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Ezekiel 16:4-14 As for your nativity, on the day you
were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you
washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed
with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye
pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have
compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the
open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day
you were born. 6 "And when I passed by you and saw
you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your
blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' 7 I
made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew,
matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts
were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and
bare. 8 When I passed by you again and looked upon
you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread
My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I
swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with
you, and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD. >>>
9
Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly
washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil.
10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you
sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen
and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with
ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain
on your neck. 12 And I put a jewel in your nose,
earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your
head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver,
and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and
embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour,
honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and
succeeded to royalty. 14 Your fame went out among
the nations because of your beauty, for it was
perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed
on you," says the Lord GOD.
ABANDONED IN THE FIELD
ABANDONED IN THE FIELD
A. God compares Israel to an abandoned
child.
B. This mother has a child and for some
unknown reason cast it into an open field.
C. There it lies covered with blood and
exposed to the weather and wild beast.
D. It is ready to die. It is ready to perish.
E. It is happening today.
F. Children are being abandoned, abused,
and aborted!
G.I want us to picture this child as a sinner
I. A LIFELESS SOUL 16:4,6
A. It is a horrible sight. Vs 6 - "And when I
passed by you and saw you struggling in
your own blood, I said to you in your
blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your
blood, 'Live!'
1. It was cast into an open field. This field
is a picture of the world.
2. We were cast into the world ready to
die! Ready to perish!
I. A LIFELESS SOUL 16:4,6
B. It is a helpless situation. The child could not
save itself.
1. We cannot save ourselves. Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should
boast.
2. We were without hope. - Ephesians 2:1213 that at that time you were without Christ,
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once
were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ.
I. A LIFELESS SOUL 16:4,6
C. It is a hopeless scene. Vs 5, No eye pitied you,
to do any of these things for you, to have
compassion on you; but you were thrown out
into the open field, when you yourself were
loathed on the day you were born.
1. No one had pity on the child. People passed
by. They saw the child and didn't care about
its condition. - Psalm 142:4 Look on my right
hand and see, For there is no one who
acknowledges me; Refuge has failed me; No
one cares for my soul.
2. The unsaved are as, "sheep for the
slaughter.” - Psalm 44:22 Yet for Your sake
we are killed all day long; We are accounted
as sheep for the slaughter.
II. A LOVING SAVIOR 16:6
A. Ezekiel 16:6 - "And when I passed by you and
saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to
you in your blood, 'L.ive!' Yes, I said to you in
your blood, 'Live!‘
B. He came Vs 6 "I passed by"
1. Psalm 14:2 The LORD looks down from
heaven upon the children of men, To see if
there are any who understand, who seek God.
2. He came to where we were. John 1:14 And the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
II. A LOVING SAVIOR 16:6
C. He cared Vs 6 "saw you," Vs 8 "thy time was a
time of love."
1. Nobody cared but the Lord did! 1 John 4:10 In
this is love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.
2. He saw us cast out, polluted, and he cared! Romans 5:7-8 For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man
someone would even dare to die. 8 But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
III. A LIFE SAVED 16:6
A. Ezekiel 16: 8-9 When I passed by you
again and looked upon you, indeed your
time was the time of love; so I spread My
wing over you and covered your
nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you
and entered into a covenant with you, and
you became Mine," says the Lord GOD.
9 Then I washed you in water; yes, I
thoroughly washed off your blood, and I
anointed you with oil.
B. He covered me Vs 8b so I spread My wing
over you and covered your nakedness.
III. A LIFE SAVED 16:6
C. He claimed me Vs 8c and you became Mine," says the
Lord GOD.
1. He gave me his promise. "I entered into a covenant
with thee." - When the Lord saves he gives us his
promise.
a. John 10:27-28 My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
b. Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without
covetousness; be content with such things as
you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never
leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly
say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What
can man do to me?"
2. I became his possession. Vs 8 " Yes, I swore an
oath to you and entered into a covenant with you,
and you became Mine," says the Lord GOD..“
III. A LIFE SAVED 16:6
D. He cleansed me Vs 9 - Then I washed you in
water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your
blood, and I anointed you with oil.
1. Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the
dead, and the ruler over the kings of the
earth. To Him who loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood,
2. Acts 22:16 And now why are you waiting?
Arise and be baptized, and wash away
your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
III. A LIFE SAVED 16:6
E. He clothed me Vs 10 - I clothed you in
embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of
badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and
covered you with silk.
1. Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has
clothed me with the garments of salvation, He
has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
2. Galatians 3:26-27 For you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of
you as were baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.
III. A LIFE SAVED 16:6
F. He contented me vs 13-14 - Thus you were
adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing
was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You
ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were
exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty.
14 Your fame went out among the nations because
of your beauty, for it was perfect through My
splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the
Lord GOD.
1. Notice our prestige Vs 14a - Your fame went out
among the nations because of your beauty,
2. Notice our perfection Vs 14b for it was perfect
through My splendor which I had bestowed on
you," says the Lord GOD.
IV. A LEAVING THE SAVIOR 16:15-52
A. Ezekiel 16:15 "But you trusted in your own
beauty, played the harlot because of your fame,
and poured out your harlotry on everyone passing
by who would have it.
B. In spite of all God has done for us some will leave
Him and commit spiritual adultery with the world.
1. James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not
know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the
world makes himself an enemy of God.
2. 1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life--is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the
world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever.
IV. A LEAVING THE SAVIOR 16:15-52
C. God warns against those who leave him –Ezekiel
16:43 Because you did not remember the days of
your youth, but agitated Me with all these things,
surely I will also recompense your deeds on your
own head," says the Lord GOD. "And you shall not
commit lewdness in addition to all your
abominations.
D. Returning to the ways of your ancestors. – 16:44-52
1. Like mother, like daughter. Ezekiel 16:44 "Indeed
everyone who quotes proverbs will use this
proverb against you: 'Like mother, like daughter!'
2. They were even worse than those who discarded
them in the field. - Ezekiel 16:47 You did not walk
in their ways nor act according to their
abominations; but, as if that were too little, you
became more corrupt than they in all your ways.
IV. A LEAVING THE SAVIOR 16:15-52
E. 2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
they are again entangled in them and overcome,
the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. 21 For it would have been better for
them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than having known it, to turn
from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But it has happened to them according to the
true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit,"
and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in
the mire.”
V. A LASTING COVENANT 16:60-63
A. Even when we leave Him, He will take us back. - Ezekiel
16:53 "When I bring back their captives, the captives of
Sodom and her daughters, and the captives of Samaria
and her daughters, then I will also bring back the captives
of your captivity among them,
B. We must repent and return to our former state.
1. Ezekiel 16:54-55 that you may bear your own shame
and be disgraced by all that you did when you
comforted them. 55 When your sisters, Sodom and her
daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria
and her daughters return to their former state, then you
and your daughters will return to your former state.
2. Ezekiel 16:60-61 "Nevertheless I will remember My
covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will
establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then
you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when
you receive your older and your younger sisters; for I
will give them to you for daughters, but not because of
My covenant with you.
V. A LASTING COVENANT 16:60-63
C. Revelation 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have this
against you, that you have left your first
love. 5 Remember therefore from where
you have fallen; repent and do the first
works, or else I will come to you quickly
and remove your lampstand from its
place--unless you repent.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
A. Do you realize what God has and will do for you?
B. Do you recognize your condition in sin?
C. Are you willing to admit your sin - 1 John 1:6-10 If we
say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in
darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if
we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
D. Do you want your sins to be washed away? - Acts
22:16 And now why are you waiting? Arise and be
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the
name of the Lord.'
E. Why are you waiting?