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shave and a hair cut

Ezekiel 5:1-4 (JDV)

Ezekiel 5:1 “Now you, son of Adam, take a sharp sword, use it like you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.
Ezekiel 5:2 You are to burn a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended; you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, because I will draw a sword to chase after them.
Ezekiel 5:3 But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.
Ezekiel 5:4 Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it. A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.

shave and a hair cut

When Ezekiel first heard these words from the LORD, how he must have cringed. For him, personally, to shave his head and beard would have meant he was forsaking the priesthood. It would have been a rejection of his inheritance.

As a prophet, he would also recognize the symbolism that his people would suffer loss, shame and even the ones who did survive would be in mourning.

The cost of a shave and a hair cut is much more than two bits. The cost that this event predicted was astronomical.

LORD, as we contemplate the cost of Judah’s rebellion and sin, may we learn its lesson. May we grow strong in obedience, and quick in repentance.