A History of Harlotry ~ Part 2 (Ezekiel 23:22-49)

Ezekiel 23:22-49

A History of Harlotry ~ Part 2

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.

Judgment on the Younger Sister (vs. 22-35)

Ezek. 23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:

‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,

From whom you have alienated yourself,

And I will bring them against you from every side:

Ezek. 23:23 The Babylonians,

All the Chaldeans,

Pekod, Shoa, Koa,

All the Assyrians with them,

All of them desirable young men,

Governors and rulers,

Captains and men of renown,

All of them riding on horses.

Ezek. 23:24 And they shall come against you

With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,

With a horde of people.

They shall array against you

Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.

“I will delegate judgment to them,

And they shall judge you according to their judgments.

Ezek. 23:25 I will set My jealousy against you,

And they shall deal furiously with you;

They shall remove your nose and your ears,

And your remnant shall fall by the sword;

They shall take your sons and your daughters,

And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.

Ezek. 23:26 They shall also strip you of your clothes

And take away your beautiful jewelry.

Ezek. 23:27 “Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry

Brought from the land of Egypt,

So that you will not lift your eyes to them,

Nor remember Egypt anymore.’

Ezek. 23:28 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself.

Ezek. 23:29 They will deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotry.

Ezek. 23:30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols.

Ezek. 23:31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.’

Ezek. 23:32 “Thus says the Lord GOD:

‘You shall drink of your sister’s cup,

The deep and wide one;

You shall be laughed to scorn

And held in derision;

It contains much.

Ezek. 23:33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,

The cup of horror and desolation,

The cup of your sister Samaria.

Ezek. 23:34 You shall drink and drain it,

You shall break its shards,

And tear at your own breasts;

For I have spoken,’

Says the Lord GOD.

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.’ ”

√ Judgment on the younger sister

Vs. 22 sets the tone of this section of scripture that describes the coming judgment of Jerusalem…

Ezek. 23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:

‘Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,

From whom you have alienated yourself,

And I will bring them against you from every side:

That is because of Jerusalem’s long history of political adultery, worse even than Samaria in that Jerusalem formed a multitude of illicit alliances.

God says that they will be turned over to all their lovers (listed in vs. 23) who will surround Jerusalem to destroy her and strip her of all her wealth.

So, just as Samaria was destroyed by those she trusted in for deliverance…

…so too would Jerusalem be destroyed by those she trusted in ~ Babylon and her allies.

√ The mark of unfaithfulness

Vs. 25 is noteworthy because in it God speaks of the totality of the destruction that would come upon the city of Jerusalem…

Ezek. 23:25 I will set My jealousy against you,

And they shall deal furiously with you;

They shall remove your nose and your ears,

And your remnant shall fall by the sword;

They shall take your sons and your daughters,

And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.

In ancient Mesopotamia (Babylon) a woman who was caught in adultery would have her face mutilated, including the cutting off of her nose and ears…

…so that she would be so grotesque that she would never be viewed as attractive again by any potential lover.

God uses that pagan practice to describe how the Babylonians would treat Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness to Nebuchadnezzar…

…and ultimately to God.

That is, God is telling us that when Babylon is finished with Jerusalem that the city will no longer be attractive as an ally to any other nation!

Everything that made the city beautiful, her palaces, the Temple, the high white walls, the olive groves…

…would be cut down and mutilated.

A very sad end to what the Bible describes as the most beautiful city in the world!

Psa. 48:2 Beautiful in elevation,

The joy of the whole earth,

Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,

The city of the great King.

Jerusalem’s beauty is more than just physical, there is a spiritual quality because it is the city that God chose to dwell with Mankind.

“Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’”

2 Chron. 6:6

Jewish Rabbis will tell you…

“Ten measures of beauty descended to the world; nine were taken by Jerusalem and one by the rest of the world. “ ~ Babylonian Talmud: Kidushin 49b

Ex. Jerusalem today

While the beauty of Jerusalem today does not rival the city under Solomon’s rule it is none the less breath taking to behold!

Every time we go to Israel you can hear the gasps of awe and wonder as we drive over the last hilltop from the Judean wilderness and the people get their first glimpse of the Old City.

The Walls, the Eastern Gate, the Temple Mount, it stirs one’s emotions.

There is even a psychological disorder called the “Jerusalem syndrome” in which people actually become so overwhelmed by the city, it’s history, and future glory, that they begin to hallucinate!

One day God will restore the beauty of Jerusalem to be the envy of all the earth when Jesus sets up His kingdom at the end of the Age.

Then, after the Millennial reign of Christ we’re told in Rev. 21 & 22 that God will do away with the old earth and replace it with a new one in which the New Jerusalem that God built in Heaven is placed on earth! (ref. Rev. 21 & 22).

Read the description of the city and you’ll see why nothing on earth compares with her beauty!

Ap. The price of sin

Vs. 29 records a sobering truth regarding the end result of a life of sin and rebellion.

Doesn’t that describe the end of the life of a man or woman who is captured by the Devil and bound by their sin?

Everything they worked for is gone.

Left naked and bare with nothing to show for a life of hard work.

Everything they own fits in a box.

So, in both Jerusalem’s case and our life today there’s a warning to heed because sin will rob you, destroy you, kill you and then leave you with nothing but regrets all because you…

‘…you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back” ~ vs. 35

God gives life and blessing, the Devil takes life and the blessings that were meant for you.

Judgment on both Sisters (vs. 36-49)

Ezek. 23:36 The LORD also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations.

Ezek. 23:37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them.

Ezek. 23:38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.

Ezek. 23:39 For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.

Ezek. 23:40 “Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with ornaments.

Ezek. 23:41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil.

Ezek. 23:42 The sound of a carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads.

Ezek. 23:43 Then I said concerning her who had grown old in adulteries, “Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?’

Ezek. 23:44 Yet they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women.

Ezek. 23:45 But righteous men will judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.

Ezek. 23:46 “For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Bring up an assembly against them, give them up to trouble and plunder.

Ezek. 23:47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire.

Ezek. 23:48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all women may be taught not to practice your lewdness.

Ezek. 23:49 They shall repay you for your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ”

√ Judgment on both sisters

In this final section God asks Ezekiel to pass judgment on Jerusalem and Samaria as He presents His closing arguments against His people.

Vs. 36-39 ~ Spiritual adultery through idolatry,

specifically child-sacrifice.

Vs. 40-44 ~ Political adultery through illicit alliances

with pagan nations.

So, in view of how depraved Jerusalem and Samaria had become the Lord says in vs. 45-49 that “righteous men” will judge her…

Speaking of the prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

And that they would then be judged like a harlot or an adulterous wife in that an assembly of people would cast stones at her!

Speaking of the war-engines that Babylon brought against the walls of Jerusalem.

The result of all this judgment is that Jerusalem would be cured of her idolatry and the Jewish people would know that God alone is the Lord.

√ A history of adultery

Israel’s troubles began when they turned their back on the Lord…

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.’ ”

The Jewish people compromised themselves by looking to others beside God for all their needs.

Please remember that God doesn’t need any help!

Check your life and make sure that you haven’t compromised yourself by forming ungodly alliances with the people of the world.

Ex. Compromised people

Read article from The Morning News (10/20/07 – Religion, section E, page 1).

“Interfaith” ground breaking ceremony demonstrates that many of God’s people are still religiously and politically compromised.

God doesn’t need the help of the ungodly and pagan to do His work!