Ezekiel’s instructions from the LORD are still strong symbols to shake awake an Israel that is dead asleep. Ezekiel is told to take a sword and shave his beard, then divide up the hair in piles of 3. One pile for for the sword, one for the wind, and one with fire to represent how Israel will be conquered.
A couple of strands Ezekiel is to keep as a symbol there will be a small remnant. But even a few of those strands are to be taken and burned up.
Then he spells out the reason for his indictment against Israel. Israel has become so evil that they do worse things than the nations around them. He says they have not even kept basic morality that even the pagan nations that live nearby adhere to. They have basically become rotten to the core.
Therefore God is going to bring righteous judgment against them. He is going to hand them over to the Babylonians and the Babylonians will do to them as they please. Which won’t be good. It will such terrible times that fathers will literally eat their children for food and children will eat their fathers. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through the land.
Even with this they did not believe. Even with these level of warnings they did not repent.
There comes a point in history where we can so be deceived by sin that nothings wakes us up. Our hearts become hard and people don’t care. Warnings seem laughable. That is the hardening power of sin.
If we do not wake up, the same will come to us. Our hearts can become so hard that truth does not touch us. We are deceived into thinking we are good people. Ugh. I feel like in someways it is already here.
On a side note I’m struggling going through the major prophets. So much heaviness and judgment and terrible things talked about and not repentance. It’s hard going through so much of it in Scripture. And it’s hard also to see it all around me every day in the news.
Just give me the gospels. Give me Jesus. Give me joy and peace. It’s not hard to see after going through all these how the Messiah really is the good news of the world.