Ezekiel 5

Verses 1-12, “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. 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. “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.’ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you’— therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds. ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God , ‘surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you;  My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.”

God told Ezekiel to shave off his hair using a sharp sword, and then divide his hair into thirds. Shaving was forbidden by priests, so Ezekiel's action would certainly make a statement worthy of shock and mourning. A sword is a tool of judgement, which divides whatever it comes into contact with. When Jesus comes back to Earth, He will bring a sword of judgment. Just the message of Jesus divides between those who will obey and those who will rebel.  Matthew 10:34‭-‬39, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;  and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Through Ezekiel, God would pronounce three separate judgments against His people, as a result of their prolonged rebellion toward Him. His hair represented the people to be weighed and judged. One third would die by pestilence and famine, one third by the sword, and the rest would be scattered with a sword to follow.  Only a small remnant would remain, yet even they would suffer. This was a first for God to show no pity on them as He personally executed such an intense judgment, the likes of which had not been seen before among His people. In fact, it would be so bad that they would be reduced to eating one another. All because they willingly defiled the sanctuary, so God would defile them. God's anger had actually been building as they refused to keep His statutes and judgments, and refused His attempts at correction. The people who should've been worshipping and honoring God, had become more wicked and rebellious than the unbelieving nations around them.

Sadly, this reminds me of the "church" we live among today. There are those who call themselves by His name, but engage in all types of immorality. They participate in all forms of drug and alcohol abuse, sexual perversions and adulteries, and embrace wicked occult activities through entertainment...just to name a few. Much of the church today is completely undetectable from the world. In fact, they blend right in with their practices and celebrations, even though we are called to be separate and expose such evils. It has actually gotten so bad in our society, that in some cases, there are unbelievers with better morals than the so called Christians. We are ripe for judgment, as this world is storing up its wrath that is long overdue. We need to be separate if we want to be received by the Lord.  II Corinthians 6:17‭-‬18, “Therefore 'Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.' 'I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.' ”