Ezekiel 16:44-52 – Living for the glory of God

Ezekiel 16 contains two parables pointing to Jerusalem's waywardness. God charged her for the abomination that she was committing. Essentially the crux of both parables points to Israel's waywardness which God would judge. In the first parable in verses 1-43, Jerusalem was depicted as an adulterous wife. She was seen as the by-product of her father an Amorite and her mother a Hittite. What God was saying was that Jerusalem had the characteristics of those pagan cities. Now in this second parable from verses 44-63, God depicted Jerusalem as a fallen sister. The essence of the message is the same as the first.

Jerusalem’s father was said to be an Amorite and her mother a Hittite. Although she had the privilege of being married to the Lord and should have acted responsibly with dignity, she didn’t. She did not love her husband and neither did her children. She was like her two sisters. Samaria the older sister in the north and Sodom the young of the sisters in the south. God was accusing Jerusalem for not only walking in the abominations of her two sisters but that she acting much worse than them.  

In verses 48-52, God examines the conduct of Sodom and Samaria. God first pointed out the flaws of Sodom inverses 49-50. We know that the immoral sexual conduct of Sodom had been well documented in the book of Genesis 19. However, the sexual misconduct was not the only thing Sodom and her children had committed, there were others. Here in these two verses, God pointed them out. Apparently, in the abundance of their supplies, they live lives with careless ease and arrogance.  They made no effort to help the needy. But haughtily went about their abominations. What they did and what they failed to do warranted their removal from the earth and God did just that.

In verses 51-52, God’s reference to Samaria was to show that Jerusalem was worse than her sister’s.  Her transgression had exceeded that of her northern sister. In fact, Samaria only committed fifty percent of what Jerusalem had committed. What she did had made Samaria’s wickedness look righteous in comparison. Jerusalem, verse 52 says, would have to bear the reproach of being labeled as morally and spiritually worse off than her two sisters.    

Lesson: As Christians, we should be known and seen for our exemplary conduct and behavior. It would be a terrible indictment when people think that we are worse than unbelievers. We must live to bear testimony to our great God. Don’t let our conduct show otherwise. Live righteously for God. Remember to seek God and also His standard of righteousness.