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Ezekiel 23 (ESV)

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. 3 They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem…

³⁶ The Lord said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. ³⁸ Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when they had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day they came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, this is what they did in my house. ⁴⁰ They even sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments. ⁴¹ You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. ⁴² The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards were brought from the wilderness; and they put bracelets on the hands of the women, and beautiful crowns on their heads.

REFLECTION:

In this chapter, Ezekiel uses a parable to declare the reason for God’s judgment. He compared the northern and the southern kingdom to two sisters who were prostitutes. The inhabitants of Jerusalem arrogantly think that they are in superior position and have long mocked their sister city, Samaria. But Ezekiel claimed that Jerusalem and Samaria were both the city of prostitutes, which was quite shocking to the self-righteous people of Jerusalem. Oholah (meaning “her tent”) refers to the northern kingdom of Israel. Following the example of the Assyrians, she coveted the power, wealth, and pleasure of the world; and was tempted by the world and left God. Oholibah (meaning “my tent is in her”) refers to Judah, her situation is even worse, because although she has Israel as a lesson for her, instead of learning the lessons of her sister, she continues to commit adultery with foreign nations and must be judged. At first, Judah formed an alliance with Babylon, and then changed her mind. When the last two kings of Judah, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, were in power, Judah turned to Egypt and Ammon for help. The price that Judah paid for her “adultery” (in alliance with idolatry nations) was the loss of the only God who could truly protect them. As godly believers, although we do not think that we have committed spiritual adultery, we often spend a lot of time seeking help and answers in life from the powers of the world and non-Christian experts instead of asking God for help. Is this unfaithful to God?

PRAYER:

Pray that God will keep you faithful and add your desire for God in your spirit every day, so that your heart will turn towards God alone, without being attracted by any temptation of the world. Pray that your faithfulness can withstand the trials, when you are in a lack or predicament, you still seek God’s help and not get temporary satisfaction and relief in a way that damages your spiritual life.

HYMN:

I Will Follow – youtu.be/kgqD_HQQir0