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.     

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. 

Ezekiel 16:10

Ezekiel 16:10 says, I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.  God said He adorned those who were in a covenant relationship with Him with fine clothes.  When we enter into a covenant relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we are spiritually adorned by the grace of God.   

Verse eleven adds, I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.  This is a continuation of God listing some of the ways He blessed them and may refer to the fact that they took all sorts of adornments with them when God delivered them from captivity in Egypt.  When we become a part of God’s family, it is because He freed us from being captive to sin and He will then bless us with even more than just the bare necessities spiritually.   

Verse twelve continues, And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.  This is a continuation of God telling them how He had blessed them.  I am not sure how many of us today would want a jewel on our forehead and earrings in our ears as men, but we will one day wear a crown of life.  These things were not to be because of the worthiness of the people but because of the mercy of God.  We will never become a part of God’s kingdom because we are worthy but can only become a part of it by confessing our unworthiness and accepting the gift of salvation that God has provided for us by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.   

Verse thirteen states, Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.  God said that when the people of Israel were obedient to Him and lived in accordance with their covenant with Him that they were a prosperous nation.  If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord we are forever saved, but if we want to be prosperous spiritually, then we must still be obedient to Him by the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

Verse fourteen adds, And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.  God said that when the people of Israel had been obedient to Him that their fame went throughout the nations.  This was because they showed God and His power to the world.  We as Christians need to show the glory of God to the world today by the way we live our lives.