Ezekiel 16:6 - Meaning and Application

In these verses we see the great things God did for the Jewish nation as he raised them up little by little into a place of honor. He first saved them from the destruction they were near in Egypt (Ezekiel 16:6). When God passed by, he saw them covered in their own blood, despised, abandoned, and as good as dead, like sheep ready for slaughter. Then he said, “Live.” He meant life for them when death seemed certain, and he had already planned to save them from it.

This is how God deals with those he chooses to save. He sees mankind as cast off, polluted, and lying in blood, yet his thoughts toward them are good. He plans life, and that life more abundantly. In converting grace, or God’s gracious work of turning a sinner to himself, he speaks to the soul and says, “Live.”

God also looked on them with kindness and tender love. He did not only pity them, he set his love on them, though there was nothing lovely in them. “Your time was the time of love” (Ezekiel 16:8). It was the kindness and love of God our Savior that sent Christ to redeem us, and sends the Spirit to make us holy. It was also what brought us out of a state of nature into a state of grace. That was indeed a time of love, a special and choosing love, when God showed his love to us and drew our love toward him.

He also took them under his protection. “I spread my skirt over you,” meaning he sheltered them and covered their shame. Boaz did this for Ruth as a sign of the special favor he intended for her (Ruth 3:9). God took Israel into his care, as an eagle carries its young on its wings (Deuteronomy 32:11-12). When he owned them as his people and sent Moses to Egypt to rescue them, he was spreading his protection over them.

He washed away the disgrace that came with their slavery in Egypt (Ezekiel 16:9). “Then I washed you with water” means he made them clean, and “anointed you with oil” means he made them pleasant and fit. All the shame of their bondage was removed when he brought them out with great power into the freedom of his children. When God said, “Israel is my son, my firstborn. Let my people go, so that they may serve me,” that word, supported by so many wonders, washed away their blood. And when he led them by the pillar of cloud and fire, he was still covering them with his care.

He also multiplied them and built them into a people. This is mentioned before the spreading of his skirt because they grew greatly even while they were still slaves in Egypt. They increased like spring flowers, and they became very strong and numerous (Exodus 1:7). Their “breasts were fashioned” when they were formed into separate tribes with their own leaders, and their “hair grew” when they became many, whereas before they had been few and despised.

God also brought them into covenant with himself. What a great change this was for that poor, helpless child, now lifted to royal honor. “I swore to you and entered into covenant with you.” This happened at Mount Sinai, when the covenant between God and Israel was sealed. Then they became his, and he became the God of Israel. Those to whom God gives spiritual life, he also takes into covenant with himself. By that covenant they become his servants and people, which shows their duty, and his treasure, which shows their privilege. And because the covenant was confirmed with an oath, we have strong comfort.

He beautified and adorned them as well (Ezekiel 16:10-13). The picture is of a well-dressed bride, rich with ornaments. We do not need to press every detail, but the sense is clear. Their clothing was rich and fine, with embroidered garments, fine shoes, linen sashes, silk veils, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and even a beautiful crown. This may point to the jewelry and valuables they received from the Egyptians, a mercy that marked their deliverance, as had been promised long before (Genesis 15:14). Or it may point more generally to the blessings from heaven that adorned both their church and their nation.

In a short time they came to excellent ornaments (Ezekiel 16:7). The laws and commands God gave them were like ornaments for the head and chains for the neck (Proverbs 1:9). His sanctuary among them was like a beautiful crown on their head, the beauty of holiness.

He also fed them with plenty, with rich and pleasant food: fine flour, honey, and oil. This points to manna, the food of angels, honey from the rock, and oil from the hard rock. In Canaan they ate bread to the full, even the finest wheat (Deuteronomy 32:13-14). Those whom God brings into covenant with himself are fed with the bread of life, clothed with righteousness, and adorned with the gifts and comforts of the Spirit. The hidden life of the heart is the true and lasting beauty.

God also gave them a great name among the nations, and made them important, respected by allies, and feared by enemies. “You prospered into a kingdom” (Ezekiel 16:13), which speaks of both honor and rule. “Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty” (Ezekiel 16:14). The surrounding nations admired them for the good laws that governed them and for the privilege they had of drawing near to God (Deuteronomy 4:7-8). Solomon’s wisdom and Solomon’s temple were a large part of that nation’s renown. Taken together, the privileges of the Jewish church and kingdom made it the most beautiful of all nations on earth.

That beauty was complete. There was nothing lacking that would have made a people truly honored, especially in David’s and Solomon’s time, when the kingdom was at its height, with worship, learning, wisdom, justice, victory, peace, and wealth. All of this would have lasted if they had stayed close to God. It was perfect, says God, because of “my splendor that I had put on you,” meaning the beauty of holiness. They were set apart for God and devoted to him, to be for his name, praise, and glory. That is what gave shine to all their other honors and made their beauty complete.

We can apply this in a spiritual way. Holy souls are truly beautiful. They are beautiful in God’s sight, and they may take comfort in that.

But God must have all the glory, because by nature they were deformed and polluted. Whatever beauty they have comes from what God has put on them and with which he has made them beautiful. He will be pleased with the work of his own hands.