A small number in the skirts of your robe
Fri, 2 September, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
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. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.”
God has Ezekiel act out a visual illustration to display to the people what God is about to do. What does it all mean? We aren’t left to guess, as God explains it to us.
Ezekiel cuts off his hair and beard. This is a sign of mourning and degradation, and it symbolizes God’s coming judgment upon the people. Ezekiel is to divide his shaved hair into three portions. One third is burned and represents the people who will die of famine and disease in the coming siege. One third of the hair he is to hack up with a sword as one third of the people will be killed in battle. And one third of the hair he is to scatter to the wind, as one third of the people will be disbursed in exile.
But Ezekiel is also to tuck a small amount of the hair in the hem of his robe, and oddly, the meaning of this part of the illustration is not explained. Some argue that this represents the few people who will be left in the land of Israel. But I think this represents the true people of God, those who are protected by God even in the midst of the judgment.
What do we learn from this?
I see this as a promise that God will preserve His people even in the midst of the worst of situations going on. God will judge the visible church for its sin, but He will preserve the true church in the midst of that judgment.
God is willing to judge His people to the extent that the watching world thinks His people are completely destroyed. As far as we can see, there are none left at all. But despite what we see and think, God will preserve His elect and His church will not be completely destroyed. They might be just a small number, but they will be preserved.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Jesus Christ said:
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The true church, the true believers, the elect belong to Jesus Christ. They are His and He promises to preserve them. Those who belong to Him are like Ezekiel’s hairs safely tucked away in the garment. They are kept and protected by Him and will be presented faultless to the Father in the final day of judgment.
[Update: After further reflection, I've changed my mind. This passage doesn't seem to be referring to the elect after all. Somehow I overlooked verse 4: And of these again (the hairs in the hem of his garment) 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. The picture of Ezekiel tucking the hairs in the hem of his garment doesn't make sense to me as representing God's protection of the elect if God then has Ezekiel remove some of the hairs and burn them in the fire.
Since the Scriptures speak of the confidence we can have that God will never drive away those who come to Him in faith (and all those who are His will come to Him in faith), we know that God will not take from those who are the elect and consign them to the fire outside of His ultimate protection.
So I now think I was reading too much into this passage when I discussed it as referring to God's protection of the elect. My apologies.]
