Ezekiel 23:1-21

A History of Harlotry ~ Part 1

Open your Bibles to…

Ezek. 23:35 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,

Therefore you shall bear the penalty

Of your lewdness and your harlotry.’ ”

Pray

Intro

√ A history of harlotry

In chapters 20-24 God speaks to the Jewish people about their need for a new perspective…

…that is, to see their sin through His eyes!

With that proper perspective they would come to understand that their present condition (captive in Babylon and the impending judgment on Jerusalem)

…is rooted in their ancient corruption.

Specifically, as we read in our opening verse they had abandoned God, turned their back on Him and embraced the false gods of the pagans.

They had become spiritual prostitutes by giving their heart, soul, body and strength to foreign gods and by trusting in the strength of pagan nations in place of trusting God.

Thus we find in this chapter that God calls them harlots more often in this one chapter than any other in the book of Ezekiel.

“Harlot” 4 of the 15 times in this chapter.

“Harlotry” 14 of the 27 times in this chapter.

Chapter 23 is similar then to chapter 16 in that they both deal with Judah’s unfaithfulness…

…but with a little different emphasis.

Chapter 16 ~ God addresses Judah’s idolatry ~ religious adultery.

Chapter 23 ~ God addresses Judah’s illicit alliances with nations who worship and serve idols ~ political adultery.

In both cases the sinful heart of the Jewish people is revealed because they gave their love to false gods and placed their trust in the power of Man.

Ap. Beware of unholy alliances

God has never needed any help providing for or protecting His people! He doesn’t need…

A multitude of people

A vast array of weapons

A horde of treasure

…to accomplish His will, or to protect and provide for His people.

He wants His people to look to Him to provide for all their needs so that He receives all the honor, glory and affection due Him.

So, in your life make sure that you’re not compromising your faith through unholy alliances.

Ex. Moral Majority

Their compromise was that they invited the Mormon Church (a cult) into an alliance solely because they thought the combined numbers of Evangelicals and Mormons would make for a powerful political influence (true from Man’s perspective).

My personal opinion is that is one reason their efforts fell short of their goals and the political organization did not endure.

May also be why presidential candidate Mitt Romney doesn’t understand why Evangelicals aren’t embracing his “faith based” campaign. The Moral Majority blurred the lines that distinguish Christianity from Mormonism and Mitt doesn’t understand the distinction.

I want to suggest that we don’t have to form alliances with non-Christians and non-believers to elect godly leaders.

Remember, it’s not the majority who rules…

…it’s the majority of those who vote that rule!

My point? If just those who are true Evangelicals got out and voted they would form a voting majority without any help through compromise.

(p.s. only half of those who can vote, do vote!)

A History of Harlotry (vs. 1-4)

Ezek. 23:1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:

Ezek. 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women,

The daughters of one mother.

Ezek. 23:3 They committed harlotry in Egypt,

They committed harlotry in their youth;

Their breasts were there embraced,

Their virgin bosom was there pressed.

Ezek. 23:4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister;

They were Mine,

And they bore sons and daughters.

As for their names,

Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

√ A history of harlotry

God gives Ezekiel another parable to demonstrate that Israel had been involved in spiritual unfaithfulness her entire history!

The parable uses 3 woman, a mother and 2 daughters, to symbolize Israel’s history of harlotry.

The symbolic names of the two sisters Oholah and Oholibah aren’t hard to discern because God gives us the interpretation in vs 4…

Older sister ~ Samaria (capital of Israel after

split)

Younger sister ~ Jerusalem (capital of Judah)

That information allows us then to interpret the identity of their mother (vs. 1)…

Mother ~ Israel in Egypt & before the

division of the kingdom.

The need for perspective…

So, God reminds the people that the history of Israel from Egypt to the day in which Ezekiel lived was marked by idolatry which God calls “harlotry”!

Harlotry in the sense that they turned their affection from God and gave their love and lives to idols.

God’s choice of words to describe Israel’s spiritual condition should cause us to stop and take notice!

That is, it’s a big deal when you call someone a “harlot”!

Clearly that would shock the Jews to whom Ezekiel was speaking who saw themselves and their nation as the “wife” of Jehovah!

However, their history of idolatry as presented in this parable proves the point that they were in fact unfaithful to God.

√ The names of the harlots

The names that God gives to Samaria, Oholah, and to Jerusalem, Oholibah speak of their idolatry.

“Oholah” means…

“Her own tabernacle”

Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, which split from Judah after Solomon’s death.

Jeroboam, the first king, feared that if his people went to Jerusalem to worship he would lose their support. So, he built his own place of worship ~ “her own tabernacle.”

They didn’t worship God, rather they worshipped a calf-god in their own tabernacle.

“Oholibah” means…

“My tabernacle is in her”

God’s Temple was in Jerusalem but as we already know the people of Judah had filled it with false gods!

The point then of her new name was that they were worshipping false gods in His “My” Tabernacle which God wasn’t happy about at all!

So the new names by which God calls Jerusalem and Samaria speak of the idolatrous character of those cities.

Ap. The Church in the last days

God calls the apostate Church of the End Times the “great harlot”! (ref. Rev. 17 & 19).

That Church which is Christian in name only having left her first love and given herself to the Antichrist.

She is called the “great harlot” & “mother of harlots” because she will be the worst of the bunch.

Beware because the seeds of that prostituted form of Christianity are already growing in the Church today!

Ex. Denying the deity of Jesus

Those who deny the Virgin birth of Christ, who reject the Atoning sacrifice of the Cross, who deny the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead…

…are proclaiming the doctrines of the Antichrist as they rob Jesus of His unique place as the One true God who put on the body of a Man to save us from our sins.

The Older Sister ~ Samaria (vs. 5-10)

Ezek. 23:5 “Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;

And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,

Ezek. 23:6 Who were clothed in purple,

Captains and rulers,

All of them desirable young men,

Horsemen riding on horses.

Ezek. 23:7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them,

All of them choice men of Assyria;

And with all for whom she lusted,

With all their idols, she defiled herself.

Ezek. 23:8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt,

For in her youth they had lain with her,

Pressed her virgin bosom,

And poured out their immorality upon her.

Ezek. 23:9 “Therefore I have delivered her

Into the hand of her lovers,

Into the hand of the Assyrians,

For whom she lusted.

Ezek. 23:10 They uncovered her nakedness,

Took away her sons and daughters,

And slew her with the sword;

She became a byword among women,

For they had executed judgment on her.

√ The older sister

God addresses the northern kingdom first because they were the first to give themselves to idol worship and the first to form an unholy alliance with a pagan nation.

God identifies the nation they looked to for help as the Assyrians, which we already know from our study in Jonah were a cruel and ungodly people.

Brings up an interesting question, why would Israel look to such a brutal nation for help?

God tells us in vs. 5-7 that she was captivated by (lusted for) their power and their appearance.

Reminds us that our fallen human nature is often attracted to evil, even when we know it will harm us.

Historically we know that the kings Jehu, Menahem and Hoshea, all formed alliances with Assyria.

What’s interesting is that the very nation that Samaria looked to for help and protection…

…later turned against them, destroyed their kingdom and took all the people away captive as God describes in vs. 9-10.

So, the end result of Israel’s (Samaria, the older sister Oholah) is that her lovers became her captors and destroyers!

Ap. Fatal attraction

Israel’s fatal attraction to idolatry, sin, and partnering with unholy nations should serve as a warning to us to steer clear of anything that would stir up our sin nature.

The reality is that Satan can dress up evil to look attractive to us.

If we bite the bait that he casts in front of us we’ll soon find ourselves involved in the most demeaning activities and powerless to break free of them!

So, don’t let sin get into your heart, rather, recognize the progression of sin and stop it before it takes you captive!

James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

James 1:15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Knowing the progression of sin we want to make sure that we don’t play into our sinful desires.

It’s a whole lot easier (and less messy!) to stop the progression when it’s just a temptation floating through your mind…

…than it is to stop sinning once you’re fully engaged in ungodly activity.

For example, it’s easier to say “no” to a shot of your favorite drink now than it is to stop drinking once you’re a full blown alcoholic.

Unchecked sin in the life of a Christian will lead to the same result that Samaria experienced…

…we become captives to our sin which will ultimately destroy us!

So, be very careful about what you allow into your life!

The Younger Sister (vs. 11-21)

Ezek. 23:11 “Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.

Ezek. 23:12 “She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians,

Captains and rulers,

Clothed most gorgeously,

Horsemen riding on horses,

All of them desirable young men.

Ezek. 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled;

Both took the same way.

Ezek. 23:14 But she increased her harlotry;

She looked at men portrayed on the wall,

Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,

Ezek. 23:15 Girded with belts around their waists,

Flowing turbans on their heads,

All of them looking like captains,

In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,

The land of their nativity.

Ezek. 23:16 As soon as her eyes saw them,

She lusted for them

And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.

Ezek. 23:17 “Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,

And they defiled her with their immorality;

So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.

Ezek. 23:18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.

Then I alienated Myself from her,

As I had alienated Myself from her sister.

Ezek. 23:19 “Yet she multiplied her harlotry

In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,

When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

Ezek. 23:20 For she lusted for her paramours,

Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,

And whose issue is like the issue of horses.

Ezek. 23:21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,

When the Egyptians pressed your bosom

Because of your youthful breasts.

√ The younger sister

As we’ve already noted the younger sister is Jerusalem, the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah.

God’s complaint against her is that rather than learning from Samaria’s experience (sin brings judgment)…

…Jerusalem not only followed Samaria’s example, she went deeper into sin!

Specially God mentions that Jerusalem formed illicit relationships with…

Assyria ~ vs. 12

Babylon ~ vs. 14-17

Egypt ~ vs. 19

Historically the Bible recounts how…

King Ahaz formed an alliance with the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser.

Ahaz became so enamored with the religion of the Assyrians that he made a copy of the altar in Damascus and placed it in God’s Temple in Jerusalem! (ref. 2 Kings 16).

When Assyria fell to the Babylonians Egypt took advantage of the situation and put Jerusalem under their authority.

Years later king Zedekiah formed an alliance with Babylon to deliver Judah from Egypt, but they found that the Babylonians were a harsher taskmaster than either the Assyrians or the Egyptians!

So, king Zedekiah sought to break off the alliance with Nebuchadnezzar and went back to Egypt for help against Babylon!

God’s point in rehearsing the history of all these alliances is that Jerusalem had compromised herself, made her people the subjects of ungodly nations, and even incorporated their false gods…

…and all the while God was ready to deliver them if they would just turn to Him, their “husband”, instead of to their “lovers”.

Close

√ A history of harlotry ~ part 1

God was angry with His people for they had left His love and embraced the false gods and trusted in heathen nations for help when God stood ready to rescue them!

Ap. To whom do you look for help?

Is your heart pure before the Lord?

Or do you hedge your faith by placing your trust in other things and people?

God desires our total trust and affection and will bless those who lean their full weight into His loving care.