What is the meaning of Ezekiel 5:10? As a result Ezekiel has just finished acting out a prophetic sign—cutting, burning, striking, and scattering his own hair (Ezekiel 5:1-4). Each action symbolized what the LORD would do to Jerusalem because the people, though uniquely placed “in the center of the nations” (Ezekiel 5:5-8), rebelled worse than their neighbors. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and Leviticus 26:14-39 had already spelled out covenant curses for such rebellion, including starvation, siege, and exile. Ezekiel now announces the terrifying climax of those curses: “As a result…” • The phrase links the coming horror directly to national sin. • God is not capricious; judgment is the righteous consequence of persistent idolatry (2 Chronicles 36:14-16). • Every warning the LORD gave—from Moses to the prophets—now comes due (Jeremiah 25:4-9). Fathers among you will eat their sons This statement is literal. During Babylon’s siege the famine became so desperate that parents resorted to cannibalism, exactly as foretold in Leviticus 26:29 and Deuteronomy 28:53-57. Historical echoes appear in 2 Kings 6:28-29 during an earlier Syrian siege, and again in Lamentations 2:20; 4:10 after Jerusalem fell to Babylon. Why such a shocking sentence? • To expose how sin destroys even the most basic human affections. • To demonstrate that refusing the Bread of Life results in consuming one another (Galatians 5:15 as a New-Testament echo). • To warn future generations that God’s words are not empty threats (1 Corinthians 10:11). And sons will eat their fathers The reversal is complete; the younger generation becomes as desperate as the older. Jeremiah 19:9 records the same horror. Sin levels all distinctions—age, status, gender—when divine restraint is lifted. The covenant family unravels because it first unraveled its covenant with God (Ezekiel 22:7). I will execute judgments against you The Babylonian army was the visible instrument, yet God takes personal responsibility: “I will…” (Ezekiel 5:13-17; 7:3-4). His judgments match the three thirds of Ezekiel’s hair sign— • Sword inside the city (2 Kings 25:3-9). • Famine and plague within (Ezekiel 5:12). • Exile for the survivors (Jeremiah 52:28-30). These acts are judicial, measured, and covenantal, not arbitrary. They reveal both God’s holiness (Habakkuk 1:13) and His integrity in keeping every word He has spoken (Numbers 23:19). And scatter all your remnant to every wind The handful of hair Ezekiel tucked into his robe and then tossed to the wind (Ezekiel 5:2-3) foretold dispersion. Deuteronomy 28:64, Jeremiah 29:14, and Ezekiel 12:14-15 echo the same phrase “to every wind,” describing exile that would stretch from Babylon to every corner of the earth (Zechariah 2:6). Even here mercy glimmers: God preserves a remnant, ensuring His promises to Abraham, David, and the future Messiah will stand (Isaiah 10:20-22). Yet the scattering also foreshadows the long diaspora lasting into New-Testament times (John 7:35). summary Ezekiel 5:10 is a sober declaration that God’s covenant curses fall exactly as written. Unimaginable famine, family breakdown, direct divine judgment, and worldwide exile descend because Israel spurned the LORD’s covenant love. The verse stands as a literal, historical warning that God’s Word is utterly reliable—both in promises of blessing and in threats of judgment. |
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