Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 16:15 - 16:34

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 16:15 - 16:34


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

The Horrible Unfaithfulness of the Lord's People

v. 15. But thou,
namely, Jerusalem, as representing the people who were the chosen of the Lord, didst trust in thine own beauty, as she gained in power, influence, and the respect of other nations, and playedst the harlot, in spiritual adultery and in seeking the friendship of heathen nations, because of thy renown, by allowing the name which she had among other nations to lead her into idolatry and into leagues with idolaters, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one chat passed by, inviting heathen abominations; his it was, namely, the beauty which she yielded up to every passer-by. This is significant in describing what actually amounted to an anxiety on the part of Israel to participate in heathen worship.

v. 16. And of thy garments,
the material wealth which was the Lord's gift to His people, thou didst take and deckedst thy high places, the summits of hills and mountains where the heathen altars were usually erected, with divers colors, literally, "high places, spotted," or "patched ones," for the tabernacles near the heathen altars were usually woven or sewed of various colors and pieces, and playedst the harlot thereupon, on the carpets and tapestries of the heathen temples. The like things shall not come, neither shall it be so, for all such acts are utterly abominable in the sight of God.

v. 17. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of My gold and of My silver which I had given thee,
for all of this was still the Lord's, all the wealth given to men being entrusted to them only as His stewards, and madest to thyself images of men, male idols being mentioned especially, since Jerusalem is represented as a woman and a harlot, and didst commit whoredom with them.

v. 18. And tookest thy broidered garments and coveredst them,
the idols often being decked with the richest draperies; and thou hast set Mine oil and Mine incense, which should have been used in his worship alone, before them.

v. 19. My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour and oil and honey, wherewith I fed thee,
the rich fruit of the soil which the Lord provided for His people in the Promised Land, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savor, in various meat-offerings; and thus it was, saith the Lord God, this abomination actually took place, flagrantly, continuously.

v. 20. Moreover, thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto Me,
for children are ever a gift of God, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured, this being done chiefly in the worship of Molech, or Moloch, the idol of the Moabites. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter? literally, "Was it less than thy whoredoms?" that is, Was it not enough that Jerusalem had committed spiritual adultery in such great measure? Must she, in addition, also sacrifice her children to such abominations?

v. 21. That thou hast slain My children and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
namely, for the idols,

v. 22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms,
in all the willful apostasy practiced by the children of Israel, thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare and wast polluted in thy blood, as described in the opening verses of the chapter. But the Lords accusation gains in fierceness as He proceeds.

v. 23. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness,
after such a heap of guilt had accumulated, (woe, woe unto thee, saith the Lord God,)

v. 24. that thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place,
a vault or vaulted chamber, such as were used for immoral purposes in connection with idolatrous customs, and hast made thee an high place in every street, the temples of idolatry finally being erected anywhere, without the slightest feeling of shame.

v. 25. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way,
at every crossroads, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, familiarity and a too-willing yielding breeding contempt also in this instance, and hast opened thy feet, in shameless invitation, to every one that passed by and multiplied thy whoredoms. This is said chiefly in reference to the fact that all the heathen nations whose trade-routes passed through Canaan found Israel willing to accept their idols.

v. 26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians, thy neighbors,
political aspirations, in this case, leading to idolatry, great of flesh, of brutal lowness, and hast increased thy whoredoms provoke Me to anger.

v. 27. Behold, therefore I have stretched out My hand over thee,
in a gesture threatening quick punishment, and have diminished thine ordinary food, the allowance which she, as a faithful wife, had originally received, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way. They were haters from the beginning, and Moses had good reasons for choosing the longer way to journey to the Land of Promise, Exo_13:17. But they became despisers as well. It was on account of the rebellious, idolatrous attitude of the children of Israel almost from the very start that the Lord did not permit them to occupy the peak of magnificence amid glory which might have been theirs, and did not give them the full and undisturbed possession of the land of Canaan, but let the Philistines be one of the nations which served as scourges to chastise Israel.

v. 28. Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians,
to whom Israel as well as Judah made overtures at a later date, because thou wast unsatiable, not satisfied with the chaste intercourse of an honorable marriage, nor even with the whoredoms with neighboring nations; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them and yet couldest not be satisfied, seeking leagues with them, in direct defiance of God's prohibition.

v. 29. Thou hast, moreover, multiplied thy fornication,
still with her lust for idolatry unsatisfied, in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea, the land of Chaldea known for its Canaanitish abominations and immoralities; and yet thou wast not satisfied herewith. Thus the wickedness of the people of Israel and Judah, represented by the city of Jerusalem, had reached a stage which was without example even in those days of loose morality.

v. 30. How weak is thine heart,
withered and languishing with idolatrous love, saith the Lord God, speaking in a holy, but bitter sarcasm, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman, one whose wealth and power causes her to put aside all restrictions,

v. 31. in that thou buildest thine eminent place,
the vault or chamber of immorality, in the head of every way and makest thine high place in every street, Cf v. 25; and hast not been as an harlot in that thou scornest hire, prostituting her person merely to satisfy her idolatrous lust,

v. 32. but as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband,
for so Israel had acted in forsaking Jehovah, the God of the covenant.

v. 33. They give gifts to all whores,
this being the rule generally observed, but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, drawing upon the resources with which the goodness of the Lord provided her, and hirest them, thereby reversing the process, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom. Thus Israel hired her lovers instead of being, like other harlots, hired by them.

v. 34. And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms,
for she was no longer sought by them, and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. It is the manner of sin, especially of idolatry, that it so enmeshes the sinner as to harden him to the point of utter shamelessness, no matter in which particular field his transgression may be.