Ezekiel 16:30–43

Read the passage.

“How sick is your heart” (v. 30) is a fitting beginning to this passage. There is no rational explanation for why someone would behave the way this queen did. But sin never does make sense in God’s economy. The momentary pleasure it gives is never worth the cost we have to pay eventually. Jerusalem, however, takes it even further. She has been doing the deeds of a prostitute, but instead of being paid for them, she is the one giving gifts to her lovers.

One might expect that there would be gratitude for these gifts, but God has something else in mind. He will gather together all of those who have defiled the marriage bed of Jerusalem, and they will enact the punishment upon her. The public stripping and stoning were common punishments for prostitutes and adultresses in Israel, though the Lord is certain to make sure that everything about her abominable deeds will torn down and destroyed so that it can never happen again.

Your wrath against sin cannot be denied.