Ezekiel 23:23

The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:23-26, “The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.[24] And they shall come against thee with chariots, wagons, and wheels, and with an assembly of people, which shall set against thee buckler and shield and helmet round about: and I will set judgment before them, and they shall judge thee according to their judgments.[25] And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.[26] They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and take away thy fair jewels.” A tremendous onslaught of Babylonians and Assyrians would be unleashed upon the nation of Israel, and they would not be able to withstand it. Why did God bring this? God said in verse 25, “I will set my jealousy against thee.” God is a jealous God. Do not think that you can fail such a terrible God and benefit. Thankfully, we are not under law, but under grace. We have a Savior who is Christ the Lord. The Israelites lost all that was precious to them: their sons and daughters, their dignity, and their jewels. You will always lose when you turn away from the Lord.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:27-35, “Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.[28] For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will deliver thee into the hand of them whom thou hatest, into the hand of them from whom thy mind is alienated:[29] And they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.[30] I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen, and because thou art polluted with their idols.[31] Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.[32] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou shalt drink of thy sister's cup deep and large: thou shalt be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it containeth much.[33] Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.[34] Thou shalt even drink it and suck it out, and thou shalt break the sherds thereof, and pluck off thine own breasts: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.[35] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back, therefore bear thou also thy lewdness and thy whoredoms.” God said to Israel in verse 27, “Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee.” If you will not clean your life up and make it more holy, then God has His way of doing it. You may not like His way because it can hurt. Verse 29 says one of the many terrible things that would happen to the Israelites: “And they shall deal with thee hatefully.” It can hurt a lot when you are the object of hatred, and it feels so go to be loved. To be hated or to be loved: which would you choose. Of course, we all want to be loved. It is wonderful to be loved. That is why a man and a woman get married: to love and to be loved. The greatest commandment is to love: love God with all the heart and love thy neighbor as thyself. Where evil exists, there is hatred. The Israelites turned to evil, and thus they reaped hatred.

In verse 30 God said, “I will do these things unto thee, because thou hast gone a whoring after the heathen.” God wants His believers to learn how to separate from the world. The world will ruin you spiritually speaking. Christians are told in First John 2:15-17, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.[16] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.[17] And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” Love not the world means do not love the systems of the world, or the entertainments, or the priorities, or the philosophies, or the religions of the world. Christians are also told in Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.[2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The challenge is to be in the world, but not of the world. The challenge is to be a leader according to Christian and Biblical principles, instead of a follower. Young people must be on their guard about this danger. The attraction of the world can be very strong, and can take you away from the Lord and towards a life of selfishness, pleasure, and ruin.

In Ezekiel 23:31 God said, “Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister; therefore will I give her cup into thine hand.” God is talking to Jerusalem, and the sister is Samaria. Samaria was destroyed by Assyria decades before Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, and so God is simply telling the Israelites in Jerusalem that they would get the same fate as what happened to Samaria. History repeats itself. If you do not learn from the failures in history, then you are doomed to repeat them.

In verse 33 God said to the Israelites, “Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.” Sorrow always follows drunkenness. It says in Proverbs, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging. Whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Millions have been ruined by alcoholic drinks. Alcohol enslaves. Alcohol destroys the mind and the will. Alcohol causes people to do things that they otherwise would not do. Yes, sorrow follows drunkenness. Hollywood lies, and the entertainment industry deceives. They say that drunkenness brings joy or other desirable effects. It does not.

In Ezekiel 23:35 the God said, “Because thou hast forgotten me, and cast me behind thy back.” The way to serve Jesus is to use your mind correctly. Think about the Lord. Be thankful unto Him. Bless His name. Remember all the good things that He has done for you. Jesus died on the cross for you, and if you are saved He called you to Himself. One day you will be in heaven and only because of the mercy of the Lord. All the troubles and sorrows will be past. Never forget. Always appreciate the Lord Jesus. The Israelites forgot God and it was their ruin.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:36-39, “The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;[37] That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.[38] Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.[39] For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.” God told Ezekiel in verse 36, “declare unto them their abominations.” God wants preachers to tell the truth. Do not try to please your audience. That is what politicians do, and we know what their reputation becomes when they do that. Deliver the truth in love, but do not water down the truth. God’s Word must be delivered without compromise.

Verse 37 mentions adultery twice. That is because there are two types of adultery. Of course, there is adultery when a man or a woman is unfaithful to their spouse. As bad as that is, the other adultery is worse. That is the spiritual adultery of turning from the one true religion which is faith in Jesus Christ, and finding a substitute. God said, “with their idols have they committed adultery.” The Apostle John said in First John 5:21, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

The Israelites had descended to the lowest depths of human behavior. They ruined all of their closest relationships. They committed adultery against their spouses. They committed spiritual adultery against God, and verse 37 says they destroyed their own children in the false religious services: they “also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.” And verse 38 says, “they had slain their children to their idols.” And the very same day that they had killed their own children, they went into God’s sanctuary as if nothing had happened. No wonder God let the Babylonians conquer them.

The Bible says in Ezekiel 23:40-49, “And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,[41] And satest upon a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine oil.[42] And a voice of a multitude being at ease was with her: and with the men of the common sort were brought Sabeans from the wilderness, which put bracelets upon their hands, and beautiful crowns upon their heads.[43] Then said I unto her that was old in adulteries, Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she with them?[44] Yet they went in unto her, as they go in unto a woman that playeth the harlot: so went they in unto Aholah and unto Aholibah, the lewd women.[45] And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.[46] For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.[47] And the company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire.[48] Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.[49] And they shall recompense your lewdness upon you, and ye shall bear the sins of your idols: and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.” Verses 40 through 45 is a description of how Samaria and Jerusalem acted like prostitutes. It was very important to them to attract and to receive the heathen peoples. They wanted the approval and the company of the heathen, in the same way and for the same reason that a prostitute seeks customers. They were sinning against the Lord and turning their back upon Him. There is a price to pay for that, especially if you are under the law. The Lord said to them in verse 46, “I will bring up a company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled.” God wanted to stop the sin. That is what He said in verse 48: “Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness.” We are all sinners, but it is very important that we repent of our sins. Sin brings judgment and death. Jesus warned, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” When you repent, you recognize your sins, you are sorry that you have sinned, you have a change of mind and want to turn to the Lord and serve Him, and you ask Jesus for forgiveness. When you repent and turn to Jesus, He will forgive you.

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