July 19, 2011
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Initial comments on Ezekiel 16
This is a short post on some passing comments on Ezekiel 16. When I was reading Scripture, I actually got averted from my normal reading. I am currently in 2 Corinthians and tackling other books concurrently (namely, from the Pentateuch), so when I stumbled on this passage in Ezekiel, it caught me off guard. What brought this to my attention was the heading “The Lord’s Everlasting Covenant”, which interests me, given I am trying to figure out more things about God’s covenants in general. The fact that an everlasting covenant belonging in the Old Testament is what fascinated me –not that there is no such thing in the OT, but that in the New Testament we are told that the old covenant was obsolete because the New one is greater fulfillment, greater promises, and greater cost. So, what covenant is this one, that it is everlasting? There are more than one.
“[Y]et I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.” Interesting: because of the promises he made to Israel, He is going to give them an everlasting covenant? But as I read it, I said to myself “context! I need more context!”
This is where it gets intense. God talks about saving Israel from sure death after she, a mere infant, has been deserted in a pool of blood by her parents. He then provides for her to grow up well. Then, when she is mature and ready for romance (her breasts are formed ;] ), he adorns her to make her beautiful (with a nose-ring! ;] ) and everything is going great. They get married and consummate.
Then she trusts in her own beauty and her own blessings, and goes to prostitute herself. This is really sad. This horrible. How could you turn on a man who does that for you? It’s utterly absurd. In ultimate betrayal, she goes out of her way to do this, taking the very things she was given as a blessing and using them to promote herself. The very beauty she was given is now used as advertising for her harlotry. She prefers the wayward man over the faithful husband.
But then it is just pathetic. Normal prostitutes, sad as it is, have sex for money. They get compensation for their actions, since they are bartering with the men for a service. But Israel isn’t like that. She’s absolutely pitiable. She has to pay her lovers to have sex with her. She’ll spread her legs for anyone, but no one will come to her unless she gives *them* compensation. Meanwhile, they mistreat her and … get this? She offers her children to them. The children’s blood pools, and their blood is now on her head. (a reference to Israel sacrificing to Molech, I believe)
God is outraged.
He saved her from her deadly parents in order to bless her in the first place. Now she squanders those blessings and she slays her children. What does God do? He gather all of her lovers that they will strip her of all her adornment, all her blessings, all her pride, all which God gave to her that she misused.
Hence, the original quote is in this context. Because He took her in her youth to be His own, He will remember that covenant; He will restore her and all her sins will be covered: “I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord God.”
Other notes:
The language in this passage is very graphic. VERY. If you think my post was strong, read it for yourself. I am trusting the ESV to be an adequate translation (a very, very fair assumption) of the original text. The word “whoredom” is repeated time and time and time again. Israel is not just unfaithful now and then: she has had a pattern of unfaithfulness and lewdness. She is an utter disgrace, forsaking her faultless, faithful husband. But she is His, and He will not accept her continuing this way.
