Ezekiel 16:54
That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
Ezekiel 16:54 belongs to a searching parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, in which God pleads with His people to turn back to Him. The city and nation stand for God's people as a wife espoused to the Lord who became unfaithful by joining herself to surrounding nations and their gods, practicing idolatry and seeking help from earthly powers instead of seeking the Lord. Her unfaithfulness brings shame upon her, so that she bears her own shame and is confounded in all she has done by the consequences of her course. Judah's conduct even comforted the people of Sodom, and to be such a comfort to the wicked is to encourage them by failing to rebuke wrongdoing and living with the same love of money, pride and display, as if there were no real difference between God's people and the wicked. A lewd woman and harlot is the prophetic symbol of a corrupt or apostate church in contrast to a virtuous woman who symbolizes a pure church, showing that God calls such union of His church with the world fornication and adultery.
Parable's Setting and Symbolism
Ezekiel 16:54 belongs to a strong parable rebuking the apostasy of Judah and Israel and of Jerusalem, in which sin is rebuked and God pleads with his people to turn back to him.
The city and nation in that parable represent God's people as a wife espoused to the Lord who became unfaithful and was likened to a harlot through apostasy and unlawful attachment to the world.
She joined herself to surrounding nations and their gods, turned from God to Babylon, abandoned his precepts, and practiced idolatry, backsliding, and departures from God described as adultery.
That record is a pattern of seeking help from earthly powers instead of seeking the Lord, applied to apostate churches that join themselves to the world.
The setting portrays the fall of the Jewish church as God's rejection of her, while her destruction was deferred for a considerable time and came later.
A lewd woman and harlot is the prophetic symbol of a corrupt or apostate church, in contrast to a virtuous woman who symbolizes a pure church.
This symbolism supports the harlot of Revelation 17 as the corrupt, worldly church.
It identifies the woman called Babylon in Revelation as apostate religious bodies, including the mother and her daughters of the same character, with Ezekiel 16 cited as an example of Scripture portraying a corrupt, apostate church as an unfaithful woman.
The verse is cited as part of Scripture's portrayal of a church that becomes a harlot when it turns from God and joins itself to the world, without explaining its specific words about shame and being a comfort to others.
God calls such union of his church with the world fornication and adultery.
That adultery is described as the adulterous mixing of righteousness and sin, with the setting showing Israel bearing shame for her deeds.
Shame, Prophecy, and Warning
Unfaithfulness brought shame, so that God's people bear their own shame and are confounded in all they have done. When God's people unite with the world and abandon His precepts and turn to Babylon, they are brought to shame and confusion by the consequences of their unfaithfulness. Judah's conduct made the people of Sodom feel comforted, even though Judah was recognized as God's people. To be a comfort to the wicked is to encourage them by failing to rebuke wrongdoing, by mocking Christians who pursue godliness, by approaching sinful practices, by accepting worldly pleasures, by criticizing preaching, and by living with the same love of money, pride, and display. Such conduct suggests that there is no real difference between God's people and the wicked.
The prophecy of Sodom's and Samaria's return to their former estate signifies the resurrection of the wicked for executive judgment. They are brought back to face judgment for what they did before death and stand as they were when they died. The shame and confusion are part of that judgment.
The promise concerning Jerusalem in Ezekiel 16:53-55 does not support the expectation of a restored Jewish homeland in Palestine before a worldly millennium of peace. The record of Israel's apostasy is a pattern of seeking help from earthly powers instead of seeking the Lord, applied to apostate churches that join themselves to the world.