 it was a sign of catastrophe; c). From Job 1, Isa. 22, and Jer. 7, it was a sign of mourning. 3. Shaving ones head and beard signified mourning, humiliation, and repentance. God told Ezekiel to shave his head and beard and then to divide the hair into three parts. Along with verbal prophecies, God asked Ezekiel to use dramatic visual images to command the peoples attention and to burn an indelible impression on their minds. 4. It is interesting that throughout the book of Jeremiah the prophet repeatedly refers to the three fold manner in which the inhabitants of Jerusalem would die (i.e., by sword, famine, and pestilence; cf. Jer. 14:11ff; 21:7; 24:10; 27:8; 29:17; 34:17 etc.). The cutting of the hair in thirds and the manner in which Jeremiah prophesied of Judahs demise seem to be connected. a). The first third would be smitten by fire, judgment in the form pestilence, starvation, and tribulation. We are familiar with the refining of silver and gold, where you get the impurities out by using fire, but here in Ezekiels prophecy it is Israel that is being refined by fire. b). The second third would be killed by the sword when the city was destroyed. c). The last third of the people were scattered out; this group included those who went down to Egypt taking Jeremiah with them. d). The Lord tells Ezekiel to take a few that were scattered into the wind and attach them to his skirt (hairs represent people, a remnant, who were spared from the siege and taken captive to Babylon).

See Rev 8:7-12 where judgment by thirds is also referenced. 5. The few strands of hair Ezekiel put in his garment symbolized the small remnant of faithful people whom God would preserve. But even some from this remnant would be judged and destroyed because their faith was not genuine. In Ezekiel 5:3-4, some of those hairs that he had spared, however, were again to be burned. a). The remnant would suffer persecution and some would go astray; b). The remnant in Babylon would constitute the whole house of Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem. II. Jerusalems Gruesome Demise comes due to Her Great Sin (5:5-17): A. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her. And she hath rebelled against mine ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have rejected mine ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them (5:5-6). 1. Here was a city that the creator of all things chose to be the center of the course of history. Jerusalem was the city of David, the dwelling place of God (in Solomons temple), and the place where the New Covenant Law would go forth (cf. Isa. 2:2ff). 2. To rebel is to turn away from. Gods people were aware of His laws yet they chose other paths to walk. Jeremiah reveals that the people did what they thought was good rather than what God commanded as good (cf. Jer. 7:24; 8:6; 9:14; 11:8; 16:12; 18:12). Their biggest problem was that they had no knowledge of Gods laws and thereby could not follow them (Jer. 8:7). 3. A contempt of the word and law of God opens a door to all manner of iniquity. Gods statutes are the terms on which he deals with men; those that refuse his terms cannot expect his favors. She had rebelled against mine ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes, a very high expression of profaneness, that the people had not only broken Gods laws, but had so perverted and abused them that they had made them the excuse and color of their wickedness. They introduced the abominable customs and usages of the heathen, instead of Gods institutions; this was changing the truth of God into a lie (Rom. 1:25) and the glory of God into shame, Ps. 4:2. She had been worse than the neighboring nations, to whom she should have set a good example: 4. Ezekiel helps us to define what it means to lack knowledge in Gods word and to pursue ones own course in life. Such action is termed rebellion and a rejection of mine (Gods) ordinances. Jeremiah tells us that the people of Judah considered themselves innocent in relation to sin against Jehovah God (Jer. 2:35; 16:10). Judah considered their worship acceptable to the Lord (Jer. 6:20; 11:15; 14:11-12; 26:2) and thought that they were wise (Jer. 8:8; 18:12). Here we have the story of ungodly men and Jehovah Himself. Judah considered their ways right; however, God proclaimed them sinful. Many today live in the same deluded state. They believe that they are worshipping God in an acceptable way, being wise and innocent when in all reality Jehovah God terms them rebellious. Clearly we see that mans thoughts do not determine righteousness. 5. Herein is a lesson on the authority of God. He has spoke and man is responsible for obeying. When man does not obey he is clearly in rebellion. B. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept mine ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about

e).

you; therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I, even I, am against thee; and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations (5:7-9). 1. God is now set against Judah for her unlawful works. Jeremiah tells us that God would actually fight against Judah (cf. Jer. 21:5). 2. The inhabitants of Judah were worse than the heathen nations round about them when it came to keeping their respective laws. Public sin brings public judgment. Gods anger was directed at Jerusalem, the nations capital, because of her sin. She would suffer judgment in the sight of the nations. The object of Gods special favor would soon become the object of His special judgment. 3. The elements in Gods judgment on the people for their sins can be enumerated in this way: a). judgment that will be worse in extent than ever before; b). terrible famine that will lead to cannibalism; c). pestilence, meaning plagues and diseases associated with famine; d). violent death by sword or wild beasts; and e). scattering and killing of a remnant. C. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on thee; and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish [thee]; neither shall mine eye spare, and I also will have no pity (5:10-11). 1. Consider the fact that God had always warned Israel of such grotesque consequences if His people persist in their sin (cf. Lev. 26:27-29; Deut. 28:47-58). 2. It was unthinkable for any Israelite to practice cannibalism; that this should occur would be the enactment of the curses that sanctioned the Lords covenant (Lv. 26:29; Dt. 28:5355; see Jr. 19:89). Priests and Nazarene were not even allowed to touch a corpse (Lv. 21:12; Nm 6:7). Ezekiels prophecy underscores the severity of the crisis conditions predicted for the fall of Jerusalem. These same conditions were encountered at the siege of Samaria (2 Kg 6:2433, especially v. 29). Jeremiah told the inhabitants of Judah that this terrible thing was soon to come to pass as well (Jer. 19:9; 21:4). 3. It was a serious sin to defile the temple, Gods sanctuary, by worshiping idols and practicing evil within its very walls. 4. In the New Testament, we learn that God now makes his home within those who are his. Our bodies are Gods temple (see 1 Cor. 6:19). We defile Gods temple today by allowing gossiping, bitterness, love of money, lying, or any other wrong actions or attitudes to be a part of our lives. By asking the Holy Spirits help, we can keep from defiling his temple, our bodies. 5. The Lord affirmed that He would withdraw His presence from His people because they had defiled His temple with idols (cf. ch. 8; 10:4; 11:22-23). The clause as I live expresses a very solemn oath. It appears 14 times in Ezekiel, more often than in any other prophetic book. God would not have pity on them. D. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will scatter unto all the winds, and will draw out a sword

after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath upon them (5:12-13). 1. When the Babylonian army comes in, another third part of them will be wiped out with the sword, and then the remaining third part will be scattered around, but God will bring the sword after them and they will be destroyed. But there will be a small remnant that God will preserve and out of that small remnant, God will start over and He will ultimately bring them back into the land. 2. Ezekiels three-part judgment formula (famine, plague, and sword) appears here for the first time, and recurs in 6:1112; 7:15; 12:16; 14:21. Jeremiah frequently used the same formula (Jr. 14:12; 21:7, 9; 24:10; 27:8, 13; 29:1718; 32:24, 36; 34:17; 38:2; 42:17, 22; 44:13). Both prophets used the formula to indicate that judgment would be severe and extensive; the conditions were based on the curses of the Mosaic covenant (Lv. 26:29; Dt. 28:5355). 3. When the inhabitants of Judah see the destruction come to pass that Jehovahs prophets foretold they would know that I, Jehovah, hath spoken in my zeal. During the captivity there were apparently some who were winnowed by the fires of persecution and one sits back in amazement to think that an individual would turn from God after being spared all that the Lords prophets said would come to pass. 4. When God has thoroughly outpoured His wrath it will satisfy Him and He shall be comforted. E. Moreover I will make thee a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments on thee in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Jehovah, have spoken it;) when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread; and I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee: I, Jehovah, have spoken it (5:14-17). 1. When the other nations looked at the slaughter of Judah they would make up a taunt that reminded them of the consequences of rebellion against Jehovah God. 2. When the days come that their bread is gone and they are dying by the sword and pestilence they will know that God has spoken and that they are subjects of His divine wrath for their sinful deeds.

Synopsis of chapters 4 and 5 When one studies Ezekiel chapters 4 and 5 we are left with no questions regarding how God views sin. Here were a people who were dealt with patiently for a multitude of years yet grew further and further from God (cf. II Chron. 36:15-16). Though the Lord sought to turn them with the prophets they ignored their warnings and continued in their sinful ways (cf. Jer. 25:1-3). The

time of Gods patience had ended. Now was the time for the outpouring of Gods anger and wrath. This came as the result of the peoples idolatrythey had defiled Gods temple with detestable things and abominations (v. 11), evidencing their complete disregard for the Law (see vv. 6, 7; see 11:18). The Ten Commandments were the foundation of all Mosaic legislation, and they prohibited idolatry (see Ex. 20:3). Further, these judgments would be accomplished: without pity and with no hope of escape (v. 11), with a full expenditure of Gods wrath (v. 13), and with the result of making Gods people an object lesson of warning among the on-looking neighbor nations (v. 15). In His covenant with His people, God had promised to send these curses if the people chose to rebel against Him (Deut. 28:1568). The disobedient and rebellious people should not be surprised at the horror they were soon to face.