Ezekiel 16:3, commentary and pictures

The verse traces the birth and origin of Jerusalem to the land of Canaan, naming an Amorite as its father and a Hittite as its mother. It stands in a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel under the figure of lewd women, while God earnestly pleads with His people to turn back to Him. A woman is the symbol of a church, and Jerusalem, espoused to the Lord as a chaste virgin wife, became a harlot, a corrupt and apostate church, by unlawful union with the world and the kings of the earth in joining the surrounding nations and worshiping their gods. That joining to the world is fornication and adultery, departure from God and idolatry that mixes heaven with earth and righteousness with sin. The portrayal fixes Babylon as a harlot in prophecy as a corrupt professedly religious body rather than civil power, and its fall as rejection by God rather than immediate destruction, leaving opportunity for God's people to be called out.

Setting and Rebuke

Ezekiel belonged to the priestly family and prophesied among the captives of Israel between 595 and 574, beginning and closing his work a little later than Jeremiah. He was entrusted with awful messages of warning and reproof to sinners among his own people after God showed him wonderful visions of His glory and impressed His great majesty upon him, so that having once seen God he would not fear the face of man.

The declaration traces the birth and nativity of Jerusalem to the land of Canaan, calling its father an Amorite and its mother a Hittite. Its mention of the Hittites accords with the historical existence and importance of the Hittite nation. The chapter is a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel, showing God earnestly pleading with His people to turn back to Him. It presents their sins under the figure of lewd women.

Harlot Symbol of Apostasy

A woman is the symbol of a church, and a lewd, corrupt and licentious woman, a harlot, is the symbol of a corrupt, fallen and apostate church. Jerusalem, the Jewish church, was espoused to the Lord as a chaste virgin and as a wife bound to Him in covenant. Her origin from the land of Canaan, with an Amorite for father and a Hittite for mother, sets forth the lowly source from which she was taken into that espousal.

She became a harlot by unfaithfulness to God through an unlawful bond and connection with the world and with the kings of the earth. That unfaithfulness was in joining the surrounding nations and worshiping their gods, forsaking God and turning toward Babylon and the world. Such union with the world is called fornication and adultery. It portrays departure from God, idolatry and conformity to the world as unfaithfulness to Him, an attempt to mix heaven with earth and righteousness with sin.

As a city portrayed as a woman, Jerusalem stands for God's chosen people in their apostasy. In this she is a prototype of an apostate church that rejects God's message and seeks the support of earthly powers instead of seeking the Lord.

Type of Babylon's Fall

The portrayal of Jerusalem as a harlot fixes the meaning of Babylon as a harlot in prophecy. A woman is the symbol of a church, so a harlot woman is a church corrupted by unfaithfulness, and Ezekiel 16 presents that woman-as-church symbol also used for the church in Revelation 17. Babylon therefore is not abstract earthly government or civil power but a corrupt professedly religious body, and is to be identified with a religious body rather than a literal city.

The fall of the Jewish church portrayed in the chapter illustrates the fall of Babylon. Her fall was her rejection by God, not her destruction, for her destruction was deferred for a considerable period of time. Just so, Babylon's fall precedes her destruction and leaves opportunity for God's people to be called out of her.