The picture Ezekiel paints by means of allegory in the early part of chapter 16 is a striking one. Birth can indeed be a messy business, but this is quite something! A female child is born and upon birth she is neglected and discarded. Unwashed, unkept, and unloved, she is thrown into the open field, presumably left to die. The reason for this treatment is given at the end of verse five:

On the day you were born, you were despised.

Who is this child, treated in such an atrocious and inexcusable manner? And who could be so callous as to treat anyone in this fashion? The description is enough to make your blood boil in anger, or your heart cringe with sadness.

Equipped with the authority and power of the Word of the Lord, Ezekiel is sent to confront the people of God. Although verse one speaks specifically about Jerusalem, the story is an account of God’s dealings with his people as a whole. They have spurned the Lord with their disobedience and now God is reminding Israel of how He has treated them.

Israel is the child. The figurative birth of Israel refers to the period of enslavement and oppression in Egypt, when the nation came into being. It was a terrible time, marked by cruel and oppressive masters who made the lives of the people bitter (Exodus 1:11-14).

As the allegory continues (v 6), it is God Himself who saw Israel in her misery, completely unable to help herself, and destined for death. While she wallows in the depths of her suffering, God speaks one word to her: Live!

It is not a wish, but a command. God calls into existence a new reality for his people simply by the power of his Word. God commands and Israel passes from death to life. This remarkably brief decree demonstrates the power and the quality of God’s life-giving love.

Notice the elements of God’s love. First of all, in his compassion and grace, God loves the unloved. The child in this story had an ungodly ancestry and background, was unwanted, had no future, and yet God showed love and compassion. Where others would reject and find fault, God looks down in mercy. In complete contrast to the love we hear so much about today in our society, the Lord’s love is not deserved, or conditional. It cannot be earned.

Secondly, God also loves the unlovely. Imagine the picture of that abandoned newborn lying in the field, kicking in its blood. What a wretched sight. Our awesome God is not deterred or put off by this! We tend to love and admire that which is beautiful, but God’s love has much more depth and substance.

These words of Ezekiel are reminiscent of Moses’ words spoken to the Israelites on the verge of entering the Promised Land. God did not choose his people because they were more numerous or attractive than others, but explicitly because He loved them (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). Our society today tells us we have to be all kinds of things before we can expect anyone to take any interest in us. This passage teaches us that we do not have to be or have anything to earn God’s love. He gives it to us simply because he chooses to and that is a wonderful comfort!

Finally, God’s life-giving love is a liberating love. Israel was rescued from bondage and slavery in Egypt, the representation of slavery to sin.

God called them out and rescued them so that they could serve him freely. The sending of God’s Son is the ultimate expression of God’s life-giving love, for it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that freedom from sin for God’s children has been assured. He is our life (Colossians 3:4). We are given new life in Christ so that we can serve the Lord with joy and thankfulness, in response to his unfathomable love.

In our world today, and particularly this time of year, we are saturated with warped and weak messages about what love is. But we may point to the love of our God, and say: this is real love.