Today’s passage: Ezekiel 16
Helpful thoughts:
- If you are using these devotionals for the family, you will want to read ahead and be discerning in how you explain the content of this chapter.
- Israel is depicted as a woman who was rescued, cared for, married, provided with wealth and success…and then used all that God had given her to be “adulterous” with numerous others.
- God is clear in telling the people of Jerusalem their “adultery” has been more severe than that of Samaria (The northern kingdom of Israel) and Sodom! Yet, He will not forget His covenant with them and they will one day remember their sin and be confounded by the faithfulness, love and forgiveness granted to them by God!
Questions to consider:
- This passage is not about the sin of sexual immorality (Though that was certainly included in all that the people of Jerusalem/Israel had done). What are the sins that have been committed? If God is the “husband” who entered into a covenant relationship with Israel and she broke that covenant, what is the sin being committed? What did their unfaithfulness to God also then result in?
- How does this illustration correlate to what we learn about Christ and the church from Ephesians 5:22-33 and Revelation 19:6-8?
- With Christ in mind, how has God made a way for His people to be made aware of their sin, desire to repent and change, and be made pure? What has Christ done for His bride? How does all this urge us toward the righteous worship which He has freed us to pursue in love?