What does "like mother, like daughter" reveal about Israel's spiritual condition? \Setting the Scene\ - Ezekiel 16 paints a vivid, prophetic picture of Jerusalem’s history with God: from abandoned infant (vv. 4-7) to pampered bride (vv. 8-14) to unfaithful adulteress (vv. 15-34). - Halfway through the chapter, God summarizes Israel’s shocking apostasy with an old proverb: “Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’” (Ezekiel 16:44) \Understanding the Proverb\ - In verse 3 God had already traced Israel’s “ancestry”: “Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.” In other words, Jerusalem was acting more like the pagan nations than the covenant people of God. - “Mother” = the spiritual culture of Canaan—idolatry, immorality, violence, pride. - “Daughter” = Jerusalem, who had absorbed and reproduced those very traits. - The proverb underscores a spiritual heredity: what was in the “parent” resurfaced in the “child,” proving the corruption to be deep-rooted, not accidental. \Israel’s Spiritual Condition Unmasked\ • Generational Continuity of Sin – Instead of breaking with Canaanite idolatry, Israel perpetuated it (Judges 2:11-13). • Total Identification with the World – God’s people, called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), now mirrored pagan culture so completely that outsiders could sum it up in a single proverb. • Hardened, Not Humbled – Repeated warnings had produced no repentance (Jeremiah 3:6-10). The proverb shows a settled pattern, not a passing lapse. • Covenant Infidelity – Their spiritual “DNA” contradicted the covenant; they were acting as though they never knew God (Hosea 4:1). • Moral Depravity – Child sacrifice, sexual immorality, and exploitation (Ezekiel 16:20-21, 33-34) proved the heart-level corruption. • Prideful Self-Sufficiency – Like their “mother,” they trusted wealth, alliances, and idols, not the LORD (2 Kings 17:15). \Supporting Scriptures\ - Deuteronomy 32:5-6: “They are a perverse and crooked generation. Is this how you repay the LORD…?” - 2 Kings 17:41: “Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols.” - Hosea 10:1: “Israel is a luxuriant vine; he yields fruit for himself… their hearts are deceitful.” - Jeremiah 7:26: “They have made their necks stiff; they have done more evil than their fathers.” - Ezekiel 16:46 links Jerusalem’s “sisters” Samaria and Sodom, showing the family resemblance in wickedness. \Takeaways for Today\ - Sin can run like bloodlines; only a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) severs the hereditary chain. - God’s people lose their distinctiveness when they imitate the culture rather than reflect the Creator (Romans 12:2). - Outward privilege cannot mask inward rebellion; God sees the family likeness. - The proverb exposes, but God’s subsequent promise of an everlasting covenant (Ezekiel 16:60) proves that grace can overwrite even the darkest family history. |
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