Scripture reading: Ezekiel 16:1–45

Like Mother, Like Daughter

A Personal Paraphrase of Ezekiel 16:1–45

God’s word came to me and this is what he said: “Zeke, I’ve tried every trick I know to make Jerusalem understand the seriousness of her sin. But she just doesn’t get it. So I want you to go to my people and just tell them a story. Yes, maybe she will listen to a story. This is the story I want you to tell”:

Once upon a time an illegal immigrant woman had a one-night stand with a foreigner she barely even knew. She became pregnant . . . with you! Yes, your father was an Amorite and your mother was a Hittite, which of course meant that you were a nobody! By the time you were born, your father had already run off with other lovers. Your mother looked you over and then threw you in a dumpster. No one washed you or fed you or clothed you. No one pitied you. No one wanted you! You were tossed out like garbage and left to die.

I the Lord happened to be walking by the dumpster that day and heard you crying. I saw you lying there in your filth, naked and hungry. And from the first moment I saw you I loved you! My heart went out to you and I longed for you to live. So I picked you up and made sure that all your needs were provided. Oh how I loved you. And you not only survived, you began to thrive! You became healthy and strong and as the years passed, you became a beautiful young woman.

Again, as I was walking one day I noticed your beauty. Now you were a young woman of an age to be married. I fell madly in love with you. You and I talked it over and we decided to get married. I promised to be faithful to you and provide for all your needs. I made vows of love to you and we became man and wife. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I bought you the finest clothing and adorned you with expensive jewelry. I even put a royal crown on your head. No woman anywhere excelled you in beauty. Oh how I loved you!

But you began to trust in your beauty and this was your downfall. Your heart became enamored with other lovers and you used your beauty to seduce them. Few could resist your charms. And you invited these lovers of yours

into our marriage bed: Egyptians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans. Your lust was insatiable. It seemed that the more these lovers detested me, your true husband, the more you seemed to delight in their embrace. Your behavior was worse than that of a prostitute. Hookers are normally paid for their services. Not you. You actually paid your lovers, bribing them to sleep with you! How sick you are.

You made things even worse by taking our children and sacrificing them to your gods. They were an inconvenience to your lifestyle and so you threw them away. You are just like your mother! She was an adulterous murderer and you are too. Like mother, like daughter.

Have you forgotten the dumpster? Don’t you remember how I rescued you and lavished love on you? O Jerusalem, this is how I’m going to punish you: I’m going to give you what you have always wanted. I’ll stand in your way no longer. I’m going to turn you over to your lovers. In fact, I’ve already invited them to come. They are on their way now. You’ll get what you wanted . . . you and your lovers, together . . . forever. This should make you happy, right? You always wanted to grow up to be like your mother. Now you can.

David committed spiritual adultery way before physical adultery. He lost sight of the beauty of God, then found the beauty of Bathsheba. He didn’t sin and lose the joy of his salvation. He lost the joy of his salvation, then he sinned.

—Paige Benton Brown

point to ponder • Have you forgotten the dumpster?

prayer focus • An undivided heart—to love God alone.