EZEKIEL 16 JERUSALEM COMPARED TO AN ABANDONED BABY2010 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Ezekiel 16 Jerusalem Compared To An Abandoned Baby

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2010.

We're looking here in Ezekiel chapter 16, continuing our study here of the book of Ezekiel and these amazing prophecies that God gives to this young man who is a captive in Babylon. His people, the Jewish people, have been conquered a couple of times, twice, Nebuchadnezzar,

Nebuchadnezzar... I'm trying to speak too fast, I think. Nebuchadnezzar has conquered Jerusalem twice and both times taken captives back to Babylon. And at the moment, as Ezekiel is sharing these things and prophesying these things,

Nebuchadnezzar is on his way for the third conquest of Jerusalem where he's going to conquer it for the final time. He's not going to leave it standing any longer. He's going to tear down the walls, tear down the temple. The rest of the people that survive, that aren't put to death, they're going to be carried away captive as well. And so there's this final judgment that's being...

being poured out upon Jerusalem for their rebellion against God and the people are not believing it. They are refusing to listen to God and believe that this judgment is from Him although He has declared it and proclaimed it. They're just not paying attention and there's false prophets among them saying, no, it's not going to happen. We're going to be victorious. Babylon will not win. But

God has been speaking through Ezekiel to the captives where he's at in Babylon about what is going on in Jerusalem and saying, you guys need to pay attention. What God has said is going to come to pass and that city will be judged for its rebellion. And so the judgment there upon Jerusalem for Ezekiel and the captives around him was a testimony of their own need to

to get right with God and to listen and pay attention to what God was speaking to them. And so as we look at these things, it's still applicable to us. These are still very important things for us to consider, even though they happened, you know, probably 3,000 years ago now. It's important for us to consider these things because they're

examples for us, they're reminders for us that we need to pay attention to God. And there's many parallels between the nation of Israel or the nation of Judah and our own nation and also the nation of Judah and our own selves. And so there's lots of lessons for us to learn as we study through the book of Ezekiel.

Well, as we head into chapter 16, it's another vision that Ezekiel receives or another message from God. In verse 1 it says, Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. And so God gives Ezekiel another message and he gives us the specific purpose of the message. The whole point is that he would be able to cause Jerusalem to know her abominations.

Jerusalem, although they are practicing idolatry and rebelling against God, they think that they are okay. That is the thing that happens whenever we involve ourselves in sin and rebellion. It blinds us and it deceives us so that we think that we're okay. We think that we're fine. We think that there's no problems whatsoever.

But the reality is, there's abominations that are taking place in our life. And so he says, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations. This prophecy that we're looking at in chapter 16 is a proclamation of how bad Jerusalem really has gotten.

It's a proclamation. It's an illustration of what is really taking place in Jerusalem, why it's so bad, and why it's deserving of the judgment that God is pouring out onto it. Going on to verse 3, it says,

And say, thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem, Your birth and nativity are from the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite. As for your nativity, on the day you were born, your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you. You were not rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.

No, I pitied you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. But you were thrown out into the open field when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.

God, as He's dealing with and speaking to the city of Jerusalem, gives this like a parable or a parallel or a picture of the nation or the city of Jerusalem and really the people of Jerusalem as well. And He speaks to the city and He talks about...

The birth of the city. And he compares it to, well, like a child, a baby that is abandoned. You know, the nation of Israel, the city of Jerusalem, really has never been a beloved city or a beloved nation. And so God compares the city of Jerusalem to this abandoned baby. And it's quite tragic as you read it. It's quite sad. You can...

possibly relate to or think about. There's been recent articles and it's happened for a long time of babies that are abandoned, left in certain places. Sometimes they're found alive, sometimes they're found dead. And it's just hard for us to comprehend and to compute

What must take place in order for a baby to be abandoned in that way? And yet that is the way that Jerusalem was, God is explaining. He says your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan.

Now the land of Canaan is the land that God gave to his people. The Canaanites dwelt there, but they were wicked and rebellious, and so God used the people of Israel to drive them out, to bring judgment upon them for their rebellion against God, and they inherited the land of Canaan. And so Jerusalem, the city, is in the land of Canaan. He said, your father was...

and Amorites and your mother a Hittite. And God's not just, you know, kind of using slanderous words against them. The Amorites was a certain group of people that dwelt there in the land of Canaan. And they held the land or they had the land where Jerusalem was. And then later on, a little bit later in history, then the Hittites were also there in the land of Canaan. And they

had possession of Jerusalem at a time. And so he's just speaking about their heritage. This people had Jerusalem for a while, then another people had Jerusalem for a while. It was here in the land of Canaan. And he says that their nativity, on the day they were born, their navel cord was not cut, they weren't washed, they weren't rubbed with salt, they weren't wrapped in swaddling cloths.

And he's going on and giving this picture of a child that is just not cared for, that it's delivered, it's kind of cast aside, perhaps thrown out into the field. Commentators do say that that was something that was common in those days. If there was some type of deformity or something like that, you didn't want the child, you weren't happy with how it came out, that it was just abandoned.

And so he's comparing that scenario, that situation to the city of Jerusalem. He says in verse 5, "...no, I pitied you, and they didn't do any of those things for you. They didn't have compassion. They didn't really care for the city. They didn't care for the people. They didn't care for the place."

And so Jerusalem, both the place and the people that were living in Jerusalem, were despised, were rejected. You know, there wasn't something noteworthy. We think of Jerusalem, and of course in our minds, Jerusalem is significant.

But what we need to understand is that it's significant only because God made it so. And we'll see that as we go on in the chapter. Before God did an incredible work in Jerusalem, it was just nothing. It was just another city that no real special value, no great importance. It was just a place and it was not something that people would desire, that people would covet.

And so as we begin here, God is talking to the nation or to the city of Jerusalem, to the people of Jerusalem. And he's saying, look, your beginnings, you know, are humble. You weren't, you know, magnificent and that's why I chose you. It's not that you were so great. But as Paul says, you know, in Corinthians, that God chose the base things, the low things, the simple things of the world to confound the wise.

And that's true of the city of Jerusalem. It's true of the people of Israel. And it's true of you and I. That we are not special in a way that, you know, because we're so special, God chose us. We are special because God chose us. Because He's loved us. It's not that He loves us because we're so wonderful. But we are so wonderful because He loves us. He's doing the work in us. He's...

working in our lives and transforming us and we are going to be with him we're going to to see him as he is we're going to be like him and God's going to transform us but not because of us we have the same type of beginnings here we're rejects we're the scum of the earth really but what God has done is he has done an incredible work and even though we were in this condition he has reached out to us

And ministered to us. And we see that as we go on here in verse 6. It says, And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, live. Yes, I said to you in your blood, live.

I made you thrive like a plant in the field, and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed, your time was the time of love. So I spread my wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became mine, says the Lord God.

And so as God is speaking to Jerusalem, He says, look, you were like this infant that was just cast off, that was just thrown into a field. And I saw you there and I had compassion on you. And I told you, live. God says, I gave you life. I'm the one who caused you to survive. I'm the one who cleaned you up and brought you to maturity. And He says, then as you matured,

Then I married you. You became of age and I entered into a covenant with you. I married you. God made Jerusalem something special. When the children of Israel went into the promised land, God said, you remember they had the tabernacle there in the wilderness? Well, God said, you know, that's great. The tabernacle is good. But then when you get into the promised land, you're to set it up at the place where I've chosen to put my name.

And it turns out, through David, we find that God chose to put His name on Jerusalem. Not because Jerusalem is so wonderful, not because it's, you know, the best place on earth, but He saw in its humble beginnings, despised and rejected, and He said, I'm going to put my name there. And so we understand Jerusalem to be very important.

To God's plan, to His purposes. I mean, everything really centers around what took place there right outside of Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was crucified. And so we understand it's an important spot. We understand it's where God placed His name.

And that's what he's describing here. He says, look, I saw you. I gave you life. I placed my name there. Verse 9. He says, then I washed you in water. Yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you in an...

I gave you a fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver and your clothing was a fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry, a fine flour, honey and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. You were a beautiful woman and you were a beautiful woman.

And so here we get the whole picture. This baby was abandoned, cast off into the field. God comes and...

And He says,

He says there in verse 14, He bestowed His splendor upon her. And so He's describing here the city of Jerusalem. Again, not something noteworthy, not something to pay attention to, but God chose to put His name there. And we see through the history of Israel, the place and the city of Jerusalem become very prominent and beautiful. When David first...

Gained entrance to the city. It was very small. He expanded it. Solomon expanded it even more. And under the reigns of David and Solomon, the city of Jerusalem became glorious. I mean, it was something to behold. It talks about, you know, the gold and silver and things that were brought there as a result of the reign of David and Solomon. And how, you know, it was just gold and silver were commonplace. They were like nothing. They were like rocks.

There was just great wealth and people came from all over to come to Jerusalem to have an audience before Solomon. I mean, there was just this amazing transformation that took place. And that's what God is describing here. He says, look, this is what I've done. I've bestowed my splendor on you. And so we see this beautiful picture of something rejected, something unwanted, despised,

helpless, and how God came in and did a transformation. And here, I think, you know, it's very easy for us to see the parallel with our own lives. That without God, we're like that baby in the field. Unable to help ourselves, just there in our blood, unable to clean up, unable to survive,

But what God has done is He has come in and He has accomplished for us what we could not accomplish for ourselves. First of all, paying, of course, the price for our sin. Because our sin causes us to deserve the wrath of God and the judgment of God. He came in, He took care of that. Jesus Christ there upon the cross, He paid the penalty. He received the full judgment for our sin. And so that's taken care of.

And so as He comes in and takes care of our sin, He doesn't just leave us there, but then He causes us to grow. And He gives us beauty. He transforms us. He gives us life. He even gives us the promise of eternity. It's just amazing all that God has done for us. Those relationships, you know, that we messed up,

Many times God mends those relationships or He gives us new relationships even better than we could have imagined before where we were miserable and wretched and empty. He gives us fullness and He satisfies us.

God is incredible towards us. This picture here of the city of Jerusalem is also a picture of us, what God has done for us. He's bestowed His splendor upon us, washed us and covered us in His righteousness, adorned us and fed us, taken care of us. So these things, you know, are pretty incredible. But now as we continue on through the rest of the chapter, now understanding what God has done for this people in this place,

Now we have a better understanding why they are being judged for their rebellion against God. Look at verse 15. He says,

And so here we see the beginning of God's charges against Jerusalem and His people. The picture here is they were this rejected thing and God...

cleaned it up, made it beautiful. But then he says right there in verse 15, but you trusted in your own beauty. And so instead of trusting in God, who had done this incredible work in their lives, they began to trust in their own selves. They trusted in their own beauty. They began to think, hey, we're strong, we can handle it. They began to trust in their own defenses, in their own resources.

What do we need to trust God for? Look, we have gold, we have silver. Everyone wants to come to Jerusalem. Everybody is excited about what's going on here. They turned their eyes away from God because now they were trusting in their own selves. And as a result, he says, they played the harlot or you played the harlot because of your fame. They were saying, hey, thanks God, you did awesome work in us. Now, we got it from here. We're going to do what we want to do.

The idea here of playing the harlot, as he's talking about a city, of course he's not talking about literal harlotry, but he's talking about spiritual harlotry or spiritual adultery.

And that God made a covenant with His people, even as He calls us, the church, the bride of Christ, we have, like a marriage relationship, a covenant between us. Just as God had a covenant with His people at that time, we have a covenant with God today.

We're His bride. And for His people, whether at that time or currently, for His people to turn and to trust in other things besides God, to give the place of devotion and passion of our hearts to other things besides God, is harlotry. It's adultery spiritually.

And so he said, you've played the harlot because of your fame. And you poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. And so what he's talking about is that they were turning their eyes away from God. And they began to worship other gods. They began to fill their lives with other things instead of God. Trusting in their own beauty to take care of them. Trusting in their own fame.

They had great prominence. And it's a common tale, unfortunately. Even individually, God does a great work in a person's life. And where they were just completely messed up, God has brought them back and recovered them and elevated them. And it's not uncommon for them in that position of just being gifted by God.

blessed by God abundantly, for then a person to trust in what they have received from God and stop that relationship with God that he desires to have with them. He says, you took your garments and you adorned high places for yourself. The high places were places that they would set up to go and worship other gods. And so he's talking about the idolatry that would take place.

He says, you've taken your beautiful jewelry from my gold and my silver, which I had given you. And so God says, look, I gave you all of this gold and I gave you this silver. I was blessing you. And then you took those things that I was blessing you with and you fashioned them into other gods and you worshipped those gods instead of me. And so they've just turned completely against God. They've rejected Him. And they've taken the things that He has given to them and they've used them to turn away from Him.

Verse 19, he says,

Verse 2.

So as God goes on to describe what the city of Jerusalem and the people of Jerusalem have done, you get a better and better picture of why this judgment is deserved. They took the beauty and the gold and the silver and all the things that God had given to them and they began to use that to worship other gods. But not only that, then they began to offer their children to those gods.

And this was something that actually took place. He's not speaking symbolically here. They would actually take their children and offer them to these false gods. Now, here at church we do baby dedications. It's nothing like that. We dedicate the baby and the child to the Lord. The idea is that the parents are committing to raise their child in the ways of God.

What was happening here is they would offer their children to these false gods by putting them to death. They would literally sacrifice them. He says, was it a small thing that you were already worshipping these false gods that you had to add to it to now offer your children and slay your children offering to these false gods?

He says, in all of your abominations and your acts of harlotry, you didn't remember the days of your youth when you were naked, bare, and struggling in your blood. They forgot about where they had come from and what God had done in their life. You know, it's important for us to remember. Not that we dwell on and that's all that we think about, you know, what happened in our past, but it is important to remember from where God has brought us.

It's a good idea to stop and reflect and remember how good God is and what He's done and what He's brought you out of. That's why sharing your testimony is something that's valuable. It's something that's important. It's something that's good. Because it reminds us, even as we share it, what God has brought us out of and the work that He's done in our life so that we don't forget, so that we don't turn away from God. Verse 23...

Then it was so, after all your wickedness, woe, woe to you, says the Lord God, that you also built for yourself a shrine and made a high place for yourself in every street.

Verse 2.

As he goes on, he again adds to what was happening and explains further why the judgment that they're receiving is right and just. He says, then it was so after all your wickedness, after all these other things that are bad enough, he said you built high places in every street. So not only did they worship false gods and then offer their children to these false gods,

using the blessings that God had given to them. But now they increase it by multiplying their gods. So they're not just worshipping one other false god, but now they're worshipping a multitude of gods. They have gods on every street. And they're worshipping these false gods all over the place. He says there in verse 25, you've multiplied your acts of harlotry. They've turned away from God, not just a little bit, but completely and fully.

In verse 26, he says, you've increased your acts of harlotry. He says, also committing harlotry with the Egyptians. And so they're turning to the Egyptians and they're trusting in the Egyptians. Now they're not just worshipping these other false gods, but they're relying upon and trusting Egypt for their protection, for their resources. They're looking to Egypt to meet their needs. That's harlotry. That's spiritual adultery.

I think it's something really important for us to consider as well. You know, again, we think of idolatry, and we share this often, but it's important to remember. We think of idolatry as bowing down before an image, and certainly that's what they were doing. But that is not the only thing that idolatry is.

Idolatry is any time where God does not have His rightful place in our hearts and in our lives. And so we can worship things without bowing down before them physically. Because what we're doing is we're bowing down before them in our hearts. In giving them priority and giving them our devotion and our passion. Giving them priority over the things of God and over a relationship with God.

You know, when we don't have time to spend time with God, you know there's a problem. There's idolatry that's taking place. There's other things that have taken His place. When we don't have time to worship Him or to spend time with Him in His Word, to serve Him, there's an issue, there's a problem. There's some false gods that have been set up and we might not be physically bowing down to them, but in our hearts we've given them God's place.

And so they have our passion. They have our devotion. They're the priorities that we focus on. And it's harlotry. But...

Even moving beyond the passion, the devotion, the priorities, that type of idolatry in our hearts, then as Israel and the city of Jerusalem now is trusting in Egypt for their provision and for their protection, we can do the same. You know, God has gifted you and he's enabled you to work and to earn money, to be provided for.

He's given you the talents. He's given you the position. Perhaps He's blessed you with a good position at your workplace. Maybe not, but perhaps He has. And there's a great temptation, there's a great danger for us to follow the example of Jerusalem. And now God's brought us into this position where we don't deserve to be and we couldn't have gotten there without Him. But now that we're there, we're trusting in Him.

Our own selves. We're trusting in our own provision. We're trusting in this career or that sale or that other thing taking place. And instead of trusting in God and looking to God and relying upon God, our eyes and our focus, our trust has been shifted to these other things.

And that's what happened here with the nation of Egypt. And so they committed harlotry with Egypt as there was these attacks going on and there was these threats of nations coming against them. They looked to Egypt. They relied upon Egypt. They trusted in Egypt instead of trusting in God. And so God says, I stretched out my hand against you, diminished your allotment and gave you up to those who hate you.

And so God as a warning to them, as a call to them to see and to open their eyes and see what was going on and get right with Him, He allowed them to go through some difficulty and affliction. And so He allowed the Philistines to come in and He says even the Philistines were ashamed of their lewd behavior. They couldn't believe what was going on. And so they were attacking Jerusalem. They were attacking the nation of Judah.

He allowed them to lose some territory. He allowed them to lose ground because of their rebellion. But we know how it goes. They did not pay attention. They didn't catch the warning. They didn't take heed to what God was saying. Verse 28 says,

He says, Verse 30, Verse 30,

Some strong words God now gives to the city of Jerusalem and the people of Jerusalem. He says, not only have you played the harlot in all these other areas, but you also played the harlot with the Assyrians. And he says, the reason why you did that is because you were insatiable. That means that they were unsatisfied. That they couldn't quench the thirst that they had. Even as they chased after the gods of the Assyrians.

Chased after the ideas of, wow, wouldn't it be great if the Assyrians would protect us and take care of us? Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could trust in them? Oh, then we'd be wealthy, then we'd be satisfied. But they tried it. They chased after those gods. They trusted in Assyria. And they were left unsatisfied. Their thirst, their desire was insatiable.

And so he says that they multiplied their acts of harlotry. Again, increasing their turning from God, increasing their rebellion against God, increasing their idolatry. And they went as far as the land of Chaldea. Now that's Babylon. And so they're pursuing, they're chasing after all of these gods. They're chasing after, trying to be satisfied. But he says, and even then you were not satisfied. Let's learn the lesson here. You will only be satisfied

When you give God His rightful place in your life. Sin will never satisfy you. Now the flesh tells us otherwise. The flesh tells us, oh man, you'll be satisfied if only you had the iPhone 4. That's what my flesh tells me. I don't know if your flesh tells you that. Oh, if you had the iPad, then you'd be satisfied. If you were in this situation, if you were in that situation, if you committed this sin, if you went down that path, then you would be satisfied. That's what our flesh tells us.

But you know our flesh is insatiable. You cannot satisfy it with sin or any other material thing. You cannot satisfy it with money. You cannot satisfy it with things. You will only be satisfied and I will only be satisfied when I consume myself with God. He's the only one big enough to fill the void in my heart and to fill the void in your heart. He's the only one big enough to satisfy our every need.

They chased after all these gods. They were thirsty. They needed something. They were missing something. They thought, oh, if we just are able to worship this one other god, if we are able to just include this in our life, if we're able just to have that thing, well, then we'll be satisfied. But they found out, no, it doesn't satisfy.

Even as they multiplied their idols and then multiplied them again and then chased after and went to the ends of their known earth at that time. They were not satisfied. And God gives them a charge. He says, how degenerate is your heart? What a tragic line. What a tragic thing for God to say. How degenerate is your heart? How degenerate is my heart? When we chase after and pursue these things.

He says, look, you do the deeds of a brazen harlot. You're not even ashamed of your rebellion. You're not even ashamed of your sin any longer. You just go and you try to fill your life with those things and you're not satisfied. Verse 31, You erected your shrine at the head of every road and built your high place in every street. Yet you were not like a harlot because you scorned payment.

Verse 1.

And so God's been talking about their harlotry, but he makes a note here. He's like, well, it's not exactly harlotry because, well, harlotry happens whenever there's payment that's given for that relationship. But you went out and you pursued all these relationships and you filled your life with all this junk and you did it at your expense. You paid for it. They didn't pay you to worship those gods. You went out and bought their gods.

They didn't pay you to come and trust in them. You paid them. They'd pull money out of the temple and send it to Assyria and say, come protect us. We're your servants. They paid. So it's the opposite of harlotry in that sense. He says, so you're like an adulterous wife who takes strangers instead of her husband. God, who had brought them from nothing and given them so much blessing, He was their husband.

But they preferred strangers. In a parallel fashion, God is our husband. We're the bride of Christ. Do we love strangers rather than God? Do we give our devotion and our passion to things other than God? To remove Him from His rightful place in our life and to focus on things that are not of Him? Things of this world, things that will not last and will not satisfy?

Verse 35, Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your harlotry with your lovers and with all your abominable idols and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them,

Surely, therefore, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged. I will bring blood upon you in fury and in jealousy.

And so here is where God explains, look, this is why you're experiencing this judgment. This is why these things are happening in your life, Jerusalem, because you're a harlot, because you've turned away from God, because you've chased after all of these other gods, and your filthiness was poured out, your nakedness was uncovered. You were unashamed. You were like a brazen harlot, he says. You had all these abominable idols. You sacrificed your children. So he says, I'm going to

I'm going to bring judgment upon you. He says, I'm going to judge you as a woman who breaks wedlock. According to the law, according to what God had laid out there in the Old Testament, a woman who broke the covenant or the bond of marriage, a woman who committed adultery, or a man for that matter, was deserving of death. It was a capital crime. God doesn't put up with adultery, physical or otherwise, spiritual adultery.

It's not something he can handle or can put up with or can just kind of wink at. It's something he takes seriously. And so he says, this is how you've been, so I'm going to treat you. I'm going to deal with you accordingly. I'll bring blood upon you in fury and in jealousy. He's a jealous God. He's a jealous husband. And she had offered herself to all of these other gods and played the harlot. And so he's going to deal with her accordingly.

it's an important thing for us to consider because we can't think, we mustn't think that God will not deal with the same type of situations in our own lives. Where God has given us so much and blessed us so abundantly, if we then take what God has given to us and use the blessings that God has bestowed upon us and trust in those things and begin to worship these other gods and give them blessings

His place in our lives. And we devote ourselves to the things that are not of God. And we pursue a lifestyle of sin and rebellion. We mustn't think that, well, it's just going to be okay because, you know, He chose us and look what He did in the past and how He brought us out. And that's wonderful. But then to take what God has given to you and turn it to enable you to rebel against Him, well, it's something that is deserving of God's judgment. And so He's going to bring it, He says.

We need to be warned. We need to pay attention. Verse 39, I will also give you into their hand and they shall throw down your shrines and break down your high places. They shall also strip you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. They shall also bring up an assembly against you and they shall stone you with stones and thrust you through with their swords. They shall burn your houses with fire and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women.

And I will make you cease playing the harlot and you shall no longer hire lovers. Verse 42. So I will lay to rest my fury toward you and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be quiet and angry and be angry no more because you did not remember the days of your youth but agitated me with all these things. Surely I will also recompense your deeds on your own head, says the Lord God. And you shall not commit lewdness in addition to all your abominations.

God goes on to say, I'm going to give you into the hands of your enemies. They're going to strip you. They're going to take your jewelry. They're going to leave you naked and bare. I found you naked and bare and I clothed you and I took care of you, but you've rebelled against me and you're going to end up in that same position that you were in before I found you.

He says they're going to come against you. They're going to stone you. They're going to thrust you through with swords. They're going to burn you with fire. They're going to bring judgment upon you. They're God's instruments of judgment because of their rebellion against Him. But notice what He says there in verse 41. He says, And I will make you cease playing the harlot and you shall no longer hire lovers. The whole point of the judgment, the whole point of this thing that's coming against them is to put an end to their harlotry.

To put an end of them worshipping these other gods. This is what God does in our lives. When we fill our lives and consume our lives with the things that are not of God, He'll give us opportunity to repent. He'll call out to us. But if we refuse, then He'll allow us to go through some circumstances. He'll bring some situations upon us that cause us to stop those things.

Those are not pleasant circumstances. Those are not things that we want to go through. And so the best thing for us to do is to repent when God speaks to us. And when God brings those things to our hearts and to our minds, the best thing to do is then to respond, to turn, to receive His warning and to turn to Him, to give Him back His rightful place. He says in verse 42, I will lay to rest my fury toward you and my jealousy shall depart from you.

And so he's going to deal with them. He's not going to be angry with them forever. He's just bringing judgment upon them to deal with this condition of their hearts. He says, you guys don't remember the days of your youth, but you've agitated me. You've continued and insisted on rebelling against me. So he says, I'm going to recompense your deeds upon your own head. You're just getting what you deserve. Even then, God is merciful and he gives them opportunity to turn back.

He gives them opportunity to be corrected. That's His point. That's His purpose. That's what He's doing in their lives. Verse 44...

He says,

Notice this. But as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in all your ways. God says, look, here's the situation. Here's the problem. You became more corrupt than your sisters and your mothers. He talks about the nations that were there before them. They were corrupt. That's why God drove them out of the land. And he says, look, you became worse than they did. They were bad. They were bad.

But that just didn't seem to be enough for you. And so you became more corrupt than they were. Now, Samaria was a city to the north of Jerusalem. It was actually the capital of the northern kingdom when Israel was divided in two. And they never, after that division, they never worshipped God. They had their false gods that they worshipped.

And they were conquered a long time before Jerusalem was conquered because of their rebellion against God. And then, of course, Sodom. We're familiar with Sodom. They're down in the south, south of Jerusalem. Sodom and Gomorrah, they were overthrown by God a long time before the city of Jerusalem was really established. And God rained down fire and brimstone upon it for their rebellion.

But even as we think of Sodom and Gomorrah and oh, how terrible they were, God says, you're worse than they were.

You've gone farther than they went in rebelling. You're more corrupt than they in all your ways, he says in verse 47. Verse 48. As I live, says the Lord God, neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom. She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food and abundance of idleness. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

And they were haughty and committed abomination before me. Therefore, I took them away as I saw fit. He says, look, here's the sin of Sodom. And we immediately think of sexual immorality as we read the account there in the book of Genesis. And that certainly is a part of it. But it's interesting what he says here. He says, here was her problem. She had pride, fullness of food, abundance of idleness. She didn't take care of the poor and needy. And she committed abominations before me.

The sexual immorality was a part of it, but it was just a part of it. She was full of pride. She had a bunch of leisure time and spare time and she just kind of had sufficient food so she didn't need to trust in the Lord. She didn't need to look to the Lord. She had her needs met. She had lots of extra time. And so, of course, all of that extra time, that self-sufficiency, that pride led to those abominations. It's like...

The proverb, you know, Lord, don't give me too much bread that I don't trust in you and too little that I have to steal, but give me just enough for today. Sodom trusted in themselves. They were full of themselves. Verse 51, he talks about Samaria. He said, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, but you have multiplied your abominations more than they and have justified your sisters by all the abominations which you have done. You have judged your sisters. Bear your own shame also.

Because the sins you committed were more abominable than theirs. They are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also. And bear your own shame because you justified your sisters. Now he goes on and he says, Listen, Jerusalem, you're worse than Samaria. You're worse than Sodom. Samaria didn't commit half the sins that you committed. You've multiplied your abominations more than they committed.

And he says, you've justified those other cities. Think about that. Sodom and Gomorrah, justified. They look better than the city of Jerusalem. He says in verse 52, he says, you who judged your sisters, they're full of pride. And so they look at the situation in Sodom and Gomorrah, probably a little bit like we do, right? Yeah, they deserved it. Without any regard for their own rebellion against God.

We've got to watch out for that. They were full of abominations. Worse than those of Samaria and those of Sodom. But they looked in judgment on Samaria and said, Oh yeah, it was right for God to judge them. Yeah, get them God. Do what's necessary. Yeah, they need to turn and get right. They look at Sodom and say, Oh man, it was right for God to pour out fire and brimstone. How easy it is for us to have the same attitude, isn't it? We need to be careful. Just because we think so highly of ourselves...

It doesn't mean that we're right. It doesn't mean that we're way worse than those that we're judging. He says, you bear your own shame. He says, you guys need to experience shame. You need to be ashamed because you've committed things more abominable than they did. They're more righteous than you, God says to them. He says, yeah, be disgraced. Bear your own shame.

Because you justified your sisters. Verse 53. When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives of your captivity among them, that you may bear your own shame and be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. When your sisters Sodom and her daughters return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to your former state. For

For your sister Sodom was not a byword in your mouth in the days of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and of the daughters of the Philistines who despise you everywhere. You have paid for your lewdness and your abominations, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord God, I will deal with you as you have done, who despise the oath by breaking the covenant. God says, look, you've broken the covenant.

But God is also here demonstrating His grace. And so He says, look, when I bring back the captives of Sodom, and when I bring back the captives of Samaria, then I'm going to bring your captives back as well. And so God's saying, look, I'm not writing you off completely. This isn't a final judgment. I'm dealing with your sin. But the people of Israel will continue to exist. They will be brought back. But He says that,

And so he says, look, I'm going to bring you back and when I bring you back, you are going to be ashamed. They're not going to fully realize their sin. They're not going to fully realize their rebellion until they're experiencing the grace of God in restoration and being restored.

And as Sodom is restored, as Samaria is restored, and as Jerusalem is restored, then Jerusalem will realize what they have done. Then they will be ashamed. They're not ashamed now, but they will be ashamed when they're restored, when they're brought back. He says, I'm going to deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking the covenant. They turned against God. They rebelled against God. God didn't turn away from them, but they turned away from God.

They're experiencing the consequences, the judgment, the result of that. But they're still not getting it. They're going to fully understand. They're really going to be ashamed when God's grace is poured out upon them. Verse 60. He says,

When you receive your older and your younger sisters, for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of my covenant with you. And I will establish my covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame when I provide you an atonement for all you have done, says the Lord God.

He goes on with this thought. He says, look, I'm going to remember my covenant with you. Now, the covenant that God had was that He would bless them as they were obedient to Him, but as they turned away from Him, then they would experience judgment. And so, they're going to be judged according to the covenant. He says, I'm going to remember that covenant as they're judged. But then He says, I'm going to establish an everlasting covenant with you. And so, there's a new covenant that's taking place.

Now we're talking about, and the things that he's making reference to are things we're going to be hitting in the book of Revelation as we look towards the millennial kingdom, the thousand year reign of Christ, when the earth is restored, when Israel is restored, when Jerusalem is there and Jesus is reigning in its midst. This is when really the ultimate fulfillment of these things are going to take place. And at that time he says, then you will remember your ways and be ashamed.

then that's when you're going to realize and recognize your rebellion against God. He says, I'll give them to you as daughters. These other cities, I'm going to be so gracious to you, God says. These other cities are going to be your daughters and then you shall know that I'm the Lord. Then you're going to realize and remember and be ashamed, he says there in verse 63. And you're never going to open your mouth again.

You're not going to be haughty anymore. That's when it's finally going to sink in. That's when you're finally going to realize the shame of what you've done. He says, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done. You see the grace of God here? He's built this incredible case demonstrating why they deserve the full judgment that He is giving to them. But although they deserved to be written off, to be cast off, God didn't have to show mercy to them.

His judgment was not to bring an end to them, but to bring them back, to provide atonement for them. He's demonstrating His grace and His mercy. This is the way that God works. It's God's grace that causes them to be ashamed when they realize how good God is and how little they deserve it. I think this is an important thing for us to end on, for us to consider. Remember what it was like before God for you.

Remember the state that God found you. We were born in sin. God found us as we were messed up. He cleaned us up. He adorns us. He promised us eternity. Let's not make the same mistake as Jerusalem. Worshipping other gods and trusting in other things. Using the things that God has blessed us with to involve ourselves in sin and live out a lifestyle of sin. Let's not use God's blessings to rebel against Him.

Instead, let's give Him the rightful place of our hearts. Let's give Him what He deserves. His goodness to us leads us to repentance. And as you consider the goodness of God in your life right now, let it lead you to repentance. Let it lead you to turning your heart over to God. Are there things in your life that God wants to correct and deal with? Are there issues that He needs to address? Perhaps that He's been speaking to you about.

Maybe it's been a while that he's been speaking those things to you. Or maybe just this evening as you've been sitting here and I'm talking about idolatry and these things that have that place in your heart and there's something in your mind. There's something you're thinking and you're trying to push it down and push out. That's not what he's talking about. That's not important. That's a little thing. It's not a big thing. No, God's bringing it up. He's bringing it to your attention because...

Well, He wants you to remember His goodness towards you and what He's done in your life that it would bring you to repentance, that you would turn that over and you would be satisfied with Him because nothing else will satisfy you. So the worship team is going to come up and lead us in a song and as they do, let's just take this time. If there's something going on in your heart, you already know it, then give it over to God. Take this time right now to repent, to turn from it, to ask God to forgive you.

to bring you back to where He wants you to be. Maybe there's nothing really going on in your heart, then you can take this time to seek the Lord. You know, we had a little bit of an earthquake earlier today. Maybe you felt it. Hey, that's a reminder. Jesus is coming back soon. There's earthquakes in various places, right? Now, when I think of that verse, Jesus said, you know, there will be earthquakes in various places leading up to His return.

I usually don't think of California as a various place because they always happen here. But consider the context of where Jesus was. From Jerusalem, this is a various place. Earthquakes are happening here. It's a reminder. His return is close, guys. We don't have a lot of time to mess around. We can't count on tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow we'll repent. Tomorrow we'll get right with God. Tomorrow we'll start to live right. We have tonight. We have right now. We have this moment. Let's turn to Him.

Let's give Him our hearts. Let's give Him our lives. Let's be satisfied with the fullness of who He is. Let's worship the Lord together.