Devotions

I Entered Into a Covenant With You

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The Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel. It was for their good but they abused the goodness of God. In fact, after the Lord raised them up as a nation, a “cedar”, they spoke about the sins of those around them in Ezekiel 16:56 “And was not Sodom, your sister, a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride”.

Then, they, the house of Israel became worse than the nations they had driven out of their promised land. But the Lord is faithful and says in Ezekiel 16:60 “And I, I will remember my covenant … and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant”. The Lord will restore them, the house of Israel, and their sisters Sodom and Samaria.

Here is the surprising statement in:

Ezekiel 16:61 “And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters.

Though God forgives us in Isaiah 1:18 “Even though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white like snow” and the Lord will not remember our sins Hebrews 8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, and I will not remember their sins any longer” and no one will condemn us for our sin in Romans 8:1 “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. There may be things we have done that we will remember, things we know we will never do again. 

I Entered Into a Covenant With You

Ezekiel 16:1–10
The Lord reminds in Ezekiel 16:2 “the house of Israel” of their beginnings. They are a “cedar” in Ezekiel 17 (a cedar tree is used to describe the greatness of Assyria in Ezekiel 31:2-10) but that was not where they started.

Ezekiel 16:3 “Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites”

The land of the Canaanites is sometimes translated “a land of trade”. Compare,

Ezekiel 17:4 (LEB) “to the land of Canaan and put it in a city of merchants”

Ezekiel 17:4 (ESV) “to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants”

And these Canaanites were the very people the Lord had driven out as the children of Israel came into their promised land so, “The emphasis on Jerusalem’s Canaanite ancestry would have been insulting to Ezekiel’s Israelite audience”.1

The house of Israel began through the covenant with Abram, but they struggled to grow as a nation until the Lord brought them out of Egypt and planted them in their own land. 

You Became Exceedingly Beautiful

Ezekiel 16:11–20
Through Ezekiel 16:11-13 the nation of Israel grew as the Lord raised her up “fit to be a queen” and in

Ezekiel 16:14 “And a name went out for you among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my majesty that I bestowed on you,’ declares the Lord Yahweh”.

But rather than trust in the Lord, the nation “trusted in your beauty” in Ezekiel 16:15 and gave themselves to “every one passing by”. Then in Ezekiel 16:17-20 the nation takes everything the Lord had given them, including their children, and “prostituted with them (every on passing by)”.

You Slaughtered My Children

Ezekiel 16:21–30

You Gave Your Gifts to All of Your Lovers

Ezekiel 16:31–40

You Behaved More Corruptly Than They

Ezekiel 16:41–49 

I Will Establish With You An Everlasting Covenant

Ezekiel 16:50–63
The Lord measures the sin of the house of Israel in Ezekiel 16:51 “Samaria did not sin according to even half of your sins … and you made your sister righteous in comparison with all of your detestable things that you did. But then the Lord says he will restore in

Ezekiel 16:55 “And as for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters, they will return to their former state, and you and your daughters will return to your former state”.

And the Lord does this because he is faithful in

Ezekiel 16:60 “And I, I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant”.

but here, they will remember all they have done and all they have said against those that the Lord will give them in

Ezekiel 16:61 “And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you take your sisters, both the older and the younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of your covenant”.

He Plucked the Top

Ezekiel 17:1–10

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Ezekiel 16:1-64
  • Ezekiel 17:1-10

References

  • 1. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Eze 16:3). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.