Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"Take a sharp sword"
Text: Ezekiel 5:1
ANOTHER MESSAGE TO BE ACTED OUT
The next demonstration by Ezekiel was just as dramatic and riveting to those who watched. The meaning would be obvious to all who were sharp and discerning.
“And you, son of man, take a sharp sword,
take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard;
then take scales to weigh and divide the hair.
You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city,
when the days of the siege are finished;
then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword,
and one-third you shall scatter in the wind:
I will draw out a sword after them.”
Ezekiel 5:1-2
1. The symbol of the sword.
a) The sword was a military weapon.
b) It was a symbol of the might of the Babylonians.
2. Ezekiel as a priest of the LORD.
a) There were many rules that he had to keep.
b) He must take great care of his hair and his beard.
c) They represent his consecration as a priest of God (Leviticus 21).
3. The shaving of Ezekiel with the sword.
a) He would use the sword to cut off his hair and beard.
b) The Babylonians had no regard for the priests of the LORD.
c) To cut off his hair and beard with the sword was to bring shame and dishonour to the priests.
d) Ezekiel was to symbolise the fact that the Babylonians would shame all they conquered, even those who were priests.
e) This was a shameful ordeal that Ezekiel was to act out for all to see.
4. Weighing of the hair.
a) This was to symbolize God’s judgment of Israel.
b) There were three different things that Israel would suffer:
i) One third would suffer death by fire.
ii) Another third would be slain by the sword.
iii) The last third would be scattered and they would become the Diaspora.
5. The LORD would use the sword (war).
a) To chastise Israel.
b) To punish the rebellious nation.
c) To mete out the judgment of the LORD.