Read Ezekiel 5:1-17
Ezekiel may have wondered about shaving his head and facial hair. But in the ancient Near East, this custom would be familiar and related to a period of mourning. Clearly, God’s message was dire, pointing toward Babylon’s siege and final destruction of Jerusalem. We sense such sorrow and disappointment from the LORD.
God’s judgment was now looming. Do you think the people cared? We’ve been told before that God didn’t expect Ezekiel to have any more success in sharing God’s proclamations than his contemporaries or those prophets who had gone before. That seems to be a recurring pattern both in Scripture and in real life. People tend to turn away from God when life appears to be going well.
The message God was giving Ezekiel was not brand new, for prophets had spoken of God’s wrath before. But to an onlooker watching Ezekiel measure, divide, and burn or chop up his hair, letting some go free in the wind must have seemed absurd. Even a remnant of hair was carefully hidden away. Thankfully Ezekiel was told what all of these acts signified, even though it was terrifying.
What do you see in this indictment and verdict upon God’s people? How many times do we need to hear about God’s anger toward his disobedient children before we look in the mirror to see how we, ourselves are doing at pleasing God?
What did the world see when it looked on to what was happening? These are telling words to reflect on: “They will see what happens when the LORD punishes a nation in anger and rebukes it, says the LORD.” When the world looks at you and your life, do they see God moving or you rebelling from God? How we let God shine through us differs, but we should also be burning bright because we have hope. Hope in our salvation.
To imagine God punishing a nation is startling for us. How do you think God is feeling toward our world right now? With the wars and power struggles driving a wedge between God and his people, with people snubbing God and the validity of his word, with all the talk of the universe this and crystals that. Don’t get me started on false prophets who continue to distract us from our own relationship with God.. If you didn’t have a community of faith to give you support, this could be a very scary place.
Thankfully, we also have the Holy Spirit to direct us and help us understand God’s word and will for our lives. We don’t need to fear the corruption of this world when we remember “whose” we are and how our battles are being fought for us, even when we cannot see.
For Jerusalem, these words were illustrative of the future they could expect for their disobedience. They have been alerted over and over. We, too, can heed their warning and make sure we don’t fall into the very traps that infuriated God.
Let’s pray. LORD, help me not to fall into the temptations of this world. Whatever those distractions are for me, I pray that you will help me to see them clearly and avoid them. I want to draw nearer to you. I pray that your wisdom will fill my mind so that I say God honoring things and help others to do the same. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
