Ezekiel 16:8 Now when I passed by you, and looked on you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you… God's beauty which He puts upon His people is His own moral loveliness. This attribute of Divine goodness, while enshrined in the teaching of the Word of God, is most effectively seen in the person of the Lord Jesus. It is from Him we catch it, if at all. As the sun imprints the image upon the sensitive plate in the camera when it is exposed to it, so Christ's beauty is put upon us if we are exposed to Him by a life of communion. We do not, however, own Christ's beauty merely passively, there must be a constant deliberate imitation of His holy example. "I must go home and deepen the colouring of my infant Hercules," exclaimed Sir Joshua Reynolds after gazing on the beautiful sunburnt face of a peasant boy. Frequent communings with Christ make one dissatisfied with his poor copying of so beautiful a character. "I must be more Christlike" must be the great resolve as we go forth from His presence if we would own Christ's beauty. (Charles Deal.) Parallel Verses KJV: Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. |
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