Meaning of Ezekiel 16:20

This verse from Ezekiel 16 vividly portrays Jerusalem's extreme spiritual adultery and the horrific consequence of child sacrifice, using graphic imagery to condemn the city's profound apostasy. God, speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, addresses Jerusalem as a faithless wife who, despite being adopted and nurtured by Him, has prostituted herself to foreign gods and their practices. The act of sacrificing children, a practice abhorrent to the Lord, is presented as the ultimate betrayal, surpassing even her sexual infidelity in its depravity. This indictment underscores the severity of Jerusalem's sin, which not only violated her covenant with God but also perverted the very essence of motherhood and the sanctity of life He had given her.

Context and Background

Ezekiel 16 is an extended allegory where the prophet, under divine commission, describes Jerusalem's history. She is depicted as an abandoned infant, rescued and beautified by God, who then becomes His wife. However, instead of remaining faithful, Jerusalem engages in a series of adulterous relationships with surrounding nations and their idolatrous practices. This chapter is set during the Babylonian exile, a period when Jerusalem's destruction was imminent or had already occurred, serving as a prophetic judgment and a call to repentance for the exiles. The specific mention of child sacrifice points to the Canaanite fertility cults, particularly the worship of Moloch, which involved offering one's children to the fire (Leviticus 18:21; 2 Kings 23:10).

Key Themes and Messages

• Spiritual Adultery: The central theme is Jerusalem's unfaithfulness to God, likened to a wife's betrayal of her husband. This highlights the relational covenant between God and His people.
• Idolatry: The verse explicitly condemns the worship of idols and the associated abominable practices, such as child sacrifice.
• Covenant Violation: Jerusalem's actions are a direct breach of the covenant established between God and Israel, which demanded exclusive devotion.
• Abomination of Child Sacrifice: This act represents the pinnacle of sin, a perversion of life and love, and a direct affront to the Creator who gave life.
• Divine Judgment: The severe language reflects God's righteous anger and impending judgment against such egregious sin.

Spiritual Significance and Application

For believers today, this verse serves as a stark warning against spiritual infidelity. It reminds us that our relationship with God is a covenant of love and commitment, requiring exclusive devotion. Any attachment to idols—whether material possessions, worldly ambitions, or even harmful ideologies—that pulls our hearts away from God constitutes a form of spiritual adultery. The horrific practice of child sacrifice, while not literal in modern contexts for most, can be understood metaphorically as sacrificing the innocence, future, or well-being of children to harmful influences or societal pressures that disregard God's values. The verse calls for a radical re-evaluation of what we prioritize and to whom we offer our ultimate allegiance, ensuring that "children" (representing what is precious and future-oriented) are not "sacrificed" to destructive forces.

Relation to the Broader Biblical Narrative

Ezekiel 16’s allegory of Jerusalem as an unfaithful wife echoes earlier prophetic pronouncements, such as those by Hosea, who also used the metaphor of marriage to describe God's relationship with Israel and their persistent unfaithfulness. The condemnation of child sacrifice aligns with the consistent biblical prohibition against such practices, which were prevalent in the surrounding pagan cultures but strictly forbidden by Mosaic Law. The consequence of Jerusalem's actions, as detailed throughout Ezekiel, leads to exile and devastation, illustrating the pattern of sin, judgment, and the eventual promise of restoration found throughout the Old Testament.

Analogies

One analogy for Jerusalem's betrayal is a gardener who, after being given a prize-winning rose bush and meticulously tending it, then sells its most precious blooms to a rival gardener to adorn a shrine to a false god, and even allows the rival to desecrate the bush itself. Another analogy is a child who, after being adopted and showered with love and education by a benevolent parent, then abandons them to join a dangerous gang, participating in their violent rituals that harm others, including younger siblings. These analogies highlight the perversion of a loving relationship and the betrayal of trust and responsibility.

Relation to Other Verses

• Leviticus 18:21: "You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord." This verse directly prohibits the practice that Ezekiel condemns.
• Jeremiah 7:31: "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I did not command and that never entered my mind." This passage from Jeremiah also denounces child sacrifice, underscoring its abhorrent nature to God.
• Hosea 1-3: The prophet Hosea's marriage to an unfaithful wife, Gomer, serves as a powerful prophetic sign of God's covenantal relationship with Israel and their repeated infidelity.
• Revelation 21:8: This New Testament verse lists "sorcerers, the faithless, the detestable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars" as those who will have their portion in the lake of fire, indicating the enduring severity with which God views such sins.