What is the meaning of Ezekiel 22:11? One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife Ezekiel begins with the most familiar form of sexual sin—adultery. God calls it an “abomination” because it violates multiple covenants at once. • It breaks the marriage covenant that God established in Genesis 2:24 and reaffirmed in Exodus 20:14. • It steals what belongs to another (Proverbs 6:27-35), betraying trust between neighbors and shredding community stability. • It assaults the picture of Christ’s faithful love for His people (Ephesians 5:25-32). The prophet is listing charges against Jerusalem, and this first charge shows how far the nation has drifted from Leviticus 18:20, where God had clearly forbidden adultery. When a society normalizes such sin, Romans 1:24-25 warns that greater corruption soon follows. Another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law The list descends from adultery to incest. Leviticus 18:15 and 20:12 expressly forbid sexual relations between a man and his daughter-in-law. • This act desecrates the family line, blurs roles, and destroys generational trust. • It mocks God’s order for marriage and inheritance (Numbers 27:8-11). Judah’s lapse with Tamar (Genesis 38) shows how such sin brings shame even upon the patriarchs, proving no one is exempt from God’s standard. First Corinthians 5:1 recalls a similar scandal in Corinth, where Paul insisted on church discipline to protect holiness. Ezekiel’s wording—“wickedly defiles”—emphasizes deliberate rebellion, not momentary weakness. Yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter The charge becomes even more shocking: sexual sin with a full or half-sister. Leviticus 18:9 and 20:17 forbid it; Deuteronomy 27:22 calls it “cursed.” • Incest attacks the most basic family bond, erasing the distinction between nurturing love and sexual desire. • It produces lifelong trauma, as seen in Amnon’s assault of Tamar in Second Samuel 13:1-22. • The phrase “his own father’s daughter” clarifies that this is not a distant relative but a close sibling, underscoring the depth of depravity. By placing this third, Ezekiel shows the progression of sin: when a nation ignores God’s boundaries, sin grows more twisted, echoing Romans 1:26-32. summary Ezekiel 22:11 stacks three escalating violations—adultery, father-in-law with daughter-in-law, and brother with sister—to prove that Jerusalem’s moral collapse is complete. Each act disregards God’s clear commands in Leviticus and the Ten Commandments, fracturing both covenant and community. The verse means exactly what it says: God is indicting His people for literal, specific sins that invite His coming judgment (Ezekiel 22:17-22). The passage challenges every generation to honor God’s design for sexuality, protecting marriage and family as sacred trusts under His righteous rule. |
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