Part III – The King Passes By

So, how did she become the King’s daughter? Simply put, the King came walking by.

Ezekiel 16:6, “And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thine own blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.”

The King of Glory, full of majesty and honor, clothed in garments richer and more beautiful than anything we could ever imagine, took notice of that wretched bundle of flesh. He alone had compassion. And as he stood over that bloody child, whom everyone else had left to die, He said, Live.

How gracious is our God! How merciful! That He would stoop from heaven’s throne to save a wretch like me!

As I first read over this I was struck by the fact that the phrase “in thine own blood” is used three times in this verse. If it’s used by God once, it’s important. So to be used three times must make it especially important. Why was it so important to emphasize that this child lay in her own blood?

Hebrews 9:22 tells us that “without shedding of blood is no remission.” There is no atonement for the soul without the shedding of blood. Why blood? Because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11)  and because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But it cannot be just any blood. It must be the blood of one who is without sin. Of course, this disqualifies all of us. That is why Old Testament law required the sacrifice of a perfect lamb for sin. And, why in the New Testament, Jesus Christ, God’s perfect lamb, had to be sacrificed as the final sacrifice for all who would believe on Him.

There she lay in her own tainted blood. It would do her no good. In fact, it “polluted” her. Just as we make meager attempts to please and appease God, there is but one thing that redeems and it is nothing of our own. All our good works, all our righteousnesses are as those filthy rags. It is only the blood of God’s precious son, that King of kings, who came walking by and had compassion on that child and, “by the sacrifice of Himself”, said, Live. (See Hebrews 9:23-26.)

What If The Child Had Refused To Go With The King?
Well, you might be thinking, how could a baby make such a decision? But if we go back to Psalm 45, we see that there is a decision involved. Psalm 45:10 says, “Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house, so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.”

In turning to God for salvation, there has to be a turning away from what previously held us. It is necessary to turn from sin and habits that control our lives. It requires a giving of ourselves to the Lord to be led by Him, away from those things that were destroying us. We call it repentance. For the King’s daughter it meant leaving her father’s house to come into the house of the King. Having seen this girl’s situation you may wonder how she could ever hesitate to leave it, but it is not an easy thing to leave our family even when we fully understand how bad the situation is.
I knew a young girl in Russia who had spent most of her life on the streets, because that is where her mother lived and was bringing her up. At eleven, this girl was taken to an orphanage and given a good home, good food, warm clothes, lots of love and wonderful care. But at the first opportunity she ran away. She ran back to the streets and the life that she had known before for two reasons.

First, it was a life of supposed freedom. No one was telling her what to do, what time to get up, when to go to school, when to do chores. She was her own boss. However, at the same time she was in bondage to the habits that ruled her on the streets – not sleeping for days on end, not bathing because there was no place to bathe, sniffing glue to stay awake and to stay warm, and many other things which we may never know.
Her second reason was that it was a connection to her mother, though her mother was gone.

It seems strange to leave a good home for such a life, yet many delay calling upon the Lord for salvation and giving their lives to Him for these very reasons. Because sin is too pleasant, because the ties and opinions of family and friends are too important. They fear giving up their freedoms. It is true that when we repent, we must turn away from some things that are hard to let go of, but it is giving up what we had before in order to gain what He has in store – and that is no sacrifice! Little does that person who delays know that they are sacrificing true joy and eternal life for a few momentary pleasures.

But for the one who chooses to leave all else behind and to give herself to a new King, He will then delight in her and make her His own. And not only this, but He will make her His three times over…

Next up: Part IV – The Daughter’s Redemption