Sister Sodom

Ezekiel 16:1-63
 

Today we will tackle one of the chapters in Ezekiel that is rarely preached on or even read publicly. It isn’t necessarily ignored, like the chapters of genealogies at the beginning of 1 Chronicles for example, but people avoid it if they consider it too scandalous for ordinary consumption, with its explicit sexual language and imagery. So it is appropriate for me to issue a disclaimer here at the beginning of this message that this chapter may make you feel uncomfortable and may be difficult to explain to younger children - along with chapter 23, coming up in a few weeks.
 
This particular prophecy from Ezekiel is meant to be shocking. He probably felt personally disturbed by it when God gave it to him to pass on to the Israelites around him. But he no doubt understood that God was trying to get the people’s attention by any means possible and reveal to them the depth of their corporate sin and depravity. At the same time he was repeatedly making the case, like a lawyer, for the justice of God’s judgment on his people. Their exile, the destruction of Jerusalem, indeed all their suffering and punishment was completely deserved. It didn’t happen by chance and it would not just disappear on its own.
 
Fred set the stage for this section last Sunday with chapters 14 and 15. Chapter 14, you may recall, begins with a meeting between Ezekiel and some of the elders of Israel who had come to him for advice:
 
Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?” – Ezekiel 14:1-3
 
You can almost see God shaking his head with frustration here. He had been giving his message through faithful Ezekiel, speaking repeatedly of sin and judgment, and yet these leaders were sitting there as though none of it applied to them. They were there to inquire of the Lord as though they deserved something good from him. They were not acknowledging the idols in their hearts. All this talk of judgment must be meant for someone else, some other bad people - not them.
 
We do this so easily as well. We read the warnings in scripture and think that they must be for someone else. We’ll be just fine. No one can see the idols in our hearts. But God is calling everyone to repentance! He wants to remind us just how bad our sin really is. Chapter 14 explains that he wants to “recapture the hearts of the people of Israel.” They have fallen in love with something other than him, but they think that it doesn’t really matter. God realizes that he needs to shock them to bring them up short and to get them to think, to make them consider their most basic affections and motivations, and to understand the dire consequences of abandoning their commitment to him.
 
He begins with the allegory of Jerusalem as a useless vine in chapter 15. The vine is disconnected from its root, dried up and partially burned. It is a mere shadow of the lush, fruitful vine that had come to represent Israel in the Old Testament. It is now good for nothing except fuel for the fire. In the same way, Jerusalem had not fulfilled her divine purpose and was now destined for complete destruction.
 
Chapter 16 today begins a new allegory. Jerusalem is now compared to an adulterous wife. God wanted the intimacy and exclusivity of a marriage relationship with his people, but they had been unfaithful by following after other gods and abandoning their love and commitment to the one true God. God wants to confront them with their sin in a way that will make a real difference.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. – Ezekiel 16:1-5
 
The southern kingdom of Judah and indeed the entire people of Israel are represented by the city of Jerusalem. God is hereby reframing their history in a very insulting way. The Israelites would have proudly traced their lineage back to Abraham and the other patriarchs. Here God is saying that her ancestors were the pagan Amorites and Hittites. Jerusalem was initially a Canaanite city before it was conquered by King David, but the Israelites would have been highly offended by any association with a Canaanite heritage. Israel is described here as a newborn baby unwanted, uncared for, and left to die. This would have been a dreadfully familiar occurrence for female babies in the Canaanite culture.
 
 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.
“‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine. – Ezekiel 16:6-8
 
The word of the Lord comes to bring life, just as it has done since the dawn of creation. The young woman grows up and he takes her to be his wife. As in the book of Ruth, covering her with the corner of his garment means betrothal, followed by the covenant of marriage. His favor is completely undeserved; Israel would be completely exposed and vulnerable without him, at the mercy of all the predatory nations around her. The Lord is showing tender love to her because of his divine nature.
 
“‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord. – Ezekiel 16:9-14
 
God holds nothing back in adorning and caring for his bride. He makes her beautiful, reflecting his own glory to the nations. This was his reason for choosing her. Her beauty was perfected in relationship with him. Then it all goes horribly wrong.
 
“‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord. – Ezekiel 16:15-19
 
This is a heartbreaking story of unfaithfulness. Jerusalem or Israel, this beautiful bride, abuses both the trust and the resources that the Lord has provided. She abandons the marriage covenant and offers her beauty and abundance to others. They are like illicit lovers, focused on satisfying their own passions, without concern for the harm done to others.
 
“‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood. – Ezekiel 16:20-22
 
The Lord had had mercy on the helpless, abandoned baby, but his bride Israel has no regard for the life of a child. Her children pay the price of her turning away from God. This is a reminder that our sin has consequences for others, especially our families.
 
“‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.  You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied. – Ezekiel 16:23-29
 
Israel had made unholy alliances with her neighbors. Not only did this indicate that she was trusting in something other than God, but it also opened her up to their beliefs and practices which were so contrary to what God wanted for her. Blinded by her lust for self-gratification, she took her degradation to levels that were shocking even to her pagan neighbors. But giving in to any kind of lust never results in a lasting sense of satisfaction. We always end up wanting more.
 
“‘I am filled with fury against you, declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
“‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you. – Ezekiel 16:30-34
 
The Lord makes her out to be even worse than an adulterous prostitute, so many of whom even today are forced into sex work by economic necessity. Israel did not have any justifiable reason for associating with these other nations in the way she did. Perhaps this thought is in reference to the story in 2 Kings 20 where King Hezekiah showed the envoys from Babylon all the treasures of the temple for no reason except his own pride and a perverse desire to boast about his wealth.
 
“‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry. – Ezekiel 16:35-42
 
This is the punishment for Israel’s sin. The Lord removes his protection so that Israel will be plundered. Her shame, like her nakedness at the start, will once again be visible to everyone around. Stoning and hacking her to pieces seems like a severe response, but the Lord requires this retribution for his righteous anger to be satisfied. We do need to keep in mind that this is an allegory to make a particular point and not a prescription for how all adulterous spouses should be treated. God certainly does not condone domestic violence.
 
“‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?
“‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. – Ezekiel 16:43-48
 
The Lord compares Jerusalem (representing the southern kingdom) to Samaria (the northern kingdom) and Sodom (the city destroyed during the time of Abraham). Jerusalem is worse than both of them, he says, which would have been a shocking proposition to Ezekiel’s audience. Samaria had had many more evil kings than Jerusalem, and Sodom had been considered completely detestable in Israel’s historical tradition. Even to call her “Sister Sodom” would have been offensive to any Israelite.
 
“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous. – Ezekiel 16:48-52

It is interesting to note that Sodom was so closely associated with homosexuality, but that is not mentioned here at all. Being proud and failing to help the poor and needy might seem like lesser sins to us, but those are the transgressions that God chooses to highlight here. He makes an extreme point by saying that Jerusalem’s shameful behavior makes her sisters seem righteous in comparison. 
 
“‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before.  You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the Lord. – Ezekiel 16:53-58
 
Here at the end finally comes a word of redemption. We know that the cities of Sodom and Samaria were never restored to what they were before, but some descendants of the people groups around Israel have survived, and God still reaches out to them today with his love. It is clear that the pride of Israel is her worst sin, since it prevents her from seeking God’s forgiveness. The same is true of people now who refuse to humble themselves before God to be able to receive his free gift of grace.
 
“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’” – Ezekiel 16:59-63
 
This is God’s solution for pride. He shows us that we are not better than anyone else. As the old saying goes, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.” We are all equally in need of God’s grace. The shame of Israel would accomplish his purpose when she would receive her estranged “sisters” as her own offspring, as daughters, as closest family. This is a foreshadowing of the unity of all of God’s people around the world as the body of Christ. This goes beyond Israel’s understanding of their covenant with Yahweh. God would supersede that old covenant and establish a new covenant in the blood of Jesus that would be available to all peoples on an equal basis. Amidst all the horrific condemnation and gloom of Ezekiel’s prophecies there are these words of hope and salvation. God will make atonement for all we have done. This is purely of his grace, so there is no basis for pride or superiority. Humiliation has opened the door for redemption.

At the end here, I would like to come back to the question of why God chose to use such raw sexual imagery in this allegory and the similar one coming up in chapter 23. I believe that sex is perhaps the ultimate area to illustrate the beauty of God’s design and the utter depravity of fallen humanity. Sex goes to the core of who we are, our deepest desires, and our most intimate relationships. It is also one of the main sources of pain, heartache, brokenness, and dysfunction in our world. I would guess that all of us, over a certain age, have been affected by the evil that Satan has worked in this area. Often we struggle with deciding what is good and what is bad. What is okay to wear? What is okay to look at? Sex permeates our western culture. Sexual desire, usually referred to as love, is the subject of the vast majority of popular songs. Advertisers often appeal to sexual passions; sex scandals are frequently used as clickbait on news sites. There is a nearly universal quest for understanding and fulfillment in this area.
 
God designed sex to be a beautiful thing for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and between all other husbands and wives. But sex has been subjugated and tarnished by the unhealthy use of power. Sex was designed to be something that brought man and woman together, united in vulnerability, but it became the weapon used by one against the other. God gave men a measure of authority that they have abused in the domination of women. But women have also abused the sexual power that they have over men. Both are gross distortions of what God intended and need to be redeemed.
 
Jesus showed a new way in John 8, the story of the woman caught in adultery:
 
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” – John 8:3-10
 
The first obvious question is, where was the partner of this woman? It takes two people to commit adultery, yet the Pharisees are clearly blaming just the woman. This illustrates the unholy power differential between men and women in the culture of that time, a distortion of what God intended. The Pharisees are scandalized by what this woman has done, overlooking and ignoring the lust in their own hearts. Jesus skillfully confronts them with this hypocrisy, and they are embarrassed and leave. The faultless Jesus could have condemned the woman, but he forgave her instead. He did not overlook her sin, but he gave her the opportunity to repent of it. As my mom would say, “God will forgive anything but excuse nothing.” Jesus would pay for the sin of this woman on the cross, as God promised at the end of our Ezekiel passage: “I will make atonement for you for all you have done.” This is the hope for the prostitute selling her body, the Pharisee hiding his lust, and for you and me. We can trust in the God who says, “Behold, I make all things new.”