1 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing 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 completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds.
REFLECTION:
Shaving one’s hair and beard represents grief, humiliation or repentance. God asked Ezekiel to shave off his hair and beard and divide them into three parts, symbolizing that something important will happen to the people in Jerusalem. In addition to the verbal prophecy, God also asked Ezekiel to use dramatic behaviour to attract the attention of the people, and imprint an indelible impression on their hearts. During the Republic of China, when Brother John Sung preached the gospel, he put a real coffin on the podium, jumped in and out by himself, symbolizing death from sin and resurrection from the Lord, and it also left a great impression on the people at that time. The deep impression made them feel more real about the Lord’s salvation. Ezekiel put a few hairs into the skirt of his clothes, symbolizing that God wants to protect a small number of faithful people. But even among these people, some will be judged and destroyed because of their insincere faith. Reflect if we can stand up in the coming judgment. Matthew 7:22-23 warns that many people who think they are safe are not protected. It is essential that we make sure that our commitment to God comes from our spirit and honesty. In addition, just as God asked Ezekiel and Brother John Sung to convey God’s message in a creative way, today we can also creatively preach the good news about God to this generation of lost people and save more lost souls.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to examine your heart and give you more obedience, so that you can sincerely follow the Lord every day; pray for God to give you wisdom so that you can use impressive and creative methods to preach the gospel; especially pray for a friend or relative who have not believed in the Lord for a long time, ask God to lead you to share the gospel message to him/her in a more targeted way.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment.
REFLECTION:
Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem to the people through various symbolic actions commanded by God. God specifically explained to Ezekiel what to do, what to say, how to do, and how to say it. Every detail has specific meaning. We often ignore or disrespect the nuances of God’s words, thinking that God probably won’t mind these details. We are to be like Ezekiel, even in the details of God’s Word, to be completely obedient. Ezekiel’s unusual behaviour symbolized the fate of Jerusalem. He lay on the left side for 390 days, which means that Israel will be punished for 390 years; then he lay on the right side for 40 days, which means that Judah will be punished for 40 years. Ezekiel could not move the place, which symbolized that people in Jerusalem would be imprisoned in the city. He was allowed to eat a small amount of food, which meant that when the enemy was besieging the city, the people in the city still had food to eat. But this food must be baked on dung, which symbolizes the fate of Judah’s uncleanness and destruction. Ezekiel asked God not to let him bake food on human dung, because this violated the Purity Laws (cf. Lev. 21, 22; Deut. 23:12-14). God assign to him cow’s dung instead of human dung on which he may prepare his bread. As a priest, Ezekiel has been careful to obey these laws, but he is more willing to obey God’s direct instructions to him. Many people must have seen these abnormal scenes and heard Ezekiel’s message from time to time throughout the process. Unfortunately, they did not respond as they should. Today, when we face the warning signs of God, will we be as slow as the Israelites back then?
PRAYER:
Pray that God will give you sufficient alertness toward the disasters and tragedies happening in the world. God’s judgment is not delayed but is an expression of His patience, not wanting anyone to perish. Pray for Canada and for global disasters and suffering, asking God to show mercy and bring healing to those who are facing sickness and the threat of death.
1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat whatever you find here. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— 6 not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. 9 Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” 10 Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. 11 And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ whether they hear or refuse to hear.”
REFLECTION:
Ezekiel ate the message of God in a vision and found that this spiritual food was not only delicious but also sweet as honey (see similar usage in Revelation 10:8-10). If we “digest” God’s words, we will find that it not only makes our faith stronger, but God’s wisdom can make our lives more abundant and sweeter. So we have to eat spiritual food like we eat every day. We cannot communicate with God only occasionally, but keep God’s words in our hearts all the time and become a part of our lives. Before Ezekiel preached the word of God to others, he had to remember the word of God in his heart. In other words, God’s word must first be deeply rooted in our hearts and manifested in our lives before we can effectively help others understand and apply the gospel. Today, we will also face some people with “hard foreheads and hard hearts.” To break through their defenses, it is not because of the great words and wisdom, but our good life as Christians, and a faith that is like emery stronger than flint.
PRAYER:
Pray for God to make you more thirsty for His words, eat spiritual food every day, and digest this spiritual food in your life, so that you will be stronger and have more heavenly characters; pray that God will strengthen your faith and enable you to live out your faith no matter what environment you are in, use your life to bear a good testimony for God, and attract more people to God.
