1 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 "Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,"
If we think about it, we can usually figure out what sins we have committed. But most of us won’t think about it until prompted. God has to point this out to us to make us face them.
3 "And say, 'Thus says the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.'"
In John 8, Jesus tells the Pharisees that their father was the devil because they did the work of the devil. To call either the Jews of Ezekiel’s time or the Pharisees of Jesus time children of Abraham would have been an insult to Abraham. Though in both cases their biology was from Abraham, God does not care about bloodlines. He cares about the heart. In both cases the hearts were descended from Satan.
The Jews of Ezekiel’s time were acting just like the horrid Amorites and Hittites that God had destroyed because of sin.
4 "'And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.'"
Whether God meant the day Abraham was called out of idolatry or the day Israel left Egypt, we don’t know.
Throughout history different cultures have adopted different traditions surrounding birth. Most cut the cord as soon as it quits pulsing (1-5 minutes after birth), either tying a knot in it or burning the end so to seal it so the baby doesn’t bleed to death. If the cord is not cut, it will eventually dry up and fall off by itself, but mom has to carry around the placenta with the baby the whole time; a nuisance.
At some point after birth Baby is washed to remove the blood and mucus that comes with birth. This might happen immediately (as in American hospitals) or be delayed a bit to allow more bonding time between mom and baby (and some research is suggesting a delay allows time for the baby to reabsorb some of that moisture making his skin healthier in the long run. But even then, the delay is only a few hours). Either way, it makes baby prettier and the dried blood would be stiff and uncomfortable.
Many cultures rub the baby with salt or give him a bath in salt water. This would allow Baby to absorb electrolytes through his skin from the salt.
Swaddling comes and goes in fashion. It is on the decline in America. The theory is that swaddling supports Baby’s limbs until he is strong enough to control them and keeps him from injuring himself. It is also supposed to simulate the tightness he is used to in the womb and thus comfort him in his new, strange environment.
Those who don’t promote swaddling claim it restricts circulation too much, doesn’t allow Baby to learn to use his limbs fast enough, and interferes with his bonding with mom. I kind of lean towards doing whatever baby seems to need. Most of the time my babies have seemed annoyed with it, but if he is unsettled and having a lot of startle reflexes (sudden jerks like he has just been dropped), I swaddle. Otherwise, I enjoy looking at his little hands and feet and playing with them and swaddling interferes with that.
The point of the scripture is, though, a picture of a baby being neglected after birth; no one caring enough to do those things commonly done to a brand new baby.
5 "'None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou was cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou was born.'"
Unwanted babies in any culture are simply tossed in a field or river to die (if not sacrificed to an idol). This still happens in China today to little girl babies. You see, abortion is nothing new. We just do it earlier and more violently than the ancients did.
6 "'And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou was in thy blood, "Live;" yea, I said unto thee when thou was in thy blood, "Live."'"
God pictures Himself here as a passerby who sees this newborn, still covered in the blood of birth, and takes her home to raise as His own.
7 "'I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou have increased and waxen great, and thou are come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou was naked and bare.'"
And now the baby has grown into a beautiful, mature woman.
8 "'Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I swore unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee,' says the Lord God, 'and thou became Mine.'"
God took Israel from Egypt, a straggly band of slaves and grew them up into maturity. He called Israel His wife.
9 "'Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.'"
God cared for Israel with real compassion.
10 "'I clothed thee also with embroidered work, and shod thee with badgers skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.
11 "'I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.'"
God provided great riches for Israel. The land of Canaan is located where it never gets really cold, there is plenty of rain, yet not in the path of hurricanes, and is on the major trade routes between east and west, north and south. Israel was perfectly situated to be rich.
12 "'And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.'"
Many believe this part of the world to be the most beautiful anywhere.
13 "Thus was thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work; thou did eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou was exceeding beautiful, and thou did prosper into a kingdom.'"
God provided fine food.
14 "'And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee,' says the Lord God."
15 "'But thou did trust in thine own beauty, and played the harlot because of thy renown, and poured out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.'"
Israel was an unfaithful wife because she committed idolatry.
16 "'And of thy garments thou did take, and decked thy high places with divers colors, and played the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.'"
It was the practice of many pagans to dress up their idols in fancy clothes. It was also their habit to have prostitution as part of their religious ceremonies. Israel is playing the part of a prostitute by worshiping these idols, and most likely engaging in the sex practises of the heathens.
17 "'Thou have also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver, which I had given thee, and made to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,'"
If God is Israel’s husband, than worshiping idols is the same thing as a married woman becoming a prostitute. Israel took the gold and silver God had blessed them with (possibly even the gold and silver in the Temple) and made idols with them.
18 "'And took thy embroidered garments, and covered them: and thou have set Mine oil and Mine incense before them.'"
Israel devoted the gifts which should have been offered to the One True God to their statue-gods.
19 "'My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou have even set it before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was,' says the Lord God."
God had abundantly blessed Israel, turning a rather desolate land into a land flowing with milk and honey. They had everything they could want. They had turned around and given those blessings to idols.
20 "'Moreover thou have taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou have borne unto Me, and these have thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,'"
Babies are NEVER an accident. They might be a surprise to the human parents, but they are always designed by God, given as a gift to the parents for the purpose of bringing up new Warriors for His Kingdom.
21 "'That thou have slain My children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?'"
In the ancient Mediterranean region there was a common form of worship involving the god Moloch. This was often a statue with his arms in front of him. A baby was placed in his arms with kindling and set on fire as a gift to this god.
Not only was Israel giving all the silver, gold, wine and food God had provided for them to their false idols, they were killing their babies for them.
22 "'And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou have not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou was naked and bare, and was polluted in thy blood.'"
Israel has forgotten where she came from and what she really deserves.
23 "'And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, ("woe, woe unto thee!" says the Lord God;)'"
24 "'That thou have also built unto thee an eminent place, and have made thee an high place in every street.'"
Besides the child sacrifice and prostitution, Israel has built places of worship for their idols in every neighborhood.
25 "'Thou have built thy high place at every head of the way, and have made thy beauty to be abhorred, and have opened thy feet to everyone that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.'"
Israel had sought out the gods of everyone around them, committing spiritual adultery with them all, to the point of the whole nation being spiritual prostitutes.
26 "'Thou have also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and have increased thy whoredoms, to provoke Me to anger.'"
Though I am sure there was a lot of actual fornication with Israel’s neighbors, God is using these terms of adultery to explain what they have really done by choosing to worship other gods, especially those from Egypt. Israel’s conduct is the same as if a married woman went out sleeping with all her neighbors.
And yes, that says what you think it does. God is comparing Israel’s search for new gods to a loose woman’s search for the most well-endowed man.
27 "'Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.'"
Even the heathens knew Israel was doing wrong and hated her for it! Now that’s bad!
The Philistines have conquered Israel many times before in her history. Now they will again, one more time.
28 "'Thou have played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou was unsatiable; yea, thou have played the harlot with them, and yet could not be satisfied.'"
Not only did the nation Israel adopt the Egyptian gods, they also took to worshiping the Assyrian gods. Most nations at least only worshiped one set of gods, not every single one they could find!
29 "'Thou have moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou was not satisfied therewith.'"
They added the Chaldean (Babylonian) gods, too.
30 "'How weak is thine heart,' says the Lord God, 'seeing thou do all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;
31 "'In that thou build thine eminent place in the head of every way, and make thine high place in every street; and have not been as an harlot, in that thou scorns hire;'"
It’s bad enough when a woman turns to prostitution, but when she acts like a prostitute but without demanding pay… sheesh!
Sadly, this type of sexual behavior, this disrespect for this wedding gift God has given us, is the norm in our land.
32 "'But as a wife that commits adultery, which takes strangers instead of her husband!'"
Israel is not just acting like prostitutes, but like adulterous women who just sleeps around for the fun of it.
33 "'They give gifts to all whores: but thou give thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hire them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.
34 "'And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none follows thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou give a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.'"
Imagine a woman setting up a prostitution practice, but where SHE pays the men, instead of the other way around! This is how enthusiastically Israel is going after every God she hears of.
35 "'Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord:
36 "'Thus says the Lord God; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou did give unto them;'"
Because of all the evil I have just named…
37 "'Behold, therefore I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou have taken pleasure, and all them that thou have loved, with all them that thou have hated; I will even gather them round about against thee, and will discover thy nakedness unto them, that they may see all thy nakedness.'"
I will humiliate you in front of everyone.
38 "'And I will judge thee, as women that breaks wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.
39 "'And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.'"
God gave Israel’s enemies the ability to destroy her.
40 "'They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.
41 "'And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shall give no hire any more.'"
Remember the harlotry here is the idolatry Israel is committing. It includes sexual immorality, but isn’t limited to it. God has also mentioned murder, thievery, and arrogancy. Idolatry- making anything more important than the True God- will ALWAYS lead into other sins.
42 "'So will I make My fury toward thee to rest, and My jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.'"
Once God had exacted just payment for their sins, He withdrew.
43 "'Because thou have not remembered the days of thy youth, but have fretted Me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, says the Lord God: and thou shall not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.'"
When Israel first settled in Canaan’s land, Joshua called them to choose what god they would serve (Joshua 24:15). He determined his household would serve the One, True God, but he warned Israel that they would have to stay faithful to God and not commit idolatry or He would punish them. They insisted they were able to serve Him and deny all the false gods. They were wrong.
44 "'Behold, every one that uses proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, "As is the mother, so is her daughter."'"
God is using a new analogy; mother-daughter.
45 "'Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that loaths her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which loathed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.'"
God is again saying Israel’s heritage should be counted from who they act like, not who their genetics came from. They acted just like the evil Hittites and Amorites that God had kicked out of the land and destroyed, not like Abraham. Thus they would receive the inheritance of their true parents.
46 "'And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwells at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.'"
Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel who has now been in captivity for a hundred years or so. In fact, they were destroyed by the Assyrians and, though representatives from each tribe would return to Judah later, Israel will never be a country of her own again because of her horrid sins.
Sodom, of course, was destroyed by hail and brimstone for her sins.
47 "'Yet have thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.'"
God is saying the kingdom of Judah has sinned even more than these two infamous examples.
48 "'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'Sodom thy sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as thou have done, thou and thy daughters.
49 "'Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom; pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.'"
We know, of course, about the homosexuality and rape committed in Sodom. But God says these were symptoms. The truly serious sins were pride, gluttony, and laziness. Plus they didn’t help the poor.
Oh, God never commanded Israel to force the rich to give handouts to the poor (redistribution taxes, socialism). But He did tell them (individuals, not government officials) to strengthen the hand; insure justice for those who couldn’t pay for it, make sure they could afford good education for their children, loan them money to start their own business, feed them from their own pantry until they got back on their feet.
Any nation whose citizens commit the sins of pride, gluttony, laziness and abuse of the poor will eventually degenerate into homosexuality and rape.
50 "'And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.'"
Sodom thought she was too good to follow God. That is why God destroyed her.
51 "'Neither has Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou have multiplied thine abominations more than they, and have justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou have done.'"
Judah is worse.
52 "'Thou also, which have judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou have committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou have justified thy sisters.
53 "'When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:'"
Sodom is still, today, an uninhabited waste land. She will never be restored to her former glory.
Many places in the Bible tell us that God has no intention of the kingdom of Israel (with its capital city Samaria) ever being restored. (See the Minor Prophets and my book “Nine Angry Men” available at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/bettysbooks )
God is telling Jerusalem that she will be destroyed for her sins and will never be restored to her current place of importance.
Indeed, though there was a small remnant from each of the twelve tribes who returned to the area called The Kingdom of Judah, she never again in history became a major power. Jerusalem has been nothing but a subject to the world powers ever since her return from Babylon. Even today, she is a two-bit power, ruled by secularists, and, arguably, the U.S. Always the bridesmaid. Never again the Bride.
54 "'That thou may bear thine own shame, and may be confounded in all that thou have done, in that thou are a comfort unto them.'"
The NIV says; “so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort.” A little clearer there.
55 "'When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.'"
Sodom was the biggest of the five cities God destroyed with fire and brimstone. She was the equivalent of the capital city of the region.
56 "'For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,'"
Judah did not take warning from Sodom’s destruction. In fact, that is why God had the stories recorded in His Word that He did; to give us warning and instruction so we can avoid the same bad fates and secure the same good ones of those in the stories. Live like Abraham, not Sodom.
Judah became haughty, and refused to even mention Sodom, while secretly doing the very things Sodom had done
57 "'Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.'"
All the neighbors despise Judah for her hypocrisy. Remember, though Judah was committing horrendous sins, the worst of them were the worst ones in Sodom: pride, laziness, and gluttony.
58 "'Thou have borne thy lewdness and thine abominations,' says the Lord.
59 "For thus says the Lord God; 'I will even deal with thee as thou have done, which have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.'"
Judah broke her promises to God. He treated them just as He promised when the covenant was first made.
60 "'Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.'"
The old covenant is broken; dead. When one party breaks a contract, the other party is no longer held to that contract. Because of Israel/Judah’s sins, the old covenant is no longer in affect and never will be again.
However, God promised to establish a New Covenant; one that will last forever. This is the Covenant of Salvation through Jesus Christ.
61 "'Then thou shall remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shall receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.'"
Samaria and Sodom will be saved, but not by the old covenant.
62 "'And I will establish My covenant with thee; and thou shall know that I am the Lord:
63 "'That thou may remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou have done,' says the Lord God."
But first, the punishment must be finished.