Ezekiel 5:5

Ezekiel 5:5 says, 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.  God told Ezekiel that his shaving his head and then using the hair in various ways represented Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was to be stripped bare of all her glory and some of the people were going to be killed and the rest were going to be taken away captive. Jerusalem was also set in the midst of the nations and was supposed to represent the truth of God to them by living in accordance to His word, and when they did, they would be a shining light to the world.  We as followers of Christ are set among the people of the world and should be that same shining light to them by presenting God’s word to those around us.   

Verse six adds, And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.  God then told Ezekiel that the people of Jerusalem had become worse than those around them.  They had changed his judgments, or commandments, into wickedness.  It would have been bad enough if they weren’t reaching out to others with God’s word, but they had tried to change God’s commandments. As the church today, we need to make sure that we do not become a group of people who try to change God’s word.  If we put our faith in anything less than God’s word and then attempt to make it the truth, we will be guilty of wickedness before God.  We cannot add to or take away from God’s message of the way to receive salvations or how we should live our life after we do.   

Verse seven continues, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;  God said that the people of Israel had become more numerous than those around them.  This was a part of God’s promise to them.  Still, though God was fulfilling His promise to them, they had not walked in His statutes or obeyed His laws in other words.  God will always fulfill His promises to us if we will be obedient to Him.  Of course, if we have been obedient to Him by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will be one of His children forever, even if we don’t always obey His commandments afterwards, but one day we may have to answer for our disobedience.   

Verse eight states, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.  God said that because of their disobedience that instead of being for them, He would be against them, even though they were His chosen people.  The people around them would see what happened even to God’s chosen people when they rebelled against Him.  If we as the church, God’s chosen people today, become His in name only, we should be ready for God’s judgment to come on us.   

Verse nine adds, 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.  God said He was going to do something among them that He had not done before.  He was going to punish those who were called His people but who rebelled against them by having them all leave His holy city.  They had feared the armies of other countries and had even looked to them for protection, but they had not feared God and looked to Him for protection.  God was going to punish them more than He had punished any other people, because they were identified as His people and they were worshiping idols instead of worshipping Him.  Those who profess to be God’s people but have not accepted His gift of salvation may see Him do a work that they didn’t want to see, and that is God’s punishment.   

Verse ten continues, 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.  Matthew Henry said that fathers eating sons and sons eating their fathers could have been from extreme hunger or something that their barbaric captors forced them to do.  Either way, it would be a terrible time.  I don’t think we will ever reach that point physically, but people may devour each other spiritually by leading them worship false gods and then face God’s judgment when Jesus Christ returns.   

Ezekiel 5:1

Ezekiel 5:1 says, 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.  Ezekiel was then given another command from God that might seem strange.  He was to shave off his hair and beard which represented God’s total rejection of Israel because of their sin.  We may not be called on to take such drastic actions with our physical appearance, but we should be willing to do so if we know that God is calling on us to do so. 

Verse two adds, 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.  Ezekiel was to divide his cut off hair into three equal parts, which Matthew Henry says represented God’s judging in fairness.  All people are equal in God’s sight, but it depends on our accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord whether He continues to see us that way.  One- third was to be burned, representing the total destruction of some of the people of Israel, one-third was to be cut to pieces, representing those who would be killed by the sword during the siege, and the other third was to be scattered, representing the scattering of some of them.  Many would die and some would be dispersed, but nearly all would be affected by God’s judgment on them for their sin. 

Verse three continues, Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.  Ezekiel was told to take a few pieces of his hair from the part that was to be scattered and bind it in his skirts.  This would represent those who had hope that by remaining faithful to Gedaliah that they would keep possession of the land, according to Matthew Henry.  We may think that if we remain true to a certain leader that we will be spared from any destruction if it comes, but if God has pronounced His judgement on us, no one is going to save us from facing His judgment.   

Verse four concludes, 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.  That all would face God’s judgment was signified when Ezekiel was told to take what had been spared and to throw it in the fire also.  Nothing was going to spare the people of Israel from total destruction but coming to God in repentance and obedience and His grace in sparing them.  The only way for us to be saved from everlasting spiritual destruction is by repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Anything else that we put our faith in will fail. 

Ezekiel 4:14

Ezekiel 4:14 says, Then said I, Ah Lord God! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.  Ezekiel protested against eating food prepared this way, since he said it would make it impure, and he had never eten anything impure.  We could say that Ezekiel was bragging about his righteousness and that God was asking Him to do something unrighteous.  We can never stand before God by our own righteousness, and if God calls on us to do something, as He did with Peter and eating from the sheet of food that Peter considered unholy, like Peter, we must obey God. Matthew Henry does say that if we are called on to do something that we see as sinful that we should bring our concerns to God.  Ultimately though, we must do what God calls us to do, even if He doesn't change anything about it after our concerns are raised, just as Peter did.  

Verse fifteen adds, Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. God told Ezekiel that because of his concern about the way the food was to be prepared that He would replace cow’s dung for man’s dung. Sometimes, God may change His directions to us because of our concerns, as He did with Ezekiel, and other times He may not, as was the case with Peter.  We just need to accept God’s answer either way.   

Verse sixteen continues, Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:  God told Ezekiel that the people of Jerusalem were soon going to be eating bread by measure, or with just enough to survive on, and they were also going to drink water with the same care.  This was because the siege was going to limit their supply of food and water.  They would be astonished at the state of affairs in Jerusalem, which had been prosperous at one time.  This was all going to happen because of their refusal to obey God, and if we find ourselves going through a bad time in life as Christians, we should first ask if we are being obedient to God.  At times, this may be the case, but not always.  Just as the early disciples at times called out to God and nothing changed in their situation, but they still remained faithful to God, so must we no matter what is happening in our life.   

Verse seventeen concludes, That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. God told Ezekiel that the want of bread and water would consume away their iniquity.  I believe this means that they would realize that their sin had gotten them into this situation and that faith in God would get them out of it.  When they had served God, they had an abundance to meet their needs, and their iniquity had taken His blessings away.  As followers of Christ, we will always have our spiritual needs met if we are faithful to God.  I would say that we will normally have our physical needs met, but this is not always the case.  At times, Christians do suffer from hunger and at times they are beaten and killed for their faith, but they are always secure forever spiritually.  I would also say that serving God does not mean that we are going to have everything that we want or desire.  He will give us our daily bread and not our yearly bread.  Faith is a day-to-day reliance on God, and not an amassing of great material wealth.