Rev. Rick Jones, chaplain and director of spiritual life at the Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch in Minot, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Ezekiel 5:1-17.
Priests were not to cut their hair, and yet the LORD tells Ezekiel to do precisely that as a part of another action prophecy. Each third of the prophet’s hair showed forth what would happen to the people of Jerusalem in the upcoming destruction of the city. A third of the people would die by pestilence and famine in the city, a third of the people would die by the sword in the city, and a third of the people would be scattered only to die by the sword later. This was the LORD’s judgment against His people because of the blatant idolatry of Judah; they had been even more wicked than the pagan nations around them. In the midst of the LORD’s scathing condemnation of His people, He does speak one promise. A few strands of Ezekiel’s hair are tucked into his robe; this is a reminder that the LORD will spare His faithful remnant according to His Word.
“The Faithful Watchman” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Ezekiel. Just when Ezekiel should have begun his service as priest in the temple in Jerusalem, the LORD called him to be a prophet in exile in Babylon. Through fantastic visions and attention-grabbing action prophecies, the prophet Ezekiel is a faithful watchman who proclaims the word of the LORD to bring people to repentance over their sins and to faith in the coming Savior, Jesus Christ, the glory of the LORD made flesh.
