Instead of offering herself to the Lord, Israel offered herself to anyone. The favours spoken of are sexual favours, for the passage speaks of Israel prostituting herself. As well as being used metaphorically, the idol worship sometimes did involve sexual practices. Israel made shrines and high places for idol worship, and took the things that God had given to her and gave them to the idols. We need to be careful what we offer our lives for. God gives us abilities and gifts, but we must use these for the glory of God.
The idol worship even involved child sacrifice. She gave not only herself, but her children as well. This brings to mind abortion today. In the UK about 175 000 children a year are aborted. God says that Israel forgot whence she had came, in a similar vein, what if someone had aborted us?
God does not hold back on the illustration of her prostitution, speaking of her opening her legs to anyone who passed by. Israel went to great lengths to offer herself to others. Even the other nations were shocked at Israel's lewdness. The prostitution referred to hear with Egypt, Assyria and Babylon is the alliances she made with them. These never did Israel any good, but she never learnt from this.
Israel was not even like a normal prostitute who take money for their services, Israel paid others to take her. When we turn away from God we act in utterly ridiculous ways.
Ezekiel 16:35-40
The lustful activity and pouring out of her children's blood is both metaphorical of her idolatry and what actually happened. God would bring the nations against Israel and make a spectacle of her before them, showing what Israel was truly like. Israel wanted to give herself to the nations around her, to entrust her safety to them, well God would well and truly put her in the hands of the nations, and she would take the consequences. One of God's most effective judgements is to actually give someone what they want and let them take the consequences, see the second half of Romans 1 for an example of this. When people talk against God they often complain about why we should have to do this, and not do that, why God should object if we choose to do something different. Well I don't know exactly what hell is like, but receiving the full consequences of rebellious choices might be pretty close to it.
Israel is still controversial, even within the church. What these chapters, and others like it, show is that God is fully aware of Israel's sin, and that she receives the consequences of her sin. To say that Israel is God's nation is definitely not to say that it doesn't matter how she acts. We also have a tendency to focus on other nations being anti-Israel. Now this is true, and we need to be careful how we react to Israel, but Israel's prime concern must be to get right with God, to acknowledge who Jesus is.
Yet there comes a time when God's wrath against Israel subsides.
The idol worship even involved child sacrifice. She gave not only herself, but her children as well. This brings to mind abortion today. In the UK about 175 000 children a year are aborted. God says that Israel forgot whence she had came, in a similar vein, what if someone had aborted us?
God does not hold back on the illustration of her prostitution, speaking of her opening her legs to anyone who passed by. Israel went to great lengths to offer herself to others. Even the other nations were shocked at Israel's lewdness. The prostitution referred to hear with Egypt, Assyria and Babylon is the alliances she made with them. These never did Israel any good, but she never learnt from this.
Israel was not even like a normal prostitute who take money for their services, Israel paid others to take her. When we turn away from God we act in utterly ridiculous ways.
Ezekiel 16:35-40
The lustful activity and pouring out of her children's blood is both metaphorical of her idolatry and what actually happened. God would bring the nations against Israel and make a spectacle of her before them, showing what Israel was truly like. Israel wanted to give herself to the nations around her, to entrust her safety to them, well God would well and truly put her in the hands of the nations, and she would take the consequences. One of God's most effective judgements is to actually give someone what they want and let them take the consequences, see the second half of Romans 1 for an example of this. When people talk against God they often complain about why we should have to do this, and not do that, why God should object if we choose to do something different. Well I don't know exactly what hell is like, but receiving the full consequences of rebellious choices might be pretty close to it.
Israel is still controversial, even within the church. What these chapters, and others like it, show is that God is fully aware of Israel's sin, and that she receives the consequences of her sin. To say that Israel is God's nation is definitely not to say that it doesn't matter how she acts. We also have a tendency to focus on other nations being anti-Israel. Now this is true, and we need to be careful how we react to Israel, but Israel's prime concern must be to get right with God, to acknowledge who Jesus is.
Yet there comes a time when God's wrath against Israel subsides.
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