August 18 A READ EZEKIEL 16–19
Parables of Judgment for Judah
OVERVIEW
Using a picturesque series of allegories and parables, Ezekiel continues his dual message of horror and hope. Like an unfaithful wife, God’s people have gone after other gods. They have committed spiritual adultery and prostituted their privileged position. But God’s love remains ever faithful for the objects of his delight. Using illustrations drawn from nature, the prophet portrays the reasons for God’s coming discipline and gives the sobering reminder: “The person who sins is the one who will die” (18:20).
MY DAILY WALK
Perhaps God’s providence is nowhere more evident than in the fact that he gives parents twelve years to develop a love for their children before he turns them into teenagers!
Chapter 18 contains some sobering words for teens . . . and for God’s children of all ages. It’s a reminder of personal accountability—of the fact that we cannot and dare not attempt to pin the blame for today’s problems on yesterday’s generation.
Are you the product of godly parents? Then thank God, but don’t think he will ignore your willful rebellion because your parents are godly (18:5-13). Are you the child of rebellious or backslidden parents? Don’t think you can use that as an excuse for avoiding the clear and insistent commands of God’s Word (18:20).
Make an appointment to take a parent or child out for a special meal this week. (Or call a family member who is out of town.) If there is a root of bitterness between you, confess it. If there has been indifference or a lack of accountability in your relationship, change it.
THE BEST WAY TO KEEP TEENS AT HOME IS TO MAKE HOME PLEASANT—AND LET THE AIR OUT OF THE TIRES.
INSIGHT
The Madness of Unfaithfulness | Ezek. 16:34
You’ve heard the maxim: “Dog bites man, that’s not news; man bites dog, that’s news.” A prostitute who is paid for her wickedness isn’t newsworthy, because she isn’t unusual. On the other hand, a prostitute who pays those who come to her would definitely attract attention. In Ezekiel’s day, Israel had become front-page material. She had committed such mad, willful idolatry that God likened her to a prostitute who paid her customers (16:34).
INSIGHT
Who’s Who? | Ezek. 17:1-8
To unravel the puzzle of chapter 17, use this guide:
• great eagle (v. 3): Nebuchadnezzar
• top of a cedar tree (v. 3): house of David
• highest branch (v. 4): Jehoiachin
• city filled with merchants (v. 4): Babylon
• seedling (v. 5): Zedekiah
• another great eagle (v. 7): king of Egypt
INSIGHT
Justice and Mercy in Balance | Ezek. 18:21
In a book so full of judgment, it’s easy to miss God’s mercy. Don’t overlook Ezekiel 18:21, 23, 32; God takes no delight in bringing retribution. His greater desire is for repentance and restoration.
Jerusalem—an Unfaithful Wife
1Then another message came to me from the LORD: 2“Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. 3Give her this message from the Sovereign LORD: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. 5No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.
6“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ 7And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. 8And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.
9“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. 10I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. 11I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, 12a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. 13And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign LORD.
15“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. 16You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? 17You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! 18You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. 19Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign LORD.
20“Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? 21Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? 22In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.
23“What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. 25On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. 26Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. 29You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia,* the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.
30“What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign LORD, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. 31You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. 32Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. 33Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. 34So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!
Judgment on Jerusalem’s Prostitution
35“Therefore, you prostitute, listen to this message from the LORD! 36This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have poured out your lust and exposed yourself in prostitution to all your lovers, and because you have worshiped detestable idols,* and because you have slaughtered your children as sacrifices to your gods, 37this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your allies—the lovers with whom you have sinned, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will strip you naked in front of them so they can stare at you. 38I will punish you for your murder and adultery. I will cover you with blood in my jealous fury. 39Then I will give you to these many nations who are your lovers, and they will destroy you. They will knock down your pagan shrines and the altars to your idols. They will strip you and take your beautiful jewels, leaving you stark naked. 40They will band together in a mob to stone you and cut you up with swords. 41They will burn your homes and punish you in front of many women. I will stop your prostitution and end your payments to your many lovers.
42“Then at last my fury against you will be spent, and my jealous anger will subside. I will be calm and will not be angry with you anymore. 43But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by doing all these evil things, I will fully repay you for all of your sins, says the Sovereign LORD. For you have added lewd acts to all your detestable sins. 44Everyone who makes up proverbs will say of you, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’ 45For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and so do you. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46“Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. 47But you have not merely sinned as they did. You quickly surpassed them in corruption. 48As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. 49Sodom’s sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50She was proud and committed detestable sins, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.*
51“Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more detestable things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you. 52Shame on you! Your sins are so terrible that you make your sisters seem righteous, even virtuous.
53“But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. 54Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. 55Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. 56In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. 57But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom* and all her neighbors and by Philistia. 58This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sins, says the LORD.
59“Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. 62And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. 63You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”