Ezekiel 16:26

Ezekiel 16:26 says, Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.  God said that the people of Israel, whom He had delivered from bondage in Egypt, were now worshipping the gods of Egypt and looking to them to help them. God had shown the people of Israel how worthless the gods of Egypt were when He delivered them out of Egypt, but now they were worshipping the gods of Egypt.  Once God has delivered us from our sins and into a covenant relationship with Him, we should never allow ourselves to worship anything in the world.  As stated before, the people in Israel at that time had not experienced the deliverance of their ancestors out of Egypt, but their parents should have taught them about it.  We did not see the life of Christ while He was here to redeem all of mankind, but we have God’s written word and the call of the Holy Spirit to tell us about it.  As Christians, we need to teach our children about Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will also be calling people to God.    

Verse twenty-seven adds, Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thine ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way.  God said because the people of Israel had forsaken Him, He was going to remove His protective had from them and they would be delivered to their enemies.  We cannot put our faith in God and worship the things of the world at the same time.  If we try to do so, we will find ourselves under the bondage of sin once more.   

Verse twenty-eight continues, Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because thou wast unsatiable; yea, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied.   God said they then looked to Assyria for help instead of looking to Him.  They played the harlot instead of remaining a pure bride.  People still look everywhere today for peace and fulfillment in life instead of looking to God.  The people of Israel then and we today will never find satisfaction outside the will of God, which that we put our faith in Him for salvation and then to find spiritual peace in the world.   

Verse twenty-nine states, Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea; and yet thou wast not satisfied therewith.   Once they turned away from God, they started to be more and more sinful, just as we will today if we turn away from God.

Verse thirty adds, How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;  When God asked about the weakness of their heart, He wasn't talking about physically, but about how weak was their heart in faithfulness to Him.  It is our spiritual condition that we should be concerned about more than our physical condition.  One day, we will get a new body, but we will not get a new spirit.   

Verse thirty-one continues, In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;  God said the people of Israel, who were supposed to be in a covenant relationship with Him where they acknowledged that He alone was God were worshipping other gods in all their high places instead of worshipping Him.  This would be more of a warning to those who profess to be God’s people today, but who worship other things more than they do Him than to those who do not even profess to know Him I believe.   

Verse thirty-two says, But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!  God said that they weren't even receiving pay for being like a harlot, but that they were like a woman who was committing adultery against her husband and was doing so for free.  Whatever the people of Israel thought they were getting out of denying God and worshipping other gods was worthless, so they were denying Him without anything in return.  In this case, these were people who were known as God’s chosen people, but they were being unfaithful to their covenant with Him.  Today, I guess it would apply to those who profess to be Christians, but who have turned away from God’s word and put their faith in anything else.   

Verse thirty-three continues, They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.  God said the people of Israel not only committed adultery against Him, but they did so willing and even calling other lovers to themselves.  This was not something that was forced on them, but something that they called for themselves.  We will never have sin forced on us, but it will always be something that we choose to do of our own will.   

Verse thirty-four concludes, And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy whoredoms, whereas none followeth thee to commit whoredoms: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary.  God had let them follow their own desires since He never forces anyone to follow Him.  This is still true today. 

Ezekiel 16:20

Ezekiel 16:20 says, Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,  God moved from material things He had blessed the people of Israel with and moved on to the children that He had blessed them with.  We need to realize that children are a blessing from God and never sacrifice them for the pleasures of this world.  As followers of Christ, we also need to do our best to lead them to a right relationship with God.  Still, all we can do is point them to Jesus Christ, and then the choice of whether or not to accept His gift of salvation will be theirs. 

Verse twenty-one adds, That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?  God said that they had even given their children as a sacrifice to their idols.  Too often, people today give their unborn children as a sacrifice to the god of pleasure or self-desire.  God will one day judge them for this unless they honestly repent and accept His gift of salvation.  Also, children who are born but need a lot of help to survive are sacrificed to the god of self-centeredness.  It would cost us materially to help them, so we say they are not our responsibility.  

Verse twenty-two continues, And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou west naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.  God said that the people of Israel didn’t remember their youth when they were a helpless people when they were relying on their own abilities. Though these people weren’t there when God delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt, they should have been taught about it by their parents so that God’s gift of redemption would never be forgotten. We were not there when Jesus Christ was here on earth, but by God preserving His word for us, we know about Him, and if we are a follower of Christ, we should be teaching our children about Him.   

Verse twenty-three states, And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord God is a warning to the people of Israel that God’s coming judgment was because of them and not Him.  He also pronounced that woe was going to be their future.  If we do not accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will know nothing but woe when God’s judgment comes.  We might be the richest person in the world, but our future without God will bring nothing but woe to us.   

Verse twenty-four adds, That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.  God said that the people of Isreal instead of living by their covenant with Him had made a place of worship to other gods and had even made every high place a place to worship this false god or gods.  There are so many ways that lost people worship gods other than God today that they seem to be everywhere.   

Verse twenty-five continues, Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.  God said that they had built idols on every high place and because of this, their beauty was abhorred.  They had been a shining light on a hill to the world when they had kept their part of the covenant that they made with God, but now people abhorred them when they looked upon them.  I don’t believe that we will ever be not saved when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, but if we begin to idolize some false god, we will no longer be a beacon on a hill to the lost people of the world, and if we profess to be a Christian without putting our faith in Jeus Christ, we will certainly never shine the Light of Christ on others.