If the language of Ezekiel 16 shocks you, understand that it was supposed to do that. If you found it so horrible that it was hard to read, that was the point. Having pictured Jerusalem as a useless vine in the previous chapter, now the prophet pictures Jerusalem as a prostitute. The images are more blunt and graphic. Ezekiel will not be polite about Israel’s history of sin. God wants him to expose sin in its full ugliness. Now and again it is good for us to see it. The lengthy chapter begins by comparing Jerusalem to an abandoned baby girl. With umbilical cord still attached, she is alone and uncared for, left in a field to die. Wonderfully, God intervenes with His life-giving word (v 1-7). When the child grows up to be an attractive young woman, the LORD takes her as His bride. Reversing the circumstances of her birth, he washes off her blood, anoints her, and clothes her like a queen, with embroidered dresses and expensive jewelry. She is so beautiful that her fame spreads (v 8-14). But instead of remembering what the LORD did for her, she uses her beauty to become a whore. Israel is unfaithful to her Bridegroom, going after other gods. Her idolatry even reaches the point of ritual child sacrifice (v 15-22). As time goes by, Israel forgets the LORD altogether, turning to foreign nations for protection, as if their gods are superior. These alliances are costly—in effect, making Israel worse than a typical prostitute. Rather than receiving a fee for her services, she actually paid for others to sleep with her! (v 23-34). This kind of behavior in a marriage cannot be overlooked. In accord with the cultural practices of this ancient society, the unfaithful wife will be exposed naked in public, then stoned to death. Similarly, Jerusalem’s places of idolatry will be torn down, her wealth and possessions stripped away, leaving her in her original state. Only then will the LORD’s wrath be turned aside (v 35-43). “Like mother, like daughter.” This is what people will be saying about Israel. Jerusalem was a pagan Canaanite site before it became home to the Jewish temple. Now it has returned to its roots. Just like her older sister Samaria (former capital of the northern kingdom of Israel), and even more detestable than her younger (smaller) sister Sodom (infamous for its sexual perversions), Jerusalem can surely not escape the righteous wrath of the LORD (v 44-52). Yet judgment is not God’s last word. Unlike Jerusalem, He remembers the days of her youth, and will therefore establish an everlasting covenant with her. He chose her once and He will choose her again, making atonement for her sin and removing her shame. How wide is the mercy of God! (v 53-63). For further meditation: