What does Tribe teach about ezekiel 16?

At Tribe, the teaching on Ezekiel 16 is rooted in a larger picture of God's unbroken, unearned commitment to Israel. Brian Connolly walked the congregation through the passage as part of a broader movement through Scripture tracing that commitment from the Old Testament into the New. The Ezekiel 16 text brought the point into sharp focus: on the day Israel was born, no one wanted her, and yet God chose her, spoke life over her, and entered into covenant with her. There was nothing in Israel herself that explained the choice. Brian says, "On the day you were born, no one cared about you. But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. And as you lay there, I said, live." That is how Brian described the posture God took toward his people, and he used it to anchor the congregation's understanding of election in grace rather than merit.

Brian also spent time on the marriage language woven through Ezekiel 16 and several surrounding passages. He pushed the congregation not to read past it quickly. God did not reach for the image of a contract or a partnership, Brian said. He reached for marriage because he was communicating the deepest possible level of covenant commitment, something people could feel and not just understand. Brian framed it the other direction as well: when human beings enter a marriage covenant, they are copying something God originated.

The message was positioned as preparation for a longer series on Israel, and Brian was direct about what he hoped people would take away. Loving God, he said, means letting his loves and his concerns become yours. As Brian put it, "Part of loving him is loving what he loves and hating what he hates." He closed with a simple summary of where the whole story is headed: "He's coming back for his bride, Israel. We just get to be in on it."

Taught from Ezekiel 16:4-14 · Romans 11:1-36 · Deuteronomy 32:9-11 · Hosea 2:19-20 · Zephaniah 3:17