A BARBER’S RAZOR

Ezekiel 5:1-8 NET.

¹ “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. ² Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. ³ But take a few strands of hair from those and tie them in the ends of your garment. ⁴ Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire, and burn them up. From there, a fire will spread to all the house of Israel. ⁵ “This is what the sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. ⁶ Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around her. Indeed, they have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes. ⁷ “Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: Because you are more arrogant than the nations around you, you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even carried out the regulations of the nations around you! ⁸ “Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: I — even I — am against you, and I will execute judgment among you while the nations watch.

Who was Ezekiel?

He was a prophet during the exile, and his life story is mostly contained in his own writings, which have been preserved in the Bible. Ezekiel’s name means either ‘God is strong’ or ‘God strengthens,’ and he was the son of Buzi, a priest from the Zadok lineage.

His writings reveal that he was among the exiles who journeyed to Babylon with King Jehoiachin following Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem in 597 B.C.

Ezekiel mentions living on the banks of the river Chebar at a place called Tell Abib. That is not the same as modern-day Tel-Aviv. The word simply means “mound of the flood.”

Josephus reports that he was very young when the Jewish exiles left Jerusalem, though this might be an overstatement. His prophetic journey appears to have begun around 593-592 B.C., as seen in the visions and oracles in the first two chapters. These early visions do not seem immature at all.

Ezekiel’s records are precisely dated, which helps us trace more clearly the development of his teachings compared to prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, whose writings lack a strict chronological order. The structure of Ezekiel’s prophecies shows a clear sense of organization and artistic design, making it easier to follow the historical background and the prophet’s learning as God’s watchman, responsible for delivering God’s messages during turbulent times.

The last recorded date appears in 29:17, specifically the month of Nisan in the twenty-seventh year of the captivity. This places us in the year 570 B.C. How much longer he lived and worked is unknown. Since his first recorded prophecy is definitively dated to 593-592 B.C., his prophetic activity must have spanned at least twenty-two years.

During his time by the Chebar River in Babylon, he lived in a house (3:24, 8:1) and was happily married. The year 588 B.C. brought a double sorrow for the prophet. That year marked the beginning of the final, devastating siege of Jerusalem, which led to the fall of the Jewish kingdom and the destruction of the Temple. Right after this painful event, his wife passed away. He was advised not to weep loudly for the dead but to mourn quietly. This silent period lasted for over a year, allowing him time to grieve in his own way. 

Today’s text reveals that the title the LORD used for Ezekiel was “son of man.” From Daniel’s prophecy, we learn that the title “son of man” would be one held by the Messiah. Sure enough, Jesus came and introduced himself as the Son of Man. Like Ezekiel, our Lord served as both a prophet and a priest. As the Son of Man, Jesus served as the one mediator between God and men. Ezekiel prefigured the coming Messiah in the many ways he communicated God’s message to his people.

The LORD’s instructions to Ezekiel (1-4).

God told Ezekiel to take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. He said to shave off some of the hair from his head and your beard. The hair was to symbolize the lives of the people who would go through the exile. Even the act of cutting his hair was significant because a priest was not allowed to do so under the law (Leviticus 21:5). This was a shock and shame moment for Ezekiel.

He was to take scales and divide up the hair he cut off. This showed that not everyone would face the same troubles during the exile. It is important to recognize that the whole nation deserved the worst, but not everyone would experience it. As a nation as a whole, the Hebrews had broken their covenant with God, and all of them deserved the consequences of breaking that covenant. But even as they were being judged, God showed grace and did not give all the Israelites everything they deserved.

God told Ezekiel to burn a third of the hair in the fire inside the city when the days of his siege were completed. He was reenacting the siege of Jerusalem. His actions were intended to serve as a visual aid for the people watching. The act of burning the hair reminded the people of the ascending offerings they had been commanded to sacrifice in the temple. It was a reminder that sin is a serious matter and requires complete sacrifice. Sin requires atonement. The burning hair would also be a reminder in their nostrils.

Ezekiel was to take another third of the hair and slash it with a sword all around the city. The sword was a symbol of the armies that would come and put the citizens of Jerusalem to death by the sword. This act of slashing the hair with a sword was meant to visually depict that there would be nowhere to hide. No place was a safe sanctuary.

But those who would be lucky enough to escape the sword in the city would still not be safe. Ezekiel was told to scatter a third of the hair to the wind, and God would unleash a sword behind them. Notice that God said that he was the one doing this. The soldiers wielding swords would be Babylonian, but God is the one sending them. He is sending out soldiers to hunt down and kill even those who thought they had escaped the judgment by fleeing Jerusalem.

Ezekiel is also told to take a few strands of his hair from those he had scattered and tie them to the ends of his robe. These represented the few who would be preserved through this whole ordeal.

Finally, the LORD told Ezekiel totake more of the hair and throw it into the fire to burn it up. He said that from there, a fire will spread to all the house of Israel. The conflict, suffering, and dying would spread across the whole nation, not just the capital.

The LORD’S explanation to Ezekiel (5-8).

The LORD explains the symbols by telling Ezekiel that they begin in Jerusalem: God placed that city at the center of the nations, with countries all around it. Then it defied his regulations and his statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around it.

So, because it was more arrogant than the nations around it, God declares that he is against it. He will execute judgment from that city while the nations watch.

Some would die during the siege from starvation or disease. Others would die when the foreign soldiers took the city. Others would find a way to escape and go into exile. But even there, the sword will follow them. Only a very few, a remnant of survivors, will escape this calamity. Ezekiel’s robe would have a few stray hairs attached to its tassels. These would represent the few who escape. They will not escape because they are righteous. They will only escape because God has a plan for that nation, so some must remain.

How should we apply this text?

I know it’s hard to read these Old Testament passages. The symbolism is difficult to figure out. The stories are less familiar. The historical background is more challenging. But God gave us the whole Bible because its message is important.

So, here is something to consider as we mull over the message in today’s text:

God wanted Israel to represent his righteousness. But when they refused to do that, God allowed them to represent his wrath. Those of us who call ourselves Christians have the same option. Matthew chapter 25 is all about those who claim to be saved, and the fact that many will discover that their faith is not real, and Jesus does not know them.

In the parable of the ten virgins. There was going to be a wedding, and they knew that they would have to wait a long time for the bridegroom to show. The intelligent ones prepared themselves for the wait. They brought extra oil for their lamps, so that the bridegroom would recognize them and invite them to the feast. The thoughtless ones did not bring extra oil. When the oil in their lamps ran dry, they had to go to the market to replenish it. That is when the bridegroom came, and they were not allowed into the party.

In the parable of the talents, each servant was praised who took what he had been given and invested it in his master’s service. But the lazy one was thrown out.

The sheep and the goats story reminds us that our genuineness will be proven not by what we profess but by how we treat others. He did not say that our good works will save us. He said that how we treat others will demonstrate whether or not our profession is real.

The gospel message is that salvation is always by grace. We are all represented in today’s text by the few stray hairs attached to Ezekiel’s robe. When we stand before the judge on Judgment Day, not a one of us will be able say that he should let us in because of how good we were. What can wash away our sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.