Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16: God promises forgiveness through His covenant

Begin in prayer

Before hearing Jerusalem's long story of betrayal and mercy, let us remember that every good gift comes from God. Seek His help to listen with calm hearts, His nearness to our family and a clear sight of Christ in Ezekiel 16.

I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, ‘You are my people;’ and they will say, ‘My God!’”

Hosea 2:23

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us understand the weight of unfaithfulness and see the forgiveness Jesus bought with His blood. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

God pictures Jerusalem as an abandoned baby whom He rescued, raised and clothed before making a marriage covenant with her. She trusted in her beauty, used His gifts for idols, paid her lovers and sacrificed her children through fire. God will gather her lovers against her to strip, stone and kill her, and burn her houses. She has become worse than Samaria and Sodom, whose sins included pride and neglect of the poor. God promises to restore these cities, leaving Jerusalem to bear her shame. Though she has broken the covenant, He will remember it, establish an everlasting covenant and forgive all she has done.

As you read Ezekiel 16, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God judges unfaithfulness and remembers His covenant to forgive His people.

The abandoned child's helplessness shows that Jerusalem's life and splendor begin with God's undeserved care. His garment and oath picture a marriage covenant, so the city's idolatry violates a relationship He established and calls adultery. Her beauty is His gift, yet she trusts in that beauty as she uses His gold, clothing, food and children for idols. Paying lovers makes her betrayal worse than the ordinary payment of prostitution, since she spends her own gifts to pursue them. God gathers those same lovers as instruments of judgment, turning the relationships she sought against her. Calling Samaria and Sodom her sisters exposes the pride of a city whose corruption makes their sins appear less than hers. Restoration will leave her bearing shame, while the everlasting covenant rests on God's remembering despite her breach of His oath. Forgiveness silences her excuses and produces shame for the wrong she has done, because she will know the LORD who has forgiven her.

How does Ezekiel 16 show us that God judges unfaithfulness and remembers His covenant to forgive His people?

God's gifts call for faithful love.

God rescues the abandoned child, clothes her and makes a covenant with her (verses 1 to 14). Jerusalem owes her beauty to Him. The marriage picture shows why turning His gifts toward idols is such a grave betrayal.

God will judge the city's unfaithfulness.

Jerusalem pays her lovers and sacrifices her children to idols (verses 15 to 43). God gives her into her lovers' hands. They strip her, stone her, thrust her through with swords and burn her houses. His judgment answers her adultery and bloodshed.

God's forgiveness leaves no room for boasting.

God promises restoration for Jerusalem, Samaria and Sodom, while Jerusalem must bear her shame (verses 44 to 63). He will give her sisters as daughters, apart from her covenant. He remembers His covenant and establishes an everlasting one. His forgiveness will silence her excuses.

Memorize

Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.

Ezekiel 16:60

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, do I love gifts more than God, and will I ask Jesus to forgive me?

After exposing Jerusalem's betrayal, God says, “I will establish to you an everlasting covenant.” He also promises forgiveness for all she has done. The woman who cannot excuse her sin will know the Lord's mercy. Her hope rests in the God who remembers His covenant.

Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant through His death (Hebrews 9 verse 15). He died for His people, bearing the judgment their sins deserved. His blood secured their redemption in full, and His completed work needs nothing added. God raised Him from the dead, and the risen Savior brings sinners near.

Come to Christ with the guilt you cannot defend. Turn from your sin and trust Him. He gives forgiveness to every sinner who comes, however shameful the betrayal. Ask Him to teach you faithful love for the God whose mercy you could never earn.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God forgives through Jesus, who died for His people and rose again. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart. Please explain the chapter's adultery, child sacrifices and judgments in your own words, keeping their seriousness clear.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for remembering His covenant and forgiving sinners, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

This is my covenant to them, when I will take away their sins.”

Romans 11:27

Father, thank You for mercy that guilty people could never earn. Forgive our unfaithfulness and our misuse of Your gifts, and help each one turn from sin and trust Jesus. Teach us to remember Your kindness with humble hearts and love You with the life You give. Amen.