Ezekiel 23 Oholah and Oholibah
God names Samaria and Jerusalem, Oholah and Oholibah. He describes them as two faithless women. Prostitutes.
I have a hard time with the imagery of today’s passage. God had a problem with the real thing. Israel and Judah went after every corrupt idol their neighbors had to offer. King Manasseh even had an alter he had seen, reproduced IN the House of the Lord. Talk about a slap in the face of God!
God doesn’t spare the people these images because He KNOWS they hit hard. He knows that they ALL understand the depravity and the pain pointed out here. NO MAN wants this said of his bride. Yet it is the truth of His chosen people’s actions. Like a woman who leaves her husband to chase after other men, so has Israel and Judah left the Lord to chase after other gods from the nations around her. She even went back to chasing after Egypt after being freed from bondage.
Let’s rejoin Ezekiel as God graphically describes Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness to Him. Holy Spirit, help me tell this story as YOU want it told; shock and awe and all. Show me what You would have me take from this lesson for my life.
♥ ♦ ♥
Ezekiel and his wife have been enjoying a rest. It has been almost a month since Ezekiel has been called on to deliver a message for the Lord. He knows it is only a matter of time before he is called back into service, but he needs the time to recuperate and the people need time to calm down.
As Ezekiel is meeting with the Lord this morning, he hears him speaking another word for him to bring to the people.
“Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled. 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” (Ezekiel 23:2-4).
“That is hard Lord” Ezekiel says with reddening cheeks.”
“There is more to come, son of man. MUCH more.”
“Alright Lord. I’m listening.”
“Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her.
“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed[c] your young breasts.”
Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord God:
“You shall drink your sister’s cup
that is deep and large;
you shall be laughed at and held in derision,
for it contains much;
you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.
A cup of horror and desolation,
the cup of your sister Samaria;
you shall drink it and drain it out,
and gnaw its shards,
and tear your breasts;
for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.” (Ezekiel 23:5-35).
“Lord God, what am I to do with this” asks Ezekiel with tears streaming down his face.
“Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 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. Moreover, this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and profaned my Sabbaths. 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. 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. You sat on a stately couch, with a table spread before it on which you had placed my incense and my oil. 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.
“Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’ For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! But righteous men shall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”
“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them an object of terror and a plunder. And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord God” (Ezekiel 23:36-49)
“Lord, am I to use these same words before the people? They will become angry again. And they will likely turn away from me.”
“These words broke your heart. They will do the same for many others. Use exactly what I have said, as I have said it.”
“I will do exactly as You have instructed.”
Ezekiel rises from his place of prayer and begins to make his way to the door. His wife is unaware of the heaviness of today’s message. She looks up at him with a smile as he passes her. When their eyes lock, the smile fades. The pain is evident on Ezekiel’s face. She puts aside her sewing and starts to rise.
Ezekiel shakes his head and motions for her to stay where she is. Then he bends down and places a soft kiss on her forehead before heading out the door. Ezekiel’s wife begins praying for him even before his feet leave the threshold. “Hold him in Your hands dear Lord and give him strength.”
Ezekiel goes to his stone in the marketplace and stands atop it. He takes a steadying breath before proclaiming the words the Lord has given him. He shares EVERY word EXACTLY as it was given to him.
The people who have gathered around him begin to react exactly as he thought they would. Their mouths hang open at the words he is using in public. Their faces color in shame, and many of them weep, just as Ezekiel had done. Others call out offensively and tell him to be quiet.
“We don’t need to hear such vulgar language!” “There are children here, so watch what you say.” “Our God would never speak such vile things! You are making this up!”
How Ezekiel wishes that these words weren’t from the Lord. For then he would not be able to say them. He stays in the marketplace and shares this same message four times this day. With each recounting, the crowds get smaller and smaller. By the end of the day, there is only a handful of people gathered to hear the words of the Lord.
Ezekiel returns home exhausted. His wife is waiting to minister to him. She gently washes his feet and holds his head in her lap while he draws strength from her.
First thing in the next morning, Ezekiel is on his favorite stone again. More people have come today. The Lord’s message passed through the people like a fever. Many hearts were torn by the description of God’s faithless bride. They knew exactly who He was speaking about. And they weren’t afraid to share that knowledge when they shared the message.
God’s words are received with silence today. There are no shouts of dissent or agreement. It is a solemn and mute crowd. The size of the crowd remains steady all day as Ezekiel shares God’s words. He is hopeful that many of them are encouraged to turn away from their idols. All he can do though is leave it in God’s hands.
Ezekiel is not as weary when he returns home this day. God’s words are still heavy, but there is hope. Ezekiel clings to this.
Ezekiel’s wife heard reports of the message when she went to gather water. It left her heartbroken. Tonight, she seeks comfort from her husband. And he lovingly supplies it.
Ezekiel goes to the marketplace with this same message for almost two weeks before he feels released to let the people contemplate it on their own. The crowds were steady until the last two days. This hard-hitting message reached ALL the exiles. Many would take this lesson personally and put away their idols too.
(to be continued)
Each time I read over this message to God’s people, it cuts deep. I cry for those who have caused Him pain. I KNOW that He still feels the pain of our betrayals today. Even the church, Jesus’ bride, is not wholly pure. She has many stains on her hands too. If it were not so, Jesus wouldn’t be addressing her in Revelation.
We each need to examine the heart of this message and make certain that it NO LONGER applies to us. If it ever did; repent and ask God to make your heart clean again. I know that I have had to do just that as well more than once.
Father God, PLEASE help me identify any idols in my life that I have placed ahead of You. Actually, remove any idols I have at all! I don’t want to share my heart with any of them. I don’t want to cause You pain any more!
