And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's
razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then
take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. Thou shalt burn
with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of
the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite
about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the
wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. Thou shalt also take
thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. Then take of
them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them
in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house
of Israel (chapter v:1-4).
In this final sign we have the symbol of what was to befall the nation
as such. Through the Prophet Isaiah a prediction had been given
concerning the King of Assyria, which explains the meaning of the sharp
knife. "In the same day shalt the Lord shave with a razor that is hired,
namely, by them beyond the river, by the King of Assyria, the head, and
the hair of the feet, and it shall also consume the beard" (Isa.
vii:20). The sharp knife[7] represents in Ezekiel's sign the King of
Babylon. He was Jehovah's instrument executing His wrath. The people are
represented by the hairs. The sharp knife, the sword of justice, was to
cut them off. The third part of the hair burned with fire pictured the
fate of a part of the people during the siege. Besides the fire, the
pestilence and the famine were to consume them (verse 12). Another part
was to be destroyed by the sword round about Jerusalem, while still
another part should be scattered unto all the winds, that is dispersed
among the Gentiles, where the sword would also follow the fugitives.
Only a few in number, a small remnant were to be preserved which was
symbolically enacted when Ezekiel took a few hairs and bound them in his
skirt. But even some of them should be put into the fire. Such a
remnant, saved and preserved and ultimately blessed, is often mentioned
in the prophetic Word. See Isaiah vi:13; x:22; Jere. xxiii:3; Ezek.
vi:8; Zech. xiii:8-9. All these judgments came upon the city and upon
the nation. A remnant also was saved and in due time returned.
[7] The literal meaning is sword, the same as in verse 12.
Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the
midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she
hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and
my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for
they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked
in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye multiplied
more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked
in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done
according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against
thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight
of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done,
and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine
abominations. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst
of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute
judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into
all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; Surely,
because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable
things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also
diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any
pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with
famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part
shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third
part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to
rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I,
the Lord, have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my
fury in them. Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among
the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass
by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an
astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I
shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious
rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken it. When I shall send upon them
the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and
which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine
upon you, and will break your staff of bread: So will I send upon
you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and
pestilence and blood shall pass through thee: and I will bring the
sword upon thee. I, the Lord, have spoken it (verses 5-17).
After these few signs had announced to the captives what was to come
upon the city and upon the people, Jehovah begins to speak. The solemn
words we have quoted need but little comment. He speaks of Jerusalem's
exalted place, her wickedness, which had become greater than that of the
nations, her disobedience and her judgments. One must read the
Lamentations of Jeremiah to find how all was fulfilled in the final
overthrow of Jerusalem. Compare verse 10 with Lament. iv:10. How
terrible are the judgments of a righteous and holy God! The calamity
which fell upon Jerusalem and the land through the hands of
Nebuchadnezzar was repeated on a more fearful scale in the year 70,
after the greater One than Ezekiel, the Lord Jesus Christ, had given His
solemn warnings and had wept over the city. And once more will Jerusalem
taste of wrath and judgment in that end of the age, which is called the
great tribulation. And after that the day-break, when Jerusalem will
rise out of the dust and her history of shame and sorrow will be ended.