[53] “I will restore their fortunes, both the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and I will restore your own fortunes in their midst, [54] that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them. [55] As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, and you and your daughters shall return to your former state. [56] Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride, [57] before your wickedness was uncovered? Now you have become an object of reproach for the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and for the daughters of the Philistines, those all around who despise you. [58] You bear the penalty of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.
(Ezekiel 16:44-58 ESV)
God tells Israelite that she is like her mother, like the nation that she came out of. She came out of the Hittites and Amorites. Called out by God but their daughter. Her older sister being Samaria who lives the north, and her younger sister is Sodom, lying to the south.
NOT ONLY do she as a nation do the things these other nations are doing BUT she does them so much she is WORSE then they are.
Behold says the Lord. You are worse then Sodom.
This is what Sodom was like "she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it."
And Israel is worse than that.
Samaria itself has not committed half the sins of Israel. Samaria, a nation that the Israelites look down upon.
Israel has become so bad that she makes the nations around her look really good.
The Lord is forthright : " Bear your disgrace, you also, for you have intervened on behalf of your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. So be ashamed, you also, and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous."
Our sin should make us feel disgraced and ashamed. Those of us who know and love the Lord God. Our sin should make us hang our heads in shame should it not?
I have to admit, I don't quite get these next few verses. What does the Lord God mean when he says he'll return all these nations to their former state?
Does that mean he will
1. leave them to who they were before they knew the Lord? That makes no sense to me.
2. that he will bring back their days of glory? Then what of the punishment he promises to bring down on them?
3. that he will strip them of their pride? hmm... maybe?
I did find this line interesting... "that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all that you have done, becoming a consolation to them".
Isn't that an interesting line?
Israel will become a consolation to the nations around her when she bears her disgrace and is ashamed of her actions.
That line just grabs a hold of me.
When the people of God are contrite, when we have become an object of reproach to the peoples of the world around us, when we have hung our heads in shame for what we have done... this is an act of consolation to those around us.
It's hard for me to wrap my head around this thought.
How can it be so?
When the world is disgusted by us, when we bear the penalty for our disobedience, how can it be that we are a consolation?
Does it mean that they don't feel as badly for the horrible things that they have done? That it gives them a reason to point a finger and say IF THEY who say they love the Lord can behave so badly, I guess we are doing pretty good then eh?
I don't get that feeling but I really don't know.
What do you think?