Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Ezekiel 16: Jerusalem - the unfaithful wife that will be restored.

 In Ezekiel 16, the Lord exposes the sins of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is compared to a baby that was cared by the Lord and became his wife.

We read:

 11 I adorned you with jewelry, put bracelets on your wrists, and a necklace around your neck. 12 I also put a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 Then your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you,” declares the Lord God.

 Jerusalem was born ugly but became beautiful thanks to the Lord, however:

 15-16 “‘But your beauty went to your head and you became a common whore, grabbing anyone coming down the street and taking him into your bed. You took your fine dresses and made “tents” of them, using them as brothels in which you practiced your trade. This kind of thing should never happen, never.

 Not only a whore, but also a killer:

20-21 “‘And then you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had given birth to as my children, and you killed them, sacrificing them to idols. Wasn’t it bad enough that you had become a whore? And now you’re a murderer, killing my children and sacrificing them to idols.

The Lord will deal with Jerusalem:

41-42 “‘I’ll have put a full stop to your whoring life—no more paying lovers to come to your bed! By then my anger will be played out. My jealousy will subside.

and will remember the covenant:

59-63 “‘God, the Master, says, I’ll do to you just as you have already done, you who have treated my oath with contempt and broken the covenant. All the same, I’ll remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I’ll make a new covenant with you that will last forever. (...) I’ll firmly establish my covenant with you and you’ll know that I am God. You’ll remember your past life and face the shame of it, but when I make atonement for you, make everything right after all you’ve done, it will leave you speechless.’” Decree of God, the Master.

I suppose that in a normal situation, the sinner should make the atonement to the Lord but here is the opposite. The Lord will make atonement for Jerusalem. As a Christian (who sees Jesus in all the Bible), Jesus is the atonement provided by the Lord for me and for Jerusalem.

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