Ezekiel 5 and 6

Last week we saw that was to make a drawing of under siege on a tile (or brick) then was to put an Iron pan between himself and the drawing and lay on his left side for 390 days and on his right side for 40 days. One day for every year the Lord had to bear the sin of . We also learned that the time between Jeroboams building the temple in Dan until the temple being destroyed the first time was exactly 390 years. We also learned that the sin of Juda was prophetic and had not occurred yet. It would occur from the time that Jesus officially presented himself as Messiah until the second destruction of the temple was also 40 years. This was laying on his right side signifying the greater sin. Now he gets new instructions. EZK 5:1 What does the shaving of the head symbolize? Job 1:19-21 So here we see that it was a sign of mourning. Acts 18:18 in this case it was a sign of a vow or a determination. Leviticus 21:4-6 so it was forbidden for a priest to shave even the corner of your beard and we know Ezekiel was a priest. Jer. 48:36-38 So we see here that The beard shaving is a sign of mourning. What does this tell us about the picture God is painting for the Israelites that have been taken captive? He is laying on his side bearing sins, He had a metal pan between himself and Jerusalem, Now he has a shaved head and beard meaning he is mourning and has made a vow that he is determined to keep. Let’s see what that vow is. He is to take the hair that he cut off and divide it into three parts.

EZK5:2-3 What do these hairs symbolize? Israelites? He is to burn 1/3 of the hairs in the middle of the city when the days of siege are fulfilled? What does that mean? The second 1/3 of hair he is to stab with a knife? What does that mean? The last third are to be scattered into the wind and chased with a sword? How about that meaning? But he is to take a few hairs and put them in his skirt. In Hebrew the word skirts is wings.

EZK5:4 So then take those hairs and throw them into the fire again. Why? A fire is coming to the house of Israel.

EZK 5:5-8 What are their sins? They have God’s Judgments and yet they are worse than the gentiles? They have Gods law but refuse to walk in them. Now who is against them? God?

EZK 5:9-10 2Kings 25:1-3 Zedekiah was king of Israel from 597BC to 586BC. Here we see that the siege started at the 9th 1oth month year of his reign so that puts the beginning of the siege at roughly 589BC. The siege broke at the end of Zedekiah’s Reign 586BC. This siege went on for 3 years. We know that the educated and skilled people were taken to along with Ezekiel so all that are left are the uneducated and unskilled. They had to go for three years with no food and the only water was the secret water supply from Hezekiah’s tunnel. 2 Kings 25:4-15

EZK 9:11-17 did every word of this happen only a few years after it was prophesied?

Now we turn our attention to the mountains of Israel not just the city of Jerusalem

EZK6:1-5 we need to keep in mind that people went into caves and into the mountains (high places) and set up altars to foreign gods. A lot of them were law abiding Jews in the city but secretly they worshipped Idols in the mountains under privacy. What is God saying he will do to the mountains?

Interesting note: Our God is the same yesterday today and forever correct. He follows the exact same pattern where ever he gets involved. Let’s take . When God comes into a place be it your body, a nation, a temple, or a land first thing that happens is that it is cleansed. In Egypt each of the plagues represented the death or defeat of one of their gods. Example Ra the sun god was defeated with utter darkness etc. Egypt was being systematically cleansed. What happened when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant? 1 Sam5:1-5 God cleansed the temple by knocking Dagon their God over. What did Jesus do when he entered the temple in an official capacity as the Messiah? Matthew 21:9-13 So when He entered the temple what is the first thing that he did? Cleanse it. Let’s do one more that is interesting Matthew 8:28-34 He come to this area where Jews are raising pigs for the Roman army’s food supply. What is the first thing that he does? Cleanses the men and allows them to run the pigs off a cliff into the water? Why did they have to go off a cliff? A sandy beach is a grey area between land and water. a cliff is a well-defined line those pigs were off the land and the land was cleansed. With this in mind, what is God going to do to Israel when he destroys the high places and the altars in the mountains? He is making them a place where he can dwell again.

EZK:6:5-10 We have very clear concise reasoning for God’s actions do we not?

EZK:11-14 So they are going to be scattered, starved, murdered and desolate. Why does God do all this? Last part of verse 14? So that they will know He is the Lord. After the 70 year captivity did Israel ever go back into Idolatry again? No they were cured of it.