In Ezekiel 14 God declares that even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in Jerusalem just prior to 586 B C, they alone would be spared - but no one with them! He clearly makes His point that the entire city had become corrupt. In Ezekiel 16, God explicitly likens Jerusalem to an unfaithful bride, but the hint of hope that ends the chapter excites me! It is the first indication of the layered reality that many prophecies contain. In verse 60 He promises that in spite of the unfaithfulness, He will establish an everlasting covenant - and in verse 63 He gives us our first hint of how He will accomplish that when He states, "...when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD."
He will establish an everlasting covenant. He will atone. The phrases leaps off the page at me. This prophecy comes before the relatively imminent destruction of Jerusalem - put it spans the centuries to the coming of Jesus - fully God and fully human - when God Himself atoned for all the sins both past and future, making an everlasting covenant that cannot be nullified.
God's rebuke meant the axe was about to fall, but His reconciliation is something only He could do. Even Ezekiel could not have completely understood what God was telling him at that juncture, but we can. And we can be assured that God's promises and prophecies never fail!
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