Ezekiel 5:1-17

Once again God calls Ezekiel to illustrate the coming judgment on Israel with the cutting and dividing of his hair.  God has determined to judge this nation and He will bring it about because of the massive rebellion in Israel and her refusal to respond to His call to repentance.  It is a scary thing to fall into the hands of God in His wrath.  He has made a means for us to escape this reality but if we refuse to take this path we too can expect judgment.  Too often people today look at God as only love and mercy but forget He is holy and just.  Ezekiel gives us another graphic illustration of God’s wrath.

HOW ISRAEL WILL BE JUDGED: God calls Ezekiel to cut off all of his hair and then divide it into three equal parts.  One part his is to burn, representing those who would be consumed in the city of Jerusalem by the famine, pestilence and war.  The second part was to be chopped up into little pieces with the sword, representing how another third of the people would be killed by the sword of the enemy.  The third part was to be thrown into the wind with a small amount being reserved in the hem of his garment, representing the scattering of the people to the nations and those taken captive to Babylon and small remnant that would remain in the nation under judgment and slavery to another nation.  The point is that even though there would be a variety of ways the people would be judged, none of them were good or desirable.  We would do well to do all we can to avoid this type of judgment because this is not what we want to happen in our lives.

WHY ISRAEL WILL BE JUDGED: The reason for this harsh judgment on the nation of Israel is simply sin.  However, it is not only sin.  It was sin in spite of all of the many blessings the nation had received.  God has given them the nation in a supernatural way.  He had blessed them with revelation of His Law and sent them many prophets to teach them what God expected of them.  He gave them protection and prosperity and yet they still would not love Him or obey Him.  Instead they rebelled against the Lord and became a stumbling block to the nations around them instead of being a beacon of light and hope for these surrounding nations.  To whom God  gives much He will always require much.  Perhaps there is no period of history in which God has given so much and yet so many continuously rebel against Him.  The judgment of Israel should stand out as a stern warning to all of us who have been granted so many great blessings from the Lord.