5:1–4 The fourth sign-act in this sequence of signs that began in the last chapter comprises two parts. First, the prophet is to take a sharp sword and shave his head and beard (v. 1). In ancient culture to forcibly remove a person’s hair in such a way was an act of profound humiliation (cf. 2 Sam. 10:4).32 Since a man’s beard visibly depicts both his masculinity and his maturity, it is not coincidental that the Hebrew word for “elder” comes from a root that means to “have a beard” (Hb. zaqan). The use of a sword to perform the task connects this humiliation with the Babylonian military assault on Jerusalem depicted in the immediately preceding sign-acts. What is more, calling this sword a “razor” invites comparison with the prophecy in Isaiah 7:20, in which the Lord threatens to bring a razor from beyond the Euphrates River (i.e., from the region occupied by both Assyria and Babylonia) to shave the head, beard, and feet33 of Israel. Ezekiel is commanded to embody in his own person the shocking threat about which Isaiah spoke. To be shaved forcibly by an enemy is the ultimate indication of powerlessness and impotence.

The shaved hair itself then becomes the medium for the second part of the sign-act. Ezekiel is instructed to weigh the hair and divide it into three separate portions, representing three different fates of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Weighing the hair suggests a precise division, representing the Lord’s precise control of the fate of his people. One third of the hair is to be burned in the midst of the city (Ezek. 5:2)—presumably on the clay brick representation of Jerusalem that Ezekiel created for the previous sign-acts. This third represents those Judeans who will die during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, which will culminate in its fiery destruction (cf. 2 Kings 25:9). Another third of the hair is to be chopped by the sword all around the city, representing those who will die attempting to flee Nebuchadnezzar and his army (2 Kings 25:4–6), as well as those who will be executed by them after the siege (2 Kings 25:18–21). The final portion of the hair is to be scattered to the wind, representing those going into exile, still pursued by the sword.

A small number of hairs from this last group is to be preserved, however, bound up in the corner of Ezekiel’s robe (Ezek. 5:3), the ancient equivalent of a pocket. The Lord will protect a small remnant of his people through the coming holocaust. Even this glimmer of hope is muted by what follows, however. The prophet is to take some of the hairs preserved through the initial catastrophe and cast them into the fire (v. 4). In other words, even those who survive the siege and fall of Jerusalem and exile cannot complacently rely on God’s favor. The fire of God’s judgment will go out into the whole house of Israel, even those who end up in exile.

5:5–6 In what follows the Lord provides the interpretation of the sign-act. Some aspects of the sign are immediately transparent, even to casual observers of Ezekiel’s actions. It is clear that a comprehensive judgment is coming on God’s people—and on Jerusalem in particular—and that only a fortunate few will escape. But other aspects of the sign must be clarified and explained, especially the reason for this coming terrible judgment. The oracle that follows serves to articulate the meaning of the sign—and indeed of the sequence of signs in chapter 4, which similarly centered on Jerusalem.

When the Lord made a covenant with David and chose Jerusalem as the home of his temple and his earthly dwelling place (2 Samuel 7), he set the city at the center of his redemptive purposes for the world (Ezek. 5:5). Israel was supposed to be a city on a hill, a light to the surrounding nations, a clear presentation of the blessedness of the nation chosen by the Lord (Ps. 33:12). With the construction of the temple, Jerusalem was to be the center of the nation’s holiness. Instead of setting the other nations an example of godliness, however, Israel outdid them in rebellion and wickedness. God created Israel to be kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6), but that goal was not realized. On the contrary, the Israelites broke the Lord’s rules and statutes—the commandments he had given them on Mount Sinai—and Jerusalem was at the forefront of that failure (Ezek. 5:6). As a result, instead of the people’s receiving the blessings that the Sinai covenant promised for obedience, the curses threatened on the unfaithful would now descend on their heads.

5:7–17 The language in this chapter is strongly reminiscent of Leviticus 26 with its litany of blessings and curses, which the prophet has already referenced (Ezek. 4:16). Both chapters stress the importance of avoiding idolatry and the danger of defiling the sanctuary (5:9, 11; Lev. 26:1–2), as well as the need to follow the Lord’s rules and statutes (Ezek. 5:6; Lev. 26:14). As a result, given Israel’s lengthy history of failure, it is not surprising that the specific and terrible curses of Leviticus 26 are now coming upon Jerusalem. The Lord is against his people (Ezek. 5:8; cf. Lev. 26:17). They will lose their food supply and suffer famine, even to the point of eating their own children (Ezek. 5:10, 16; cf. Lev. 26:26, 29). They will suffer from wild animals, the sword, and pestilence (Ezek. 5:17; cf. Lev. 26:22, 25). And they will be scattered among the nations and pursued by the sword (Ezek. 5:12; cf. Lev. 26:33).

The importance of the Lord’s invoking the language of the ancient covenant is in how it makes clear that the devastating judgment coming upon Jerusalem is neither arbitrary nor unfair. Under the terms of the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai, obedience would merit blessing and disobedience would result in curse, as detailed in Leviticus 26. Now, after this lengthy history of disobedience, in which Israel has not only failed to live up to God’s standards but has not even measured up to the laws of the surrounding nations (Ezek. 5:7), God has no choice but to act. He must preserve the honor of his own name, which his people are defiling. The Lord is a jealous34 God “who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Ex. 34:7). His wrath must be poured out on those who have trampled his grace underfoot; he will neither pity nor spare them (Ezek. 5:11). These coming judgments are agents sent by the Lord (vv. 16–17) to turn Jerusalem into an object lesson of a different kind: instead of being a symbol of light and blessing, she becomes an example of the Lord’s commitment to judge sin comprehensively, wherever and whenever it occurs.

Yet at the same occasion at Mount Sinai in which the Lord revealed his jealous wrath to his people, he first told them that he is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6–7). In Ezekiel 5 the focus is steadfastly on the former attribute: his jealous wrath that brings destruction to those who despise him and live for themselves. God’s judgment upon Jerusalem for its sin will be swift and comprehensive, and few will live to tell the awful tale. Nonetheless, a few will live. Just as a few of the prophet’s hairs will be safely tucked away in his pocket (Ezek. 5:3), so too some of those taken into exile by the Babylonians will be safely preserved as the Lord’s people. This outcome too was anticipated in Leviticus 26:44; even though the Lord’s people are unfaithful, he cannot deny himself, and he will not break his promise to them. The Lord’s wrath will reach an end before he makes a final end of Israel. His purpose in judgment is ultimately not to destroy his people but to purify a remnant who will be truly devoted to him. He will remember his covenant and come to dwell in the midst of his people despite their unfaithfulness to him.