03 September

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Ezekiel 16-17

Ezekiel 16

The second figure was that of the adulteress, and this the prophet wrought out at great length. Jerusalem was arraigned on account of her abominations, which were described under the figure of that spiritual adultery and harlotry which Hosea had so graphically and powerfully set forth.

Ezekiel traced the whole history of the city. Her origin was of the land of the Canaanite, an Amorite her father, and a Hittite her mother. She was an abandoned child, born and forsaken. In this condition of helplessness she was found and nurtured by Jehovah. The prophet's description of the tender care of Jehovah is full of beauty. At maturity the child was taken in marriage, and loaded with benefits. The renown of the glory of her state and apparel "went forth among the nations." Then came the downfall, and in words of living fire the prophet dealt with the awful unfaithfulness of the wife as she trusted in her beauty and turned to harlotry, in which she prostituted her husband's wealth. All the gifts which had been lavished on her in love she turned into the means of prosecuting her evil courses. The harlotry of Jerusalem had been worse than the common in which the harlot receives gifts, in that she had bestowed gifts to seduce others. Even the daughters of Philistia were ashamed of her lewdness. Because of the hatefulness of the sin, the punishment of Jerusalem would be terrible.

The method would be to turn her lovers against her, that is, those whom she had seduced. With terrible vengeance they would come on her and strip her of all her ornaments and her clothing, exposing her to shame. In proverbs of contempt she would be spoken of as the daughter of her mother the Hittite, as a sister of Samaria and Sodom. Yet the prophet declared that Jerusalem had been more corrupt than either of these. Jerusalem's sin had been the more heinous in that she had professed to set the standard for her sisters, whereas she had been more abominable than they. Yet all this shame to be brought on the guilty city was in order that she might repent and turn to God, and so return to her former state. In this again Hosea's thought of the restoration of the sinning wife is evident. The last movement in this terrible story is that in which the prophet foretold the restoration of the ' wife by Jehovah's remembrance of the Covenant and re-establishment of it.

Ezekiel 17

Commanded by Jehovah, the prophet then put forth a riddle. A great eagle came on Lebanon, and took off the top of the cedar, planting the young twigs in a land of traffic, a city of merchants. Moreover, he carried away the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil, where it became a spreading vine. There was also another great eagle toward which the vine bent its roots, that he might water it. For this act of treachery the vine was denounced by command of Jehovah. Its judgment was that it should be plucked up by the roots, and be withered by the east wind.

The riddle was then explained. The first eagle was the king of Babylon, who carried away the king of Jerusalem, and planted the seed royal in Babylon. The second eagle was the king of Egypt, whose help Zedekiah sought, who, in consequence, was punished by Jehovah. The riddle ended with the promise of Jehovah that ultimately He would plant again a cedar in the mountain height of Israel, as a result of which there would be universal recognition of the activity of Jehovah. The paragraph every remarkably sets forth that the government of God is established over all the nations and operates through all their operations.