Chapter Summary

Sign of the sharp knife. Famine, pestilence and the sword impending.

Discussion Questions for Ezekiel, Chapter 5

1. What do you think is being communicated by God's command to Ezekiel to shave his head and beard? How would this be received? Why is this act significant?
2. What does the hair represent? What appears to be the fate of most of Israel? Why does God present this message in this way?
3. A small amount of hair is placed in Ezekiel's robe. Who does this represent? What does this tell us about God?
4. Some of the remnant will be thrown into the fire. What does this mean? What does this teach us about following God?
5. In 5:6, God says that Israel has rebelled "more than the nations (ESV)." How can this be true? What makes Israel's sin more wicked than the nations?
6. In 5:8, God says that he will judge them "in their midst in the sight of the nations (ESV)." Why is it significant that this judgement would be in the sight of nations? Why would this be a particularly appropriate form of punishment?
7. How are we to take the extreme punishment of God in 5:10? How is this related to Deuteronomy 28:53? What does this teach us about about humanity? What does this teach us about the holiness of God?
8. God says that the sin of Israel is so bad that he will judge them in a way that he has never done before and will never do again. What do you think makes this sin so terrible in God's sight? Is this a matter of degree, duration, or amount of sin? Or, is it a combination of all three?
9. How are the elements of God's judgment in 5:12 related to the elements in 5:1-4? How do you know? What is the purpose of the repetition of these sequences?
10. Read 5:13. What is the purpose of God's anger toward Israel? What does it mean that God is jealous? How should this statement cause us to react toward God?

Key Words/Phrase

Judgments, v. 8.

Characters

God, Ezekiel.

Strong Verse(s)

7, 8.