Again the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel to open a new message rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and pleading with them to turn back to God. The parable portrays Jerusalem under the combined figure of a city and a woman, which is the chosen representative of the church or professed people of God joined to the Lord in covenant as a wife is joined to her husband in exclusive faithfulness. It pictures the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord but become unfaithful like a harlot, turning from Him to strangers, following Babylon, joining herself to surrounding nations and worshiping their gods. As a general principle, whenever God's church breaks that covenant to turn to another and joins itself to the world, it is represented as a harlot attempting to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin. A harlot woman therefore represents a church made corrupt by unlawful union with the kings of the earth, which proves the great harlot Babylon of Revelation 17 is not civil government in the abstract but a distinct, professedly religious body, even the entire universal worldly church in its many bodies. Israel's history here serves as the prototype of that fall, for her fall was her rejection by God, not her immediate destruction, which was deferred for a considerable period after her rejection.
Setting and Message
The verse marks the beginning of a new message from the Lord to Ezekiel. It falls within the first twenty chapters of the book, given through Ezekiel as God's mouthpiece among the captives in Babylonia by the river Chebar while Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem. It introduces a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and pleading with them to turn back to God. In that parable Judah's sins are portrayed through the figure of a lewd woman.
Covenant Marriage Imagery
Ezekiel 16 presents Jerusalem as a lewd woman playing the harlot with many lovers, and the combined symbol of a city and a woman is the chosen Scriptural representative of a church, or the professed people of God. In this chapter the chosen people of God, the Jews, are pictured when they apostatized from Him and joined themselves to the surrounding nations and worshiped their gods. The Lord's covenant relationship with His people is presented as a marriage in which He is their husband and claims them as His, calling them to exclusive faithfulness. Their breaking of the covenant to turn to another is adultery, an attempt to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin.
The chapter pictures the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord but become unfaithful to Him like a harlot through apostasy and unlawful attachment to the world. It portrays Jerusalem as an unfaithful wife to whom God had been husband, but who turned from Him to strangers, followed Babylon, and rejected His precepts. She joined herself to the surrounding nations and worshiped their gods, showing that God's people become like the nations when they abandon Him.
As a general principle, God's church when it turns from exclusive faithfulness to Him and joins itself to the world is represented as a harlot, illustrated by Israel's backsliding, conformity to the world, and idolatry. This marriage imagery does not establish that the marriage of the Lamb has been taking place throughout the ages, since that event belongs at the end.
Babylon's Fall Foreshadowed
Ezekiel 16 shows that a harlot is the symbol of a corrupt church, for a woman represents the church and a harlot woman represents a church made corrupt by unlawful union with the kings of the earth. As the woman of Revelation 12 represents the true church, the harlot woman of Revelation 17 must in the same way be understood as representing the church, but corrupt. This proves that the great harlot Babylon of Revelation is not earthly civil government as an abstraction but a distinct, professedly religious body corrupted with sin.
The harlot and her daughters are the entire corrupt church, so Babylon is not limited to a single ecclesiastical body but is composed of many and means the universal worldly church. Israel's history recorded here serves as a prototype for an apostate church seeking help from earthly powers instead of the Lord. The Jewish church as the harlot of this chapter illustrates the fall of Babylon, in that her fall was her rejection by God and not her destruction, with her destruction deferred for a considerable period after her rejection.
Again the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel to open a new message rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and pleading with them to turn back to God. The parable portrays Jerusalem under the combined figure of a city and a woman, which is the chosen representative of the church or professed people of God joined to the Lord in covenant as a wife is joined to her husband in exclusive faithfulness. It pictures the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord but become unfaithful like a harlot, turning from Him to strangers, following Babylon, joining herself to surrounding nations and worshiping their gods. As a general principle, whenever God's church breaks that covenant to turn to another and joins itself to the world, it is represented as a harlot attempting to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin. A harlot woman therefore represents a church made corrupt by unlawful union with the kings of the earth, which proves the great harlot Babylon of Revelation 17 is not civil government in the abstract but a distinct, professedly religious body, even the entire universal worldly church in its many bodies. Israel's history here serves as the prototype of that fall, for her fall was her rejection by God, not her immediate destruction, which was deferred for a considerable period after her rejection.
Setting and Message
The verse marks the beginning of a new message from the Lord to Ezekiel. It falls within the first twenty chapters of the book, given through Ezekiel as God's mouthpiece among the captives in Babylonia by the river Chebar while Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem. It introduces a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and pleading with them to turn back to God. In that parable Judah's sins are portrayed through the figure of a lewd woman.
Covenant Marriage Imagery
Ezekiel 16 presents Jerusalem as a lewd woman playing the harlot with many lovers, and the combined symbol of a city and a woman is the chosen Scriptural representative of a church, or the professed people of God. In this chapter the chosen people of God, the Jews, are pictured when they apostatized from Him and joined themselves to the surrounding nations and worshiped their gods. The Lord's covenant relationship with His people is presented as a marriage in which He is their husband and claims them as His, calling them to exclusive faithfulness. Their breaking of the covenant to turn to another is adultery, an attempt to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin.
The chapter pictures the Jewish church as espoused to the Lord but become unfaithful to Him like a harlot through apostasy and unlawful attachment to the world. It portrays Jerusalem as an unfaithful wife to whom God had been husband, but who turned from Him to strangers, followed Babylon, and rejected His precepts. She joined herself to the surrounding nations and worshiped their gods, showing that God's people become like the nations when they abandon Him.
As a general principle, God's church when it turns from exclusive faithfulness to Him and joins itself to the world is represented as a harlot, illustrated by Israel's backsliding, conformity to the world, and idolatry. This marriage imagery does not establish that the marriage of the Lamb has been taking place throughout the ages, since that event belongs at the end.
Babylon's Fall Foreshadowed
Ezekiel 16 shows that a harlot is the symbol of a corrupt church, for a woman represents the church and a harlot woman represents a church made corrupt by unlawful union with the kings of the earth. As the woman of Revelation 12 represents the true church, the harlot woman of Revelation 17 must in the same way be understood as representing the church, but corrupt. This proves that the great harlot Babylon of Revelation is not earthly civil government as an abstraction but a distinct, professedly religious body corrupted with sin.
The harlot and her daughters are the entire corrupt church, so Babylon is not limited to a single ecclesiastical body but is composed of many and means the universal worldly church. Israel's history recorded here serves as a prototype for an apostate church seeking help from earthly powers instead of the Lord. The Jewish church as the harlot of this chapter illustrates the fall of Babylon, in that her fall was her rejection by God and not her destruction, with her destruction deferred for a considerable period after her rejection.