Both Sisters Judged
May 10, 2022
Commentary
God declares that Oholah and Oholibah are to be destroyed, together with their children and their houses. God is holy, and lewdness and idolatry are to be eradicated from his holy people (vv. 36-49). In the final section of this chapter Ezekiel reviewed the sin and judgment of Samaria and Jerusalem. The history and judgment of both countries had been presented separately (vv. 1-35), but now they were combined for the sake of comparison. The sins of both nations were idolatry (vv. 36-39) and foreign alliances (vv. 40-44), and their judgments were the same (vv. 45-49).
Idolatry was common to Israel and Judah (vv. 36-39). The apex of their spiritual adultery was child sacrifice. This, one of the most detestable practices of the Canaanite religions, had infiltrated both Israel and Judah. The people were so hardened by sin that on the very day they sacrificed their children to their idols, they entered the temple with their children’s blood on their hands. Their very presence profaned and desecrated the house of God!
The spiritual adultery of the two nations was matched only by their political adultery (vv. 40-44). Ezekiel painted a vivid picture of the sisters preparing themselves for lovers (enticing other nations to help them). The reputation of the sisters was so well known that even the lower elements of society knew where to find them. The sisters were using their charms to gain others’ favors, so God reduced them to the status of prostitutes (Ezek. 23:3). God said that righteous men would sentence them to the punishment adulteresses deserved (vv. 45-49). Who were these “righteous men?” They functioned like elders who decided the fate of someone accused of fornication (Deut. 22:13-21). The judgment for adultery was death (Lev. 20:10), generally by stoning (Lev. 20:27;); and the judgments for idolatry in a city were the sword and fire (Deut. 13:12-16).
Application
I cannot praise God and wilfully sin at the same time.
Ezekiel 23:36– 49 (NET)
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! 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. 38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. 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.
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. 41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 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. 43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’ 44 They slept with her the way someone sleeps with a prostitute. In this way they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women. 45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
46 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army against them and subject them to terror and plunder. 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. 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. 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.”
Illustration: Stott We Must Allow God to Confront Us
We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgments instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never the thunderclap of God’s, then indeed he will not speak to us and we shall only be confirmed in our own prejudices. We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.” (John Stott in Authentic Christianity).