What is the meaning of Ezekiel 16:47? And you not only walked in their ways The Lord is speaking to Jerusalem, pointing back to the paths blazed by Samaria and Sodom (Ezekiel 16:46). • “Walked” pictures an everyday lifestyle, not a passing stumble—Judah chose to live on the same road of rebellion. • 2 Kings 17:19 reminds us that “Judah also did not keep the commandments…they walked in the customs that Israel introduced.” • Deuteronomy 28:14 warned against turning “aside from any of the words,” yet Jerusalem drifted anyway. God’s charge is simple: My people have copied the patterns of nations that once shocked them. and practiced their abominations Copying led to committing. “Abominations” in Ezekiel points to idolatry, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice (Ezekiel 16:20-21; 20:7-8). • Leviticus 18:24-30 tells how those same sins defiled the land; Judah now repeats them. • 2 Kings 21:2 says Manasseh “did evil…according to the abominations of the nations.” • Revelation 17:4 pictures future Babylon “full of abominations,” showing how detestable worship always spirals into moral ruin. God’s people crossed the line from association to participation. but soon you were more depraved than they were Sin never stays static: it deepens. Jerusalem out-sinned her mentors. • Ezekiel 16:51-52 notes that Samaria and Sodom “seemed righteous by comparison.” • Jeremiah 3:11: “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.” • Jesus echoes the theme in Matthew 11:24, warning Capernaum that Sodom will fare better in judgment. When God’s chosen city exceeds pagan wickedness, the moral compass is broken, and judgment is certain. summary Ezekiel 16:47 exposes a tragic progression: imitation (“walked in their ways”), participation (“practiced their abominations”), and escalation (“more depraved than they were”). God holds His people to a higher standard, yet they sank lower than the nations they once despised. The verse warns every generation that copying the world’s path rapidly leads to outpacing it in sin, and only repentance can reverse the slide. |
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