A Symbol of Total Corruption

Ezekiel 16:44–63
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The parable of the three sisters is similar in some details to the preceding one. Samaria was Jerusalem’s older sister, Sodom her younger sister. Both the mother and sisters loathed their husbands and children. The prophet accused Jerusalem of being worse than her sisters. Jerusalem had not merely “walked in their ways or done according to their abominations.” Jerusalem had actually “acted more corruptly“ in all her conduct than they (vv. 44-47).

1. The record of the sisters (vv. 48-52). In order to underscore his charge that Jerusalem had acted more corruptly than Sodom or Samaria, Ezekiel examined the record of the three sisters. Sodom was filled with “arrogance.” Samaria, her northern sister, did not commit half of the sins committed in Jerusalem. All the abominations committed in Jerusalem made Sodom and Samaria appear righteous by comparison. Jerusalem would forever bear the disgrace of being considered spiritually worse than her wicked sisters.
2. The future of the sisters (vv. 53-63). Though Sodom and Samaria had long since disappeared from the stage of history, and though Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, yet the three sisters had a future. God would restore their fortunes. That act of God’s grace would cause Jerusalem to be ashamed of the abominations she had committed. All three sisters would return “to their former state” (vv. 53-55). This symbolic prophecy looked forward to the salvation of Jew, Samaritan and Gentile in the kingdom of Christ.

Application

No one is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness and that includes me.