Read Ezekiel
16 & Hebrews
12
To discover:
As you read note why Jerusalem ’s
sin is so serious.
To ponder:
Ezekiel is now to
confront Jerusalem with an
astonishing but quite explicit oracle in which God outlines the seriousness of
her unfaithfulness when considering his care for her. He begins grounding the
city’s birth in the Canaanite peoples who first built it and then despised it
through lack of care (16v1-6). No doubt, this is to stress that its greatness
is wholly down to God’s favour. He describes himself as seeing the city as a
baby kicking in its blood, and said “live” – so that it grew and became like a
beautiful woman. This may refer to how the city fared before the Israelites
took it. But God then notes how later he passed by, saw it was like a woman
ready for love and entered into a marriage contract with it. The image of
covering with the corner of his garment implies a commitment to provide for
her, but also, here, cover her shame – perhaps that of belonging to pagans. The
day she became his would therefore be the day she became an Israelite city
(16v7-8). God then describes how he washed and beautified his new bride,
providing the best clothes and food so that she became a very beautiful queen,
whose fame spread amongst the nations (16v9-14). We might consider Jerusalem
in the days of Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba being overwhelmed at his wisdom,
palace and temple. The point is that God made Jerusalem
the greatest of all cities, not least with its unique privilege of his
husbandly love and care. And all these things are equally and more wonderfully
true of the new Jerusalem, which is the church.
Yet Jerusalem
forgot who she was dependent on and trusted in her own beauty. So she turned
from the one who had passed by and married her, instead prostituting herself to
anyone else (ie. other gods) who passed by so her beauty became theirs. She
used the wealth God had given, to make high places and idols, and used the
garments, oil and food he had especially given, to clothe and make offerings to
false gods. In this pagan worship she even sacrificed some of her sons, that
were born to God in the sense that they were a gift from him and intended to
grow up with him as their father. In all this, she didn’t remember her infancy
when she had nothing before God took care of her (16v15-22). It’s an intimate
picture of how appalling the people’s rejection of God was, just as ours is
when we consider every good thing we have is from him. Yet it also reflects how
his anger is a jealous anger provoked by his deep love for his people.
At this point God declares “woe”
against the city because of what this will mean. He adds how she even erected a
mound, with shrines throughout the city where she prostituted herself to
whoever came her way, and especially with Egypt ,
Assyria and Babylon
respectively. Here the stress is probably not so much on worshipping their
gods, but looking to them for protection when she should have looked to her
divine husband. In response to the first we are told she was handed over to the
Philistines who were themselves shocked, perhaps at how ready she was to ally
herself with others. And we are told her desire for anyone but God was
insatiable (16v23-29). God states how weak willed she was. Indeed, declaring
her an adulterous wife, he says she was so filled with desire that she would actually
give gifts to her lovers and scorn payment, so being worse than a prostitute. This
must refer to her approaching and bribing the above nations to enter into
alliances with her (16v30-34). It is similar when the Christian looks into
other religions in order to find something they prefer to Christ.
In response, God states that he will
gather all the city’s lovers against her, including those she hated –
presumably because their alliance worked against her. God says he will strip
her so that they see her nakedness. This would symbolise him divorcing her, and
must refer to her losing the glory he had given her, so the nations see how
utterly needy she is without God. He adds that in his jealous wrath he will
give her the punishment due for adultery and murder, so handing her over to
these lover nations, who will strip her of her finery and put her to death,
burning down her houses. Stating this will be in the sight of many women must
refer to the watching nations. And by this means God will stop the prostitution
of her idolatry as she will no longer be able to pay her lovers. This is his
ultimate purpose in her judgement. So he declares his anger and jealousy will then
turn away and he will be calm (16v35-42). All this, we are told, is because Jerusalem
did not remember her youth (16v43). It’s a reminder of the importance of remembering
what we would be, but for the grace of God in Christ.
In what follows, God states Jerusalem
is proving herself not only like her Canaanite mother, who herself despised her
husband and children – perhaps referring to her rejection of the true God and
readiness to engage in child sacrifice. She is also even worse than her sisters
who are named as Samaria (older as
bigger) and Sodom (younger as
smaller), with their daughters (ie. surrounding villages). This would all be
truly shocking to a people who considered themselves descended from the
righteous Abraham and Sarah, and who felt themselves above the nations around
them. The sin of Sodom is listed as
arrogance and excess that led to a lack of concern for the needy, which is
always a temptation for those who have much. God’s point is that he did away
with Sodom , so how much more should
he do away with Jerusalem .
Likewise, Samariah, that was destroyed by Assyria in
judgement committed only half the city’s sins. God therefore declares Jerusalem
should bear its disgrace as its acts have given a degree of justification to
these two sisters by making them appear relatively righteous (16v43-52)! Within
the church too, there are those who can fall to depths of depravity that make
the non-Christian world look good by comparison.
Here God promises to restore to
well-being not just Jerusalem , but Sodom
and Samariah, but all so that those in Jerusalem
might be ashamed that their sin was so bad as to put those cities in a better
light – especially when she wouldn’t previously have even mentioned Sodom
because of the assumption that she was so depraved. As for now, she is despised
by the towns of Edom ,
Philistia and the other nations around her (16v53-57).
The chapter ends, with God declaring
how she will bear the consequences of her sin and breach of his covenant, but
also that he will remember that covenant and so establish another, eternal one
(ie. a new marriage). God will then make Samaria
and Sodom subordinate to her even
though he did not make a covenant with them. And Jerusalem
will know the LORD is God, he will atone for her sin, and in response, she will
be ashamed and humbled (16v58-63). Again, we must see the new covenant here,
that Gentiles are given a share in, even though it is made with Israel .
And we should note that it is when God’s people experience his forgiveness
through the cross, that they see their sin for what it is and hang their heads
in shame. Indeed, Jewish Christians see that they may even have acted more
appalling than Gentile Christians before their conversion.
Praying
it home:
Praise God for his
care of his bride, the church, which he beautifies through Christ. Pray that you
would maintain a deep sense of your sin, and what you would be but for Christ.
Thinking
further:
None today.
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