The Lord instructed Ezekiel to make the detestable practices of the people of Jerusalem known to them. He prophesied to the exiles, but his message presented the people of Jerusalem as the primary object of his attention. read more
The birth of Jerusalem 16:1-5 read more
The Foundling Child who became an Unfaithful WifeFrom Hosea onwards the prophets spoke of idolatry under the figure of unchastity. God was the husband of Israel, but she proved unfaithful to Him. This thought has already been expressed by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 6:9, and it is now expanded into an elaborate historical allegory. The subject is nominally the city of Jerusalem, but really the whole nation of Israel. Jerusalem was a girl-child of heathen extraction, who was exposed in infancy to die... read more
Ezekiel 16:6 Weakness can speak and cry when we have not a tongue. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said to thee, Live. The kirk could not speak one word to Christ then; but blood and guiltiness out of measure spake, and drew out of Christ pity, and a word of life and love. Samuel Rutherford. Ezekiel 16:14-15 When one is in bed and really ill, one would gladly sacrifice one's complexion or one's bright eyes to regain health and enjoy the sunshine. And... read more
JERUSALEM-AN IDEAL HISTORYEzekiel 16:1-63IN order to understand the place which the sixteenth chapter occupies in this section of the book, we must remember that a chief source of the antagonism between Ezekiel and his hearers was the proud national consciousness which sustained the courage of the people through all their humiliations. There were, perhaps, few nations of antiquity in which the flame of patriotic feeling burned more brightly than in Israel. No people with a past such as theirs... read more
Ezekiel 16:1-63 . This chapter consists of four sections: 1. The parable of the abandoned child. 2. Jerusalem’s idolatries and moral degradation (Ezekiel 16:15-34 ). 3. The doom of Jerusalem and the promise of restoration (Ezekiel 16:35-59 ). 4. The covenant remembered (Ezekiel 16:60-63 ). The parable of the abandoned child, and what the gracious Lord did for the little one is a most beautiful demonstration of what He had done in His sovereign love and grace for Jerusalem. It must be read first... read more
PARABLES AND RIDDLES THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE (Ezekiel 16:0 ) The theme of chapter 16 is Jerusalem and her abominations (Ezekiel 16:1-2 ), but it is worked out in parabolic form, Jerusalem, or the nation of Israel, being personified as a female. There are five stages in the story: (1) Jehovah adopts her as an infant (Ezekiel 16:1-7 ); (2) when attained to marriageable age she becomes his wife (Ezekiel 16:8-14 ); (3) as a wife she proves unfaithful (Ezekiel 16:15-34 ); (4) punishment follows... read more
CONTENTS Under the similitude of a new-born female infant cast out and left to perish, this chapter describes the hopeless state of human nature by the fall. The riches of grace in the salvation of such is beautifully represented, and both are very strikingly and elegantly described. read more
The Prophet is still preaching to Jerusalem, though himself in Babylon. He is commissioned by the Lord to trace the history of the Church from her birth; and that she might not vaunt herself over the Gentiles, the Lord reminds her of her extraction; for though sprung from Abraham, and in covenant, yet this was wholly from adoption and grace. Abraham was an idolater at the time the Lord called him, and came from Ur of the Chaldees. Genesis 11:31 . read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ezekiel 16:1
THE ALLEGORY OF THE UNFAITHFUL WIFEThe sole purpose of this tremendous chapter was stated bluntly in the second verse: "Cause Jerusalem to know her abominations." Ezekiel discharged this assignment in the most realistic, and some would say the most revolting, chapter in the Bible. Under the influence of Christ, men today would not speak in such harsh, realistic, even vulgar language which we find here; but the sad truth was that only this kind of brutally frank and honest language could get the... read more