Daily Devotions
Ezekiel
"Burn them in the fire"
Text: Ezekiel 5:4
THE HAIR OF EZEKIEL
The hair of Ezekiel was of symbolic significance. It would be worthwhile to look at what the LORD required of priests.
“You shall also take a small number of them
and bind them in the edge of your garment.
Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire,
and burn them in the fire.
From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.”
Ezekiel 5:3-4
1. Some requirements for the priests.
“They shall not make any bald place on their heads,
nor shall they shave the edges of their beards
nor make any cuttings in their flesh.
They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God,
for they offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire,
and the bread of their God;
therefore they shall be holy.”
Leviticus 21:5-6
a) They cannot make themselves bald.
b) They cannot shave the edges of their beards.
c) They are to be holy to the LORD.
d) They must not profane the name of the LORD.
2. Ezekiel was asked to:
a) Shave his head.
b) Shave his beard.
c) He was to use a sword to do that.
d) The sword is not a great instrument for shaving.
e) The results would be quite unpleasant to the eye.
3. A small number of hair follicles.
a) They are to be bound to his garment.
b) An unheard-of practice.
c) This is not a statement of fashion but a grim reminder of the humiliation that Israel would suffer, including the priests.
4. Another bunch of hair follicles to be burnt.
a) They are to be burnt.
b) The smell of burning hair is awful.
c) This will symbolise the fact that Jerusalem would be razed to the ground and set on fire.
d) The siege of Jerusalem was a sad and sorrowful event.