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Ezekiel 5: The Razor and the Hair

Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, divides the hair, and burns, strikes, and scatters it to portray the threefold judgment soon to fall on rebellious Jerusalem.

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Ezekiel 5 (WEB)

1 You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber’s razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

3 You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts.

4 Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come out into all the house of Israel.

5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are around her.

6 She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you;

8 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.

9 I will do in you that which I have not done, and which I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations.

10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in your midst, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.

11 Therefore as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.

12 A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in your midst; and a third part shall fall by the sword around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.

13 Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.

14 Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.

15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)

16 when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread;

17 and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

Summary

God commands Ezekiel to take a sharp sword as a barber's razor and shave his head and beard, then to weigh and divide the hair into three parts. One third he is to burn in the fire inside the model city when the siege days are over, one third he is to strike with the sword around the city, and one third he is to scatter to the wind, with the Lord drawing a sword after them. A few hairs he binds in the hem of his garment, and even some of those are cast into the fire. The Lord interprets the sign: this is Jerusalem, set in the midst of the nations, which has rebelled against his ordinances more wickedly than the peoples around her. Because she has defiled his sanctuary with detestable things and abominations, God himself declares, “I, even I, am against you,” and will execute judgments in the sight of the nations such as he has never done before and will never do again. A third will die by plague and famine, a third by the sword, and a third he will scatter to the winds. Jerusalem will become a desolation, a reproach, and a warning to the surrounding nations, all so that they will know that the Lord has spoken in his zeal. The chapter is a sobering portrait of holy judgment against persistent covenant betrayal.

Main Characters

  • Ezekiel (the sign-bearer) — The prophet who shaves and divides his hair to dramatize the threefold fate of Jerusalem's people under God's judgment.
  • The Lord Yahweh — The holy God who declares himself against Jerusalem, executing unprecedented judgment because she has defiled his sanctuary and rebelled beyond the nations.
  • Jerusalem — The city set in the midst of the nations to display God's ways, who instead rebelled more wickedly than the peoples around her and now faces desolation.

Key Verse

Ezekiel 5:8 (WEB)

therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.

Lessons Learned

  • Greater privilege brings greater accountability; Jerusalem was judged more severely because she had received more light.
  • God takes the defiling of his worship and sanctuary with the utmost seriousness.
  • The most fearful words in Scripture are when God says he is against a people who persist in rebellion.
  • Even in judgment, God remembers a remnant—a few hairs bound in the hem—pointing to mercy beyond wrath.
  • Privilege increases responsibility. Jerusalem “has rebelled against my ordinances… more than the nations” (Ezekiel 5:6, WEB). To whom much is given, much is required.
  • God will not be mocked in his worship. “You have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things” (Ezekiel 5:11, WEB). Corrupted worship provokes the holy God's judgment.
  • It is fearful when God is against us. “Behold, I, even I, am against you” (Ezekiel 5:8, WEB). The same God who is our refuge becomes our adversary when we cling to sin.
  • A remnant is preserved. Ezekiel binds “a few in number… in your skirts” (Ezekiel 5:3, WEB). Even amid sweeping judgment, God keeps a remnant for himself.
  1. What do the three portions of hair—burned, struck, and scattered—represent for Jerusalem?
  2. Why does God judge Jerusalem more severely than the surrounding nations?
  3. How should we understand the gravity of God declaring, “I, even I, am against you” (5:8)?
  4. What hope, if any, can you find in the few hairs bound in Ezekiel's garment?
  5. Where might you be presuming on God's patience, treating his grace as license rather than a call to faithfulness?
  1. The thirds picture three fates: death by plague and famine within the besieged city, death by the sword around it, and being scattered among the nations with the sword still pursuing (5:2, 12). The vivid division shows that judgment will be thorough and that flight will not be escape.
  2. Jerusalem was set “in the midst of the nations” (5:5) to display God's character, yet she outdid the pagans in wickedness and defiled his sanctuary. Greater revelation means greater accountability; her sin was a betrayal of unique privilege, and so her judgment is unprecedented.
  3. These are among the most sobering words in Scripture. The God who longs to be our refuge becomes our adversary when we persistently refuse him. It is a warning, not a final verdict—meant to drive the hearer to repentance while there is still time.
  4. The few hairs bound in the hem, though even some are burned, hint that God always preserves a remnant (5:3-4). Judgment is never God's last word for his people; mercy survives wrath, and the remnant becomes the seed of future restoration.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Gently invite members to examine where they may be taking God's patience for granted. As leader, hold together the seriousness of sin and the hope of the remnant, and steer the group toward repentance rather than despair.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.