The LORD’s Judgment & Restoration Study 2020/2021; Tuesdays, 12:00-1:00 p.m. by Zoom

Class #19, February 9, 2021

The Prosecutor Ezekiel 14:12-15:8; 16:1-63; 20:1-44; 22:1-16; 23:1-49

Notes, observations, and questions on Ezekiel 14:12-15:8

The High Price of Treachery

1. We turn once again to the inevitability and totality of Yahweh’s judgment of . In this section, the basis and justice of God’s determination to judge his people is explained. The second part of this section—chapter 15—drives home the point of God’s judgment with a concrete illustration.

2. 14:12-23, a lecture on divine justice

a. Vv 12-20 give the theoretical basis for Yahweh’s judgment, leading to the four strikes of Yahweh’s hand against the city. b. The overall setting is a quasi-legal framework: God is the Prosecutor, and Ezekiel relays the LORD’s charges. c. A country sins by betraying Yahweh (v 13). Specifically, is in a covenant relationship with God—think: marriage—but has been unfaithful to him. d. Thus, Yahweh stretches out his hand against Jerusalem in four different scenarios, in each case involving a different agent of judgment: famine, wild beasts, sword, and plague. The work of God’s agents of judgment results in thorough destruction. e. Not even the presence of the most righteous persons in history will change the mind of God—, , and Job. (1) Noah distinguished himself by walking with the Lord in a time of great and global sin. (2) Job was renowned for his piety and uprightness before God in the face of great suffering. (3) Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel’s, having been taken to as a hostage on Nebuchadnezzar’s first visit to Jerusalem in 604 BC. The exiles with Ezekiel would have been familiar with Daniel, a young man of extraordinary faith before the LORD.

3. 14:21-23, the application of divine judgment

a. Jerusalem is now explicitly named as the subject of God’s wrath. b. In v 22a, we are surprised to learn that some survivors from Jerusalem would join the exiles in Babylon. But their escape from the devastation is not to be confused with deliverance. These are random survivors, not delivered by the righteousness of anyone.

c. What then is the purpose of this notice of survivors? The answer is found in the impact of their survival in Babylon on Ezekiel’s audience. This “unspiritual remnant” will provide evidence of Yahweh’s justice in destroying the nation. They will show no repentance but will demonstrate only their unfaithful behavior. Though they have escaped, they have no place in Israel’s future. The future rests only with the exiles already in Babylon, not with these escapees. d. Now the exiles can be consoled, knowing justice has been served. God’s actions are not unloving or arbitrary.

4. Theological implications

a. Within the LORD’s salvation, each person is responsible for his or her own welfare. However, there is hope and mercy for all who are righteous by God’s standards. b. The Lord is just in all his ways. When all the evidence is in, his people will know the Lord has acted righteously and according to his eternal, divine law of justice and righteousness. If people experience his wrath, it is because the wages of sin is death.

5. 15:1-8, a metaphor on divine judgment

a. This now illustrates of the judgment awaiting Jerusalem, and it clarifies the fate of the survivors of that event. b. In this example, the vine is inherently worthless, fit only for fuel for the fire. c. vv 1-5, the word-picture of the vine (1) The wood of the vine is totally useless as raw material out of which to make objects needed around the house like containers or pegs. It is good only for fuel for the fire. The wood of the grapevine is useless for anything else. (2) Moreover, after it’s burned, how much less is its value. d. vv 6-8, the interpretation (1) Yahweh is the one who throws the wood into the fire, and the wood represents their own compatriots, the residents of Jerusalem. (2) God’s hostility against the city has reached its limits. The survivors must not treat their escape as a sign of his goodwill. The escapees will continue in their apostasy, and Yahweh’s wrath will continue to hound them. (3) The loss of the spiritual relationship between God and Israel will result in the desolation of the land.

6. Theological implications

a. This oracle disputes Israel’s false claims to security based on their being the royal vine, the privileged people of God. Grace requires faith—and faith is trust and obedience in the Lord. b. The judgment visited upon those who do not match profession of faith with faithfulness is severe. We remember here the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 15:1-17.

Notes, observations, and questions on :1-63

The Adulterous Wife: Tramping Down the Grace of God

Preliminary Thoughts

1. Chapter 16 is by far the longest section in the book. Its setting is again a quasi-courtroom venue—Yahweh is the plaintiff and Israel, the defendant. At issue is the marriage covenant between Yahweh and Israel, much like we find in Hosea 2:1-13.

2. The abominations of the nation will be made known. In spite of divine grace, from her earliest beginnings in , Israel has been characterized by uninterrupted immorality and faithlessness. She therefore deserves the fury of God’s wrath.

3. But God’s grace still breaks through with hope for the future (vv 44-63). God abounds in steadfast love, mercy, and faithfulness: just look at the cross. The hope is that by seeing God’s undeserved grace still being offered to them, the nation will repent and return in faithfulness to God.

4. We find in this section shocking imagery and rare vocabulary. The verb meaning “to commit harlotry, to practice illicit sex” occurs 21 times in the description of Jerusalem’s unrestrained nymphomaniacal relations with her lovers. The covenant of marriage is foundational to this chapter, as it is for the entire Bible. From the beginning in the Garden, salvation history is premised on the marriage covenant.

5. Even so, the raw, harsh, sexual language of this chapter still shocks us. Israel has become a “whore,” and Ezekiel pushes the boundaries of literary propriety in describing her whoredom and God’s response to it. His descriptions of illicit sexual relations between Israel and her “lovers” are some of the most graphic images in the Bible. Understandably, most translations tone down the literal meanings of the vocabulary. But Ezekiel’s use of graphic language was meant to shock his audience into attention. Still, we walk a thin line between appropriate shock and offensive lack of taste. Indeed, this chapter has provoked strong reactions over the years, and continues to do so. Let’s approach it with prayer.

Chapter 16 Text and Commentary

1. vv 1-3a, the call for Jerusalem’s arraignment

a. God tells Ezekiel to present God’s case against his people. He is “to inform” (make known to) Jerusalem of her abominations. b. The charges are wrapped up in a single word, “abominations.” It occurs 11 times in the chapter. Here it refers chiefly to Jerusalem’s spiritual harlotry with foreign nations. Overall in biblical usage, abominations are particularly egregious sins because they’re offensive to God and his character. He hates and loathes them.

2. vv 3b-34, the indictment of Jerusalem

a. The indictment, which takes up half the chapter, is cast in the form of an allegory recounting the incredible rise of an abandoned child to the status of queen, followed by a detailed description of the woman’s response to her remarkable fortune. This child has no qualities to commend her; her rise to royalty can be attributed only to the prince who rescues her and lavishes his love on her in spite of herself. b. First (v 3b), Jerusalem’s origin is traced back to the land of the Canaanites. This challenges the popular notions of her sacred origins. The Canaanites are enemies of God. Second, Jerusalem has the wrong parents: she’s a child of an Amorite father and a Hittite mother. The Canaanites, Amorites, and Hittites represent human depravity at its worst. So contrary to tradition, Jerusalem’s spiritual roots derive not from the pious and Sarah but from the pagan peoples whom the Israelites had been charged to drive out (see Dt 7:1-5). Third (v 4), Jerusalem’s beginnings involved the most hopeless circumstances. None of the usual procedures for caring for a newborn were carried out for Israel. Instead, Jerusalem’s parents flung her out in the field to die. She had no hope for survival. Her parents rejected her. c. Now the focus shifts to God who is portrayed as a traveler who passes by the spot where the newborn has been abandoned to face certain death. First, the LORD (v 6) saves the baby’s life and adopts her as his own daughter. “Wallowing in your blood” refers to the blood that her mother discharged at the time of her birth. Abandoned in the open field, under the hot sun, the baby would have died within hours. But God pronounces the sentence of life, not death, upon the child. “In your blood, live!” signifies a formal declaration of adoption. By conventional law at that time, whoever takes a child while “in its blood” acquires full legal right to it as his or her child. In a larger way, God’s declaration also means he is giving his full joy and life to this child. d. The girl’s maturation is attributed now exclusively to Yahweh’s care. The maturation of the young woman is described in two parallel lines:

You grew Your breasts were well formed, and matured and your hair had sprouted, and you arrived completely nude. And you were stark naked.

The last clause in each column highlights the woman’s problem. With the passing of the age of innocence and the arrival of sexual maturity, nakedness assumes moral overtones. She now stands exposed to dangers of a different sort.

e. In vv 8-14, Yahweh saves the woman’s purity and marries her before anyone can take advantage of her. God’s magnanimous response includes: (1) He spreads his garment over her (v 8). Like Boaz “spreading his wing” over Ruth (Ruth 3:9), it symbolizes the declaration of the husband to provide for the sustenance of his future wife. Yahweh then formalizes the marriage. That is, God enters into covenant with the young woman. Jerusalem now belongs to him as his wife. Her happiness and well-being are his aims for their marriage. Indeed, God acts only in compassionate ways toward her. (2) God cleanses and anoints her (v 9), signs of tender love and devotion. (3) Yahweh clothes her in the finest garments (v 10). She’s outfitted from head to toe with garments fit for a queen. (4) God adorns her with the finest jewelry (vv 11-13a). (5) He provides her with royal food (v 13b). (6) These lavish provisions portray a husband whose love for his wife knows no bounds (vv 13c-14). Jerusalem has become a beautiful queen. But this remarkable rags-to-riches story ends with an important reminder: Jerusalem’s beauty was not innate; it was a gift graciously bestowed on her by Yahweh and not reflective of his own splendor. She’s a showcase of his divine majesty. (7) Moreover, the language of the description of Jerusalem as Yahweh’s wife points us to the temple, its curtains, priestly vestments, and the food of sacred offerings. Yahweh has clothed his sanctuary with the beauty of his own presence.

3. vv 15-32, Jerusalem’s shamelessness in her sacred, religious response to God’s grace

a. Now God speaks as a husband betrayed. Jerusalem’s response is characterized by a single word in the Hebrew, zana—“to act as a prostitute”—and its derivatives, which occur no fewer than 21 times in the next 20 verses. As we will see, her prostitution involves both religious and political acts of prostitution. b. v 15 serves as a thesis statement, identifying the rot of the city’s perversion and summarizing the manner in which it was expressed. Instead of committing herself to her divine husband, she placed her confidence in her beauty. For Jerusalem, her newly found beauty and fame were intoxicating. The temporal replaced the eternal. Now she dispenses her harlotries indiscriminately to all who pass by. She shares her privileges and Yahweh’s expression of love with men who care only for her body. This ungrateful women “takes” God’s good gifts and abuses them for her own prideful and vain purposes. c. First (v 16), she used the luxurious clothing God had given to make gaudy shrines on which to commit her harlotries. d. Second (v 17), she melted down the gold and silver jewelry she had received from the LORD and recast them into male images. Modeling her treatment of these images after the practices of her pagan neighbors, she clothed them with the royal garments, offering them her oil and food, all given to her by Yahweh. e. Third (vv 20-22), the children she had borne to God she sacrificed to the images. Jerusalem’s children were special because they were not only received as gifts from God but also borne for him. However, instead of presenting her children to Yahweh, her husband, this woman presented them as food to the pagan images she had made! f. Three expressions here describe Jerusalem’s treatment of her children: “to slaughter,” the primary biblical term for sacrifice; “sacrificial slaughter;” and, “to pass one’s son or daughter through the fire to Molech.” The abomination of child sacrifice appears to have been introduced in Israel, the northern kingdom, in the 7th c. (2 Kgs 17:17) and spread to Judah during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kgs 16:3; 2 Chron 28:3). Now in Jerusalem, God declares the awful truth that she (Jerusalem) who had been abandoned by her mother as an infant now sacrifices her own children. Instead of remembering her desperate beginnings or celebrating the goodness of Yahweh in rescuing her, she trampled underfoot the grace of God.

4. vv 23-34, Jerusalem’s political promiscuity

a. God’s anger grows. One would have hoped that after the wickedness of Jerusalem described just now, she would have repented. Instead, she sins even more. When her religious harlotry failed to satisfy her nymphomaniacal lusts, she turned to other nations. b. vv 24-25, Jerusalem’s actions in luring foreign guests were deliberate. First, she erected her brothels out in the open to capture everyone’s attention. These brothels are houses or tents elevated on a platform. Second, she invited in the passersby with lewd gestures, described coarsely as “parting her legs.”

c. vv 26-29, Driven by an insatiable lust, Queen Jerusalem intensified her harlotry by setting her sights on three targets: the sons of Egypt, Assyria, and the Chaldeans. Instead of trusting God, she flirts with the world powers. These powers are described with graphic details. Yahweh thus delivered Jerusalem over to her enemies, the Philistines. But even these pagans are ashamed to see how lewd Jerusalem has become. d. vv 30-31a, God expresses his fury at her behavior. e. vv 31b-34, Jerusalem has gone from bad to worst. First, she has broken the accepted norms of a prostitute’s behavior by scorning payment. Second, as a married woman, she commits adultery. Third, Jerusalem has reversed the customary roles of payer and payee in such relationships. She has bribed men to satisfy her lusts, stifling all sense of shame, and inverting normal roles for prostitute and client.

5. vv 35-43, the sentencing of Jerusalem: the suspension of grace

a. vv 35-36, a summary of the charges, which are basically four: (1) “her lust was poured out” (2) “her nakedness was bared in her promiscuity with her lovers” (3) she’s having affairs with abominable idols (4) she’s shed the blood of her children by offering them to idols b. Distaining her true husband, she gave herself and her resources to other lovers. All four crimes/sins strike at the heart of Jerusalem’s relationship with Yahweh. c. vv 37-42, God’s response: (1) First, he will gather all those whom Jerusalem had charmed. Her lovers will become the ones to make war against her. (2) He will put Jerusalem on display before her lovers and her enemies. The public stripping of one’s wife symbolized a divorce. (3) Third, God will execute the death sentence on Jerusalem. The one who was found in her bloody condition now returns to it. (4) Fourth, Yahweh will deliver Jerusalem into the power of her suitors and enemies. They are now transformed into agents of divine wrath. (a) They will destroy all of the things of her harlotrous business, leaving her stark naked. (b) Then her so-called lovers will execute her, hacking her to pieces by the sword. (c) They will torch the houses, while other women watch. d. vv 41b-42, We learn that Yahweh’s primary aim is to put a stop to all of Jerusalem’s harlotrous ways. Then his fury will be calmed. But this will not transpire until the city has suffered the full consequences of her deeds. e. v 43, All that has taken place in this oracle is now summarized. Jerusalem has suffered an acute case of amnesia. She has failed to consider how the LORD took her in and gave her grace. God invites her into serious contemplation of her sins. God’s anger in this section must be seen against the backdrop of the intensity of his love. God had poured out his love on this woman, rescuing her from certain death, entering into a covenant of marriage with her, pledging her his commitment, and lavishing on her all the benefits she could ever enjoy. He could not take her contempt for his grace lightly.

6. vv 44-52, like mother, like daughter: Jerusalem’s disqualification from grace

a. v 44, the indicting proverb – Jerusalem must see that her behavior follows from her family’s tree: Like mother, like daughter. Her parents were pagans, and thus she displays all the behavior of a pagan, not the beloved of the LORD’s. b. vv 45-46, Jerusalem’s mother is a Hittite and the father, an Amorite. Her sisters are named as well: and Sodom. Her roots are intermingled with the worst of the pagans. She shows all of their characteristics. c. vv 47-52, Jerusalem’s shameful personality (1) Jerusalem’s corruption exceeds even that of her sisters. Sodom’s sins of pride, gluttony, and complacency toward the poor would have provided the context for grave immorality to thrive, as we find in Gen 19. Sodom’s sins were expansive. Since Jerusalem is like Sodom, she can expect no better fate than Sodom’s destruction. Jerusalem also resembles Samaria, which was destroyed more than a century earlier. (2) Ezekiel summarizes the result of his comparison in vv 51c-52. She who had been quick to recognize the faults in her sisters now discovers that the largest beam is in her own eyes. Far from the noble descent that she claimed, Jerusalem was in fact a product of an Amorite-Hittite union. For this contempt of divine grace, Jerusalem will pay dearly.

7. vv 53-63, the double ray of hope

a. vv 53-58, the bad news first: the qualification for grace (1) “Restore their fortunes” is the key motif here. (See Job 42:10—it means the complete restoration to total well-being.) (2) What about the promise of the restoration of Sodom? The city here probably represents the Canaanite remnant within Judah. This remnant too will be offered restoration by grace. (3) But even as God promises to rehabilitate Jerusalem, the purpose will be so that she may bear her disgrace and feel ashamed not only for her actions but also for having caused Sodom and Gomorrah to breathe easier (vv 54-55). (4) Wickedness has found a new model besides Sodom: Jerusalem has supplanted Sodom and has herself become a laughingstock and an object of scorn. Yahweh’s perception of the city’s spiritual condition is far different from their perception of themselves. b. vv 59-63, the good news next: the triumph of grace (1) v 59, Two expressions describe Jerusalem’s problem: she has displayed contempt for the covenant curses, and she has broken the covenant. God is justified to judge her. (2) v 60, “Yet I,” a shift comes in emphasis and tone. Yahweh now looks beyond the judgment to a day when he will take Jerusalem back and renew his covenant with her. He reassures her that he will remember his covenant that he made with her when she was young. He will also establish an eternal covenant with her. What’s envisioned here is not the establishment of a new covenant but of the reinstitution and fulfillment of the eternal covenant made long ago. If his punishment of his people follows the line of his ancient warnings, their restoration is assured by his ancient promises. (3) vv 61-63, The effects of this covenant are spelled out: (1) She will remember God’s grace. (2) God’s new expressions of grace will evoke an intense sense of shame in her. Judah, Israel, and Sodom will be united as one nation under the rule of Jerusalem, and she will be humbled. Sodom and Samaria will become benefactors of this covenant, even though they had no covenantal ties with Jerusalem. (3) Jerusalem will acknowledge Yahweh, and its mouth will be silenced because it will recognize that it’s been the unfaithful party of this covenant. God will indeed wipe her clean of all her sins, which can happen only through the gracious intervention of Yahweh himself.

8. Theological implications

a. The destitute condition of Jerusalem in the opening paragraph (vv 1-5) is a figure not only of Israel in its infancy but of all humanity in its natural state. We all are utterly hopeless left in our natural state of sin. The sentence of death hangs over all from the outset (Rom 3:23). b. Verses 6-14 offer one of the most vivid pictures of the grace of God in the entire Bible. Several dimensions of this grace stand out: (1) The source of this love lies entirely in God himself—nothing in the human person calls for or warrants such grace. (2) The reach of divine grace knows no limits. He rescues us from death and gives us abundant life. (3) The seriousness of divine love is expressed in the covenant relationship he establishes with those to whom he reaches out. (4) The power of divine love is displayed in its ability to transform a wretched, sinful person into the most beautiful picture of grace. c. But we also find here a shocking portrayal of human ingratitude (vv 15-34). d. God is never capricious or arbitrary in his judgment of sin. e. No one who claims to be of God can be arrogant and smug to the needs of others. f. The constancy of God is amazing. God is faithful. The sin of his people may cause him to suspend the promised blessings and to impose on them the curses described in the covenant. But having given his covenant under the promise of his Word, he will not go back on it. g. Unfaithful Jerusalem is shamed when she finally recognizes her sin against God. She knows she’s unworthy to be loved by the LORD again. But when he does forgive her and loves her once more, she can only exclaim to all the world: what amazing grace!