Ezekiel 23:22-49

“Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will send your lovers against you from every direction—those very nations from which you turned away in disgust.” (Ezekiel 23:22, NLT)

The LORD was bringing judgment against His favored city of Jerusalem. Why? Because she had been an unfaithful wife. In human relationships, infidelity is perhaps the most bitter pain one can experience. For this reason, Jesus said that it was acceptable grounds for divorce. And under the Law, it incurred the death penalty. Either way, infidelity is death to a marriage. Israel’s adultery, while not permanently cutting them off from the LORD, separated them from their God and incurred His wrath.

Now Oholibah (Jerusalem), the unfaithful younger sister, would be attacked by the very lovers she had embraced. The Babylonians would punish her, as the Assyrians had punished her older sister (Samaria). God would deal harshly with her, stripping away her beautiful clothing and jewels. And because she had sacrificed her own children, God would take away her children as captives, and some would die by the sword. She would suffer this punishment until she knew that God is the Sovereign LORD. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

Those whom the Lord loves He rebukes and disciplines (Revelation 3:19). This is never to destroy but to purge from evil. God is jealous for us, and He won’t share us with another. God will cure us of our idols, even if it means the loss of everything else that we have.

“When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: ‘Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.’ This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.” (Hebrews 12:26–29, NLT)

Amen.