Ezekiel 16:1-63

History is an important discipline for every person to study so they do not end up repeating the errors of the past.  Ezekiel gives an overview of Israel’s history from God’s perspective as well as a look to the future that God has planned for this nation.  God is gracious and patient but He is also jealous and just.  God’s graciousness must never be taken for granted and we must never presume that His mercy outweighs His holiness.  God’s love and grace should encourage us to love and obey Him instead of making us feel confident in our sinful state.  As we look at the history of Israel it is vital that we examine our own lives to see how we have responded to God’s mercy. 

GOD’S PAST PROVISION: Ezekiel pictures Israel as a lost and rejected child who was born to pagan parents.  She is pictured as a baby that was not washed, swaddled or even have its umbilical cord cut.  As she grew up she is pictured as a young woman who had no clothes and was naked and exposed.  This is likely a reference to the nation as it was born and being formed in Egypt where they served as slaves.  God looked down on this abandoned child with love.  He washed the nation, clothed the nation, made a covenant with the nation, gave great riches to the nation, gave them an abundant inheritance and made the nation great and powerful as His very own bride.  God’s love was lavish and generous.  He spared no expense and gave great honor.  This not only describes God’s provision for Israel but it also is a perfect picture of God’s unconditional and unmerited love for every person He saves from sin.  We were all in a desperate state without hope but God sent His very own Son to die in our place and free us from the shame of our sin and lavish us with eternal life.

ISRAEL’S CONSTANT PROSTITUTION: Despite God’s generous and abundant provision, Israel had fallen into the habit of constant prostitution.  She took all of God’s gifts and made them into objects of idolatry.  The gold and silver we fashioned into idols.  The food and clothing was offered to other gods.  God’s love and affection was not returned and Israel played the part of a whoring wife who gave her body to be possessed by another man.  Israel became worse than a prostitute in her idolatry.  A prostitute is paid by the man with who she has relations; Israel paid those with who she cheated on God.  The nation of Israel looked on Sodom as the ultimate example of sinfulness and God’s judgment.  Israel loathed the mixed nation of Samaria but Ezekiel assures Israel that she is far worse than either of these her “sister” nations.  Israel’s unfaithfulness to God and lack of gratitude for God’s provision is astounding.  However, we must be careful not to judge too quickly because these same tendencies are in every single one of our hearts and we too will often worship at the altar of our own pleasure before we bow before the Lord as we should.  We for whom Christ shed His own blood will worship the idols of our own heart instead of the Lamb who was slain in our place.

GOD’S PRESENT PUNISHMENT: Ezekiel now turns His attention to the punishment of God for this terrible unfaithfulness.  Because Israel had committed adultery with the gods of Egypt and Assyria as well as all the other nations that surrounded them, God was now going to use all of these partners of unfaithfulness as a means of punishment before the Lord.  God will not simply stand by and watch His beloved continue in unfaithfulness without consequence.  He judges her severely and calls her to account because of His great love and His holiness.  The nation of Israel in Ezekiel’s day was experiencing this period of judgment.  Their beautiful and powerful cities were toppled and burned.  Her men, women and children were slaughtered in the streets, overcome by famine and disease and carried away in slavery to all the nations with whom she had followed in idolatry. God’s hatred of sin is intense and we must never be deceived into thinking that we can just continue to live a sinful life without consequence.  God disciplines His children and He will judge all of mankind.  We must recognize this reality and live in the fear of the Lord for that is truly the beginning of all wisdom and will lead us into holiness and true worship.

ISRAEL’S FUTURE PARDON: As amazing as it may seem, even after all of the unfaithfulness of Israel and all of the surrounding nations, God still gives them hope of restoration through repentance and faith in Him.  God promises that he will bring the nation full circle, forgive their sin and restore them to a place of honor in His relationship.  God does not break or forget His covenants, nor does He ignore His own holiness.  He judges sin harshly so that we will turn from our sin, trust Christ and experience forgiveness that leads to perfect restoration with God and eternal life.  This is the promise of the Gospel that was bought with the blood of Christ and is made available to Israel and all of the nations through God’s mercy, grace and love.  God gives His people true hope through the promise of His Word.  Salvation is from Him and will give us great reward and eternal life that is far beyond our merit and greater than all our sin.