1 Under the similitude of a wretched infant is showed the natural state of Jerusalem. 6 God’s extraordinary love towards her. 15 Her monstrous unfaitfulness. 35 Her grievous judgment. 44 Her sin, matching her mother, and exceeding her sisters, Sodom and Samaria, call for judgments. 60 Mercy is promised her in the end.
Have you been a victim of an unfaithful partner? How did you cope with the emotion of rejection? The previous happiness of enjoying a pure faithful relationship determines the excruciating pain of rejection.
We are first going to read the metaphor and then do an in depth study of God’s divine pain when His bride rejected Him for a bad partnes.
Eze 16:1 The word of the LORD came to me:
Eze 16:2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices
Eze 16:3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
Eze 16:4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
Eze 16:5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
Eze 16:6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”
Eze 16:7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
Eze 16:8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
Eze 16:9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.
Eze 16:10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments.
Eze 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck,
Eze 16:12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
Eze 16:13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
Eze 16:14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Eze 16:15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.
Eze 16:16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.
Eze 16:17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.
Eze 16:18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them.
Eze 16:19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Eze 16:20 “‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
Eze 16:21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.
Eze 16:22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.
Eze 16:23 “‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness,
Eze 16:24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square.
Eze 16:25 At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.
Eze 16:26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity.
Eze 16:27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct.
Eze 16:28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied.
Eze 16:29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.
Eze 16:30 “‘I am filled with fury against you, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute!
Eze 16:31 When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
Eze 16:32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!
Eze 16:33 All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.
Eze 16:34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.
Eze 16:35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!
Eze 16:36 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood,
Eze 16:37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked.
Eze 16:38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.
Eze 16:39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked.
Eze 16:40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.
Eze 16:41 They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.
Eze 16:42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
Eze 16:43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?
Eze 16:44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.”
Eze 16:45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
Eze 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom.
Eze 16:47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they.
Eze 16:48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
Eze 16:49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.
Eze 16:50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.
Eze 16:51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done.
Eze 16:52 Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.
Eze 16:53 “‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them,
Eze 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort.
Eze 16:55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before.
Eze 16:56 You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride,
Eze 16:57 before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you.
Eze 16:58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD.
The Lord’s Everlasting Covenant
Eze 16:59 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant.
Eze 16:60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
Eze 16:61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you.
Eze 16:62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
Eze 16:63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.'”
Eze 16:61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you.
Eze 16:62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
Eze 16:63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.'”
Eze 16:1 The word of the LORD came to me:
By means of a realistic allegory Jerusalem is caused “to know her abominations” (v. 2). Some of the language employed in the allegory is repellent to the modern reader. Men do not speak as forthrightly today. Those whom Ezekiel addressed were accustomed to such speech, and experienced no shock.
Eze 16:2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices
Eze 16:3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.
An Amorite … Hittite. The significance of these clauses has, until recent years, remained somewhat of a mystery.
However, archaeological discoveries over many decades have thrown an abundance of light on the early history of the land of Palestine. It is now known that the Amorites were very early inhabitants of that region, and that the infiltrating Hittites from the north occupied some areas of Palestine before the Hebrews settled the land.
Among the various peoples of Canaan were the Jebusites, who lived in the ancient city of Jebus, situated on part of the territory later the site of Jerusalem. Early pre-Israelite kings of Jerusalem had Amorite and Hittite names.
This ethnic background was Jerusalem’s nativity. Ezekiel’s language is a strong taunt to the people of Jerusalem, who boasted descent from Abraham, but who acted as if descended from the earlier heathen inhabitants of what was afterward the land of Israel. Resemblance in character was of transcendent importance compared with mere lineal descent (see John 8:44).
Eze 16:4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.
Eze 16:5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
Verses 4, 5 describe a child cast out into a field following its birth, a frequent heathen practice. Left to itself, the child would soon have perished. The cutting of the umbilical cord was necessary for independent life.
According to ancient custom the newborn infant was rubbed with salt after the washing. The ancients seemed to think this would make the skin firmer and drier and cleanse it more thoroughly. Salt was also regarded as having a preservative property. The practice of wrapping the body tightly in swaddling clothes is referred to in Luke 2:7. What period in Israel’s history is represented by this parable? Probably the time of sojourn in Egypt, where Israel, as a nation, was born.
Eze 16:6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”
God is represented as a traveler, who, on passing by, discovers the unsightly and pitiable object. Notwithstanding its pollution, He takes pity on it and saves its life. In this helpless and miserable condition God found the Hebrews in the land of bondage.
By cruel oppression and by the slaughter of male infants the Egyptians sought to prevent the children of Israel from becoming more and mightier than they (Ex. 1:9–14). But God blessed His people, and, despite hard bondage, they “waxed very mighty” (Ex. 1:20).
Eze 16:7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
Eze 16:8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
I passed by. This visit is distinguished from the one in Israel’s infancy in Egypt when God blessed and multiplied her. She has now come to a marriageable age, and the Lord betroths her unto Himself (see Jer. 2:2).
Spread my garment over you. Signifying the intent to confer upon the maiden the honor of marriage Ruth 3:9 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”
The obvious reference is to the solemn transaction at Sinai, when God entered into covenant with the Hebrews, who pledged themselves to love, worship, and obey Him to the exclusion of every rival god (Ex. 19:1–9; 24:1–8).
Eze 16:9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.
The “washing” and the “anointing” were a part of the preparations for marriage.
Rth 3:3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
Eze 16:10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments.
Embroidered.
Heb. riqmah, thought to represent a garment of many colors. The daughter of the king described in Ps. 45:14 was decked in reqamoth many colours.
Eze 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck,
The picture is Oriental, and sets forth the adornment of a royal Eastern bride.
Eze 16:12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.
The question may be raised: Should one find in this passage a sanction for indulgence in such luxury today, for was it not God Himself who thus profusely decked this maid? The answer is No. First of all, the incident is figurative, and the imagery is borrowed from a contemporary situation.
Jewelry and extravagant dress for Christian women are spoken against (1 Tim 2:9, 10; 1 Peter 3:3, 4).
Eze 16:13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.
A reference to the time of David and Solomon, when the kingdom of Israel extended from the Euphrates to the “border of Egypt” (see on 1 Kings 4:21), and many of the surrounding kingdoms were tributary. This period was the golden age of Israel.
Eze 16:14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.
I had given. We are reminded that our prosperity and glory were not because of any merit of our own. They owed all they enjoyed to God.
NEXT TIME
The response of the bride to her marvellous loving and caring spouse.