EZEKIEL LESSON 25
We will begin this lesson in Ezekiel 23:1 "The word of the LORD
came again unto me, saying,"
This is the beginning of a new prophecy.
Ezekiel 23:2 "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of
one mother:"
These, of course, are not natural women, but speaking of Samaria
and Judah, or Jerusalem. The mother is speaking of Israel
collectively.
Ezekiel 23:3 "And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they
committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed,
and there they bruised the teats of their virginity."
Israel had not become the wife of God, when she was in Egypt. She
was even thought of as the family of Jacob, at that time. She would
have been the two virgins then. They were in Egypt over 400 years.
They picked up idol worship, it appears, when they were there. They
became the wife of God, when they made covenant with God on the way to
the promised land. They promised to keep God's laws and commandments.
They actually went into covenant relationship with God. They became
His wife. All of this is in a spiritual sense, and not in the literal.
We must remember, the study we are doing is from the spiritual
standpoint.
Ezekiel 23:4 "And the names of them [were] Aholah the elder, and
Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and
daughters. Thus [were] their names; Samaria [is] Aholah, and Jerusalem
Aholibah."
We know from the Scripture above, that, the two sisters {in the
spirit} meant Jerusalem and Samaria. The name "Aholah" means Her tent.
"Aholibah" means My tent is in her. You can see the meaning of My tent
is in her, connected with Jerusalem. God put His temple in Jerusalem.
The tent is the same as the tabernacle in the wilderness. Samaria
worshipped in their tents. Jerusalem worshipped in God's tent. The
chosen tent of God was in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23:5 "And Aholah played the harlot when she was mine; and
she doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians [her] neighbours,"
Samaria's lovers were nations she had signed treaties with.
Assyria, one of Samaria's lovers, is the very country that God uses to
chastise the 10 tribes, when they go into captivity. Samaria had
belonged to God in the beginning. She made peace treaties with the
world, which Assyria symbolizes here. The national god of Assyria was
Ashur. Their religious worship was patterned after Babylonia. They
worshipped many false gods such as Ishtar, Anu, Bel, and Ea. Samaria
picked up some of their idol worship from them.
Ezekiel 23:6 [Which were] clothed with blue, captains and rulers,
all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses.
The Assyrians appealed to the flesh of the Samarians. Israel
{Samaria} thought highly of the military of Assyria. They made quite
an impression on them, and they sought their protection.
Ezekiel 23:7 "Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with
all them [that were] the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom
she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself."
They turned from the worship of the One True God to the worship
of these Assyrian idols. The whoredoms, spoken of here, are speaking
of committing spiritual adultery. To worship false gods, was spiritual
adultery.
Ezekiel 23:8 "Neither left she her whoredoms [brought] from
Egypt: for in her youth they lay with her, and they bruised the
breasts of her virginity, and poured their whoredom upon her."
The sin of idol worship with them had never stopped, since Egypt.
They had never truly given up their worship of false gods. God was
displeased with her idol worship in Egypt. The 40 years of wandering
in the wilderness was partially to get the ways of Egypt out of her.
Ezekiel 23:9 "Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her
lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted."
Now, we see that God had allowed the Assyrians to capture the 10
tribes, and carry them into captivity in Assyria. They were in
Captivity in Assyria 100 years, before the capture of Judah by the
Babylonians. The very ones she had put her confidence in, captured her
and put her in captivity.
Ezekiel 23:10 "These discovered her nakedness: they took her sons
and her daughters, and slew her with the sword: and she became famous
among women; for they had executed judgment upon her."
It was her punishment that became famous. Assyria realized her
weakness, and came in and took her. Of course, this could not have
happened, had it not been the will of God. God allowed this to happen,
as a chastisement upon her.
Ezekiel 23:11 "And when her sister Aholibah saw [this], she was
more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms
more than her sister in [her] whoredoms."
Aholibah symbolized Jerusalem, or Judah. Remember, that the
temple of God was in Jerusalem. One of the things that caused the 10
tribes to be captured for a longer period of time, than Jerusalem and
Judah, was the fact that all of their kings were evil, where Judah had
a few that were not evil. It does look like the capture by the
Assyrians, would have caused the tribe of Judah to have learned from
their error and repented, but it did not. In fact, instead of
repenting and turning back to God, they began worshipping more false
gods and making more idols than they had before.
Ezekiel 23:12 "She doted upon the Assyrians [her] neighbours,
captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon
horses, all of them desirable young men."
The tribe of Judah even tried to get an alliance passed with
Assyria. "Doted" means to breathe sensually. This speaks of adultery.
God does not want His wife {Israel} finding help from others. This is
speaking of spiritual adultery. They were taken of them, because it
appeared they were so strong militarily.
Ezekiel 23:13 "Then I saw that she was defiled, [that] they
[took] both one way,"
This, of course, is speaking of Judah. They have defiled
themselves with Assyria.
Ezekiel 23:14 "And [that] she increased her whoredoms: for when
she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans
portrayed with vermilion,"
They went even further with their unfaithfulness to God than did
Samaria. It appears, they were so taken by the statues of men who were
great military men, that they began to worship them. "Vermillion"
means red ochre.
Ezekiel 23:15 "Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in
dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after
the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity:"
These images were of princes with beautiful brightly colored
turbans upon their heads, as some of the monuments of Nimrod have.
Ezekiel 23:16 "And as soon as she saw them with her eyes, she
doted upon them, and sent messengers unto them into Chaldea."
Notice, this was appealing to the eye. This is one of the
temptations that Eve faced. The lust of the eyes, many times, is what
causes the lust to become a reality.
Ezekiel 23:17 "And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of
love, and they defiled her with their whoredom, and she was polluted
with them, and her mind was alienated from them."
This lust of the eyes was for the great military power and the
great wealth they possessed. This was a political defilement here. God
had always protected Israel, and He did not plan for them to seek help
from the world. This is showing a lack of confidence in God, when they
place their confidence in Babylon. Even Josiah had been a king
pleasing unto God, but Jehoiakim and Zedekiah were not pleasing unto
Him. Zedekiah was actually put into power by Nebuchadnezzar.
Ezekiel 23:18 "So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered
her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her, like as my mind
was alienated from her sister."
God had not liked the ten tribes seeking help from Assyria, and
He did not like Judah accepting help from Babylon. Both, in His sight,
had committed spiritual adultery. They had made an alliance with the
world.
Ezekiel 23:19 "Yet she multiplied her whoredoms, in calling to
remembrance the days of her youth, wherein she had played the harlot
in the land of Egypt."
The false gods of Babylon were not enough, she actually still
worshipped the false gods of Egypt. Both, Babylon and Egypt, were
symbols of the evil world. Babylon, is sometimes, associated with
Satan and hell.
Ezekiel 23:20 "For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh
[is as] the flesh of asses, and whose issue [is like] the issue of
horses."
Judah had courted the favours of these Egyptian princes. She
remembered the Egyptians with fondness. In the spiritual sense, they
committed adultery with Egypt.
Ezekiel 23:21 "Thus thou calledst to remembrance the lewdness of
thy youth, in bruising thy teats by the Egyptians for the paps of thy
youth."
Even before they had gone into covenant relationship with God,
they had worshipped the false gods of Egypt. They were promised to
God, but had not become His wife at that stage.
Ezekiel 23:22 "Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is
alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side;"
The lovers, which turned against Judah, were the Chaldeans. God
will use the very ones they had put their confidence in, to destroy
them.
Ezekiel 23:23 "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."
These 3 could be the names of individuals, or names of areas, or
they could be names used instead of rulers, lords, or nobles.
Ezekiel 23:24 "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."
This is describing a great army that will come against them. The
Babylonians, and the Egyptians, had such an army. God will place them
into the hands of those they had put their trust in. God had always
fought Israel's battles for them. This time the battle will be theirs
alone. They are much smaller, and not as well equipped as the mighty
army, spoken of here.
Ezekiel 23:25 "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."
It appears, that taking away the nose and ears was punishment for
an adulterer in Egypt, and since God classifies this as spiritual
adultery, Ezekiel has used that punishment here. We do know that
severe things like this were done. They poked out the eyes of
Zedekiah. The other things are really what did happen in the conquest.
Ezekiel 23:26 "They shall also strip thee out of thy clothes, and
take away thy fair jewels."
The siege came, and they took everything they had. They took
everything of any value. The verse, above, is speaking of leaving them
the way they were born, naked and without anything of value.
Ezekiel 23:27 "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."
God will prove to them, in this, that their only help is from
Him. They, in desperation, will reach out to God for help. God will
have proved that all the false gods together could not help them. He
was their only help.
Ezekiel 23:28 "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:"
This is another statement, that the ones they had put their
confidence in, are the very ones who came to destroy them. They had
once claimed them as lovers, now they hate them.
Ezekiel 23:29 "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."
These are heathen lands. They have no compassion upon them at
all. Their love had turned on them. Their lover had left them naked
and alone.
Ezekiel 23:30 "I will do these [things] unto thee, because thou
hast gone a whoring after the heathen, [and] because thou art polluted
with their idols."
This entire chapter is speaking of the unfaithfulness of the
people, when they looked for help from the world.
Ezekiel 23:31 "Thou hast walked in the way of thy sister;
therefore will I give her cup into thine hand."
The sister, Samaria, had made the very same mistake, by looking
to Assyria for answers. We see that the very same punishment that came
on the sister, comes on Judah as well. The same sin deserves the same
punishment.
Ezekiel 23:32 "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."
This great people, who had been the chosen of God and respected
by all lands, will now, be thought of as accursed. They lost all
respect for Judah, when their God forsook them. Their cup had ceased
to be a cup of blessings. It is, now, filled with the wrath of God.
Ezekiel 23:33 "Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy
sister Samaria."
This is speaking of the drunkenness, because of the siege. Their
sorrow, astonishment, and desolation came on them all at once. God had
turned His back on them.
Ezekiel 23:34 "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."
This is speaking of Judah as a desolate adulterous wife of God.
The natural source of nourishment for the children will be no more.
This just speaks of the desperation, when God abandons them.
Ezekiel 23:35 "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."
The sins of an adulterous wife are the cause of this terrible
calamity, that has come upon Judah. The Husband is not sympathetic,
she must bear the punishment for her own sins.
Ezekiel 23:36 "The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt
thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their
abominations;"
God is telling Ezekiel to judge them, and see that their
punishment is right for their sins.
Ezekiel 23:37 "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]."
Their abomination and adultery, they had committed, was the
worship of idols and false gods. The false god, they made their
children walk through the fire for was Molech.
Ezekiel 23:38 "Moreover this they have done unto me: they have
defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths."
This, again, is speaking of the idols they had brought into the
sanctuary, itself.
Ezekiel 23:39 "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."
The fact they sacrificed to these false gods on the very day they
sacrificed in the temple, was an abomination, as well. These Hebrews,
who regarded children as blessings from God, had even sacrificed their
children.
Ezekiel 23:40 "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,"
These were the same men, that had been spoken of as their lovers
earlier. They were Babylonians and Assyrians, and others like them.
They dressed as if their lovers were coming, even painting themselves
up, as a harlot would.
Ezekiel 23:41 "And satest upon a stately bed, and a table
prepared before it, whereupon thou hast set mine incense and mine
oil."
This table is where they burned the incense, that rightly
belonged to God. This incense was to be burned to God alone.
Ezekiel 23:42 "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."
These were people of the common sort. Probably, they were
drunkards and revellers. They were not worshippers of God. This
Scripture is intended to convey their continuation into worse and
worse sins.
Ezekiel 23:43 "Then said I unto [her that was] old in adulteries,
Will they now commit whoredoms with her, and she [with them]?"
This spiritual adultery had been going on so long, God speaks of
it, here, as being old and undesirable.
Ezekiel 23:44 "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."
"Lewd" speaks of heinous crime. Remember, this is a treaty
between Israel and these heathen countries.
Ezekiel 23:45 "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."
We discussed before, that those found guilty of adultery were
stoned to death. In later years, the adulterous woman had her head
shaved, so everyone would know who she was.
Ezekiel 23:46 "For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will bring up a
company upon them, and will give them to be removed and spoiled."
God brings war on these unfaithful.
Ezekiel 23:47 "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."
All of this is divine judgement on God's unfaithful wife
{Israel}. All will suffer in this seige.
Ezekiel 23:48 "Thus will I cause lewdness to cease out of the
land, that all women may be taught not to do after your lewdness."
Of course, the wife of God is not just women. They are spoken of
as women, because symbolically, they are the wife of God.
Ezekiel 23:49 "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."
This is another statement that, their sin of idolatry brought
this terrible seige upon them. God did not choose to destroy them, but
must, because of their sins. All the world must know that He is God.
The warnings are to be fulfilled, because God spoke them.
Ezekiel 25 Questions
1. Who is this prophecy speaking of?
2. Who are the women in verse 2?
3. What were the whoredoms they had committed?
4. When did they become the wife of God?
5. What were the names of the two sisters?
6. Who do each of them symbolize?
7. What does the word "Aholah" mean?
8. What does "Aholibah" mean?
9. The tent is the same as the ___________ in the wilderness.
10. Who were Samaria's lovers?
11. What was the national god of Assyria?
12. Who were some other false gods they worshipped?
13. The Assyrians appealed to the ________ of the Samarians.
14. They turned from worship of the ______ ________ _____.
15. To worship false gods, was ___________ ____________.
16. Where were the ten tribes carried captive?
17. What was one reason for their 40 year wandering in the wilderness?
18. God allowed their capture, as a ___________ upon them.
19. Why did the 10 tribes spend more time in Captivity, than the two
tribes of Judah?
20. What does "doted" mean?
21. Who is the wife of God?
22. What does "vermillion" mean?
23. What was on the heads of the images?
24. What kind of defilement is verse 17 speaking of?
25. Who put Zedekiah into power?
26. The alliance Judah had made was with the ________.
27. Who, besides the false gods of Babylon, did Judah worship?
28. Pekod, Shoa, and Koa could be what?
29. What is verse 24 describing?
30. Taking away the nose and ears was punishment for what?
31. Who came to destroy Judah?
32. This entire chapter is speaking of what?
33. What had God fit the punishment to?
34. Who was to judge Aholah and Aholibah?
35. The false god, they made their children walk through the fire for
was ________.
36. What does "lewd" mean?
37. What was the punishment for adultery?
38. Who were the women of verse 48?
39. All the world must know, that He is _______.
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