Ezekiel 16:51

Ezekiel 16:51 says, Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. God now begins to list the sins of the people of the people of Israel, which He said were twice as many as those of the people of Samaria.  These were the last of the people of Israel who had  remained faithful to God when the nation split, and now they were even more sinful than those who had turned away from Him earlier.  We can never be self-righteous instead of being made righteous by our faith in Jesus Christ and stand in judgment of other people that we feel morally superior to.   

Verse fifty-two adds, Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.  God said that the people of Israel had judged the people of Samaria to be more sinful than they were, which was an attempt to make themselves better in God’s eyes than other sinners. Righteousness will never be based on comparing ourselves to anyone else but Jesus Christ, and when we do, we will know that we are sinners who are no better than any other sinner.   

Verse fifty-three continues, When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:  God said that when He brought about the captivity of the people of Sodom and Samaria, He was also going to bring about the captivity  of the people of Israel.  We can never hold ourselves to be morally superior to the people of any other nation based strictly on where we were born.   

Verse fifty-four states, That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.  God said that the people of Israel would bear their own shame because they had become even worse than Sodom and Samaria.  This did not justify Sodom and Samaria because they were now less sinful than Jerusalem, or Israel, but it condemned them all.  Once more, we cannot be justified to God based on the fact that we are less sinful than someone else.   

Verse fifty-five adds, When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.  God said that when Israel was prosperous because of their faith in Him that they had thought nothing about Sodom and Samaria, other than to look down on them possibly.  We may be prospering materially as followers of Christ, but this certainly never gives the right to look down on others.  Now, He said they wouldn't be returned to their former estate until after Sodom and Samaria were.  Instead of looking down on others, we need to realize that the only way that anyone can be restored to a right relationship with God is by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, and some people that we view as being less worthy than us may be restored before we are.  Therefore, we need to be reaching out to them with compassion and sharing the word of God with them.   

Verse fifty-six continues, For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,  There was also the warning that Sodom should have taught them about God’s judgment of sin.  They had evidently stopped thinking about the reason for the destruction of Sodom.  If we are Christians, we need to be telling our children as well as other lost people about the result of unrepentant sinning.  God said that they all were going to be returned to their former guilty state.  If we claim to be a Christian nation but do not obey God’s law, then we will lose His protective hand on us.   

Verse fifty-seven says, Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about.  God said the all the people around them, the Syrians and the Philistines, saw the wickedness of Israel.  It should shame us as a proclaimed Christian nation if other people see nothing righteous about us.   

Verse fifty-eight adds, Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the Lord.  God said that they had borne their lewdness and abominations before the Lord.  Anyone who will not accept God’s gift of salvation will bear the penalty of their sins themselves.  

Verse fifty-nine continues, For thus saith the Lord God; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.  God said He was going to deal with them as He would with anyone who had not put their faith in Him and had broken their covenant relationship with Him.  The people of Israel were not special because of where they were born but had been special because of their covenant relationship with God.  We, as individuals and as a nation, are not better than anyone else in the world except by the fact that we have entered into a covenant relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. 

Ezekiel 16:44

Ezekiel 16:44 says, Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter. God said everyone who used proverbs would use this proverb against them, and that proverb was that the daughter was as the mother.    

Verse forty-five adds, Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.  God said that just as their mother had loathed her husband and committed adultery, so would the daughters.  We need to remember that God’s people are referred to as the bride of Christ, so this applied to all the people of Israel and not just to the women and girls I believe.  Matthew Henry says this also means that the people of Israel were no better than the Canaanites who lived in the land before them.  If we who profess ourselves to be a Christian nation do not put our faith in God or even acknowledge His existence, we are no better than any other nation, even those that worship other gods.   

Verse forty-six continues, And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.  God then compared them to the people of Samaria and Sodom.  Matthew Henry states that looking north, Samaria was to the left of Jerusalem and was called the elder sister because she was larger than Jerusalem and had once been a part of God’s people until they rejected Him. The people of Sodom would have been to their right and had never been a part of God’s kingdom, yet both were destroyed because of their failure to acknowledge God.  Even if we call ourselves a Christian nation, if we don’t obey God’s commandments and put our trust in Him, we are no better than any other nation.   

Verse forty-seven states, Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.  God said that even though the people of Jerusalem had not followed the ways of these two cities that they were corrupted more than them. The people of Jerusalem still lived according to God’s word and in obedience to Him for a time, but then they turned away from Him as though this were but a small thing.  Anytime we as Christians turn away from God, even if we see what we are doing as a small thing, we will soon be corrupted even more.   

Verse forty-eight adds, As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.  God once again says that the people of Jerusalem were more corrupt than the people of Sodom, which had been destroyed for their iniquity.  The people of Jerusalem were still thinking that since they professed to be God’s people even if they were rejecting all His commandments that he would still give them victory over their enemies. As a so called Christian nation, we may think that God will always give us victory over our enemies even if we are not obedient to His word.   

Verse forty-nine continues, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  God then listed the sins of Sodom, pride, gluttony, and idleness, and added that they did not help the poor.  If we become filled with self-pride, content in the fact they we have an abundance to eat and become idle in doing what we are called to do by God, then we are no better than those who openly deny and defy God.  This leads to us not being concerned about the poor, seeing them as unworthy of our help or even our concern.   

Verse fifty concludes, And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.  God said the people of Sodom were haughty and committed abominations, therefore He did to them as He saw good.  We may become haughty thinking that since we proclaim ourselves to be God’s people while committing abominations against Him that He will never punish us, but He will one day do with us what He sees to be good, which will be everlasting punishment.