1 And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
2 Thou shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shall take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shall scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
When Ezekiel was done with his year-plus side-lying, God told him to get a haircut.
Now, after lying mutely in the street for more than a year, Ezekiel gets up and shaves his head. One third he burns in the middle of his Jerusalem tile. One third of his hair he attacks with a knife. One third he throws up in the air to blow away. I wonder how big of an audience he had; probably the best entertainment in town.
Anyway, the first third represents those who died in the siege of starvation and disease. The second third represents those who the Babylonians killed outright when they finally got into the city or who were killed trying to escape. The final third are those who were carried away captive or who escaped to other countries, such as Egypt. Babylon eventually captured those also.
3 Thou shall also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
However, God was going to preserve a small number for Himself and protect them.
4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
Fire can be a purifying agent. All the bad is burned up and only the good remains. This is especially true of metals.
5 Thus says the Lord God; "This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
6 "And she has changed My judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and My statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused My judgments and My statutes, they have not walked in them."
The book of James says “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17, New Living Translation (©2007) Though the non-Israelite nations sinned horribly, they didn’t really know better. Their conscious would have told them some sins, but it can be difficult to interpret. Our brains often get in the way.
Israel did the same things that her neighbors did, but she had the Mosaic Law to tell her exactly what was right and what was wrong, making her sin much worse.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord God; "Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in My statutes, neither have kept My judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;"
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God; "Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations."
God has already had the Northern Kingdom taken captive by the Assyrians, and the southern Kingdom has had her best taken off to Babylon on two different occasions. But the major part of Judah is still standing and going about life like normal. God is now promising that He will destroy Jerusalem and take the rest of the country (those not killed in the process, anyway) into captivity.
9 "And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations."
Though Israel has been subjugated before, it was nothing like what is fixing to happen.
10 "Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds."
The siege lasted for eighteen months and many were starved to the point of cannibalism.
11 "Wherefore, as I live," says the Lord God; "Surely, because thou have defiled My sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall Mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity."
Israel has been so disobedient, cruel, and rebellious God won’t feel the least bit sorry for them during the Babylonian siege.
12 "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them."
Now God explains the meaning of Ezekiel’s haircut to them all.
13 "Thus shall Mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken it in My zeal, when I have accomplished My fury in them."
There will be no question that this is God’s hand moving on them.
14 "Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.
15 "So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the Lord have spoken it.
16 "When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
17 "So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee: and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the Lord have spoken it."
These last four verses summarize what God is going to do: disease, pestilence, famine, war, wild animals, embarrassment, and abuse. Israel will be punished in every way possible.