Ezekiel 16:43
Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
Ezekiel 16 portrays Jerusalem or the Jewish church as a woman espoused to the Lord who became unfaithful, and the verse declares that because she did not remember the days of her youth but provoked Him, He would recompense her way upon her head and bring her lewdness to an end. In that figure a woman stands for a church and a harlot stands for a corrupt or apostate church. That unfaithfulness was turning from His precepts to join surrounding nations and the world and worship their gods, which Scripture calls adultery or fornication. The fall of the Jewish church as a harlot illustrates the moral fall of Babylon, showing that the harlot of Revelation 17 is a corrupt professedly religious body unlawfully united with the kings of the earth.
Wife Parable and Judgment
Ezekiel 16 portrays Jerusalem, the Jewish church, as a woman espoused to the Lord who became a harlot through unfaithfulness to Him. Her unfaithfulness was apostasy in which the city, representing God's people, joined surrounding nations and worshiped their gods. In the figure a woman denotes a church, and a harlot or lewd woman denotes a corrupt or apostate church. That symbolism explains the lewd woman in Revelation 17.
The Lord entered into love and covenant with His people in Ezekiel 16:8 and adorned them with gifts and beauty in Ezekiel 16:10-14. In that marriage the Lord is the husband and the land, or Jerusalem, is the wife, while the people are the children. They broke that covenant and turned to rely on another, in unfaithfulness and wickedness. The chapter is a strong parable rebuking the apostasy, wickedness, and lewdness of Judah and Israel while pleading with them to turn back to Him. It presents those sins under the figure of a lewd woman as bringing judgment upon Judah.
The verse declares that Jerusalem's failure to remember the days of her youth and her provoking God in all these things brings divine recompense. Her way returns upon her head, and her abominations lead to the end of her lewdness. That end of her wanton violation of her wedlock means she is caused to know her abominations, then stripped of her gifts and brought to contempt, wretchedness, and desolation as an outcast for unfaithfulness. The desolation is not final, because the marriage under the everlasting covenant in Ezekiel 16:60-62 restores the wife Jerusalem to the Lord together with her sisters Samaria and Sodom. That restoration denotes the receiving of that Jerusalem which is to be His throne when the kingdom is the Lord's.
Babylon and Church Apostasy
Ezekiel 16:43 belongs to the portrayal of Jerusalem as an unfaithful woman, where the city stands for God's people and her unfaithfulness is their apostasy in joining the surrounding nations and worshiping their gods. The Lord had made a covenant with His people so that they became His, but they broke that covenant and turned to rely on another. That turning was a departure from God's precepts, a conformity to the world in idolatry, backsliding, and departure from God.
Scripture calls that union of God's church turning from Him and joining itself to the world adultery or fornication, portraying the unfaithful church as a harlot. The adultery language denotes unfaithfulness to God and the mixing of righteousness with sin. By thus turning from God's precepts and joining herself to the world, Israel became adulterous and shared the life and corrupt practices of Babylon. Her history of seeking help from foreign powers instead of seeking the Lord is the pattern and prototype for a church that rejects God's message and joins itself to the world.
The Jewish church espoused to the Lord became a harlot through unfaithfulness to Him, just as Babylon is a corrupt church formed by unlawful friendship with the world. Its fall as a harlot illustrates Babylon's moral fall through unfaithfulness to God. That fall was rejection by God for unfaithfulness, while destruction came later. As a woman is the symbol of a church, a harlot is the symbol of a corrupt or apostate church, and this explains the lewd woman in Revelation 17. Babylon called a harlot is therefore not earthly human government or an abstract evil, nor a literal city, but a corrupt professedly religious body distinct from the kings of the earth though unlawfully united with them.