Ezekiel 5-7

Ezekiel 5

Prophecy of 3rds 

• Ezekiel must shave his head and beard.
  • For a priest, this was humiliating (Lev 21:5).
• Divide the hair into thirds:
  • Burn one-third (inside the city).
  • Strike one-third with the sword.
  • Scatter one-third to the wind.
• A small portion tucked into his garment but even some of those burned.

Meaning:

• One-third will die by famine/pestilence.
• One-third by sword.
• One-third by exile.
• Even the “remnant” will be refined through fire.

Why Judgment

• Jerusalem set “in the center of the nations.”
• She rebelled more than the nations around her.
• “I will execute judgments… such as I have not done.”

“My anger will spend itself.”

He will send famine, wild beasts, plague, sword.

Ezekiel 6

 Judgment Against Idols 

God told Ezekiel to prophecy against the mountains of Israel.

• High places destroyed.
• Idols smashed.
• Slain bodies before idols.
• Scatter bones

“Yet I will leave some of you alive.”

• A remnant
• They will remember the Lord. 
• They will loathe themselves for their sins.

vv. 11-14  Sword, Famine, Pestilence repeated

Ezekiel 7

“An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.”

God is angry and ready to judge and repay. 

“Disaster after disaster!” 

• “Doom has come.”
• “The time has come; the day is near.”
• The LORD is striking.

Wordplay: “An end has come; the end has come; it has awakened against you. Behold, it comes.”

In Hebrew, there’s a sound play between two words:

• קֵץ (qets) = end
• הֵקִיץ (heqits) = has awakened

So Ezekiel is basically saying: “The end (qets)… has awakened (heqits)!”

“Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes.”

Judgement Day 

• Rod has blossomed Pride has budded
  • Reminds me of Aaron’s rod 
• Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness.
• Buyer and seller will not rejoice as economy collapses.
• Trumpet blown but none go to battle.
• Sword outside, famine and pestilence inside.
• Hands droop.
• Knees turn to water.
• Shame on every face

Wealth Cannot Save

• Silver and gold thrown into streets.
• Cannot deliver them in the day of wrath.
• Temple profaned.
• Idols and money fail

 Collapse of Leadership

• Make a chain (captivity).
• Violence fills the land.
• King mourns.
• Prince in despair.
• Prophet without vision.
• Priest without law.
• Elders without counsel.

Application

God is patient, but He is not indifferent to sin. When we put trust in things other than God, they will always fail us.