April 30, Ezekiel 16
Again the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations...." - Ezekiel 16:1-2
We sometimes sing a Dottie Rambo song called "Remind Me, Dear Lord." I thought about a couple of lines from that song's chorus as I studied Chapter 16: "Roll back the curtain of memory now and then; Show me where You brought me from, and where I could have been." The text I chose for this chapter is the Lord's commission to Ezekiel to show the people of Jerusalem their abominations. The prophet related the tragic history of the nation of Israel in God's own words. This chapter contains probably the most blunt and vivid language in the Bible. One famous Jewish rabbi forbade the public reading or translation of this chapter because the picture of Israel's infidelity is conveyed in such coarse language. It was language the people could understand because they had lived it.
Chapter 16 is an exercise in dramatic contrast. It was designed to humble and convict the rebellious people of Israel. God showed them their miserable existence before he chose them and made them his own. Israel was weak like a naked, filthy, helpless newborn who had been cast out to die before God took them to be his people. When death was the only conceivable outcome, he spoke life to them. He grew them to maturity in Egypt, transforming them from that miserable little girl into a beautiful young woman. Then God took that one to be his bride and made a covenant with them. He clothed her with finery and made her rich and powerful.
Then she betrayed God's love, broke her covenant vows and became a lewd prostitute to other gods which were not gods at all. She gave her treasures that God had given her to the false gods. She indulged in the lewd promiscuity of idol worship and even sacrificed her children on the idols' altars. After all that, her wandering lust was still not satisfied.
The book of Hosea also describes the people of Israel as God's adulterous wife, but the shocking details of their sinfulness are much more graphic in God's words here in Ezekiel. The city of Jerusalem stands for the entire remaining nation of Israel in Judah. Jerusalem plunged deeper into sin than her older sister, Samaria (the capital that stood for northern kingdom Israel). Jerusalem became even more sinful than her little sister, Sodom. (Sodom was older, since it was destroyed hundreds of years before the nation of Israel was formed. But Jerusalem's guilt was even greater than that ancient wicked city's guilt.)
But even after Judah's vulgar infidelity, God still promised those who would hear him that there would one day be a new covenant. And in that new covenant, God would restore them from the ruin of sin once again. He himself would atone for all they had done to sin against him.
God punished Israel for her excessive wickedness. Many died horrible deaths; more were taken captive into foreign lands never to return to their homes. But even then, God vowed to keep his promise to Abraham and rescue them from their captivity to sin. That salvation would come through Christ when he came and died to atone for their sins and ours on the cross.
The grace of God is greater than all our sins. He is faithful to his covenant promises. He makes people like us who were dead in sins alive in Christ. He forgives any and every sin as we repent and turn to him, trusting him and not ourselves for our salvation.
Your sins and mine can be covered and forgotten by God himself when we come to him through Jesus Christ. We need to remember how lost we were to appreciate how saved we are in Christ. He has lavished every spiritual blessing on us in Christ. How dare we turn away and be unfaithful to such a loving, gracious Savior when he has made us his bride? We were dirty and doomed, and he cleansed us and saved us. We were dead, and he made us alive. When we see these things clearly, we will not take sin lightly. We will cling to our loving Lord in love and gratitude for all he has done for us.
Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—April 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
Comments