Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Ezekiel 16:44-59
The depravity of Jerusalem 16:44-59 read more
The depravity of Jerusalem 16:44-59 read more
Jerusalem would experience captivity as Sodom and Samaria had. Evidently the Lord meant that the people of Sodom had experienced captivity in the sense that He had taken them away. Jerusalem’s captivity would bring humiliation and shame to her people when they realized that their judgment had been a comfort to the people of Sodom and Samaria. Obviously these people were now dead, but the parabolic form of this message allows for some unusual details. Jerusalem’s captivity had showed them that... 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
(54) Art a comfort unto them.—Compare what was said of justifying them in Ezekiel 16:51-52. The greater sin of Judah became a comfort by throwing their own evil into the shade. 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
16:54 That thou mayest bear thy own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a {f} comfort to them.(f) In that you have shown yourself worse than they and yet thought to escape punishment. 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
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 16:54
54. bear thine own shame—by being put on a level with those whom thou hast so much despised. thou art a comfort unto them—since they see thee as miserable as themselves. It is a kind of melancholy "comfort" to those chastised to see others as sorely punished as themselves (Ezekiel 14:22; Ezekiel 14:23). read more