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AN
OUTLINE OF EZEKIEL 16
An Allegory of Unfaithful Jerusalem (NIV)
God's Unfaithful Bride (NET)
God's Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem (NASB)
Jerusalem the Unfaithful (Good News Bible) |
|
Ezekiel 16:1-14 |
The Lord's
Loving kindnesses to
Jerusalem |
|
Ezekiel 16:15-34 |
Unfaithful Jerusalem's Harlotry |
|
Ezekiel 16:35-50 |
God's Judgment on
Jerusalem |
|
Ezekiel 16:51-63 |
Sodom & Samaria Will be
Restored (53-58) (GNB)
Jerusalem Will Be Ashamed (53-58) (CEV)
Covenant that Lasts Forever (59-63) (GNB) |
|
Ezekiel 16:1 Then the
word of the
LORD
came to me,
saying,
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Whereas the
preceding parable of the vine wood emphasized unfruitfulness,
in this chapter the allegory of a wife emphasizes unfaithfulness.
Believers today as the bride of Christ are to be both fruitful and faithful
for as Paul instructed the Romans
my brethren, you also were made to die
to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to
(KJV/NKJV = married to) another, to Him who was raised from the
dead, (in order) that we might bear fruit for God. (which
fulfills our purpose for true spiritual fruit brings glory to God) (see note
Romans 7:4)
Paul goes on to explain that before we were born again,
while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the
Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But
now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were
bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit (the only way to bear the fruit of the
Spirit!) and not in oldness of the letter. (see notes
Romans 7:5;
7:6)
Wesley's plea
was
Lord, let me not live to be useless.
This is the
longest chapter in Ezekiel and closely parallels the indictment of Judah in
Ezekiel 23 (2 sisters). In this chapter God
describes Israel’s sin and unfaithfulness to His love in such frank and
indicting terms that some of the ancient rabbis refused to allow public
reading of these passages verses! Expositor's adds
Some people are offended by the stark realism of this chapter. However, God
is always straightforward about life. The realism of Israel's history
demands an accurate and vivid analogy. |
|
Ezekiel 16:2
Son of
man,
make
known to
Jerusalem her
abominations
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Amplified: Son of man, cause Jerusalem to
know, understand, and realize her [idolatrous] abominations [that they] are
disgusting, detestable, and shamefully vile.
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman) |
|
make known to
Jerusalem her abominations
(Ezekiel
20:4;
22:2;
23:36;
33:7-9;
Ho 8:1)
The KJV translates it
more "forcefully" as cause Jerusalem to know.
NET Bible translates
it as confront Jerusalem.
The English
translation of the
Septuagint (LXX)(Greek
translation of the Hebrew) has "testify
to Jerusalem" where the Greek word for testify is
diamarturomai which means to solemnly witness or bear witness This
is an interesting opening because Ezekiel is in exile in Babylon and not in
Jerusalem. One explanation is that although Jerusalem does
refer to the city, in context the term is being used also in a "broader"
sense as representative of the Jewish people.
The Amplified Version
translates it with this thought (verse 2) as "Jerusalem [representing
Israel]".
Ezekiel was to give an
uncompromising message, and like Isaiah was to
Cry
loudly, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to (God's) people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their
sins. (Isa 58:1)
As God told Hosea,
Ezekiel was to
Put the trumpet to your lips! Like an
eagle the enemy comes against the house of the LORD (in the context of
Hosea that enemy was Assyria, and for Ezekiel of course was Babylon),
because they have transgressed (broken, rejected) My covenant, and
rebelled against My law.
Quoting the NLT of
Isaiah 57:12
Now I will expose your
so-called good deeds that you consider so righteous. None of them will
benefit or save you.
This allegory of
Jerusalem serves to expose her so-called good deeds and should also
serve as a dramatic warning to anyone who says they are saved and yet
continues to live in their "abominations", for
by this the children of God and the children of the devil are
obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the
one who does not love his brother. (1Jn 3:10)
Abominations
(tow'ebah) ("loathsome practices" NJB, "loathsome sins" NLT; "detestable
practices" NIV) refers to that which causes one to disgust, abhor, loathe
or detest and in context the one who abhors Jerusalem's ("Israel's") conduct
is God. One of the most striking, sad and powerful examples of their
abominations
is found in Ezekiel 8 where God had instructed His prophet to
"Go in and
see the wicked abominations
that they are committing (in
the Holy Temple)....every form of creeping things and beasts and
detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on
the wall (of the Temple area) all around. And standing in front of them were
seventy elders of the house of Israel...each man with his censer in his
hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising...the elders of the
house of Israel...in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images" totally deceived saying "The LORD does not see us; the
LORD has forsaken the land." God went on to tell Ezekiel that he would "see still greater
abominations
which they are committing...(at) the entrance of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the
north... women...sitting there weeping for Tammuz." But God was not
finished with this horrid picture, declaring to Ezekiel that he would "see
still greater
abominations than these... and behold, at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the porch
and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs to the temple of the LORD
and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves
eastward toward the sun." (backs to the Creator, bowing to the creation
as "sun worshippers"!) (Ezekiel 8:9-17) This Hebrew word (tow'ebah) is used to describe a variety of
specific "abominations" including
idolatry (Dt
7:25) human sacrifice (Dt 12:31),
engaging
in occult activities (Dt
18:9-14),
conducting one's business dishonestly (Dt
25:13-16),
practicing ritual prostitution (1Ki
14:23ff), and similar acts of disobedience (Pr
6:16-19 lists seven abominations).
Jerusalem
was guilty of practicing all of these
abominations,
any one of which would have been enough to justify God's wrath on them. It
is also notable that on occasion this Hebrew word translated
abominations
(tow'ebah) is also used as a synonym for "idol" (eg,
Isa 44:19) or even for specific pagan false
gods, for example, referring to the idol Milcom as
"the abomination
of the Ammonites" (in
2Ki 23:13)
At the other end of the spectrum,
he who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his
prayer is an abomination" (Pr 28:9).
And so in
Isaiah God says to Israel
So when you spread out your hands in
prayer, I will hide My eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers,
I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood." (Isa 1:15) |
|
Ezekiel 16:3
and
say,
'Thus
says the
Lord
GOD to
Jerusalem, "Your
origin and your
birth are from the
land of the
Canaanite, your
father was an
Amorite and your
mother a
Hittite. (NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Amplified: And say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem [representing Israel]: Your
[spiritual] origin and your birth are thoroughly Canaanitish; your [spiritual]
father was an Amorite and your [spiritual] mother a Hittite.
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
Brenton: and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord to Jerusalem; Thy
root and thy birth are of the land of Chanaan: thy father was an Amorite,
and thy mother a Chettite. (English translation of the
Septuagint LXX) |
|
Thus
says the Lord GOD
to Jerusalem
Lord God -
NIV more accurately translates it sovereign LORD
God had appointed
(Ezekiel) a watchman for the house of Israel" and so when he head a
message from (God's) mouth" he would "give them warning"
(Ezek 33:7)
The IVP Bible background commentary
has a well reasoned comment stating that
This
passage operates on two levels. First, it is correct to tie Jerusalem, at
least the Jebusite city, to Amorite and North Syrian Hittite political
origins. This is established by its mention in the El Amarna texts. However,
on a symbolic level, in confronting Jerusalem with its mixed ancestry (tying
it to three of the seven major inhabitant groups of Canaan listed in
Ex 3:8), God identifies the place and the people as utterly
corrupt. When the land was conquered, it was the responsibility of the
Israelites to purify it of its idolatrous traditions (Dt
7:1–5), but instead the people became just like the nations
they were supposed to displace. (Matthews, V. H., et al, The IVP Bible
Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press)
Your origin and your birth are from
the land of the
Canaanite(Ezekiel
16:45;
21:30;
Ge 11:25,29;
Joshua 24:14;
Neh 9:7;
Isa 1:10;
51:1,2;
Mt 3:7;
11:24;
Lu 3:7;
Jn 8:44;
Eph 2:3;
1Jn 3:10)
Origin -
ancestry, parentage, lineage, family line with a focus on the origin
Birth -
family, relatives, kindred
The land of the
Canaanite
- The physical location of Jerusalem is
in the "land of Canaan", but as noted above, God is also alluding to the
moral condition of Jerusalem.
your
father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite
The
Amorites
elsewhere is Scripture were used by God to represent the epitome of evil, in
Genesis God declaring that
in the fourth generation (Abraham's
offspring) shall return here (to Canaan), for the iniquity of the
Amorite
is not yet complete. (Ge 15:16)
Was Jerusalem's "father"
literally an
Amorite
and her "mother" literally a
Hittite? In
Isaiah God declares to his people (once in this same chapter identifying
them as synonymous with Jerusalem, see
Isa 51:17)
Listen to me, you who
pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you
were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to
Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain, when he
was one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him. (Isa 51:1-2)
This verse begs the question --
What then is God saying with
this description of Jerusalem?
I agree with Morris' comment, where he
notes that
Both Amorites
and Hittites
were prominent in Canaan
when Abraham arrived there from Ur of the Chaldees. Neither Abraham, Sarah,
Rebecca, Rachel, nor Leah had any Amorite
or Hittite
blood in their personal heritage, but these pagan influences had
infiltrated Jerusalem long before David captured it, and such influences had
infected the children of Israel as soon as they returned there from Egypt
under Joshua. (Morris,
Henry: Defenders Study Bible. World Publishing)
And I would add that these pagan
influences came into "full bloom" after Joshua died (see the detailed
discussion below).
Mother a
Hittite
- see related note
Ezekiel 16:44.
Ryrie agrees with this
interpretation commenting that this verse refers to
Jerusalem's moral genealogy included the
Amorite (Canaanite) and Hittite (a non-Semitic pagan people). (The
Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody Publishers)
John MacArthur agrees noting
that
These names (Canaanite...Amorite...Hittite) identify the residents of Canaan who occupied the land when Abraham
migrated there (cf.
Ge 12:5,6). Jerusalem had the same moral
character as the rest of Canaan." (MacArthur,
J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word
or
Logos)
In preparation for entering the
promised land, Moses had given Israel clear instructions that
When the
LORD your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to
possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites
and the Girgashites and the Amorites
and the Canaanites
and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven
nations greater and stronger than you, and when the LORD your God shall
deliver (give) them before you, and you shall defeat (strike
severely, slay, smite) them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You
shall make no covenant with them and show no favor (no mercy) to
them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give
your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your
sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve
other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and
He will quickly destroy you. But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear
down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their
Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. (Why?) For you
are a holy (separated, set apart) people to the LORD your God;
the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own
possession (treasured possession) out of all the peoples who are
on the face of the earth. For you are a holy people to the LORD your God;
the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out
of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not
set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any
of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD
loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD
brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of
slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."
(Dt
7:1–8)
Moses specifically declared
that
The
graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet
the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you
be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. And you
shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the
ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is
something banned." (Dt
7:25-26)
Israel conquered Canaan under the
leadership of Joshua and generally obeyed the Lord's command but after
Joshua died Judges records that the tribes of Israel did not "drive out
the Canaanites" (see note
Judges 1:29) and that "the Canaanites lived among (in the midst
of) them" (see note
Judges 1:30)
Judges records that
the people served
the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived
Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for
Israel." (see notes
Judges 2:7)
After Joshua and all of his generation
had died
there arose another
generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He
had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their
fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other
gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed
themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they
forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth." (see notes
Judges 2:10-13)
Perhaps the sad story of Israel's
being chosen by God and then choosing to reject His love and His Law can be
summed up in the words of the Psalmist who records
Then (after the
Red Sea deliverance) they believed His words. They sang His praise. They
quickly forgot His works. They did not wait for His counsel. But
craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert." (Ps
106:12-14)
They believed His words but soon
forgot His works and pursued their will not God's. Ezekiel 16 is a summary
in story (allegory) form of Israel's forgetting and forsaking, and should
serve as an example for all of us regarding the importance of remembering
God's love in choosing us and His works of grace and mercy in all of our
lives.
Although I feel the context favors the
above interpretation, in fairness one should be aware that some respected
commentaries like Expositor's Bible Commentary interpret this passage
more as a physical birth of the city of Jerusalem without any spiritual
implications. Thus Expositors comments that
The reference to Jerusalem's
father as an Amorite and her mother as a Hittite has stirred
much debate among expositors. However, the thrust of the passage is to show
how the city came into being. This was accomplished by the Amorites and the
Hittites, for the land of Canaan was also known biblically as the land of
the Amorites and the land of the Hittites.
(Gaebelein,
F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary OT 7 Volume Set: Books: Zondervan
Publishing) |
|
Ezekiel 16:4 As for your
birth, on the
day you were
born your
navel
cord was not
cut,
nor were you
washed with
water for
cleansing; you were not
rubbed with
salt or even
wrapped in
cloths.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Brenton: And as for thy birth in the day wherein thou wast born, thou
didst not bind thy breasts, and thou wast not washed in water, neither wast
thou salted with salt, neither wast thou swathed in swaddling-bands. (Greek
Septuagint) |
|
As
for your birth, on the day you were born
(Ezek
20:8,13;
Ge 15:13;
Ex 1:11-14;
2:23,24;
5:16-21;
Dt 5:6;
15:15;
Josh 24:2;
Neh 9:7-9;
Hos 2:3;
Acts 7:6,7)
Ezekiel describes the
procedures and treatment that would ordinarily be administered by the
attendant at any normal newborn delivery (and which is still the practice of
modern oriental midwives). The attendant (midwife) would cut and tie off the
umbilical cord, rinse the blood of birth (most of which originates from the
placenta separating from the uterus) from the newborn, clean the skin with
salt water and wrap it in a blanket. The child would then normally be
presented to the parents to be named. The clear implication in God's
description of Jerusalem's birth is that she had no one to carry out the
expected and necessary birth procedures. In other words Jerusalem was born
in a helpless state.
your
navel cord was not cut
- Referring to not being cut
from it's attachment to the placenta. Clearly this is one of the first
maneuvers carried out for any newborn given proper attention. God
is almost speaking in hyperbole here to exaggerate the effect that
Jerusalem's birth without His rescuing hand would not have been a reality.
nor were you washed with
water for cleansing (La
2:20;
La 2:22;
Lu 2:7,12)
you
were not rubbed with salt
Rubbing the skin with salt was supposed to make it firm and clean. Some feel
this practice had antiseptic purposes.
Net Bible Note states that...
Arab midwives still cut the umbilical
cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.
even
wrapped in cloths ("nor
wrapped in swaddling cloths" ESV, "nor swaddled at all" KJV)
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary describes the cloth with which newborns were wrapped as a
swaddling band (which) was a
long, narrow strip of cloth used to wrap a newborn baby. To swaddle a child
was to wrap an infant in strips of cloth, much like narrow bandages. This
was believed to ensure the correct early development of the limbs. Thus,
swaddling was a mark of parental love and care, while the need for swaddling
symbolized the humble, dependent position of the newborn child...Although
she could offer Jesus no better crib than an animals manger, Mary showed her
mothers love by wrapping her baby in swaddling clothes (Luke
2:7, 12). The baby Jesus in swaddling bands reminds us of the
great humility of our Lord in becoming a human being for our sakes." (Youngblood,
R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nelson's
New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915 edition) adds
that The oriental
swaddling-clothes consist of a square of cloth and two or more bandages. The
child is laid on the cloth diagonally and the corners are folded over the
feet and body and under the head, the bandages then being tied so as to hold
the cloth in position. This device forms the clothing of the child until it
is about a year old, and its omission (Ezek 16:4) would be a
token that the child had been abandoned. (Orr,
J, et al: The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: 1915)
Believer's Study Bible adds that
Customarily,
when a child was born, the midwife cut the umbilical cord, rubbed the
newborn child with salt, water, and oil, and then wrapped it in swaddling
cloth for seven days. This was repeated every seven days for 40 days. The
picture here is of a child abandoned by its mother and neglected by all from
its birth. The identification of Israel with pagan parents was a most
impressive way to mark their depraved and sinful nature.
(Criswell,
W A. Believer's Study Bible: New King James Version. 1991. Thomas Nelson |
|
Ezekiel 16:5
No
eye
looked with
pity on you to
do
any of
these
things for you, to
have
compassion on you. Rather you were
thrown out into the
open
field, for you were
abhorred on the
day you were
born.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Brenton: Nor did mine eye pity thee, to do for thee one of all these
things, to feel at all for thee; but thou wast cast out on the face of the
field, because of the deformity (crookedness, perversity) of thy person, in
the day wherein thou wast born. (Greek Septuagint)
GWT: No one who saw you felt sorry enough for you to do any of these
things. But you were thrown into an open field. You were rejected when you
were born. (GWT)
NLT: No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or
cared for you. On the day you were born, you were dumped in a field and left
to die, unwanted. (NLT
- Tyndale House)
Tanakh: No one pitied you enough to do any one of these things for
you out of compassion for you; on the day you were born, you were left
lying, rejected, in the open field. |
|
No eye looked with pity on
you to do any of these things
(the "things" in v4)
for you (Ezekiel
2:6;
Isa 49:15;
La 2:11,19;
4:3,10)
The Hebrew word for pity
(02347)
(chuwc/chus) literally means to cover and figuratively to be
compassionate, take pity, show mercy, the focus being on sparing or
delivering one from great punishment. It conveys the basic meaning of to look with pity and often has the
added nuance of a feeling which goes out toward one who is in trouble.
to
have compassion on you
- This is not the usual word translated compassion (racham) but
is the Hebrew word here (02550) (chamal)
connotes the emotional response which results or may result in an action to
remove the recipient from impending difficulty. Chamal refers to the emotion leading one to spare
another or have pity on them.
In context this point is a reminder to
Jerusalem that only God pitied and had compassion
on her as on a baby, saving her from certain destruction, similar to what
God did for the baby Moses who was placed in a basket in the Nile (same word
chamal is used in
Ex 2:6).
Net Bible adds that...
These verbs, “pity” and “spare,” echo the judgment oracles in
Ezekiel 5:11;
7:4, 9;
8:18;
9:5, 10.
you were thrown out into the open
field
(Ge 21:10;
Ex 1:22;
Nu 19:16;
Jer 9:21,22;
22:19)
Open -
literally "the face of"
This phrase describes "infanticide"
which was a widespread custom in the ancient near east used to eliminate
unwanted children.
Moses records this same thought in
a parallel passage...
He (God) found him (Israel) in a desert
land, and in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared
for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. (Deut 32:10) (Comment:
God found Israel in a barren, desert land with no one to care for her and
called Israel to be His own chosen people. His blessings came to the nation
in a remarkable and unlimited way. He was patient with His people. When
everyone else abandoned her, God still cared for Israel and provided for
her. He had a father's undying love for his children. His love for His
people does not mean that He is blind to their sins when they turn aside
from Him. Nor does God's love mean that He never brings suffering to His
people. The love of God means that God must chastise His people, on
occasion, because He loves them. When God's love is expressed in wrath or
judgment, it is wrath from a broken heart of love and with a purpose of
bringing His people to obedience and maturity.
Disciple's Study Bible)
The IVP Bible background commentary
adds
the historical note that there is
graphic evidence of (infanticide) from the Roman-Byzantine period... found in recent excavations at
Ashkelon, where the remains of a hundred infants who had been disposed of in
a sewer drain were uncovered. Infanticide was usually employed to get rid of
female or malformed children. This was done as a means of either population
control or economic necessity, since many villages were barely able to feed
and care for healthy children and adults. The fact that the infant’s parents
“cast it out” into a field has legal implications as well. They are
renouncing all legal claims to the child and leaving it up to God and/or
another person to “adopt” and thus save the child’s life. (Matthews,
V. H., et al The IVP Bible background commentary : Old Testament
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press)
you
were abhorred on the day you were born
Abhorred
(01604)
(go'al) is derived from a root which indicates intense aversion which is
expressed often in punitive or adverse action). It means hated, loathed,
greatly disliked with idea of disgust or intolerance |
|
Ezekiel 16:6
When I
passed by you and
saw you
squirming in your
blood, I
said to you while you
were in your
blood,
'Live!' Yes, I
said to you while you
were in your
blood,
'Live
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Brenton: And I passed by to thee, and saw thee polluted (defiled)
in thy blood; and I said to thee, Let there be life out of thy blood: (Greek
Septuagint)
KJV: And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine
own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said
unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.
NLT: "But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your
own blood. As you lay there, I said, 'Live!'
NRSV: I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood. As you
lay in your blood, I said to you, "Live!
Tanakh: When I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I
said to you: "Live in spite of your blood." Yea, I said to you: "Live in
spite of your blood." |
|
When
I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood...I said...Live!
(Ex 2:24,25;
3:7,8;
Acts 7:34) (Isa 14:19;
51:23;
Mic 7:10;
Mt 5:13;
Heb10:29;
Rev 14:20) (20:5-10;
Ex 19:4-6;
Dt 9:4;
Ps 105:10-15,26-37;
Jn 5:25;
Ro 9:15;
Ep 2:4,5;
Titus 3:3-7)
The Greek Septuagint (and the
KJV) translation helps one understand that "in your blood"
refers to pollution or defilement ("saw thee polluted in thy blood").
Jerusalem is portrayed
as a helpless babe, cast out, loathed and polluted and would have perished
had not God passed by and bestowed His mercy and kindnesses upon her.
It is notable that in ancient times (and even in some oriental countries
today) female babies were considered undesirable and thus were exposed to
the elements, thrown out on the rubbish heap to die. God's kindness of
undeserving Jerusalem was not to be a source of pride but a reminder of His
bountiful grace, in which He takes the worthless and the unwanted, and not
only calls out, Live! but makes the unlovely lovely!. Every believer's life
can and should give such radiate such a gutter to glory testimony to the
praise of the glory of God's grace. |
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Ezekiel 16:7 I
made you
numerous like
plants of the
field. Then you
grew up,
became
tall and
reached the
age for
fine
ornaments; your
breasts were
formed and your
hair had
grown. Yet you were
naked and
bare.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
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Amplified: I caused you [Israel] to multiply as the bud which grows in the field, and
you increased and became tall and you came to full maidenhood and beauty; your
breasts were formed and your hair had grown, yet you were naked and bare. (Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
NJB: and I made you grow like the grass of the fields. You developed,
you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts became firm and your
hair grew richly, but you were stark naked. (NJB)
NLT: And 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 hair
grew, though you were still naked. (NLT
- Tyndale House)
Young's Literal: A myriad -- as the shoot of the field I have made thee, And thou
art multiplied, and art great, And comest in with an excellent adornment,
Breasts have been formed, and thy hair hath grown -- And thou, naked and
bare! |
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I made you numerous like plants of
the field (Ge
22:17;
Ex 1:7;
12:37;
Acts 7:17)
Again showing God's undeserved
amazing grace.
Then you grew up, became tall, and reached the age for fine ornaments
(10-13,16;
Ex 3:22;
Dt 1:10;
4:8;
32:10-14;
33:26-29;
Ne9:18-25;
Ps135:4;
147:20;
148:14;
149:2-4;
Is 61:10;
62:3)
Here Jerusalem is described as a young
woman who had reached marriageable age.
your
breasts were formed and your hair had grown
you
were naked and bare (22;
Job 1:21;
Song 4:5;
Ho2:3,9,10;
Rev 3:17,18) |
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