SERIES: “EXCERPTS FROM EZEKIEL”
TEXT: EZEKIEL 16
TITLE: “THE UNFAITHFUL SPOUSE”
INTRODUCTION: A. Adultery has become a very commonplace thing
1. Movie stars, entertainers, sports stars, political leaders, and even religious leaders
have had full-blown and very public adulterous affairs.
2. Maybe some of you have experienced the pain, disgust and shame of a spouse who
has been unfaithful to you
3. Probably some of you have supported and encouraged family members and friends
as they went through the agony and embarrassment of an unfaithful spouse
4. Perhaps someone here today has been guilty of this very behavior
B. Maybe you’ve seen the movie version of the musical Camelot
1. It’s the story of King Arthur, the love of his life – his wife Guinevere, and the man
who would become Arthur’s best friend – Sir Lancelot.
2. There’s a scene that occurs after Arthur has uncovered the illicit relationship
between his wife, whom he calls Jenny and Lancelot
3. Listen closely to the words Arthur uses to express his hurt and rage:
Proposition: If I could choose from every woman who breathes on this earth, a
face I would most love. The smile, the touch, the heart, the voice, the laugh, the
very soul itself. Every detail and feature to the last strand of hair, they would all be
Jenny’s.
Proposition: If I could choose from every man who breathes on this earth a man
for my brother, a man for my son, and a man for my friend, it would all be Lance.
I love them. I love them and they answer me with pain and torment. Be it sin, or
not sin. They have betrayed me in their hearts and that’s far sin enough. I can see
it in their eyes. I can feel it when they speak. They must pay for it and be punished.
I shall not be wounded and not return it in kind. I am through with feeble hoping. I
demand a man’s vengeance.
C. Our section of the book of Ezekiel today details the spiritual adultery – the utter
unfaithfulness – of the Jewish people
--It expresses the infidelity they practiced in their lives even in light of God’s mercy,
provision, and love for them
1. In the next part of the movie Camelot, Richard Harris as King Arthur debates
whether or not he should respond in the way his anger and hurt demands
--He actually considers tolerating their betrayal, ignoring their unfaithfulness, and
covering up their adulterous relationship – actually aiding them in their affair!
2. God is not so tolerant of spiritual adultery
a. He uncovers the infidelity of His people
b. He demands that severe discipline be administered
c. The love of God’s life will not be allowed to be unfaithful Him and continue in
their sinful ways
--He is a God of justice and righteousness
d. But God is also a God of mercy and grace
--He will discipline but He also will provide a way of restoration for the
relationship
E. The title of this morning’s message: “The Unfaithful Spouse”
--Let’s look together at the word of God as revealed to Ezekiel on this subject and
how its message fits into our lives today
1. God uses Jerusalem as a picture of all of His people
2. Their unfaithfulness is shocking but God’s love and grace is certainly amazing
I. THE ULTIMATE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
A. Israel’s spiritual heritage
--Ezek. 16:1-3 – “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her
detestable practices and say, This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and
birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.’”
1. Amorites
a. At their height, ruled area from Syria to Babylonia
b. An immoral people who worshipped Baal and Asherah
-Other nations referred to them as “beasts”
2. Hittites
a. Ruled a vast kingdom in Asia Minor that spread from modern Turkey eastward to Iraq
b. Worshipped a thousand false gods and goddesses
B. What God is telling Jerusalem is that their depravity, decadence, and immorality is on par with the
worst of the heathen nations
1. They have considered themselves to be special and above and beyond other people
--But God reminds them that their spiritual background and heritage is no better than anyone else’s
2. God reminds them that when He brought them out of Egypt, they were basically an abandoned,
unwanted child
a. Ezek. 16:4-5 – “On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water
to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with
pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into
the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.”
b. Their birth as a nation came while they were in captivity in another nation
--While there, they were treated with disdain and disrespect like an unwanted child
3. Jesus talked about spiritual parentage
--Jn. 8:42-44 – “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from
God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear
to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.”
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer
from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’”
C. God also reminds them of the special blessings He has poured out on them
--Ezek. 16:6-7 – “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your
blood I said to you, Live! I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and
became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were
naked and bare.’”
1. God took compassion on them and “made them live”
a. It’s a reference to the phenomenal growth of the child of Israel while in Egypt
b. They went from a family of 75 that traveled to Egypt and under extremely harsh conditions over
430 years, they grew to over 2 million
2. When Israel had grown to the age for marriage, Ezek. 16:8 says that God spread His skirt over her
--a very clear biblical picture of the protection and care through the marriage covenant
a. Boaz did a similar thing to Ruth as describe in Ruth 3
b. Ex. 19:4-5a – God says that Moses is to tell the people – “You yourselves have seen what I did to
Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and bought you to myself. Now if you obey me
fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.”
3. God was faithful in His promise
--He provided and cared for His “treasured possession”
a. Ezek. 16:9-14 – “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on
you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine
linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your
arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a
beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine
linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You
became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on
account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares
the Sovereign LORD.’”
b. It’s the story of an unwanted child that advances to becoming queen
D. Like Israel, when God found us we were unwanted, undesirable, and unworthy
1. We didn’t seek Him. He found us
--Rom. 3:11-12 – “There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
2. When God found us, there was nothing about us that made us desirable
--We were sinners, lost in our sins, discarded by the world, needing help and a hope
3. But thank God He did find us and lavish His love on us
a. Our sins were washed in His blood
b. We were given royal clothes in Christ
c. We’ve been offered a crown of life
d. We’ve received His blessings
4. That’s the ultimate faithfulness of God
II. THE UNGRATEFUL FICKLENESS OF HIS PEOPLE
--“fickle” – “unstable in affection and interest”
A. His people claimed a relationship with Him but betrayed that relationship in adulterous affairs with
pagan idols
1. Ezek. 16:15-16 – “’But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You
lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your
garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not
happen, nor should they ever occur.
a. “High places” – refers to pagan centers of worship
b. These “high places” were centers of all kinds of sexual immorality
c. Child sacrifices were also a common practice at these high places
--Ezek. 16:20-21 – “‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed
them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and
sacrificed them to the idols.’”
2. Israel expanded her idolatry by raising pagan shrines on every street corner further enticing people to
idolatry
--Ezek. 16: 24-25 – “You built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square.
At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body
with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.”
B. The problem was that God’s people refused to trust in God’s provision and protection
1. They had sought protection and alliances with pagan nations
--God specifically mentions alliances with:
a. Egyptians – v. 26
b. Assyrians – v. 28
--when the Assyrians invaded some years before, the people of Jerusalem tried to buy their way
out by offering Assyria tribute money
c. Babylonians – v. 29
--tried same thing with them
2. The people of God had sold out their integrity and their intimacy with God for failed promises and
illicit relationships with selfish lovers
C. God doesn’t hide their infidelity
--He exposes their foolish behavior
1. Even though they were spiritual prostitutes, they weren’t even good at being prostitutes
2. Ezek. 16:32-34 – “You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! Every prostitute
receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for
your illicit favors. So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for
your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.”
3. In vs. 37 – God promises that they will be punished
--It happened during the final Babylonian invasion of Judah in 586
4. Ezek. 16:41 tells us the design of the judgment:
a. “They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I
will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.”
b. God’s intention was not revenge but a desire to restore the relationship
D. Sadly, Christ’ church today is full of spiritual adultery
1. 2 Tim. 3:1-5 – “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness
but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”
--That passage was written to a church leader about people in the church!
2. We’ve become ungrateful for God’s love
a. We’ve become unbridled in our passion for living worldly lives
b. We’ve remained unrepentant in spite of our conduct
c. We’re demanding that God put up with our adulterous behavior
d. But God has turned away from adulterous people
1). He doesn’t pour out His blessing in an overflowing manner
--He just allows them to trickle in so that we might understand that the relationship is damaged
2). He does it not because He selfishly wants to settle the score
--He does it because He wants us to turn back to Him in repentance
III. THE UNWAVERING FIDELITY OF GOD
A. God promises that once the lesson is learned and repentance is evident that he will restore the
relationship
1. Ezek. 16:53-59 – God says, “’However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of
Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, so that you may bear your disgrace
and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. And your sisters, Sodom with her
daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your
daughters will return to what you were before. You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the
day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the
daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you
who despise you. You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices,’
declares the LORD. ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve,
because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant.’”
2. God is saying that at one time, the Jewish people looked at certain nations with contempt because of
their immorality but that they had become even worse than they ever thought these nations had been
3. Spiritual pride in the midst of spiritual adultery is ludicrous!
--Yet so many today who claim to be God’s people but serve their own selfish whims constantly look
at others with eyes of contempt while God is looking at them with contempt
B. But here’s the Good News: God has promised the He would reaffirm and renew His covenant
--Ezek. 16:62-63 – “‘So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and
never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”
1. Praise God that the atonement has been made through Jesus Christ
a. Rom. 3:25a – “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”
b. 1 Jn. 2:2 – “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of
the whole world.”
2. Jesus came so that our sins could be washed away and we could have relationship with God
CONCLUSION: A. Are you practicing spiritual adultery?
1. James 4:4-6 – “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world
is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an
enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused
to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
a. Spiritual adultery is friendship with the world
b. It’s living a worldly lifestyle while claiming to walk with Christ
c. Spiritual adultery is making anything more important than our relationship with
Jesus Christ
2. So what do you do?
--James gives us the answer in the next few vereses: James 4:7-10 – “Submit
yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to
God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to
mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will
lift you up.”
B. There’s another scene in the movie Camelot that makes us compare the human solution
for unfaithfulness with God’s solution.
--Listen closely to the scene as described by Ken Gire in his book Windows of the Soul:
…the adulterous relationship between Queen Guenevere and Arthur’s most trusted
knight, Sir Lancelot, has divided the Round Table. When the scheming Mordred catches
them in a clandestine encounter, Lancelot escapes. Guenevere is not so fortunate. She
faces a trial. The jury finds her guilty and sentences her to the flame. As the day of
execution nears, people come from miles around with one question in their minds: Would
the king let her die? Mordred gleefully captures the complexity of Arthur’s predicament:
Arthur! What a magnificent dilemma!
Let her die, your life is over;
Let her live, your life’s a fraud.
Which will it be, Arthur?
Do you kill the queen or kill the law?
Tragically but resolutely, Arthur decides: “Treason has been committed! The jury has
ruled! Let justice be done!”
High [at a] castle window stands Arthur, as Guenevere enters the courtyard. She walks
to her unlit stake, where the executioner stands with waiting torch. Arthur turns away,
emotion brimming in his eyes.
A herald mounts the tower where Arthur has withdrawn: “The queen is at the stake, Your
Majesty. Shall I signal the torch?” But the king cannot answer. Arthur’s love for Jenny
spills from his broken heart: “I can’t! I can’t! I can’t let her die!” Seeing Arthur crumble,
Mordred relishes the moment: “Well, you’re human after all, aren’t you, Arthur? Human
and helpless.” Tragically, Arthur realizes the truth of Mordred’s remark. Being only
human, he is indeed helpless. But where this story ends, the greatest story ever told just
begins.
Another Execution Scene. Another time. Another place. Another king.
The setting: A world lies estranged from the God who loves it. Like Genevere, an
unfaithful humanity stands guilty and in bondage, awaiting judgment’s torch.
Could God turn His head from the righteous demands of the law and simply excuse the
world’s sin? If not, then could He turn His head from the world He loved? Would the
king burn Guenevere?
Like the wicked Mordred, Satan must have looked on in delight:
God! What a magnificent dilemma!
Let them die, Your life is over;
Let them live, Your life’s a fraud;
Which will it be, God?
Do You kill Your world or do You kill the Law?
Without even waiting for His Guenevere to look up in repentance, the King stepped down
from His throne, took off His crown, laid aside His royal robes, and descended His
castle’s polished steps into humanity’s pockmarked streets.
Suddenly, it all made sense. We know now why He had to die, why there was no other
way. When love and justice collide, only the cross offers a happy ending.
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