The Abominations of Jerusalem. Chapter 16
AGAIN the word of Jehovah comes to the prophet, “Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations” (ver. 2). The symbol of the fruitless vine tree had manifested her guilt in a negative manner (chap. 15), now, the positive side of her iniquitous idolatry is brought to light.
In the first place, Jerusalem’s origin is depicted (vers. 3-5). “Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Ammorite, and thy mother an Hittite.” Amongst all the evil nations of the land of Canaan, none were more iniquitous than these two (see Gen. 15:16, 27:46). Such was the source from which Jerusalem sprang, not only morally but historically also, for the city existed before Jehovah adopted her for Himself (see Josh. 15:8, 18:28; Judges 19:1010But the man would not tarry that night, but he rose up and departed, and came over against Jebus, which is Jerusalem; and there were with him two asses saddled, his concubine also was with him. (Judges 19:10)).
In vivid language the prophet next describes her outcast condition before the Lord passed by and saw her, and the abundance of the blessing that He showered upon her (vers. 6-14).
Though Jerusalem, as we have seen, was one of the cities allotted to Judah by Joshua (Josh. 15:88And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward: (Joshua 15:8)) and shared by Benjamin (Josh. 18:2828And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families. (Joshua 18:28)), nevertheless it was never completely possessed by Judah to the exclusion of its original inhabitants (Josh. 15:6363As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day. (Joshua 15:63)), and indeed it seems to have remained far more under the power of the Jebusites, for it is described forty years after as “the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel” (Judges 19:1212And his master said unto him, We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah. (Judges 19:12)).
Not until the kingdom was established under David did Jerusalem obtain a foremost place in Israel (2 Sam. 5:66And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. (2 Samuel 5:6)), and especially was this the case under the glorious reign of Solomon. Then it was that Jehovah hallowed her with His presence. “I have hallowed this house which, thou hast built, to put My name there forever; and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually” (1 Kings 9:33And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. (1 Kings 9:3)). Decked with every beauteous ornament, her “renown went forth among the heathen,” and so we read of the Queen of Sheba, amongst others, coming from the ends of the earth to behold its magnificence (1 Kings 10; 2 Chron. 9).
Next, with sorrowful pathos, she is reminded of her unfaithfulness to the One who had been the source of all her blessing (vers. 15-34). The beauty with which she was clothed was in reality not her own. “It was perfect through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God” (ver. 14). But Jerusalem trusted in her own beauty, and quickly turned aside out of the way, as an adulterous wife, committing whoredom with every form of idolatry, and entering into unholy alliance with all the nations around her. Her wickedness was even a surprise to “the daughters of the Philistines” (ver. 27), so low is it possible for the people of God to sink when once they turn aside from Him. It is so in every dispensation, and none need more watchfulness than ourselves, blessed as none others have been.
But now comes the solemn denunciation of judgment (vers. 35-43). “Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the Lord.” She who had once been covered with Jehovah’s ornaments, would be stripped and left naked and bare; the high places of her idolatry would be thrown down, and her houses would be burned by fire, and that by means of the very nations whose friendship she had sought (ver. 37).
The last clause of verse 43 has been remarkably fulfilled — “thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations” — for since the Babylonish captivity, Israel has not again fallen into the sin of idolatry.
Next, the sin of more highly favored Jerusalem is shown to far exceed that of her sisters Sodom and Samaria (vers. 44-52). The proverb was true — “as the mother, so her daughter” — for she was discarded from the idolatrous nations of Canaan (ver. 45). She pretended to judge the abominations of her sisters, yet had she gone beyond them in her guilt, and was become “more abominable than they” (ver. 52). By her own excessive idolatry she had even by comparison justified her sisters; but the time will yet be when the guilty people will humble themselves with shame and confusion of face (ver. 52).
The close of the chapter (vers. 53-63) speaks in no uncertain manner of a day of coming restoration and blessing, on the ground not of law but of sovereign grace. On the ground of law all had failed, Jerusalem had “despised the oath in breaking the covenant”; but Jehovah’s promise of unconditional blessing He would not forget: far from that, He would establish it as an everlasting covenant.
All this looks forward to a still future day. The return from Babylon does not answer to all that is here stated, for then Judah only, and that but in part, was brought back from captivity. But here both Sodom and Samaria are linked with Jerusalem in blessing; verses 55 and 60 are conclusive as to the time being that of the nation’s profound humiliation and repentance, not only for the sin of idolatry, but for that of crucifying their Messiah.
When the Jews, restored to their own land, shall look upon Him whom they had pierced, then in deep sorrow will they mourn; but when the pardoning grace of God has filled their souls, their mouth will, as it were, be shut, “when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord” (ver. 63). There is nothing that so humbles the soul in the dust before God as a deep sense of His pardoning grace.