July 28, 2024 - Ezekiel 16

Ezekiel 16 is that wonderful chapter in which the Lord reminds his people about who they are and what he has done for them.  On the day they were born (using the metaphor of birth and growth), no one cared for them.  They were left out in the desert, where they would die.  But the Lord (that’s the thing . . . “But the Lord!”) picked her up, washed her, and covered her with fine clothes.  Not only that, but he adorned Israel with wonderful jewelry and gave her an abundance to eat.  Because of the Lord, she was beautiful!

But Israel played the whore.  She trusted in her idols and her international alliances.  She rejected the very one who had blessed her and provided for her.  So, the Lord will discipline, but ultimately, he says:  “Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.  Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed . . . you shall know that I am the Lord . . . when I atone for your for all that you have done, declares the Lord God” (16:60-63).

Once perishing in blood I lay,

Creatures no help could give;

But Jesus passed me in the way,

He saw, and bid me live.

O, can I e’er that day forget,

When Jesus kindly spoke!

“Poor soul, my blood has paid thy debt,

And now I break thy yoke.”   --John Newton (1799)