My Bible contains section headings. I turned to Ezekiel chapter 16 and read, “An allegory of unfaithful Jerusalem.” This sounds like another dramatic scene—which role(s) might the Lord ask Ezekiel to play? The YouVersion online Bible I quote for these posts titles this section, “Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife.” I don’t know if we can cover such a long chapter all in one post or not.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised (Ezekiel 16:1-5).
- God called Ezekiel to confront Jerusalem.
- The people living in Jerusalem practiced detestable things before the Lord.
- They weren’t the first generation to live in the land; they had been there long enough to have a history with the Canaanite people.
- They did not keep themselves separate from the Canaanites.
- They had not been salted, seasoned, or purified for the Lord.
- The word “cut” may also be used to refer to “covenant;” perhaps a double meaning here they were not currently living in a covenant relationship with God.
- No one cared enough to make sure the Israelites’ descendants were cherished as a child of God.
- They were despised, rejected, and neglected in the world.
*How and when does God call us to confront something detestable in our lives?
*What happens when we do not keep ourselves separate from the world’s ways?
“‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked (Ezekiel 16:6-7).
- The natives didn’t care if Israel thrived or perished.
- God saw His people trampled underfoot.1
- The Lord walked through the land and spoke life to them.
- Given the many references to a newborn infant in these verses, it appears God gave Israel rebirth.
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
- He made them flourish in the land.
- They became a beautiful people again in the land.
- Somewhere in this verse in the original it has the idea of increasing and multiplying in the land, as in God’s original covenant with Abraham.2
- They matured and developed and God looked upon them once more.
*In what ways does the world not care if we thrive or perish?
*What does rebirth mean for us? 
“‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine (Ezekiel 16:8).
- God protected them and kept them pure, set aside for Himself.
- He offered Himself as their kinsman redeemer.
The word Ezekiel used to describe God covering Israel is the same word used in Ruth to describe the kinsman-redeemer role Boaz fulfilled. - The word means to “take as a wife.”3
“May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:12).
- The Lord gave Israel His oath.
- He entered into a covenant relationship with them and made them His people.
- This passage doesn’t specify which covenant this is.
*What does it mean for us to take refuge under God’s wings?
*What does a covenant relationship with God look like for us today?
‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord” (Ezekiel 16:9-14).
- Perhaps God reminded them He washed the blood of pagan sacrifices from them when He entered a covenant relationship with them.
- The Lord dressed His chosen people as His bride.
- As with Hosea, He pursues His beloved again and again.
The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes” (Hosea 3:1).
- God gave Israel her splendor and majesty; they reflected the glory of God.4
- God made their splendor such that Israel was known among all the nations.
- But the word used for “spread” also means to go forth in captivity.5
*When God washes us in rebirth, what does He wash away from us?
*Why does God pursue His beloved people so relentlessly?
*What is the significance that the word used for spreading their fame throughout the land is the same as a word for captivity?
*What is your opinion of the idea that Israel reflected the glory of God?
*What do we learn about God’s character in this passage?
- Warren Baker, D.R.E., Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D. The Complete WordStudy Dictionary: Old Testament. (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003) 123
- Ibid., 1029
- Ibid., 514
- Ibid., 462