Ezekiel 16:52
Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
Ezekiel 16:52 rebukes Jerusalem as God's professed people for condemning her sister cities while committing sins more abominable than theirs, so that by her judgment she only proved them more righteous by comparison and must therefore bear her own shame and be confounded. The chapter sets this rebuke in a searching parable of apostasy that exposes the exceeding wickedness of sin by portraying Judah and Israel as lewd women. A woman signifies a church and a harlot signifies a corrupt and apostate church, and Jerusalem is shown as a wife espoused to the Lord who played the harlot by forsaking her husband, casting off His precepts, and joining herself to the surrounding nations, their gods, and the ways of Babylon. Every such union of the church, which belongs in marriage to God alone, with the world is spiritual fornication and adultery, whether by idolatry, backsliding, or conformity to the world, and God earnestly calls His people to turn back to Him. The fall here is God's moral rejection of the Jewish church for alienation from Him, though her destruction was deferred, and it stands as the prototype of Babylon's fall by the same union with the world.
Setting and Direct Rebuke
Ezekiel 16 is a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and laying bare the awful wickedness of sin by portraying them under the figure of lewd women. In that parable God earnestly pleads with His people to turn back to Him. It describes a covenant relationship in which the Lord claims His people as His own, yet they break the covenant, turn from Him, and rely on another, with their wickedness and unfaithfulness fully exposed.
The marriage figure there represents the people's present relation to the Lord, not the marriage of the Lamb at the end. Jerusalem, though God's recognized people, judged her sister cities while herself committing sins more abominable than theirs, so that by comparison they are more righteous than she. Therefore she must bear her own shame and be confounded, in that by judging she justified her sisters.
By failing to distinguish herself from the wicked while condemning them, God's people give comfort to the wicked and give them grounds against shame.
Harlot Symbol of Apostasy
In Ezekiel 16 the figure of a woman stands for a church, and the figure of a harlot or lewd woman stands for a corrupt or apostate church corrupted by sin and wickedness, which is what Babylon is. The chapter presents the Jewish church as a wife espoused to the Lord who became a harlot through unfaithfulness to Him. That unfaithfulness is especially seeking the friendship of the world in unlawful union with the world.
Jerusalem is portrayed as a lewd and adulterous woman when God's chosen people apostatized, joined the surrounding nations, and worshiped their gods. She abandoned God her husband, cast off His precepts, followed the ways of Babylon and the nations, and joined her life to Babylon's. Her unfaithfulness serves as a picture of a professed people of God turning from Him.
God's church is lawfully married to God alone, so any union of His church with the world is fornication and adultery. Israel's backsliding, idolatry, conformity to the world, and departure from God are spiritual adultery, for mixing heaven with earth and righteousness with sin is unfaithfulness to God. The chapter is a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and exposing the awful wickedness of sin, in which God earnestly pleads with His people to turn back to Him.
Fall and Prophetic Parallel
Ezekiel 16:52 belongs to the account of the fall of the Jewish church, which fall was her rejection by God for alienation from Him and union with the world, while her destruction was deferred for a considerable time. Israel's apostasy recorded there stands as the prototype for a church that rejects God's message and seeks the support of earthly powers instead of the Lord.
Babylon's fall follows the same pattern as the fall of the Jewish church, being likewise a moral rejection by God caused by her wickedness, alienation from Him, and union with the world. That fall is not the loss of civil power nor immediate destruction, but a rejection on account of moral corruption.