16 Again the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.
6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
8 “When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck.12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty.14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendour that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.
This chapter stands in complete contrast, in many ways, to the previous one: length-wise it is one of the longest in the prophecy, with 63 long verses as opposed to the 8 brief verses of ch 15. For all that, however, the message is essentially the same, a message of judgment because God's people had failed and become unfaithful to Him and to His calling. This is the common factor in both chapters, although expressed in very different metaphors. Ezekiel exposes Judah's faithlessness and sin in terms which make it clear not only that judgment is certain, but that it is also just and righteous of God to send it upon His people. What the prophet does is to relate the whole of Judah's long history, particularly Jerusalem's - Jerusalem is the bride here - from the beginning, when God took up His people, until the time He established them in the promised land and made her great. He does this in what could worthily be called a 'nuptial metaphor', something that more than one prophet has had recourse to, as we have seen in previous studies, as for example in Hosea. This is a remarkable passage, on any estimate, giving a very deeply moving picture. Here is an unwanted and abandoned child, left to die in the open and in exposure, being discovered by a passing traveller, rescued and cared for and nourished and brought up by him, and finally wedded to him. It is the story of the foundling baby that becomes a queen, and it is a dramatic portrayal. The emphasis is that she owed everything, even life itself, to her rescuer and benefactor. It can hardly be doubted that the picture is a very relevant one in the context of these ancient days, when female children were despised and little esteemed, and male children were what every Hebrew mother longed for. This particular rescue presents a marvellous picture of the grace of God in the gospel and we will do well to give it some further thought in the next Note.