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INDEX
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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries, Word
Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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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) |
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Ezekiel 16:1-14 |
The Lord's
Loving kindnesses to
Jerusalem |
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Ezekiel 16:15-34 |
Unfaithful Jerusalem's Harlotry |
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Ezekiel 16:35-50 |
God's Judgment on
Jerusalem |
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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) |
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Ezekiel
16:37
therefore,
behold, I will
gather
all your
lovers with
whom you
took
pleasure, even
all those
whom you
loved and
all those
whom you
hated. So I will
gather them
against you from
every
direction and
expose your
nakedness to them that they may
see
all your
nakedness.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
NIV: therefore I am
going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you
loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all
around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your
nakedness.
NLT: this is what I am going to do. I will gather together all your
allies—these lovers of yours 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.
NJB: for all this, I shall assemble all the lovers to whom you have
given pleasure, all the ones you liked and also all the ones you disliked;
yes, I shall assemble them round you and strip you naked in front of them,
and let them see you naked from head to foot. |
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Amplified
making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among
the nations
(Ezek
23:9,10,22-30;
Jer 4:30;
13:22,26;
22:20;
La 1:8,19;
Hos 2:3,10;
Hos 8:10;
Nah 3:5,6;
Rev 17:16)
They shall
see all your nakedness
The Net Bible Notes that...
Harlots suffered degradation when
their nakedness was exposed (Jer
13:22, 26;
Hos 2:12;
Nah 3:5).
As MacArthur notes
Public exposure of profligate
women and the stoning of them were well-known customs in ancient Israel,
making them a shameful spectacle. |
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Ezekiel
16:38 Thus I will
judge you like women who
commit
adultery or
shed
blood are
judged; and I will
bring on you the
blood of
wrath and
jealousy.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
NKJV: And I will judge
you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood
upon you in fury and jealousy.
NJB: I shall pass on you the sentence that adulteresses and
murderesses receive; I shall hand you over to their jealous fury |
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I shall judge you, like
women who commit adultery (Ezek
16:40;
23:45-47;
Ge 38:11,24;
Lev 20:10;
Dt 22:22-24;
Mt 1:18,19;
Jn 8:3-5)
How were they judged?
Moses writes...
If there is a man who commits adultery
with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife,
the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (Lev 20:10)
If a man is found lying with a married
woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the
woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel. If there is a girl who is
a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies
with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and
you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the
city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor's wife. Thus you
shall purge the evil from among you. (Dt 22:22-24)
shed
blood are judged and and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy
(Ezek
16:20,21,36;
Ge 9:6;
Ex 21:12;
Nu 35:31;
Ps 79:3-5;
Jer 18:21;
Zeph 1:17;
Nah 1:2;
Rev 16:6)
Wrath (02534)
(chemah/hemah from yaham = to be hot) describes that which is
hot and figuratively refers to hot displeasure, indignation and wrath.
Chemah is used most often to describe God's anger against His unfaithful
wife Israel
Jealousy - This is a term between lovers. God had abundantly showered
His love upon His chosen people. Instead of reciprocating, they rebelled,
thus incurring His jealous anger.
What is God's Word of truth on capital
punishment? What is the blood of wrath and jealousy? Moses records
that...
Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his
blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. (Ge 9:6)
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Ezekiel
16:39 I will also
give you into the
hands of your lovers, and they will
tear
down your
shrines,
demolish your
high
places,
strip you of your
clothing,
take away your
jewels
* and will
leave you
naked and
bare. (NASB:
Lockman) |
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they will tear down your shrines
("brothel")," (Ezek
16:24,25,31;
7:22-24;
Is 27:9)
strip you of your clothing
(Ezek
16:10-20;
23:26,29;
Is 3:16-24;
Ho2:3,9-13)
God declares that He will give His
faithless wife Judah (Jerusalem) over to her lovers who would take from her
everything she had leaving her naked and bare, her original condition. |
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Ezekiel
16:42 So I will
calm My
fury against you and My
jealousy will
depart from you, and I will be
pacified and
angry
no
more. (NASB:
Lockman) |
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I shall calm (rest) My fury against you
(Ezek
5:13;
21:17;
2Sa21:14;
Is1:24;
Zech 6:8)
I
shall be pacified and angry no more
(Ezek
39:29;
Is 40:1,2;
54:9,10)
Although one might say this was in a
sense fulfilled by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and 70 years of
captivity, there is another sense in which God's anger against Israel will
not fully rest until the end of "time of Jacob's distress." (Jer 30:7) which
occurs in the last 3.5 years of Daniel's 70th year. |
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Ezekiel
16:44
Behold,
everyone who
quotes
proverbs will
quote this
proverb
concerning you,
saying, 'Like
mother, like
daughter.'
(NASB:
Lockman) |
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Behold,
everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you, saying,
'Like mother, like daughter.' (Ezekiel
18:2,3;
1 Samuel 24:13)
(Ezek
16:3,45;
1Ki 21:16;
2Ki17:11,15;
21:9;
Ezra 9:1;
Ps 106:35-38)
Like mother like
daughter - In this context mother refers to the
Hittites
(Ezek. 16:3 says to Judah/Jerusalem - your mother a Hittite). The
point of the proverb is that Israel was as lewd and immoral as the original
inhabitants of Canaan who were unspeakably debauched as discerned from
archeological findings related to this time period. By way of practical
application every mother should contemplate the far-reaching influence of
her lips and her life before her children (fathers, this applies to your
influence as well for generally "like father, like sons"! Be careful how you
conduct yourself, not as unwise fathers but as wise fathers who are seeking
to redeem the few short years of your life on earth for the days are evil.
Cooper writes
that...
The next stage in the judgment of the
orphan who became a queen, a harlot, and finally a convicted criminal was
the revelation that her story would become a proverb (cf. Ezekiel
14:8). The proverb was, Like mother, like daughter. The
point was that if Jerusalem wanted a shocking look at her disgraceful
character and her dismal future, she could look at her cultural ancestors
the Hittites and Amorites, who had transmitted their heritage of wickedness
to Sodom, Samaria, and Jerusalem. In depravity and idolatry Israel had
followed the bad example of the Canaanites and thus would be judged like
them (Cooper, L. E. Vol. 17: Ezekiel: The New American Commentary.
Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers)
The Disciple's
Study Bible writes that...
Sin is not inherited. I am not guilty
because mother was guilty. I do inherit a nature prone to sin from Adam (see
notes
Romans 5:12;
5:17).
I am sinful like my parents because all influences on my life give me the
tendency to sin and I choose to let their influence outweigh God's on my
life. I increase my guilt by condemning my neighbors for their sins when
mine are worse than theirs.... Ezekiel described Jerusalem as more corrupt
than Israel's favorite example of wicked people: Sodom (Ge 13:13; Genesis
18-19) and Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom exiled and inhabited
by a mixed race with a mixed religion (2 Ki 17:24-41; Ezra; Nehemiah). Such
corruption came because the people of Jerusalem chose to act more corruptly
than the other nations ever imagined (see note
Ezekiel 16:48).
Their "depravity'' represented one generation's choices, not their
inheritance from their ancestors. (Disciple's
Study Bible) |
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Ezekiel
16:46 Now your
older
sister is
Samaria, who
lives
north of you with her
daughters; and your
younger
sister, who
lives
south of you, is
Sodom with her
daughters.
(NASB:
Lockman) |
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Young's Literal: And
thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters, Who is dwelling at thy
left hand, And thy younger sister, who is dwelling on thy right hand, is
Sodom and her daughters. |
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Now your older sister is
Samaria who lives north of
you with her daughters (Ezek
16:51;
23:4,11,31-33;
Jer 3:8-11;
Mic 1:5)
Samaria
who lives north - North is
literally "at thy left hand". This is clearly a reference to the northern 10
tribes who had their capital in
Samaria.
The Northern Kingdom was not older chronologically but was larger and the
first to be judged by God in 722BC when she was defeated and taken into
exile by the Assyrians.
Your younger sister
- Judah whose capital was Jerusalem. Notice they are all referred to in
feminine terms. They all fell into spiritual adultery or harlotry. Anyone
reading this description who has a daughter has to be gripped by the tragic
description. How it must have grieved the Father's heart! We need to recall
this to mind the next time we contemplate making provision to commit a sin
(see note
Romans 13:14).
Peter speaks to this point in his first letter writing...
And if you address as Father the One who
impartially judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear
during the time of your stay upon earth; 18 knowing that you were not
redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of
life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (See notes
1 Peter 1:17;
1:18;
1:19)
(Comment: The point is that believers need to be reading and
meditating on truths such as found in Ezekiel 16, that they might maintain a
healthy, reverential fear of the Lord and of the certainty of reaping the
consequences of sinning. This healthy fear is set in the background of
recalling the high cost to the Father to provide us with so great a
salvation -- His Son's precious blood. Next time you are tempted to get
angry, to lash out in hostility at your mate or child, to commit egregious
sin, to overtly rebel against Truth, etc -- before you
react...Think...Remember...Recall what if cost the Father. Without that
provision, that sin you would commit would otherwise be your death sentence
[see James 2:10]. Then, instead of reacting in anger, etc, act with an
attitude of gratitude and contrition and humility, thankful that you now
have the strength of His indwelling Spirit to walk in a manner that pleases
your Father rather than grieves Him! Amen.)
Pray Psalm 119:38...
Establish Thy word to Thy servant, As
that which produces reverence for Thee.
In his comments on Psalm 119:38
Charles Spurgeon wrote
Make me sure of Thy sure word:
make it sure to me and make me sure of it. If we possess the spirit of
service, and yet are troubled with sceptical thoughts we cannot do better
than pray to be established in the truth. Times will arise when every
doctrine and promise seems to be shaken, and our mind gets no rest: then we
must appeal to God for establishment in the faith, for he would have all his
servants to be well instructed and confirmed in his word. But we must mind
that we are the Lord's servants, for else we shall not long be sound in his
truth. Practical holiness is a great help towards doctrinal certainty: if we
are God's servants he will confirm his word in our experience. "If any man
will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine"; and so know it as to be
fully assured of it. Atheism in the heart is a horrible plague to a God
fearing man, it brings more torment with it than can well be described; and
nothing but a visitation of grace can settle the soul after it has been
violently assailed thereby. Vanity or falsehood is bad for the eyes, but it
is even worse when it defiles the understanding and casts a doubt upon the
word of the living God.
Who is devoted to Thy fear, or simply -- "to thy fear." That is, make
good Thy word to godly fear: wherever it exists; strengthen the whole body
of reverent men. Stablish Thy word, not only to me, but to all the godly
ones under the sun. Or, again, it may mean -- "Stablish Thy word to Thy
fear," namely, that men may be led to fear thee; since a sure faith in the
divine promise is the fountain and foundation of godly fear.
Men will never worship a God in Whom they
do not believe. More faith will lead to more godly fear. We cannot
look for the fulfilment of promises in our experience unless we live under
the influence of the fear of the Lord: establishment in grace is the
result of holy watchfulness and prayerful energy. We shall never be
rooted and grounded in our belief unless we daily practise what we profess
to believe. Full assurance is the reward of obedience. Answers to
prayer are given to those whose hearts answer to the Lord's command.
If we are devoted to God's fear we shall
be delivered from all other fear. He has no fear as to the truth of the word
who is filled with fear of the Author of the word.
Scepticism is both the parent and the
child of impiety; but strong faith both begets piety and is begotten of it.
We commend this whole verse to any devout man whose tendency is to
scepticism: it will be an admirable prayer for use in seasons of
unusually strong misgivings.
Spurgeon's Note)
your
younger sister, who lives south of you, is
Sodom (Ezek
16:48,49,53-56,61;
Ge 13:11-13;
18:20-33;
19:24,25;
Dt 29:23;
32:32;
Isa 1:9,10;
Jer 23:14;
Lam 4:6;
Lu 17:28-30;
2Pe 2:6;
Jude 1:7;
Rev 11:8)
Lives south -
literally "dwelling on thy right hand"
Sodom
- Used here to symbolize the
southern kingdom and Jerusalem. This is the first of the 6 uses of the term
Sodom by Ezekiel, all of them in Ezekiel 16.
In the book of the
Revelation Jerusalem is again referred to as
Sodom
...
And their dead bodies will lie in the
street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt,
where also their Lord was crucified. (From his note on
Revelation 11:8 Tony Garland
writes "Both Sodom and Egypt typify cities which were opposed and
judged by God. Sodom was an exceedingly wicked city which was
overthrown for her sins by God’s judgment (Ge 13:13; 19:24). Egypt
was the nation which held Israel in bondage and was judged by plagues prior
to the Exodus (Ex. 1:13-14; 3:7; 20:2). Jerusalem, in her godless state, is
likened to both the wicked city and the wicked nation. Even though the two
witnesses exhibit a Jewish ministry located in Jerusalem, they are rejected
by the majority of the inhabitants—their fellow Jews.
When Moses sang a song predicting the apostasy of Israel upon entering the
Promised Land after his death, he referred to the Jewish nation as a
nation void of counsel whose vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the
fields of Gomorrah (Dt. 32:28-32). Isaiah used a similar analogy when
describing God’s rejection of Israel’s insincere sacrifices:
Hear the word of the LORD you rulers of
Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: ‘To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?’ (Isa. 1:10).
The sin of Jerusalem is said to be as the
sin of Sodom in that it was flaunted openly (Isa 3:8).6 Even the
apostate prophets are likened to the inhabitants of Sodom and
Gomorrah (Jer 23:14). When rejected by the cities of the lost sheep of the
house of Israel, Jesus indicated that the cities which did not receive the
apostles or their words would be considered worse off than Sodom and
Gomorrah in the day of judgment (Mt 10:14-15; Luke 10:12). Although
Jerusalem is here referred to as Sodom, Isaiah also indicated that
Babylon’s eventual overthrow would be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa.
13:19). Elsewhere, Ezekiel describes the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) and the
Southern Kingdom (Jerusalem) as idolatrous sisters, both of which committed
harlotry in their youth while in Egypt (Ezekiel 23:2-4, 19, 27). Comparison
with Egypt recalls the idolatrous golden calf which Israel made upon
departure from Egypt (Ex. 32:4, 24).
with
her daughters (Ezek
16:27;
26:6;
Ge 14:8;
19:29;
Hos 11:8)
Daughters - In context this term
appears to be a figurative description of other cities in the Northern and
Southern Kingdom who also went "whoring" after other gods that are really no
gods at all. |
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