Dr. Rodney Plunket

Ezekiel 16

(The following parable was read by Jeff Cary prior to the delivery of the sermon.  It is from The New Life of Grace by Peter Fransen, S.J.)

A Parable of Ezekiel 16

     "Once upon a time there was a young girl, an orphan, who grew up in coarse surroundings.  Her foster parents were hard and rough, and had never wanted her.  Never as a baby or as a growing child had she known the subtle intimacy of a true home.  She had never been loved. 

     And then she grew into a young woman.  Daily encounter with disparagement, egotism and brutality hardened her heart.  All she knew was self-defense, daily surly bickering to make sure of a minimum of security and right.  To the best of her knowledge, it had always been so in the past, and it would remain so in the future:  biting in order not to be bitten -- the law of the jungle.  She had no faith in man; she had not even faith in herself. 

     Her whole appearance betrayed the solitude in which the soul of her youth was living.  She toiled and moiled, dressed in cheap, graceless attire.  Her one means of escape from hopeless emptiness was rough and rowdy amusement.  Selfish, suspicious and uncouth, with bitterness distorting her mouth, she was aware that she had no beauty and that what men wanted was her body for a few lustful moments.

     There lived in the same city a young man, hale and strong.  His sunny
youth, spent in the midst of loving parents, brothers and sisters, shone in
his gaze and sang in his voice.  His step and speech were assured and firm, as is the case with those who have found peace.  He was a good man.

     One bright morning in spring, the miracle happened.  The young man met the girl by chance.  Moved in his innermost self, his heart went out to her.  With the eyes of love, he saw right through and beyond her shabby vulgarity.  He looked out for her; he spoke to her with the simplicity of a conquered heart.  But she laughed in his face at first, addressed him in crude, unmannered language.  She thought he was ridiculous.

     But tact, patience and respect found their way at last to a remnant of
yearning which still lay unwithered in the depth of the girl's being.  For
the first time in her life, she was appreciated for her own sake -- the
greatest need of human nature.  Yet the beauty he discovered in her came not from her but from his love.

     Love has been a creative power since the beginning of the world.  The young man's deference and appreciation stirred up in her a nascent self-reliance, a foretaste of peace and quiet, of inner self-assurance.  And timidly, gropingly, the young woman awakened to first love.  She shyly began taking care of her appearance, though gaudily still and without elegance.  His tenderness and his example refined her taste.  Beauty came to her with the first smile.

     Soon they became absorbed in each other.  They steadily drew together in a selfless exchange of pure mutual love.  What had happened really?  Or better:  what had come into being?  That girl had been granted a great favor, a matchless present, a gift she did not deserve:  the favor of love."

In the 6th Century BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took some three thousand citizens of Jerusalem captive. It appears that this was what might be termed a forced "brain drain;" i.e., the leading citizens of Jerusalem were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar in the hope that such an action would "disable [this] troublesome vassal state" (Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, "Ezekiel’s Justifications of God: Teaching Troublesome Texts," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament no. 55 [Spring 1992] 97).

But the situation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon appears not to have been all that bad. They seem "to have had a reasonable amount of freedom." Jehoiachin, their deposed king, "had not been dishonored, but was housed in Babylon in a manner appropriate to his rank" (Henry McKeating, Ezekiel, Old Testament Guides [Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995] 77). Such a relatively mild form of exile fed the perception that the forced separation from Jerusalem would not last very long. It seems that most of the exiles were quite confident that soon they would be allowed to return home to Jerusalem.

And there were persons who claimed to be prophets of the Lord who fed that perception. They insisted that everything was going to be fine in just a little while (see Ezekiel [Ezek] 13:1-23 and Jeremiah 27-29). These prophets told the Jewish exiles that in a very short time they would be returning to Jerusalem and normalcy would resume. Such a message created optimism and hope. It lifted spirits and strengthened souls, and it helped the people believe that the Lord God of Israel had not deserted them.

But this message was not from God, and it was the exact opposite of what God was, in fact, going to do. The Lord knew that the people had not learned their lesson. They were still unaware of the tremendous hold and power which sin had upon them.

Remember, God had been disciplining this people for a few hundred years. He knew they were slow to learn. He knew it would take more than one military defeat and a short stay in Babylon to wake them up. He knew that it would take much more to create within this people an unshakable resolve to turn away from idols for good. No, they were not ready to go home. There was more, much more to be done, much more for them to learn.

But how could God do it? How could God constructively discipline this exiled people? How could he discipline them without killing their spirits? How could He discipline them without disenchanting them to such a point that no faith was left?

Ezekiel was placed in the front lines of this battle, this battle for the souls of the Jews in Babylon. His mission was to prepare the people for the destruction of Jerusalem. His message was very repetitive. Over and over again he told these exiles that their beloved city, the city of Jerusalem, was going to be destroyed. By constantly telling them that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that their stay in Babylon would be a long one, do you see what Ezekiel was doing? He was actually providing a means for the renewal of their faith. Because, you see, when Jerusalem was destroyed they could then know that it was not because God had deserted the people. They could know that the destruction of the holy city was actually due to God’s involvement with God’s people. It did not take place because God had abandoned them nor because God was powerless. Ezekiel’s message opened the door for them to realize that the destruction of Jerusalem was caused by the hand of God in response to the need for transforming faith among God’s people.

And think what that would mean. Put yourself back there; put yourself in Tel-Abib, that Babylonian town populated by Jewish exiles in the 6th century BC. Put yourself back there and be an exile for a moment. Hear with them the news that the unthinkable has happened; the holy temple of the Lord God has been destroyed along with the entire city of Jerusalem; it has all been torn down and burned. Think how much it would mean to remember the words of Ezekiel and to know that those were, indeed, the words of God. Once these Jews realized that Ezekiel was a prophet of God and that God had been speaking to them through Ezekiel all along, then they would know that the Lord had not forsaken the people. Yes, God was disciplining the people, but God was not disowning them.

But they would need to remember Ezekiel’s message for all of this to work. How could you even get them to hear the message in the first place? How do you get people to really hear a message that is so depressing that it makes everyone want to stick their fingers in their ears? Ezekiel’s strategy, a strategy given the prophet by God, was to proclaim the message in such a vivid and even bizarre manner that people were simply forced to listen, forced to listen because he shocked them; they couldn’t help themselves; they were compelled to listen because of Ezekiel’s style. His words were very disturbing, but they were also riveting.

The parable that Jeff Cary earlier read for us is a man named Peter Fransen’s response to one of Ezekiel’s very graphic and compelling stories. That story is found in Ezek 16:1-9, and in that passage we read a vivid and troubling story of a baby girl who was thrown out into the elements immediately after her birth. She was not even washed; the bloody coating was still on her little body. Unfortunately, such things really did occur in several ancient societies, and it generally was a female infant who was subjected to what is normally referred to as the exposure of babies. The baby that was exposed was commonly placed where a passerby might see her and pick her up and raise her as his or her own. However, frequently it was a slave trader who took and raised her. Such meant that the girl would often grow up and be forced to live the life of a prostitute. But many exposed babies never got that far. They died before anyone found them, or a wild animal would find them first.

In Ezek 16 the prophet says that the city of Jerusalem had been like an exposed baby, thrown out into the elements with little chance of survival and with certainly no real chance of ever amounting to anything worthy of note. But God saw Jerusalem in that absolutely powerless and pitiful state, and God, by the power of the divine word, granted Jerusalem life and enabled her, against all odds, to grow up and mature.

God then went further. God made a vow to her to marry her, and God took this wild, unkempt, and uncultured teenage girl and pledged to make her God’s bride. And, oh, how she was adorned for the wedding. Oh, what a beautiful bride, what a beautiful queen God caused her to be. Let’s read Ezek 16:10-14 and realize as we read that what we have here is an ancient portrait of a lavishly attired woman. No expense has been spared. Her groom has expressed to her the richness of His love. So to this girl without a chance, this girl who should have died, to that very girl, to that orphan without a name, the Lord gave life, love, and even splendor. Please take your Bible and follow along as I read Ezek 16:10-14. God says,

I clothed you with embroidered cloth and with sandals of fine leather; I bound you in fine linen and covered you with rich fabric. I adorned you with ornaments: I put bracelets on your arms, a chain on your neck, a ring on your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, rich fabric, and embroidered cloth. You had choice flour and honey and oil for food. You grew exceedingly beautiful, fit to be a queen. Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of my splendor that I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.

The point of Ezekiel’s story is that Jerusalem became a great and magnificent city because the Lord willed it, and only because the Lord willed it. Such a turn of events went against all the odds and all the norms, and there was absolutely nothing which Jerusalem was or did or said that caused it to happen. It was all of God. There was, in other words, nothing but the pure, abundant, free-flowing grace of God that made it happen. Jerusalem owed all of her greatness, as well as her very existence, to the power and love of God. Like the girl in the parable which Jeff read, Jerusalem "had been granted a great favor, a matchless present, a gift she did not deserve: the favor of love."

And our God is still a God who loves to give, who loves to pour out the riches of His grace upon us. And we are just like Jerusalem, just like the wild girl left on the roadside. We can only accept God’s grace; we can only receive. We have nothing to give. The old hymn, "Rock of Ages," which was written in the 1770’s, puts it awfully well. Its third verse says,

Nothing in my hand I bring:

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked come to Thee for dress;

Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Vile, I to the fountain fly:

Wash me, Savior, or I die.

Oh, how we wish Ezekiel’s story could have ended at v 14. How we wish that Jerusalem, splendidly attired Jerusalem, would have fully appreciated the blessings, the bountiful gifts of God. How we wish that Jerusalem had responded with the kind of obedience which a heart won by free and lavish lovingkindness always gives. But the prophet’s story continues.

The story reports in shocking manner that Jerusalem saw her newfound beauty, wealth, and fame as an opportunity to engage in unparalleled excess and wantonness. She was not faithful to the husband who loved her so. Instead she became insatiably adulterous. She gave her love first to this one and then another.

What is Ezekiel doing here? What is his point? Ezekiel is very effectively using adultery as a metaphor for two of Jerusalem’s oft-repeated acts of rebellion. One was the sin of constantly trusting in other nations rather than trusting in God. Such acts were spiritual adultery, because Israel was seeking from another what only her husband, what only God could and should provide. Her second sin was the sin of idolatry/the sin of worshipping false gods, and it should be noted that the worship of false gods in the Ancient Near East commonly involved sexual sins of the grossest sort, so referring to it as adultery is very appropriate indeed.

Because of the adulteries of the city of Jerusalem, God’s punishment was coming. Ezekiel is clear. Let’s read together Ezek 16:38-41.

I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring blood upon you in wrath and jealousy. I will deliver you into their hands, and they shall throw down your platform and break down your lofty places; they shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful objects and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a mob against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. They shall burn your houses and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; I will stop you from playing the whore, and you shall also make no more payments.

Those Jewish exiles must have listened with horror as the prophet went so far as to predict the total devastation of their city, their city which they believed was unconditionally protected by God, unconditionally protected, they thought, because the glory of the Lord lived right there in the most holy place of the temple of God. Yes, they heard the words of Ezekiel, but they could not believe them. The horror was just too much.

But maybe we also should listen with horror. In our day there is often a sickness in what which passes for biblical faith. Ezekiel’s words should be heard and heeded as they force us to look seriously at our adulterations of faith. The Jews of Ezekiel’s day had lots of beliefs about God. Those beliefs were what convinced them that the temple was inviolable. Yes, they had beliefs about God, but God wanted a life-changing relationship; God wanted a relationship with them that led to loyalty and obedience. Are we not often guilty of the same thing as the Jews of Ezekiel’s day? Do we not often focus on beliefs that confirm to us what God will and will not do. I am not opposed to beliefs, but when we piece those beliefs together and compose thereby supposed certainties concerning what God will and will not do, we close our ears. We close our ears just like the Jews of Ezekiel’s day closed their ears to the real truth of God. Their human constructs of truth barred them from hearing God’s truth, real truth.

Thanks to God’s rich and abundant grace we have been brought into relationship with God, a relationship of spiritual wealth and health, a relationship of the truest sort of prosperity and well-being. Ezekiel’s picture of God’s grace in Ezek 16:1-14 is one of the most graphic and beautiful pictures in all of Scripture. But the verses which follow demonstrate that God’s grace is not a cheap grace; it is a grace which gives so that those to whom it is given can discover the joy of life in God. To turn away from that life is to commit spiritual adultery, and to turn away from the God who loves you with the passion of Ezekiel’s God is also to precipitate judgment and punishment, because this God loves you far too much to let you go down the path toward a ruined and ignoble life without doing all that God can to turn you back to the path of life, back to the path of love, back to the path of wholeness.

You see, even God’s punishment is grace. There is no way that we deserve this never-say-die kind of love from the creator of everything, from the Person who truly has it all. God’s passionate love is grace, it is a free gift of total commitment to the people whom God loves.

And what is the goal of this type of commitment? That is revealed in Ezek 16:59-63, so I want to read those verses. But, before I do, a word of explanation is needed. In v 61 God says "when I take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters." Those "sisters" are Sodom and Samaria, two other great cities that God had destroyed in the past. Being associated with two cities that Ezekiel’s hearers viewed as deserving objects of divine devastation was another way for Ezekiel to drive home the enormity of Jerusalem’s sin. Now please follow along as I read Ezek 16:59-63

Yes, thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you as you have done, you who have despised the oath, breaking the covenant; yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish with you an everlasting covenant. Then you will remember your ways, and be ashamed when I take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, in order that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I forgive you all that you have done, says the Lord God.

See and learn. The goal of God’s punishment is not to push away; it is not an act of rejection. It is a wake up call, a wake up call with the purpose of saving something very precious, something very precious which is dangerously close to being lost.

Where do you fit in Ezekiel’s story? Do you feel that you are courting or even experiencing God’s punishment right now because you have misused God’s love and spurned God’s grace? The message of Ezekiel says, "Turn your heart back to God." God longs to receive you. But you must seek to give God the whole of yourself, because without that level of openness, that level of submission to God, without that the Lord will not transform your life into the fullness of which God is capable. God will not because God will only work with you; God will not coerce you.

Where are you in Ezekiel’s story? Are you like the infant left on the roadside? Do you feel that all hope is lost? Do you feel that you are crying with no one to listen, no one to hear? Do you feel helplessly small and utterly abandoned? God’s life giving Word is here for you this morning, just as it was there for Jerusalem so long ago. God is among us, and God longs, passionately longs, to work in your life. All you need do is come to Jesus, put your trust in Him, be buried with Him in baptism, and the same Lord who raised Jesus from the dead will raise you to a new life, a new life lived to the glory of the God who made you and wants to save you.

If you need to respond this morning, if you need the support of this church family as you turn your heart back to God, then we want you to come. If you need to answer the call of Jesus and be baptized for the forgiveness of all of your sins, please come. If we can help you in anyway at all, please respond now to the call of God. Won’t you come as we stand and sing?