23:1 The word of the Lord came to me:
Jehovah spoke to Ezekiel once again in parable form. This is one of the chapters that the rabbi omit from their weekly Sabbath reading. The reason is because of the sexual content. However, the entire counsel of the Word of God is to be taught, even to children. The devil wants children to learn sex education from Hollywood, secular education, and their peers. God's method of teaching children about sex education is through the Bible. The pastor-teacher is to teach this verse as it is in the Bible. It is the responsibly of the parents to make sure that their children understand this passage when they are of age. Children hearing sexual content at a young age from the Bible is not destructive. The Holy Spirit gives clear meaning to Scripture when he desires. He, not rabbi or parents, chooses the age of understanding. It is the responsibly of the pastor to teach the entire counsel of the Word of God to his entire congregation. It is the responsibly of the parents to teach the entire counsel of the Word of God to their children, Both need to trust the Holy Spirit to choose the timing and the understanding of the content.
23:2 “Son of man, there were two women who were daughters of the same mother.
Ezekiel was identified with the human race. In this parable, there were two daughters who were born from the same mother.
23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers fondled their virgin nipples there.
Both of these women engaged in prostitution as teenagers in Egypt.
23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
Oholah means “her tent.” Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”
Oholah was the city of Samaria. Samaria was the capital of Israel. The tent of Samaria was not God's house. It was the house of Samaria. It was built by human viewpoint. False demonic worship was practiced there.
Oholibah was the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. The real tent of Jehovah was the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. True worship was supposed to happen only at the Jerusalem temple.
Both of these sisters were wives of Jehovah by the marriage contract of the Mosaic Law.
23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians—warriors 23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired—with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women, and they executed judgments against her.
Israel engaged in prostitution with Assyria. The prophets continually warned Israel to trust in God (and not in Assyria) for protection. Israel refused to listen to her prophets. She made allies with Assyria. She then began worshiping the gods of Assyria. Then, Assyria destroyed her and took her into captivity.
Archaeologists have found The Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. It is dated at approximately 841 B.C. It mentions “Jehu son of Omri,” and pictures him bowing down to the Assyrian king. This event most likely resulted from the Syrian threat to Israel. Syria was expanding into the Transjordanian region during Jehu’s reign. To counter this threat, Israel submitted herself to Assyria as a vassal state. The obelisk pictures Jehu and his servants bringing tribute to the Assyrian king.
23:23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians—governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path.
Judah should have learned her lesson from her sister Israel, but she did not. Judah also engaged in spiritual prostitution with the Assyrians. Israel and Syria asked Judah to ally with them against Assyria. Isaiah warned King Ahaz of Judah not to join this confederacy. Israel and Syria joined together and attacked Judah in an attempt to overthrow the Davidic dynasty and place a puppet king on the Judean throne who was willing to join with them against Assyria. King Ahaz (of Judah) was told to trust in God to protect her. King Ahaz refused to listen to the prophets. Instead, he made an alliance with Assyria. This alliance forced Judah to pay tribute to Assyria for the next 100 years.
23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, 23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, I was disgusted with her, just as I had been disgusted with her sister.
As Babylon became a world power, Judah refused to trust in God and trusted in Babylon instead. Judah paid tribute to her and adopted her idolatry. Jehovah became just as disgusted with Judah as he was disgusted with her sister Israel.
23:23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after their genitals—as large those of donkeys, and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 21 This is how you assessed the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed your young breasts.
Jerusalem became so promiscuous, that she returned to the idolatry of Egypt. Instead of trusting in God, she put her trust in her alliance with Egypt. She began worshiping the bugs of Egypt. She even worshiped the filthy Egyptian dung beetle. The dung beetle lives in cow manure. Ezekiel used coarse language to show graphically the spiritual degradation of Israel. God took her out of the idolatry of Egypt, but Israel forsook God and returned to the idolatry of Egypt.
23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side:
The lovers of Jerusalem would rise against her and destroy her.
23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses.
Babylon and her tribute nations would all combine and raise up against Jerusalem.
23:24 They will attack you with weapons, chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; they will punish you according to their laws.
Jerusalem would be attacked and conquered. Jerusalem would be judged by the pagan laws of Babylon.
23:25 I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will die by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire.
Under Babylonian law, facial mutilation was the punishment for adultery. The purpose was to make the adulteress unattractive. Many of the Jews would have their noses and ears cut off. Many would die by the sword. The sons and daughters would be taken as slaves. The daughters would be raped. The sons would be used as constructions workers, slaves, and soldiers. Many of the survivors would be burned to death.
23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry.
Those Jews who remained in Jerusalem did so against God’s command. They were the wealthy aristocrats who did not want to give up their power, fame, and wealth. Since they did not listen to God’s prophets, their clothes and jewelry would be plundered by the Babylonians.
23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. You will not seek their help or remember Egypt anymore.
Babylon would cut off Jerusalem from the filthy worship of the Egyptian bug gods.
23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, I am about to deliver you over to those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted.
Jerusalem was disgusted with the lewd, arrogant, idolatrous, violent, sadistic, and brutal methods of the Babylonians. They hated the Babylonians and their superior attitude. Since Jerusalem had turned from God, God was going to turn Jerusalem over to the Babylonians.
23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct.
The Babylonians would treat Jerusalem with hatred. The Babylonians would plunder all of her property, homes, material possessions, livestock, and crops that the Jerusalem citizens had worked so hard to obtain.
23:30 I will do these things to you because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols.
Since Jerusalem engaged in spiritual prostitution with the other Gentile nations, then God would remove Israel from her land.
23:31 You have followed the ways of your sister, so I will place her cup of judgment in your hand.
Jerusalem should have learned her lesson from her sister Samaria. Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Samaria fell into idolatry and was taken captive by the Assyrians. Jerusalem would have to drink from this same cup of wrath. Jerusalem would be taken captive by the Babylonians.
23:32 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal. 23:33 You will be overcome by drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation. 23:34 You will drain it dry, gnaw its pieces, and tear out your breasts, for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.
Jehovah’s third oracle was a poem against Jerusalem. He is sovereign over all of world history. Jerusalem would drink the same cup of wrath as that of her sister Samaria. This cup of wrath would be a large and deep cup, which would be full of divine judgment. After Jerusalem drinks the cup, then the other Gentiles would scorn and insult Jerusalem. Jerusalem would become so intoxicated from idolatry, that her head would spin. She would become dizzy. She would not make good decisions. This cup of wrath would bring horror and desolation upon Jerusalem. Jerusalem would drink every drop of this cup of wrath. She would even gnaw the wood of this cup. She would then tear out her own breasts. All of these things would happen, because Jehovah has spoken it. He is sovereign over all of history.
23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, you must bear now the punishment for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”
Jehovah gave a fourth oracle to Jerusalem. The reason that Jerusalem was forced to drink Jehovah’s cup of wrath was because Jerusalem had forgotten Jehovah. She was giving demons the credit for her prosperity. She was trafficking with demons intimately in her bed. Forgetting Jehovah placed Jerusalem in a very dangerous position. She must be disciplined for her adultery and prostitution, because this type of behavior was destructive to her and to the Gentle nations who were supposed to be learning from her example. How could Israel be the chosen people of God if she worshiped the dung beetles of Egypt?
23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment on Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds!
Ezekiel was to prosecute Samaria and Jerusalem in court for her evil deeds.
23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, they have passed through the fire as food to their idols.
These two sister cities were guilty of spiritual adultery and infant sacrifice. When they walked into the Jewish temple, the blood of their children was on their hands. The smoke from the fire (which burnt their children) was smelt in their clothes.
23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths.
The two sisters (Samaria and Jerusalem) desecrated and profaned Jehovah’s sanctuaries. The bottom line is that man was created to worship. If man does not worship God, then he will worship demons. Every man born into the earth will worship demons, unless God interacts and transforms his mind.
23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.
On the same day, the two sisters sacrificed their children to demons. Then, they entered the temple and worshiped Jehovah. Jehovah was just one of many gods to these two sisters. Worshiping Jehovah with other gods was called synchronism.
23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry. 23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, including all kinds of men; even Sabeans were brought from the desert. The sisters put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’ 23:44 They had sex with her as one does with a prostitute. In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women.
The two sisters (Samaria and Jerusalem) did not trust in Jehovah to protect them. They brought in other foreign nations into their land and seduced them into a political treaty against Babylon. The Sabeans were possibly drunkards from the desert wilderness. The sisters were using their charms to gain favors, so God reduced them to prostitutes. Samaria and Judah turned to pagan nations for help and then were molested by them.
23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. 23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army against them and subject them to terror and plunder. 23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses.23:48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct. 23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”
The upright men who would punish these two sisters for her adultery was probably the prophets. They would reveal the sins of the two sisters in God’s court, announce the verdict, and ask God to execute the sentence.