Ezekiel
16 reminds me of the popular girl in high school that got all of the
boy’s attention because she gained a reputation for being easy.
I’m sure the other girls wondered if being kind, or friendly or
innocent were inferior traits for a time. They do not know that high
school popularity is a fleeting thing. In today’s chapter, God
paints a brutally honest picture of spiritual infidelity. Those of
us that rejected God for a time may understand God’s perspective in
a deeply personal way. Ezekiel the prophet is told to “confront
Jerusalem with her detestable practices“.
Most of us avoid confrontation, but sometimes we need to step in to
stop something horrible. God says to Jerusalem, “On
the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with
water to make you clean… on the day you were born you were
despised“. Not born from
wealth or power the nation was an unwanted discarded mutt. “I
passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood… I said to you,
‘Live!’” This dumpster
baby was rescued and God lavished blessings on her, “I
made you grow like a plant of the field… I gave you my solemn oath
and entered into a covenant with you… and you became mine… I
bathed you with water… I
clothed you with an embroidered dress… I adorned you with jewelry…
and a beautiful crown on your head… And your fame spread… because
the splendor I had given you“.
Israel
went from discarded to the bride of the King, as an example to every
soul on earth.
Listen
to the painful observation of the Lord, “But
you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute…
You went to him, and he possessed your beauty… You also took the
fine jewelry I gave you… and you made for yourself male idols“.
He describes in vivid terms how the nation took turns with all of
the neighbors, rejecting God. “You
took your sons and daughters whom you bore to Me and sacrificed them…
You slaughtered My children… you did not remember the days of your
youth“. Some hope God will
just overlook our sin, but He does not ignore betrayal. He says
simply, “Woe to you“.
Next
we read God’s observation of His beautiful bride, “You…degraded
your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to
anyone who passed by“. Listen
to the passion in His words, “I
gave you over to the greed of your enemies… I am filled with fury
against you… You adulterous wife!”
Now listen to the punishment He allowed, “Therefore
I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure…
I will gather them against you… They will bring a mob against you“.
Some of those popular girls later felt the sting of harsh names and
brutal treatment. God sometimes allows us to experience the
consequences of our decision because that is the only way we will
learn. “You will bear the
consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices… I will
deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised My oath by
breaking the covenant“. The
chapter ends with a new promise. “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“.
The key to honoring God today is in understanding that you have been
forgiven much, and that your forgiveness came at a steep price. “God
made Him who had no sin to be sin
for us, so that in Him
we might become the righteousness of God”
(2 Corinthians 5:21). The chapter closes, “When
I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember“.
Then we can extend that same grace to others. Only God can make
something old into something new.