Ezekiel 16:15

Ezekiel 16:15 says, But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.  Matthew Henry says that this turning away from God and worshipping false gods began toward the latter part of Solomon’s rein and continued through the captivity of Israel.   God now begins to speak of the iniquities of the people of Israel after He had redeemed them and made them a very prosperous nation.  They became unfaithful to God by chasing after other gods and seeking their own glory and pleasure.  As Christians, we should never allow anything to become more important to us than God.  

Verse sixteen adds, And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.  God said that the people of Israel had adorned high places with colors to worship them instead of worshipping Him, for which He said they played the harlot.  They had been in a marriage relationship with God, but they were not true to Him.  As followers of Christ, we are referred to as the bride of Christ, which I believe means that we should be totally devoted to Him as He will be to us.   

Verse seventeen continues, Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,  God said that they had taken His jewels, gold and silver that He had given them and turned them into idols.  We may sometimes lose sight of the fact, but everything belongs to God, and as Christians, we should never turn the things God blesses us with into something we worship.  They began to act out of pride of who they were materially as a nation more than they did out of an attitude of gratitude and obedience to God.  We can sometimes become the same way individually and as a nation, taking more pride in where we were born and feeling superior to others because of it, but one day all that we have put our faith in other than God will be destroyed.   

Verse eighteen states, And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them.  God said that the people of Israel took their embroidered garments and made them into things to worship and then poured His oil and His increase out before these idols.  God was the one responsible for all their success, but instead of worshipping Him, they were worshipping idols and using what was God’s to do it.  Once more, we need to remember that everything already belongs to God and we should never make what God blesses us with into an idol.   

Verse nineteen adds, My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord God.  God continued by saying that the food that He had blessed them with was being used in the worship of idols as well.  It is not just the jewels, silver, and gold that we should see as belonging to God, but everything needed to live.  The meat and bread that the people had belonged to God and were things that He blessed them with, just as we should understand today.