The Gospel According to Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16:15-34

How is it even possible that verse 15 starts with the contrasting word “But”? How could this story take such a wretched and wounding turn? Somehow Israel became confident in her beauty instead of in God (v. 15), and she did not remember the days of her youth (v. 20). Astonishingly, she forgot God (23:35). Why does Israel seem to suffer from amnesia so much in the Bible? They crossed the Red Sea and days later doubted God’s ability to provide food and water for them. When they were weighed down with the treasure God caused the Egyptians to give them, did it not occur to anyone besides Moses that God provides for His people? They witnessed God crush Pharaoh and his army, but did they not believe God could give them Canaan? When the children born in the wilderness finally got to enter the promised land, they acted as if they forgot everything Moses told them. Despite all the Ebenezers Israel raised to commemorate great events, they could never seem to remember it was God who gave them the occasion to raise them.

Enamored with what they had become, God’s people forgot from where they came. Their confidence was in how they were made rather than in their Maker. At some point their story line shifted from Sovereign made to self-made, and it would result in their downfall. Are we ever prone to put more emphasis in God’s gifts than we do in God? At times Israel loved the ark of the covenant and the temple more than they loved the One whose presence was with both. We are always in trouble if our confidence is in who we are rather than whose we are.

When they were not looking at themselves in the mirror, God’s people were staring at other countries and lusting after what they saw (23:12). In particular they were drawn to the men of Egypt, Assyria, and Chaldea (16:23-29; 23:12-21). God describes Israel’s actions in some of the most graphic language in the Bible (16:25-26; 23:19-21). The essence of Yahweh’s grievance with His people is that they have used His resources to initiate relationships with other nations and have sought security in their embrace rather than in His. Those nations were all too willing to comply (23:21).

In Ezekiel 16:15-34 God states His case against Israel and accuses them of both religious and political adultery. Imagine a married woman has another lover waiting for her at a designated location. Now imagine she goes to her husband and asks for money. She then takes the money and uses it to lavish her lover with gifts. This is what Israel did (16:15-19,32-33; 23:41) and what we do (Jas 4:3-4). Jerusalem used the gifts God gave them to chase after nonexistent gods, and what’s worse, they even sacrificed their children to them (16:20-21). God has one word for all of it: prostitution.

What had God done that justified this treatment? What good thing had He withheld? Or when was a time He ever proved unreliable? Apparently, Jerusalem thought He could not be trusted alone with their well-being since they sought alliances with other countries and their gods (16:23-29). Their actions were so awful that even the Philistine women were embarrassed by Jerusalem’s indecent behavior (16:27). In all of it, Jerusalem was no ordinary prostitute because instead of getting paid, she was paying everyone else. She initiated the tryst (23:16), let the other nation have their way with her, and then turned away from them in disgust (23:17).

The best way not to end up like Jerusalem is for us never to forget where God brought us from and all that His love has made us to be. How many times are we like Israel and look for love and security in all the wrong places? Why don’t we really believe that in His presence is abundant joy and at His right hand are eternal pleasures (Ps 16:11)? When we consider our own lack of faithfulness to God, which sin do we think is not wounding to Him? Which sin is not our looking for satisfaction or security somewhere else? Which sin is not our placing something else above Him in our heart? If there is a greater picture of betrayal and ingratitude in the Bible, I do not know it!

God Is as Passionate in His Judgment as He Is in His Love

Ezekiel 16:35-43

Has God ever given you something you thought you wanted only for you to realize you did not want it after all? If Israel wanted to expose her nakedness (16:36), then He was going to make sure her lovers could see her completely naked (16:37), which was not a good thing.

As a consequence of her prostitution, God is going to gather all her lovers against her (16:37). He will use those lovers to bring about her bloodshed (16:38). Her lovers will tear down her elevated places. They will also stone her, cut her, and burn down her houses (16:39-41). Though the wording is slightly different, the divine Judge gives a similar sentence in Ezekiel 23:47. The nations Israel prostituted herself to will now execute the Lord’s judgment (23:24). Those she delighted in pursuing will now pursue her destruction. Israel will be left naked, penniless, and covered in shame (23:29).

Why was God acting in such a wrathful manner toward His people? Well, one answer is because Jerusalem asked for it. She enraged (intentionally provoked) God by not remembering the days of her youth (16:43). But God had another purpose for His discipline: I will stop you from being a prostitute, and you will never again pay fees for lovers (16:41). In the depth of their depravity and despite their hearts that were inflamed with lust (16:30), God would save His people from themselves. He will bring all their lewdness to an end (23:27). He will work in their lives so they will no longer seek security anywhere but in Him. His discipline of His children is never just punitive but purifying. In the movie Forrest Gump (1994), Forrest’s love for the wayward Jenny was steadfast but not transformative. His love was insufficient to produce any lasting changes in Jenny’s desires and behaviors. God’s love, however, is not that weak. His love transforms those who receive it. He will not leave His people in the same condition that He finds them. His plan is that all will be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29).

Our Sin Is More Wretched Than We Care to Acknowledge

Ezekiel 16:44-52

As if all God said up to this point was not sufficient to give His people an accurate portrait of their sin and sickness, He provided one more comparison. He wanted them to know they had behaved more corruptly than Sodom and that Samaria did not commit half their sins (16:47,51). It would have been astoundingly offensive for Israel to hear God’s indictments because they considered themselves more pious than the rest. But God’s assessments did not lack facts. It was as if Israel had seen Samaria’s ways and said, “Anything you can do, I can do far worse” (23:11). God’s people had so multiplied their detestable practices they made Sodom and Samaria appear righteous (16:52). How grieving and how gross that God’s people loved sin so much.

It should not be surprising when Gentiles act like those who do not know God, since they do not. When God’s people, however, act in like manner, something is terribly wrong. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to “abstain from sexual immorality, so that each of you knows how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, not with lustful desires, like the Gentiles who don’t know God” (1 Thess 4:3-5). He clearly implies those who know God act in one way and those who do not know God act in another. Israel’s actions in Ezekiel 16 and 23 were the same as those who did not know God. But Israel did know Him, so they were without excuse when called to give an account for their actions. As Christians, we’ve been called to holiness (1 Thess 4:7) and have been given His Spirit (1 Thess 4:8). If our pursuit of sin is making those who do not know God appear to be more righteous, we are without excuse as well.

Rather Than Abandon His People God Chooses

to Atone for Them

Ezekiel 16:53-63

If this passage was about a contemporary marriage, then most likely the union would dissolve based on marital infidelity and irreconcilable differences, but for God there is no such thing. Instead of abandoning His people, He will make atonement for all they had done (16:63). Can we read that once more? Instead of forsaking His unfaithful bride, He will atone for her by forsaking His faithful Son. In making atonement, the Father will treat Jesus as if He was the one who engaged in prostitution. He will treat Jesus as if He worshiped other gods. He will treat Jesus as if He had looked for security somewhere besides the Father. He will treat Jesus as if He had looked at porn, or gossiped, or had an abortion. In short, God the Father will treat Jesus as if He was guilty of every single act of rebellion we have ever committed against God.

To all those who would say, “There is no way God can forgive the filthy things I’ve done,” Ezekiel 16 and 23 stand as a lighthouse shining truth against that lie. He knows all that we have done, and instead of running away from us, He runs to us. Whatever we confess, He has covered with the blood of His Son. When we truly grasp the love displayed in Ezekiel 16 and 23,

our hearts break because of the unexpected beauty of it. God keeps coming to us, even in our bloody tawdriness, and says, “Live!” And in the end, he gives us his very life through the Son to make just that possible. (Hoezee, “Jeremiah 8:18–9:1”)

No sinner is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Fanny Crosby led us to sing,

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood!

To every believer the promise of God;

The vilest offender who truly believes,

that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the earth hear His voice!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Let the people rejoice;

O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son:

And give Him the glory! Great things He hath done! (Fanny J. Crosby, “To God Be the Glory”)

If you have been made keenly aware of how awful you are in comparison to the Lord’s holy standard, then rejoice, because “there is more mercy in Christ than sin in us” (Sibbes, The Bruised Reed).

Reflect and Discuss