Ezekiel: For His Gloryഉദാഹരണം

This second extended metaphor is not for the faint of heart. It is lewd, deeply disturbing, and as subtle as a sledgehammer. It is designed to shock the Israelite hearers, exposing their full-frontal depravity in order to break their entrenched spiritual adultery against God. 

The image a reader cannot get away from as they read this chapter is ‘whore’ or ‘prostitute’ (mentioned twenty-one times in sixty-three verses). Jerusalem has been promiscuous, running off with all-comers – worshipping foreign idols and coupling with foreign nations (vv. 15–29). She even sacrificed her children (born to God) in her foreign religious rituals (v. 20–21). Yet Jerusalem is worse than a normal sex worker because instead of accepting payment for her services, she actually pays her clients (vv. 30–34). 

This is what God gets in return for His love and grace in rescuing her. She had been abandoned as a newborn, tossed aside to die (vv. 1–5), yet He nurtured her, raised her, and married her when she became of age. He even adorned her with fine garments and jewelry, and she ascended to royalty (vv. 6–14). So much for gratitude. 

Indeed, Jerusalem is depicted as behaving worse than Sodom and Samaria (vv. 44–52). Pride, gluttony, complacency, and neglect in helping the poor are among her sins. Sodom and Samaria were wicked, but in contrast, Jerusalem makes them look righteous! We know what happened to both Sodom and Samaria; we know what will happen to Jerusalem. The judgment on her will be just (v. 52); it will fit the crime and will even be carried out by her lovers (vv. 35–43). 

Yet there is a twist. God will restore Jerusalem, and along with her also Samaria and Sodom (vv. 53–58). The central problem is that Jerusalem has broken the covenant with Him. Jerusalem has forgotten her covenant with God and forgotten His gracious rescue (vv. 22, 43). But there is hope because God remembers and is faithful to His covenant. 

Reflection

We too have been rescued by God from our hopeless, ungodly state. May we always remember His gracious salvation in Jesus (Rom. 5:6–11).