By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher
Text: Ezekiel
16:1-14
Ezekiel
16:8
“When
I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the
time of love; so I spread [d]My
wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and
entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the
Lord God.
(NKJV)
In the previous chapter
of Ezekiel, God compared Jerusalem to an outcast vine whose only use was wood
for a fire (Ezekiel
15).
However, in this text, God seems to change direction with the text poetically
expressing God’s love towards Jerusalem (Ezekiel
16:8).
This is not a contradiction in scripture, nor does it indicate a change in God.
Instead, this indicates that while God’s love is unconditional, God still
abhors sin with sin having consequences. God’s love is unconditional but also
non-permissive.
Ezekiel receives another
word from the Lord, instructing him to make Jerusalem aware of their
abominations (Ezekiel
l6:1-2). Ezekiel
16:3-5 is a reference to Jerusalem before its conquest by
David (2
Samuel 5:6-16). The picture of a baby born without
severing the umbilical cord refers to the practice in Canaan of leaving
unwanted babies in the desert to die. Just like there was no one to pity
Jerusalem during this time, there was no one pitying Israel during this time
either.
In this pitiful state,
The Lord passes by and tells Jerusalem to live, making them thrive like a
maturing and growing plant in the field (Ezekiel
16:6-7). When the Lord passed by Jerusalem again, he
realized that Jerusalem was in a time of love, so God spread his protective
wings over them in protection. God also entered into a covenant with Jerusalem with
Jerusalem becoming His (Ezekiel
16:8).
Instead of Jerusalem being
left unwashed and unclothed, the Lord washed off their blood, anointed them
with oil, and clothed them with fine clothes and sandals (Ezekiel
16:9-10). God also adorned Jerusalem with fine ornaments,
bracelets, a chain on her neck, a jewel in her nose, earrings, and a beautiful
crown on her head (Ezekiel
16:11-12). God adorned Jerusalem like a groom would adorn his
bride, supplying her with fine food, making her exceedingly beautiful, and raising
her to royalty (Ezekiel
16:13). Jerusalem’s beauty made her famous among the
nations for it was a beauty bestowed upon her by the Lord (Ezekiel
16:14).
After comparing Jerusalem
to a useless vine (Ezekiel
15:1-8), the Lord poetically expresses His love for
Jerusalem. An unconditional but not permissive love. God instructs Ezekiel to
let Jerusalem know their abominations so they would understand where they were
spiritually and their need for the grace of God (Ezekiel
16:2).
The Lord then alludes to Jerusalem’s pre-Israelite history when they were the
Canaanite outpost of Jebus. After David's conquest of Jerusalem (2
Samuel 5:6-16), Jerusalem went from being a Canaanite
outpost to the city of God (Psalm
46:4).
However, Jerusalem turned its back on God, worshipping the gods of the Canaanites
God threw out of the land (2
Chronicles 24:7). The consequence of this sin will be
seventy years of exile (2
Chronicles 36:21; Jeremiah 25:11). God did not like what
the people of Jerusalem did, but He still loved them.
The love and grace of God
is unconditional but not permissive meaning there are consequences for
disobedience with God still loving his children. Let The Church learn a lesson
from Jerusalem and the nation of Israel and not abuse the love and grace of God
through disobedience but instead experience transformation through the renewing
of our minds with the Word of God (Romans
12:1-2). The Church cannot compromise one inch or centimeter
with the sin of this world but must courageously take a stand against it.
The Church is the Bride
of Christ and Jesus’ love for the Church is unconditional and eternal. However,
sin grieves the heart of God, causing him to not like what the Church does
while still loving His bride. A great example of this is Peter who walked with
Jesus and yet denied him in His time of greatest need (Matthew
26:69-75). I am sure Jesus did not like what Peter did yet His
love for Peter was so great he forgave Peter (John
21:15-19), making him the leader of the early Church and its
first evangelist (Acts
2:14-47)
The first act of
obedience to God is to ask for forgiveness of sins and to confess your belief
in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Romans
10:9-10). If you are reading this and have not done this, I
invite you to pray with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23)
and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe
you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
May God challenge,
convict, and bless everyone reading this post.
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