It’s another of Ezekiel’s required “action sermons!”

An “dramatized” parable!

“And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.” Ezekiel 5:1-5

A haircut, as a sermon?

Ezekiel was to virtually shave his head and beard!

Then weigh all the hair, every strand of it!

Divide the whole into thirds, except save a small tuft which the Prophet was to “tuck” into his robe!

Burn a third of it.

Then finely chop of third of it with a sharp knife.

The other third, cast into the wind, to be scattered everywhere.

And even the “little bit” remaining, throw some of it into the raging fire!

Presumably now retaining only a few hairs (called a remnant) in the Bible, with whom God can rebuild the Nation!

All this comprises a prophecy, against Jerusalem.

(By the way, notice that Verse 5 calls Jerusalem the “middle” of the earth, which she IS geographically! “This is Jerusalem: I have set it ‘in the midst’ of the nations and countries.” Wow!)

In the (then) soon coming “attack” by the Nation of Babylon, Jerusalem did lose 1/3 of her people to fire. And 1/3 to the Sword! And 1/3 were scattered! And even the “leftovers” were taken into heathen captivity, as slaves!

Very few (relatively speaking) survived!

What was to Ezekiel a series of “future” events … now to us are “historical” occurrences!

Ezekiel obeyed God, acted according to His Word.

And the Jews, some of them, understood the Message.

Now today (maybe more clearly than ever) we can “see” how God used Ezekiel His Prophet to “illustrate” Truth, powerfully!

(Ezekiel as a Priest would have cringed at shaving his head, often a symbol of disgrace in Israel. Yet he did precisely what God commanded him.)

That’s called “obedience,” another thing the Jews around the Prophet needed to see.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

The rest of chapter 5 contains as strong an indictment against sin that I have ever read.” Like “She (Judah) hath changed My judgments into wickedness MORE THAN THE NATIONS, and my statutes MORE THAN THE COUNTRIES that are round about her.” Worse than her ungodly neighbors!

And verse 8, God speaking: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee.”

God’s Holy Anger: “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.” Ezekiel 5:9

“Therefore the fathers shall EAT the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall EAT their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.” Cannibalism, eating dead flesh!

Here’s God interpreting Ezekiel’s “sermon” … “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 I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.” Verse 12

Folks, God judges sin, unconfessed sin.